Horace Wells, the American dentist who pioneered the use of anaesthesia in dentistry, was born on this day in 1815.

Did you know that:

• John Fitch, American inventor of the steamboat, was born on this day in 1743
• British crime writer Agatha Christie published her first novel “The Mysterious Affair at Styles” introducing the character, Hercule Poirot, on this day in 1921
• The first atomic submarine, the USS Nautilus, was launched on this day in 1954