On 2 August 1922 Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, died.

Although he is best known for this invention Bell was also well known for his work on deafness, including teaching a young Helen Keller. His work in this field was a continuation of that which had been begun by his father, Alexander Melville Bell, who developed Visible Speech, a method of teaching speech to the deaf. Bell also invented an air-cooling system, a way of desalinating sea-water and a sorting machine for punch-coded census cards. Later in life he also became interested in aeronautics, inventing several large kites capable of carrying the weight of a human and producing a hydrofoil craft in 1919 that managed to reach the speed of 70 mph.

Today in 1910 Roger MacDougall, the Scottish playwright and film screenwriter, was born.

MacDougall was the author of the classic comedy play The Man in the White Coat, which he also wrote the film script for as an Ealing Comedy. He also wrote the scripts for the Ealing comedies, A Touch of Larceny, and The Mouse That Roared. His other plays include, Escapade and To Dorothy a Son, both adapted as films.

MacDougall also treated himself when diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, changing his diet and making a substantial recovery from the disease.

Today's recipe: can't make it to the Costas this year? Enjoy your own taste of Spain with this simple sangria.