It is the 10th of August 1995.

Or to put it briefly, 10.8.95.

10 August was the birth date in 1865 of the composer Alexandr Glazunov and in 1874 Herbert Hoover. It was the day in 1675 when Charles II laid the foundations of Greenwich Observatory, and in 1965 when Queen Elizabeth II cancelled the OBE of Kim Philby.

Mozart's Eine Kleine Nachtmusik was completed on 10 August 1787, Missouri became the 24th State of the Union in 1821, and Sir Gordon Richards, retired on this day in 1954.

Now add 4870 (the number of Sir Gordon's winners), 525 (the Kochel number of Eine Kleine), 24 (for Missouri), 9 (the number of Glazunov's symphonies) and 3 (for Philby, the third man), to get 5431.

Multiply by 2 (for Charles II) to give 10862, and add 31 (Hoover became the 31st President) to reach 10893. Finally, add 2 for Elizabeth II, to reach a grand total of 10895, which was the date we came in at.

Competition: More "26 L of the A" (Letters of the Alphabet) teasers to untangle.

3 B of P that G T

3 F that O K C C F

3 C D P F C A

3 B in a P S

3 C (H H H H H H H H H)

Entries by 22 Aug to: Pastimes, the Independent, 1 Canada Square, Canary Wharf, London E14 5DL. Three Chambers Dictionary prizes for correct answers.

27 July answers: A Tale of 2 Cities; Thick as 2 Short Planks; 11 Downing Street (Where the Chancellor Lives); 27 Value of All the Colours in Snooker; 1,000,000 Housewives Every Day Say Beanz meanz Heinz. Winners: G Townsend, P Hales, J Hooley.