18th February

1564 - Italian artist whose famous work includes the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, Michelangelo dies.

1876 - A direct telegraph link is set up between Britain and New Zealand.

1942 - The British public are urged to take fewer baths, and only bathe in five inches of water or less when they do.

1979 - Snow falls in the Sahara Desert.

2002 - The gang who had plotted Britain's biggest robbery are jailed. The raiders had planned to steal the world's most expensive diamond, the Millennium Star, and were just inches away from it when they were caught by police.

2007 - Britney Spears shocks the world when pictures are released of her visiting an LA barbers and shaving off all her hair. The pictures raise concerns about the pop princess's mental health.