15th February...

Today is the 46th day of the year, and here are some of the events that occurred on this day throughout the ages.  Of course, these all relate to the United Kingdom!

1214 - England's King John led and invasion at La Rochelle in France.

1400 - Aubrey de Vere, 10th Earl of Oxford, died.

1417 - Richard de Vere, 11th Earl of Oxford died, seventeen years to the day after the death of his father.

1748 - English philosopher Jeremy Bentham was born in Houndsditch, London.

1849 - Sir Rickman John Godlee was born in Upton, Essex.  In 1884, Godlee became one of the first surgeons to successfully remove a brain tumour.

1927 - Theatre director Frank Dunlop CBE was born in Leeds.  Dunlop we appointed CBE in 1977.

1928 - Former British Prime Minister, Herbert Henry Asquith, 1st Earl of Oxford and Asquith, died at his home in Berkshire.  Asquith served as PM from 1908 to 1916.

1929 - Racing driver Graham Hill OBE was born in Hampstead, London.  Hill was Formula 1 World Champion in 1962 and 1968, and remains the only driver to have won the F1 World Championship, the Le Mans 24-hour, and the Indianapolis 500.  He is the only F1 World Champion to have a son - Damon - who also became World Champion (1996).

1931 - English film and theatre actress Claire Bloom CBE was born in London.

1946 - Politician Clare Short was born in Birmingham.  A long-time member of the Labour Party, Short was Secretary of State for International Development from 1997 to 2003.

1952 - King George VI, father of Elizabeth II, is laid to rest in Windsor Castle.

1959 - English singer/songwriter Ali Campbell was born in Birmingham.  Campbell is best known as lead vocalist of the British reggae band, UB40.

1959 - Physicist Sir Owen Willians Richardson died in Alton, Hampshire.  Richardson received the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1928

1971 - Known as Decimal Day (or D-Day for short), this was the day that the traditional British currency of pounds, shilling, and pence was replaced by the decimal system.  In the old system, a pound was divided into 20 shillings, with each shilling comprising 12 pence.

1979 - Scottish footballer Scott Severin was born in Stirling.  In a 15-year career, Severin played for Hearts, Aberdeen, Watford, Kilmarnock, and Dundee Utd, and represented his country on 15 occasions.