9th February

1939 - The government begins to distribute air-raid shelters to Londoners.

1942 - Soap rationing begins in Britain.

1995 - Michael Foale becomes the first British man to walk in space.

2000 - It emerges that to get in shape for The Beach' Leonardo Di Caprio had used a personal trainer to lose one and a half stone in just two weeks.

2001 - The village of St Ishmael near Kidwelly in Carmarthenshire, South Wales, is exposed by storms - it had been buried under sand dunes for 400 years.

2002 - New research reveals that nearly £800 million will be spent in the UK on Valentine's Day.