On this day: First televised general election

Labour's Clement Attlee remained prime minister in 1950, the first time UK general election results were televised. Picture: Getty

EVENTS, birthdays and anniversaries on February 23.

1310: Declaration of the clergy and people in favour of King Robert Bruce from the Church of the Friars Minor in Dundee.

1573: Pacification of Perth ended fighting in Scotland between Regent and supporters of Mary Queen of Scots.

1820: The Cato Street conspiracy, an attempt to murder British Cabinet ministers, was uncovered in London.

1854: Britain agreed to leave territory north of the Orange River in South Africa, allowing establishment of constitution for Orange Free State.

1863: Captain JH Speke discovered source of the Nile.

1874: Lawn tennis was patented by an Englishman, Major Walter Wingfield.

1898: Emile Zola was imprisoned in France for writing J’accuse.

1915: French actress Sarah Bernhardt had her right leg amputated.

1919: Benito Mussolini founded the Fascist Party in Italy.

1920: The first regular broadcasting service in Britain started from Marconi’s studio in Chelmsford. The 30-minute programme was transmitted twice daily.

1934: Clark Gable exposed his bare chest in the film It Happened One Night, and millions of men stopped wearing vests.

1942: Japanese submarine shelled oil refinery near Santa Barbara, California.

1950: The first televised general election results. The Labour Party held on with the closest contest for 100 years – and Clement Attlee remained prime minister.

1953: An amnesty offered by the government to Second World War deserters brought in more than 3,000 applications.

1970: Republic of Guyana, formerly British Guiana, formally ended association with Britain but remained within Commonwealth.

1973: Fighting continued in Laos in spite of peace agreement between Laotian government and Communist-led Pathet Lao.

1987: Soviet dissident Josif Begun was freed as USSR promised release of 140 political prisoners.