1768 - Encyclopaedia Brittanica 1st published.
1897 - Taxis start in London.
1917 - A munitions dump in Halifax, Nova Scotia, blows up killing 1,900.
1921 - Ireland granted independence; the 6 counties of Ulster remain part of the UK.
Died today:
343 - St. Nicholas, aka Santa Claus
1988 - Roy Orbison, singer
1997 - Billy Bremner, footballer
1431 -Henry VI of England is crowned king of France, in Paris.
1732 - The Royal Opers House opens in Covent Garden.
1783 - William Pitt the Younger, 24, becomes the youngest PM.
1941 - The Japs attack Pearl Harbour in Hawaii.
1946 - An hotel fire in Atlanta kills 120.
1966 - A fire at an army barracks in Turkey kills 70.
1983 - A 727 collides with a DC9 in fog at Madrid airport killing 90.
1987 - A plane crashes in California when a passenger shoots his ex-boss; 43 die.
1988 - An earthquake in Armenia kills 25,000; 400,000 are made homeless.
Born today:
1915 - Eli Wallach, actor
Died today:
1815 - Michael Ney, Marshall of France (executed)
1817 - William Bligh, captain of the 'Bounty'
1863 - The world's 1st heavyweight boxing match takes place in Woodhurst, Kent. Tom King (England) beat John C Heenan (USA).
1864 - The Clifton Suspension Bridge over the River Avon opened.
1914 - In the Battle of the Falklands, the Royal Navy sinks 4 German cruisers.
1941 - The Japs invade Hong Kong.
1965 - The Race Relations Act came into forcs.
1966 - The Greek ss 'Heraklion' sinks during a storm in the Agean, drowning 200.
1980 - John Lennon is shot dead in New York.
1998 - Armed groups massacre 80 in Tadjena, Algeria.
Born today:
1925 - Sammy Davis Jnr, singer
1936 - David Carradine, actor
1939 - James Galway, flautist
1941 - Geoff Hurst, footballer
1943 - Jim Morrison, singer
1953 - Kim Bassinger, actress
1966 - Sinead O'Connor, singer
1783 - The first executions took place at Newgate Prison.
1820 - Antarctica was first sighted by Englishman Edward Bransfield.
1854 - Lord Tennyson's poem, Charge of the Light Brigade was published.
1868 - Gladstone became Prime Minister for the first time. He won office for three more terms.
1960 - The first episode of Coronation Street was screened on ITV.
1997 -There were problems for Richard Branson in his attempt to fly around the world in a hot-air balloon when the envelope ( the balloon section) of his Virgin Global Challenger broke loose from the gondola and flew off on its own from Marrakech, Morocco.
Born today:
1608 - John Milton, poet
1916 - Kirk Douglas, actor
1934 - Dame Judi Dench, actress
1941 - Beau Bridges, actor
1950 - Joan Armatrading, singer
1953 - John Malkovich, actor
1957 - Donny Osmond, singer
1868 - The first traffic lights are installed, outside the Palace of Westminster, using semaphore arms.
1901 - The 1st Nobel Prizes are awarded.
1936 - Edward VIII abdicates, in order to marry Wallis Simpson.
1941 - HMS Prince of Wales & HMS Repulse are sunk by the Japs off Malaya.
1968 - Japan's biggest heist, the still-unsolved '300 million yen robbery', occurs in Japan.
1994 - A theatre fire in Karamay,China, kills 324.
Born today:
1952 - Clive Anderson, TV presenter
1960 - Kenneth Brannagh, actor
Died today:
1896 - Alfred Nobel, inventor
1967 - Otis Redding, singer
1992 - Dan Maskell, tennis commentator
2005 - Richard Pryor, comedy actor
1282 - Death of the last native Prince of Wales - Lleweln Ap Gruffydd.
1688 - James II forced to abdicate in favour of William of Orange.
2005 -A huge fire continued to burn at Buncefield oil depot near Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire. It was the largest of its kind in peacetime Europe and the noise of the explosions could be heard as far away as the Netherlands.
1098 - Crusaders breach the town walls of Ma'arrat and massacre the 20,000 inhabitants.
1901 - Marconi carries out the 1st transatlantic radio transmission.
1948 - Introduction of National Service for men 18 -26.
1982 - 20,000 women form a human chain around Greenham Common air base to protest against missile deployment there.
1985 - An aircraft crashes on takeoff in Newfoundland killing 250 US 101st Airborne troops.
1988 - The Clapham Junction rail crash claims 35 lives and injures 113.
Born today:
1915 - Frank Sinatra, singer & actor
1927 - Honor Blackman, actress
1931 - Lionel Blair, choreographer
1938 - Connie Francis, singer
1940 - Dionne Warwick, singer
1946 - Emerson Fittipaldi, racing driver
1949 - Bill Nighy, actor
1968 - Kate Humble, TV presenter
14th
1287 - The Zuider Zee sea wall collapses, 50,000 drown.
1782 - 1st flight of the Montgolfier bros balloon.
1911 - Roald Amudsen 1st to reach the South Pole, 35 days ahead of Cpt Scott's team, who died on the return.
1959 - Brian Cawley is found guilty of murdering Robert Steed in Britain's shortest trial - 30 seconds!
1972 - Eugene Cernan is the last person to walk on the moon.
Born today:
1503 - Nostradamus, astrologer
1935 - Lee Remick, actress
1946 - Jane Birkin, singer
1979 - Michael Owen, footballer
Died today:
1476 - Vlad the Impaler, stick manufacturer
1799 - George Washington, 1st US president
1914 - A coalmine explosion in Kyushu, Japan, kills 687.
1916 - The Battle of Verdun ends. 364,000 allies & 338,000 jerries dead.
1941 - At Kharkiv in the Ukraine, the Nazis herd 15,000 Jews to a nearby ravine, then shoot them.
1970 - The ferry 'Namyong Ho' capsizes off Korea; 308 drown.
1982 - Robin Hood's tree, the Major Oak in Sherwood Forest, is fitted with a fire alarm.
1984 - 'Do They Know It's Christmas' by Band Aid, enters the charts at No.1, selling over 3.5m copies.
Born today:
1942 - Dave Clark, musician
1949 - Don Johnson, actor
1970 - Frankie Dettori, jockey
Died today:
1890 - Sitting Bull, Sioux chief
1944 - Glenn Miller, musician
1962 - Charles Laughton, actor
1966 - Walt Disney, animator
1653 - Oliver Cromwell declares himself Lord Protector.
1773 - 150 'Mohawks' board English ships in Boston (America) harbour, in protest over taxes, and dump 340 crates of tea overboard. This becomes known as the Boston Tea Party.
1838 - The Boers kill so many Zulus(2,000+) that the local river is re-named Blood River.
1920 - An 8.5 earthquake kills 200,000 in China.
1929 - The testflight of the R100 airship takes place.
1944 - The Germans launch a surprise attack in the Ardennes to start the Battle of the Bulge.
1960 - 2 planes collide during a snowstorm nr New York; 134 die.
Born today:
1770 - Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
1775 - Jane Austin, author
1899 - Noel Coward, actor
1917 - Arthur C Clarke, sci-fi writer
1945 - Bobby George, darts player
1946 - Benny Anderson, ABBA musician
1948 - Christopher Biggins, 'C' list celebrity
Died today:
1965 - W Somerset Maugham, author
1980 - Colonel Sanders, KFC founder
1982 - Colin Chapman, motor engineer
1989 - Lee Van Cleef, actor
17th
1538 - The pope excommunicates Henry VIII.
1843 - Charles Dickens publishes 'A Christmas Carol'
1903 - Wilbur & Orville Wright make the 1st heavier-than-air flight, lasting 59secs.
1939 - In the Battle of the River Plate, the 'Admiral Graf Spee' is scuttled off Montevideo.
1944 - During the Battle of the Bulge, US POW's are shot by the SS in Malmedy.
1967 - Alec Rose, aboard the 'Lively Lady', completes his 4,500 solo sail to Australia.
1968 - Mary Bell,11, is found guilty of murdering two boys aged 3 and 4.
1983 - An IRA car bomb expodes outside Harrods, killing 6.
1989 - The Simpsons make their TV debut.
2003 - Ian Huntley is found guilty of the murder of schoolgirls Holly Wells & Jessica Chapman, in Soham.
Born today:
1934 - Ray Wilson, footballer
1936 - Tommy Steele, singer
1944 - Bernard Hill, actor
1620 - The 'Mayflower' lands 100 Pilgrims in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
1878 - John Kehoe, the last of the Molly Maguires, is executed.
1888 - The ancient Aztec ruins of Mesa Verde are discovered.
1912 - The hoax Piltsdown Man is found down t'pit. The skull turned out to be that of an orang-utan.
Born today:
1939 - Michael Moorcock, fantasy writer
1943 - Keith Richards, Rolling Stones guitarist
1946 - Stephen Speilberg, film director
1963 - Brad Pitt, actor
1964 - Robson Green, actor
Died today:
2000 - Kirsty MacColl, singer
1972 - Man Utd sacked George Best.
1981 - The 8-man crew of the Penlee lifeboat perish attempting to rescue those onboard the stricken coaster 'Union Star'.
1983 - The World Cup is stolen in Rio de Janeiro.
Born today:
1969 - Richard Hammond, lucky-to-be-alive Top Gear presenter
Died today:
1848 - Emily Bronte, author
1851 - Joseph Turner, painter
1920 - An Englishman, Leslie Downes, is granted US citizenship. He is better known as Bob Hope.
1928 - Harry Ramsden opens his 1st chippy, in Bradford.
1955 - Cardiff is proclaimed capital of Wales.
1973 - Spanish PM Admiral Blanco is assassignated in Madrid.
1984 - The largest underground fire occurs when a train carrying 1m litres of petrol derails in a tunnel nr Todmorden.
1989 - The US invades Panama to overthrow corrupt government.
1990 - The last pit in the Rhondda closes. 50,000 miners in 54 pits used to work in the valley.
1995 - A Boeing 757 crashes into a Colombian mountain, killing 160.
Born today:
1946 - Uri Geller, psychic
1952 - Jenny Agutter, actress
1980 - Ashley Cole, footballer
1983 - Lucy Pinder, model
1192 - Richard the Lionheart is captured by Duke Leopold of Austria, and ransomed for 150,000 silver marks. He is released on Feb 3rd, 1193.
1913 - The 1st crossword puzzle is published, in the 'New York World'.
1987 - A ferry collides with a tanker off the Philippines, drowning 1,565.
1988 - A bomb explodes on Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, killing all 259 onboard, and 11 on the ground.
Born today:
1937 - Jane Fonda, actress
1940 - Frank Zappa, musician
1954 - Chris Evert, tennis player
1966 - Kiefer Sutherland, actor
1970 - Jamie Theakston. TV presenter
Died today:
1945 - George S Patton, US general
1963 - Sir Jack Hobbs, cricketer
2006 - Scobie Breasley, jockey
22nd
1793 - Captain Napoleon Bonaparte (24) is promoted to Brigadier General as a reward for his part in the Siege of Toulon.
1809 - The Non-Intercourse Act is passed in the USA.
1944 - The Germans demand the surrender of Bastogne. The American reply? - "Nuts!".
1963 - The cruise ship 'Lakonia' catches fire off Madeira; 128 die.
1965 - Introduction of the 70mph speed limit.
1989 - Berlin's Brandenburg gate re-opens after nearly 30 years.
Born today:
1948 - Noel Edmonds, gameshow host
1949 - Maurice & Robin Gibb, Bee Gee's
1962 - Ralph Fiennes, actor
Died today:
1880 - George Eliot, author
1943 - Beatrix Potter, author
1965 - Richard Dimbleby, broadcaster
1979 - Daryl F Zanuck, film producer
1834 - Joseph Hansom patents the horse-drawn taxi - the 'Hansom Cab'.
1970 - The 'Mousetrap', after 7511 continuous performances, becomes the longest running play.
1972 - The Nicaraguan capital of Mnagua is hit by a 6.5 earthquake; over 10,000 die.
1972 - 16 survivors of a plane which crashed in the Andes are rescued after 73 days. They survived on eating the dead.
1986 - The 'Voyager' becomes the 1st plane to fly non-stop around the world.
2003 - A natural gas field in China explodes, killing 234.
Born today:
1888 - J Arthur Rank, film magnate
1961 - Carol Smillie, TV presenter
1971 - Tara Palmer-Tomkinson, socialite
Died today:
1939 - Anthony Fokker, plane maker
1948 - Hideki Tojo, Jap PM (hanged)
1973 - Charles Atlas, bodybuilder
2000 - Victor Borge, pianist
2006 - Charlie Drake, comedian
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