1199 - Richard the Lionheart is fatally wounded by a crossbow bolt during a seige in France. The marksman is executed - by the French!
1839 - The 1st Henley Regatta.
1885 - Mrs Pickersgill of Woking in Surrey becomes the 1st person in GB to be cremated.
1920 - The Black & Tans arrive in Ireland.
1934 - Introduction of the Driving Test.
1981 - The 'Gang of Four' launch the Social Democrats Party.
1998 - In Oned Bouaicha, Algeria, 52 people are axed to death, 32 of them are babies.
Born today:
1931 - Leonard Nimoy, aka 'Spock', actor
1940 - James Caan, actor
1941 - Richard Dawkins, evolutionist
1944 - Diana Ross, Supreme singer
1985 - Keira Knightly, actress
Died today:
1827 - Ludwig van Beethoven, composer
1902 - Cecil Rhodes, founder of Rhodesia
1973 - Noel Coward, playwright
1983 - Anthony Blunt, spy
1942 - Commandos raid the U-boat base at St Nazaire, France.
1963 - The Beeching Report leads to the closure of much of Britain's railways.
1964 - A 9.2 earthquake devastates Anchorage in Alaska, killing 125.
1966 - Pickles the dog finds the stolen World Cup.
1977 - Two Boeing 747's collide in fog on a runway in Tenerife; 583 die.
1980 - An oilrig platform overturns in the North Sea killing 123.
Born today;
1942 - Michael York, actor
1970 - Mariah Carey, singer
1971 - David Coulthard, racing driver
Died today:
2000 - Ian Dury, musician
2002 - Dudley Moore, actor
1854 - Start of the Crimean War.
1912 - Both crews sink in the annual University Boat Race.
1930 - After 1,600 years Constantinople changes its name to Istanbul.
1964 - The pirate radio station 'Radio Caroline' begins transmitting from a ship in the North Sea.
Born today:
1935 - Michael Parkinson, chat show host
1968 - Nasser Hussain, cricketer
1974 - Scott Mills, DJ
Died today:
1941 - Virginia Woolf, writer
1943 - Sergei Rachmaninoff, composer
1987 - Patrick Troughton, actor
2004 - Peter Ustinov, actor
1461 - The Yorkists defeat the Lancastrians at the Battle of Towton during the War of the Roses; 28,000 were killed.
1879 - The Brish army defeat 20,000 Zulus at the Battle of Kambula.
1886 - Coca-Cola is 1st brewed.
1920 - Sir William Robertson becomes a field marshall, having enlisted as a private in 1877.
1927 - Sir Henry Segrave becomes the 1st driver to exceed 200mph.
1973 - The US pulls out of Vietnam.
1972 - The 1st London Marathon takes place.
Born today:
1943 - Eric Idle, Python
Died today:
1912 - The Scott Expedition to the South Pole.
1972 - J Arthur Rank, film mogul
1982 - Carl Orff, composer
1856 - End of the Crimean War.
1867 - Russia sells Alaska to the USA for $7m.
1964 - Clacton was the scene of pitched battles between the 'mods' and the 'rockers'.
1974 - Red Rum won the Grand National for the 2nd year running.
1987 - 'Sunflowers' by van Gogh was sold by auction at Christies for £25m.
1994 - The West Indies cricket team dismissed England for just 46 runs.
Born today:
1928 - Tom Sharpe, author
1930 - Rolf Harris, artist/entertainer
1937 - Warren Beatty, actor
1945 - Eric Clapton, guitarist/singer
1950 - Robbie Coltrane, actor/comedian
1968 - Celine Dion, singer
Died today:
1840 - Beau Brummell, dandy
1986 - James Cagney, dirty rat
2004 - Alistair Cooke, journalist
1889 - The Eiffel Tower is inaururated.
1921 - Sir Gordon Richards, champion jockey, rode the 1st of his 4,870 winners.
1931 - An earthquake destroys Managua in Nicaragua, killing 2,000.
1973 - Red Rum wins the Grand National (1 of 3).
1986 - A Boeing 727 crashes in mountains NW of Mexico City, killing 166.
1990 - 200,000 protesters riot against the poll tax in London.
Born today:
1924 - Richard Chamberlain, actor
1975 - Herb Alpert, band leader
1943 - Christopher Walken, actor
1971 - Ewan McGregor, actor
Died today:
1204 - Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of England and France
1727 - Sir Isaac Newton, physicist
1837 - John Constable, painter
1855 - Charlotte Bronte, author
1945 - Anne Frank, diarist
2002 - Barry Took, comedian
1st
1826 - Samuel Moray patents the internal combustion engine.
1873 - The SS Atlantic sinks off Nova Scotia; 547 drown.
1946 - A 7.8 earthquake nr Aleutian Island creates a tsunami which hits Hawaii, killing 159.
1949 - The 26 counties of the Irish Free State form the Republic of Ireland.
Born today:
1932 - Debbie Reynolds, actress
1938 - Ali MacGraw, actress
1942 - Annie Nightingale, DJ
1957 - David Gower, cricketer
1960 - Michael Praed, actor
1966 - Chris Evans, DJ
1801 - Nelson puts his telescope to his blind eye, and so 'sees no signal', at the Battle of Copenhagen.
1917 - The Battle of Vimy Ridge (WWI)
1977 - Red Rum wins his 3rd Grand National.
1982 - The Argies invade the Falklands.
Born today:
1926 - Jack Brabham, racing driver
1940 - Penelope Keith, actress
1947 - Emmylou Harris, singer
1949 - Paul Gambaccini, DJ
1960 - Linford Christie, athlete
1966 - Teddy Sherringham, footballer
1860 - The 1st Pony Express is run from Missouri to California.
1882 - Jesse James is killed by Robert Ford for $5,000 reward.
1913 - Emmeline Pankhurst is sentenced to 3yrs in prison. All public meetings of suffragettes are banned.
1954 - Oxford won the 100th Boat Race.
1974 - 148 tornadoes hit 13 US states causing widespread damage and killing over 300.
1987 - The jewels of the late former Mrs Wallis Simpson (wife of the abdicated Edward VIII) are sold for £30m at auction.
1993 - The Grand National is declared void after a false start.
Born today:
1924 - Doris Day, actress
1950 - Sally Thomsett, actress
1961 - Eddie Murphy, actor
Died today:
1991 - Graham Greene, author
1999 - Lionel Bart, composer
4th
1905 - An earthquake nr Kangra, India kills 20,000.
1968 - Martin Luther King, Jr , civil rights activist, is assassinated by James Earl Ray in Memphis.
1975 - Microsoft is founded by Bill Gates & Paul Allen.
Born today:
1963 - Graham Norton, chat show host
1973 - David Blaine, illusionist
1978 - Lemar, singer
Died today:
1995 - Kenny Everett, DJ & comedian
1980 - XK got wed.
1982 - Task Force leaves Southampton for the Falklands.
1997 - The 150th Grand National was cancelled due to an IRA bomb scare.
Born today:
1941 - Dave Swarbrick, folk musician
1946 - Jane Asher, actress
1950 - Agretha Faltskeg, ABBA singer
1955 - Janice Long, DJ
Died today:
1998 - Cozy Powell, drummer
2006 - Gene Pitney, singer
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