The moon is moving away at a tiny, although measurable distance from the Earth every year.

1967 - The Queen launches the new Cunard cruise liner, the Queen Elizabeth 2, at a ceremony on the Clydebank.

Toads only eat moving prey.

1952 - The United States prevents film legend Charlie Chaplin from returning to Hollywood until he is investigated by the Immigration Services.

The first product to have a bar code was Wrigley's gum.

1977 - Pop star Marc Bolan (Mark Feld) 29, is killed in a car crash in south-west London.

The first crossword puzzle appeared in 1913.

2000 - The fuel protests which have paralysed Britain for seven days are at an end.

Britain was the first country to use postage stamps.

1981 - A teenage boy (Marcus Sarjeant) from Capel le Ferne,a village near Folkstone, Kent, who fired shots at the Queen last June pleads guilty to a charge under the 1848 Treason Act and is jailed for five years.