1832 - The barricades fall ending the Paris student uprising.
1844 - Founding of the YMCA in London.
1882 - A cyclone hits Bombay; 100,000 die.
1944 - Operation Overlord: the D-Day invasion of Normandy.
1949 - George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-Four' is published.
1981 - A train is derailed crossing the Bagmati river bridge in India; up to 1,000 drown.
1984 - The Indian Army attacks the Golden Temple in Amritsar to flush out terrorists. Sikh civilians are caught in the crossfire. The total bodycount numbers almost 2,000.
1988 -Lester Piggott is stripped of his OBE after being jailed for tax evasion.
1999 - At the Putim maximum security prison in Brazil, 345 prisoners take place in a mass escape.
Born today:
1956 - Bjorn Borg, tennis player
1957 - Mike Gatting, cricketer
Died today:
1865 - William Quantrill, raider
2005 - Anne Bancroft, aka Mrs Robinson, actress
1099 - The First Crusaders lay seige to Jerusalem. 1692 - Port Royal, Jamaica is hit by an earthquake killing 1,600. 1832 - A cholera epidemic kills 6,000 in Quebec. 1906 - The Lusitania is launched. 1917 - 10,000 Germans are blown up when the allies detonate mines under the Mesan Ridge. 1977 - The nation celebrates the Queen's Silver Jubilee.
Born today: 1940 - Tom Jones, knicker collector 1952 - Liam Neeson, actor 1958 - Prince, singer
Died today: 1329 - Robert the Bruce, Scottish king
1815 - The Congress of Vienna re-defines Europe's boundaries.
1934 - Donald Duck makes his debut.
Born today:
1956 - Patricia Cornwall, author
1961 - Michael J Fox, actor
1963 - Jonny Depp, actor
Died today:
68 - Nero, Roman Emperor
1870 - Charles Dickens, author
1958 - Robert Donat, actor
1190 - Frederick Barbarossa drowns in the Sally River on crusade to Jerusalem.
1719 - Rob Roy and fellow Jacobites are routed at the Battle of Glen Shiel.
1829 - Oxford win the 1st Boat Race.
1921 - Prince Philip was born. So the Queen, as the Duke of Lancaster, is married to the Duke of Edinburgh! She is also Mrs Soenderburg-Glucksburg.
1942 - Every man in the Czech village of Lidice was killed in reprisal for the assassination of Nazi Reinhard Heydrich.
1986 - Bob Geldorf was knighted by the Queen.
Born today:
1926 - Lionel Jeffries, actor
1965 - Liz Hurley, socialite
Died today:
1967 - Spencer Tracy, actor
1993 - Les Dawson, comedian
1998 - Hammond Innes, author
2004 - Ray Charles, musician
1381 - Wat Tyler leads the Peasants Revolt.
1907 - Northamptonshire bowl out Gloucestershire for only 12 runs.
1938 - To stop the Japanese Army advance, the Chinese flood the Yellow River countryside. Over 1/2 million civilians die.
1959 - Chris Cockerell demonstrates the hovercraft.
1962 - 3 prisoners successfully escape from Alcatraz.
1965 - The Beatles are awarded the OBE.
Born today:
1919 - Richard Todd, actor
1933 - Gene Wilder, actor
1939 - Jackie Stewart, racing driver
1950 - Lynsey De Paul, singer
1959 - Hugh Laurie, actor
1961 - Caroline Quentin, actress
Died today:
1936 - Robert E Howard, author - creator of 'Conan'
1979 - John Wayne, actor
1998 - Catherine Cookson, author
1999 - DeForest Kelly, actor
1964 - Nelson mandela is sentenced to life in prison for 'sabotage'.
Died today:
1980 - Billy Butlin, The original Hi-De-Hi'er
2003 - Gregory Peck, actor
1944 - 1st VI 'doodlebug' lands, on Southampton. 6 are killed.
1970 - 'The Long and Winding Road' is the Beatles last No. 1.
1981 - At the Trooping the Colour, Macus Sarjeant (17) fires blank shots at the Queen.
Born today:
1943 - Malcolm McDowell, actor
1964 - Kathy Burke, actress
1645 - At the Battle of Naseby, Oliver Cromwell defeats the Cavaliers.
1789 - Captain William Bligh + 18 others from the Bounty land on Timor, having sailed 4000 miles in a small open boat.
1789 - Bourbon 1st produced, in Bourbon County, Kentucky.
1800 - Napoleon defeats the Austrians at the Battle of Marengo.
1807 - " " " Russians " " " " Friedland.
1839 - 1st Henley Regatta.
1938 - 1st 'Superman' comic published.
1940 - German troops occupy Paris.
1942 - Anne Frank begins to keep a diary.
1982 - End of the Falklands War. 255 Brits & 652 Argies have died.
Born today:
1955 - Paul O'Grady, comedian
1961 - Boy George, singer
1969 - Steffi Graf, tennis player
1976 - Alan Carr, comedian
Died today:
1801 - Benedict Arnold, American traitor
1928 - Emmeline Pankhurst, suffragette
1946 - J Logie Baird, TV pioneer
1991 - Dame Peggy Ashcroft, actress
1994 - Henry Mancini, composer
1215 - King John signs the Magna Carta.
1904 - A fire on a steamboat on New York's East River kills 1000.
1996 - An IRA bomb explodes in Manchester injuring 200.
1998 - The £2 coin is introduced.
Born today:
1945 - Nicola Padgett, actress
1946 - Noddy Holder, singer
1946 - Demis Roussos, singer
1964 - Courteney Cox, actress
Died today:
1381 - Wat Tyler, rebel
1993 - James Hunt, racing driver
1996 - Ella Fitzgerald, singer
1487 - The last major battle of the War of the Roses occurs at Stoke Field - 6,000 are killed.
1815 - The Battles of Ligny & Quatre Bras are fought 2 days before Waterloo.
1824 - The RSPCA is founded.
1958 - Yellow 'No Waiting' lines are introduced.
1961 - Ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev defects in Paris.
1976 - 15,000 protesters in Soweto are fired on by the police; 566 are killed.
1982 - Bryan Robson scores for England against France after just 27 seconds. The frogs are sick as parrots!
1999 - Maurice Greene sets a new world record for the 100m in 9.79 secs.
Born today:
1938 - James Bolam, actor
1942 - Giacomo Agostini, biker
Died today:
1722 - John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, general
1775 - At the Battle of Bunker Hill, the Brits beat the American rebels, but suffer 1,000 casualties to their 500.
1885 - The Statue of Liberty arrives in New York harbour.
1939 - Eugen Weidmann is the last person to be publicly guillotined in France.
1982 - Italian banker Roberto Calvi is found hanging beneath Blackfriars Bridge.
Born today:
1943 - Barry Manilow, singer
1945 -Eddie Merckx, cyclist
1980 - Venus Williams, tennis player
1429 - Joan of Arc beats the English at the Battle of Patay. 1812 - The US declares war on the UK. 1815 - Wellington & Blucher defeat Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo. 1963 - Cassius clay (Muhammad Ali) beats Henry Cooper to retain the world weavyweight boxing championship. 1972 - A flight from Heathrow to Brussels crashes minutes after take-off killing all 118 on board. 1975 - 1st North Sea oil is pumped ashore.
Born today: 1920 - Ian Carmichael, actor 1942 - Paul McCartney, Beatle 1961 - Alison Moyet, singer
1813 - Wellington beats the Frogs at the Battle of Vitoria, Spain.
1854 - 1st VC won, by Charles Lucas, during the Crimean War.
1919 - Germant scuttles her fleet of 72 ships at Scapa Flow.
1942 - Rommel captures Tobruk.
1970 - Tony Jacklin wins the US Masters Open Golf Championship.
Born today:
1921 - Jane Russell, actress
1938 - Ron Ely, actor
1954 - Anne Kirkbride, actress
Died today:
1908 - Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, composer
1969 - 'Little Mo' Connolly, tennis player
2001 - Carroll O'Connor, actor