On this day in history: First Spanish Republic ended, 1874

In February, 1873 King Amadeo I abdicated from the Spanish throne. Three years earlier, following the revolution against Queen Isabella II, the Spanish parliament, the Cortes Generales, had elected Amadeo, an Italian prince, as King to reign as a constitutional monarch. Political infighting within the Cortes hampered his ability to respond to successive disasters: uprisings in support of the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty, known as Carlists; republican revolts; and even assassination attempts. Amadeo finally gave up and returned to Italy as the Duke of Aosta, after the increasingly radical government forced him to sign a decree to sack a group of artillery officers who had refused to take orders from their new commander.

The day after the abdication, the Cortes voted that Spain become a republic but could not agree on what form it should take, some preferred that Spain become a federation while others wanted a unitary republic. The divisions in Spanish society undermined the republic as they had done with the constitutional monarchy. In January, 1874 the Captain General of Madrid, Manuel Pavía, declared his opposition to the federalism, which resulted in the formation of a unitary government without the federalists and monarchists.

With the Cortes disbanded the fate of the nation rested in the hands of the military forces of the various factions. The republican army managed to reverse the territorial gains made by the Carlists before deciding not to oppose Brigadier Martínez Campos when he declared his support for the Bourbon Prince Alfonso, son of Isabella, on 29th December 1874. Having lost control of their armed forces the government of the first republic collapsed, paving the way for the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy.

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On this day in history: Voyager completed record flight, 1986

In 1980, a former United States Air Force pilot called Dick Rutan met fellow pilot Jeana Yeager (no relation of Chuck Yeager) at an airshow in Chino, California. Romance blossomed between the two, and Yeager became a test pilot at Rutan's aircraft company, which he ran with his aerospace designer brother, Burt. Over lunch one day at the Mojave Inn in 1981, the three of them discussed making an aircraft capable of being the first aircraft to circumnavigate the World without landing or refuelling.

Over the next five year's they refined the initial design that Burt sketched on a napkin to create Voyager. The aircraft had a lightweight fuselage made from carbon fibre, fibreglass and Kevlar. Engines powered propellers at the front and rear, with the front only used to provide the extra power for take-off and the early part of the flight.

At 8.01am local time on 14th December 1986, Dick and Jeanna lifted off from the runway at Edwards' Air Force Base, California, to embark on their record-breaking flight attempt. Despite a tricky take-off, in which Voyager's wing-tips sustained damaged, and course changes necessitated by the weather and a lack of permission to fly in Libyan airspace, over the next five days the pair flew their westward course around the World. Approaching California one of the fuel pumps failed; nevertheless, they successfully landed back at Edwards' on 23rd December, having flown 26,366 miles (42,432 km) in nine days, 3 minutes and 44 seconds.

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On this day in history: First gorilla born in captivity, 1956

In January 1951, a hunter called Bill Said brought three gorillas to Columbus Zoo in Ohio. Two of the apes, Millie Christina and Baron Macombo, stayed at the zoo as a mated pair. On 22nd December 1956, a female gorilla was born to them, the first gorilla to be born in captivity.

That morning, a young veterinary student and zoo-keeper called Warren Thomas noticed a change in Millie's usual behaviour, investigating further he found a baby gorilla still in the amniotic sac. He took the baby to the kitchen where broke open the sac to find the infant struggling to breathe. Thomas cleared the mucous from the baby's mouth and engaged in mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Even though the zoo staff overcame the initial crisis the baby still needed round-the-clock attention, spending time in an incubator. While she spent her time growing in strength zoo and city administrators decided to hold a competition to find a name for the infant gorilla. Their initial prize of $50 was boosted by a $100 donation from the actor Clark Gable. Nineteen people submitted the winning entry, Colo, derived from Columbus, Ohio.

Colo is now the oldest captive gorilla in the World, becoming a great-great-grandmother in 2003.

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