ON THIS DAY.

1916: It was reported that Pte Fred Rayner, of Allen Row, Paddock, had been killed in action while serving with the Machine Gun Corps. the 20-year-old had been a member of Milton Church Sunday School.

1839: Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were betrothed. She proposed to him and confided to her diary: ''It was a nervous thing to do, but Albert could not propose to the Queen of England. He would never presume to take such a liberty.'' 1917: Dutch spy Mata Hari (pictured) was executed by a firing squad in Paris.

1940: A 500lb bomb hit Broadcasting House, London, killing seven people. Bruce Belfrage was reading the news at the time and paused for only a second before continuing.

1987: The worst hurricane in Britain since records began devastated southern England and causing at least 17 deaths.