1720 The English pirate of the Caribbean, John Rackham was captured by the Royal Navy. He is most remembered for two things: the design of his Jolly Roger flag, a skull with crossed swords, which contributed to the popularization of the design, and for having two female crew members, Mary Read and his lover Anne Bonny.
1822 The first edition of the Sunday Times newspaper.
1915 Prime Minister David Lloyd George granted women their 'Right to Serve', thus opening up many new areas of employment for women. Trade Unionists were concerned that the move would depress wages.
1946 'Muffin the Mule', a wooden puppet operated by Annette Mills (sister of actor Sir John Mills) first appeared in a children's television programme on BBC TV.
1960 D.H Lawrence's controversial novel 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' put Penguin Books in the dock at the Old Bailey, London. They were accused of publishing obscene material but were eventually found not guilty.
1967 A purported bigfoot is filmed at Bluff Creek by Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin in Northern California.
1968 American D ick Fosbury using his unconventional technique wins the men's high jump gold medal with 2.24m at the Mexico City Olympics; "Fosbury Flop" becomes accepted most efficient technique.
1973 Queen Elizabeth II opened the new Sydney Opera House in Australia.
1977 Plane chartered by rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd runs out of fuel and crashes in a wooded area near Gillsburg, Mississippi. Six people are killed, including band members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gains, and Cassie Gaines, and road manager Dean Kilpatrick.
1977 In town for a gig with The Police, Sting kills some time by walking through the red light district of Paris. Watching the ladies of the night ply their trade gives him the inspiration for what becomes the band's first hit: "Roxanne."
1988 The British Government announced plans to change the law so that remaining silent could incriminate rather than protect a suspect.
1997 'Brown Monday' on the London Stock Exchange with £10 billion being wiped off the value of shares after British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown failed to clarify his Government's stance on the European single currency.
2001 Despite 20-14 final round loss to Ireland in Dublin, England retains Six Nations Rugby Championship; set new records for points scored (229), tries scored (29) and overall points difference (+149).
2007 6th Rugby World Cup Final, Stade de France, Saint-Denis: Springboks fullback Percy Montgomery lands 4/4 penalties as South Africa beats England, 15-6.
2010 Chancellor George Osborne unveiled the biggest UK spending cuts for decades, with welfare, councils and police budgets all hit.
The First Division match between Manchester United and Arsenal became the 'Battle of Old Trafford' - or is that one of many 'Battles of Old Trafford' - when a clash between Arsenal's Nigel Winterburn and United's Brian McClair erupted into a full-scale brawl involving 21 players with only Arsenal's 'keeper David Seaman watching on. As a result both clubs were charged with and found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute. Manchester United were docked one point and Arsenal - because they had been involved in a similar brawl the previous season against Norwich - lost two points.
Despite a season during which it often looked as though the good points would be outnumbered by the bad points. A player brawl in a league fixture against Manchester United in October saw Arsenal have two points deducted, and a few weeks later captain Tony Adams was given a four-month prison sentence for drink-driving (he ended up serving 8 weeks). But Arsenal managed to keep up a great run of form throughout the season and were crowned league champions having lost just one league game all season long.
ELVIS COSTELLO AND THE ATTRACTIONS released the single RADIO RADIO, (October 20th 1978).
RADIO RADIO, a song that began life as ‘Radio soul', was an angry opus aimed at the most vacuous and frustrating enemy a recording artist could have — the people that controlled the airwaves.
“You either shut up or get cut up; they don't wanna hear about it It's only inches on the reel-to-reel And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools Tryin' to anesthetize the way that you feel.”
The song itself was a perfect paradox. It would have sounded great on the American airwaves, yet no DJ over the pond would have had the nerve to play it back then. It was a statement of integrity - thumbing the nose at the radio industry while daring them to play it...
1805 At the Battle of Trafalgar, Nelson gave his famous signal, ‘England expects...’ which flew from the HMS Victory shortly after 11:00 a.m. The British won this important battle against Napoleon’s combined French and Spanish fleets off Cape Trafalgar, south-west of Spain and left Britain's navy unchallenged until the 20th century but Nelson was one of the day’s casualties.
1824 Portland cement, the modern building material, was first patented by Joseph Aspdin of Wakefield in Yorkshire. Its name is derived from its similarity to Portland stone, a type of building stone that was quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset.
1854 Florence Nightingale and a staff of 38 women volunteer nurses that she trained, were deployed to the Crimea, where the main British camp was based, fighting in the Crimean War. During her first winter at Scutari, ten times more soldiers died from illnesses such as typhus, typhoid, cholera and dysentery than from battle wounds. She had the sewers flushed and ventilation improved. Almost six months after her arrival death rates were sharply reduced.
1940 Geoff Boycott, Yorkshire and England batsman was born.
1960 Britain launched its first nuclear submarine, HMS Dreadnought, at Barrow. Launched by Queen Elizabeth II on Trafalgar Day she was commissioned into service with the Royal Navy in April 1963 and continued in service until 1980.
1964 Film version of "My Fair Lady" starring Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn premieres in New York.
1966 144 people, 116 of them children, were killed in the small Welsh mining village of Aberfan when tons of slush, from a nearby coal s lag tip weakened by rain, slid downhill and engulfed the village school, a farm and a row of terraced houses. The tragedy occurred at the beginning of the school day and on the day before the school closed for the half-term holiday. The children are buried in Aberfan's cemetery, on the hillside above the valley.
1975 Britain's unemployment figure reached 1,000,000 for the first time since World War II.
1977 Meat Loaf releases the landmark album Bat Out Of ****.
1978 Australian civilian pilot Frederick Valentich vanishes in a Cessna 182 over the Bass Strait south of Melbourne, after reporting contact with an unidentified aircraft.
1984 Austrian Ferrari driver Niki Lauda becomes a 3-time Formula 1 World Drivers champion when he finishes 2nd in the season ending Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril and wins title by just 0.5 from Alain Prost.
1990 Ayrton Senna of Brazil crashes his McLaren during the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka but clinches his second Formula 1 World Drivers Championship.
1997 'Candle in the Wind' - the re-working of the hit single Elton John sang live at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, was declared the biggest selling single in music history.
2007 Finnish Ferrari driver Kimi Räikkönen wins season ending Brazilian F1 Grand Prix to claim his first World Drivers Championship by 1 point from Lewis Hamilton.
2014 Oscar Pistorius is sentenced to five years in prison for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
1878 The first floodlit rugby match took place, between Broughton and Swinton, at Broughton, Lancashire.
1897 World's first car dealer opens in London.
1910 American born Doctor Hawley Crippen was convicted at the Old Bailey Central Criminal Court in London of poisoning his wife Cora. Crippen was hanged on November 23rd at Pentonville prison.
1930 The BBC Symphony Orchestra played their first concert, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult at the Queen’s Hall, London.
1937 The Duke of Windsor formerly King Edward VIII meets Adolf Hitler at his Bavarian retreat the Berghof. The Duchess does not attend the hour-long private meeting she has tea with Rudolph Hess instead.
1957 Stuttering starfish! The children's cartoon hero Captain Pugwash makes his BBC TV debut in a 5 minute animated cartoon called "Down the Hatch".
1964 EMI rejects audition by "High Numbers"; they go on to become "The Who"
1966 A Russian KGB master spy, George Blake, escaped from Wormwood Scrubs in London where he was serving a 40 year sentence for spying against the British Government.
1969 Paul McCartney denies greatly exaggerated rumors of his death.
1972 Travelling home after a session with the Stoke physio Gordon Banks was involved in a car accident which cost him his sight in his right eye and ended the playing career of one of the best goalkeepers the world has known.
1976 The Damned release "New Rose," one of the first ever British punk singles.
1983 The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) held its biggest ever protest against nuclear missiles in London, with an estimated one million people taking part.
1989 Over-competitive McLaren teammates Alain Prost & Ayrton Senna famously collide and skid into an escape road during Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. Prost retires from the race while Senna restarts with a push from the race marshals and goes on to win the race but is later disqualified handing the title to Prost.
1295 The first treaty forming the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France against England is signed in Paris.They agreed to support each other against the threat of attack from England.
1641 The outbreak of the Irish Rebellion began as an attempted coup d'état by Irish Catholic gentry, who tried to seize control of the English administration in Ireland to force concessions for the Catholics living under English rule. However, the coup failed and the rebellion developed into an ethnic conflict between the native Irish Catholics and the English and Scottish Protestant settlers.
1642 The first major battle of the English Civil War took place at Edgehill in South Warwickshire. Charles I and Prince Rupert led the Royalists and the Earl of Essex led the Parliamentarians. It was an inconclusive result that prevented either faction gaining a quick victory in the war, which eventually lasted four years.
1843 Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square was finally completed. It commemorates Admiral Nelson's victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
1941 Walt Disney's animated film "Dumbo" released.
1950 Al Jolson, one of the most popular entertainers of the 1920s, dies at 64 after having a heart attack during a card game in San Francisco, California.
1972 Access credit cards came into use in Britain.
1978 Sid Vicious attempts suicide while at Riker's Detention Center in NYC.
1984 The BBC runs a news report showing shocking and disturbing footage of famine in Ethiopia. Bob Geldof springs into action, setting up the Band-Aid relief effort, which releases the charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" a little over a month later.
1987 Former Champion Jockey Lester Piggott was jailed for three years for tax evasion.
1998 Britney Spears releases her debut single "Baby One More Time"
2001 Apple releases the iPod.
2006 "The Black Parade" 3rd studio album by My Chemical Romance is released.
2012 The switchover to digital televison in the UK was complete when the analogue TV signal in Northern Ireland was turned off on Tuesday night at 23:30 BST. Simultaneously BBC Ceefax, the world's first teletext service, launched on 23rd September 1974 took its final bow with a series of graphics on Ceefax's front page.
2012 "Skyfall", 23rd James Bond film starring Daniel Craig premieres in London.
1537 Henry VIII's 3rd wife, Jane Seymour, died following the birth of future king, Edward VI.
1857 The founding of the world's first official football club, Sheffield Football Club, in Yorkshire, by a group of former students from Cambridge University. The club's finest hour came in 1904 when they won the FA Amateur Cup, a competition conceived after a suggestion by Sheffield. They are commemorated by the English Football Hall of Fame for their significant place in football history.
1931 Gangster Al Capone is sentenced to 11 years for tax evasion.
1945 The United Nations was formed with the aim to 'save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.'
1976 British Formula One driver James Hunt won the Japanese Grand Prix and secured the world championship.
1983 Civil servant Dennis Nilsen, from North London, went on trial accused of six murders and two attempted murders.
1987 Heavyweight boxing champion Frank Bruno knocked out Joe Bugner in Britain's most hyped boxing match, held at White Hart Lane, London. Bruno took home £750,000, Bugner got £250,000.
2003 The legendary supersonic aircraft Concorde made its last commercial passenger flight amid emotional scenes at Heathrow airport.
2004 Manchester United beat Arsenal 2-0 at Old Trafford in the Premier League, amazingly Arsenal's first League defeat since May 2003. Since then the Gunners had gone a record 49 League matches without defeat, including the whole of the 2003/04 season.
In the tunnel after the match tempers boiled over between staff of both clubs and amid the brawl a slice of pizza was thrown at Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson allegedly by Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fàbregas. Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger was furious in his post-match briefing criticising referee Mike Riley for his performance and describing Van Nistelrooy as a cheat. His comments were investigated by The Football Association, who later fined him £15,000 for improper conduct. Van Nistelrooy was retroactively banned for three matches for a challenge on Ashley Cole that was missed by Riley.
1415 'Cry God for Harry, England and Saint George' In the Hundred Year's War, King Henry V's Longbowmen defeated a numerically superior French Army at the Battle of Agincourt. His victory crippled France and started a new period in the war, during which Henry married the French king's daughter and his son, Henry VI, was made heir to the throne of France.
1828 The St Katharine Docks opened in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. They were part of the Port of London in the area now known as the Docklands and are now a popular housing and leisure complex.
1839 Bradshaw's Railway Guide the world's first railway timetable was published in Manchester.
1854 Lord Cardigan led the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War. An ambiguous order from the commander Lord Raglan led Cardigan’s brave cavalry to charge the Russians while fire came from three different sides.
1881 Pablo Picasso one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century was born in Malaga, Spain.
1911 London's last horse drawn omnibus made its way from London Bridge Station to Moorgate.
1951 Margaret Roberts (later Thatcher) aged 26 of the Conservative Party became the youngest candidate to stand at a general election. The Conservatives won a narrow overall majority but the future British Prime Minister failed to win the seat.
1961 Mick Jagger and Keith Richards who haven't seen each other since primary school run into each other at the Dartford train station in England - Keith is on his way to Sidcup Art College, Mick is headed to the London School of Economics. Noticing the Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry albums Mick is carrying Keith strikes up a conversation they later form The Rolling Stones.
1966 Jimi Hendrix Experience play their first UK gig as a private showcase at The Scotch of St. James in London.
1968 The New Yardbirds perform for the first time under their new name Led Zeppelin at a gig at Surrey University, England.
1978 "Halloween" starring Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut is released.
1990 Evander Holyfield KOs Buster Douglas in 3 for heavyweight boxing title.
2019 Leicester City rout Southampton, 9-0 at St. Mary's to record biggest ever win by an away side in an English top-flight league match in the history of the Football League.
2020 Lewis Hamilton won the Portuguese Grand Prix and broke Michael Schumacher's record of the most F1 wins by achieving the 92nd win of his career.
1863 Is seen as the starting date of organised football when at a meeting at the Freemasons’ Tavern in London’s Great Queen Street the Football Association was formed. It has been English football’s governing body ever since and was the first such organisation in the world.
1881 Gunfight at the OK Corral: The most famous shootout in the Wild West occurs between lawmen (including Wyatt Earp) and the Cowboys, with Tom and Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton killed.
1907 The Territorial Army was formed by the Secretary of State for War, Richard Haldane.
1912 Woolwich Foot Tunnel under the Thames river in England opens.
1918 Cecil Chubb gives prehistoric monument Stonehenge to the British nation.
1929 London's world famous buses were painted red.
1965 The Beatles went to Buckingham Palace to be presented with their MBEs by Queen Elizabeth II. Four years later, John Lennon sent back his MBE, stating that he was returning the award in protest against British involvement in Biafra, Nigeria, and Vietnam.
1970 Elton John releases "Your Song," which becomes his first hit.
1973 The Who release Quadrophenia in the UK. Like their 1969 album Tommy, it is a rock opera this time centered on the character Jimmy, a mod on a search for meaning.
1984 "The Terminator" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger is released in the US.
1986 Leading politician Jeffrey Archer was forced to resign from the deputy chairmanship of the Conservative party following allegations that he made a payment to a prostitute to avoid a scandal. He denied the allegations and later fought a successful libel case.
1988 Donald Trump bills Mike Tyson $2,000,000 for 4 months' advisory service.
1989 The re-built Globe Theatre in London reopened for the first time in 350 years.
1993 Michael Jackson is awarded a patent for the system that allows him to lean in unnatural angles during performances of "Smooth Criminal." To recreate the video on stage, Jackson and his dancers wore special shoes that they could insert into pegs set up on stage for the famous lean.
2000 The long awaited report into the spread of BSE or 'mad cow disease' and its fatal human equivalent, CJD, criticised officials, scientists and government ministers.
2001 British troops were put on standby for action in Afghanistan as Tony Blair warned that Osama bin Laden must be stopped.
2014 Camp Bastion, the last UK base in Afghanistan, was handed over to the control of Afghan security forces, ending British combat operations in the country.
2015 "Spectre", 24th James Bond film starring Daniel Craig premieres in London.
1662 Charles II of England sold the coastal town of Dunkirk to King Louis XIV of France.
1936 American Wallis Simpson, the future Duchess of Windsor, was granted a divorce from her second husband Ernest, leaving her free to marry King Edward VIII.
1938 DuPont announces its new synthetic polyamide fiber will be called "nylon"
1952 The BBC screened part one of the 26 part series 'Victory At Sea', Britain's first TV documentary.
1957 Police in Oakland, California, inform Elvis Presley that he is not allowed to swivel his hips onstage in tonight's performance at the Oakland Auditorium. Elvis responds by sarcastically wiggling only his little finger while singing. The cops film the show anyway just in case.
1962 The Rolling Stones record their first demos in London at Curly Clayton Studios, recording covers of songs by Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed and Bo Diddley. The demos get little interest when they shop them to record companies.
1965 An airliner crashed at Heathrow, killing 36 people.
1980 Mark David Chapman buys a .38 revolver at a gun store in Honolulu for $169. On December 8, he uses it to kill John Lennon.
1982 Prince releases his album 1999. It's a breakthrough selling well over 5 million copies worldwide thanks to "Little Red Corvette" and the title track.
2018 EPL club Leicester City’s billionaire Thai owner, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha dies in a helicopter crash in the car park outside the club’s King Power Stadium following 1-1 draw against West Ham United.
1216 Henry III was crowned at Gloucester Cathedral. The boy-king, nine years old, was crowned at St Peter's Abbey now the cathedral. He was the last English monarch to be crowned outside Westminster Abbey.
1664 The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly referred to as the Royal Marines, was established. It was originally known as The Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot.
1726 "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift is published by Benjamin Motte in London.
1831 Michael Faraday demonstrates his dynamo invention an electrical generator.
1893 HMS Havelock, the Royal Navy's first destroyer, went on trials.
1949 The glove puppet Sooty with Harry Corbett made his first appearance on BBC TV.
1958 The State Opening of Parliament was televised for the first time.Prior to the State Opening of Parliament the cellars beneath the Palace of Westminster are searched by the Yeomen of the Guard in their role as Royal bodyguards. This tradition harks back to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 when Guy Fawkes and a group of English Catholics attempted to blow up King James I and the Houses of Parliament and has taken place since 1679.
1959 The first use of a car phone, with a call from Cheshire to London. A mere twenty five people had paid the astronomical sum of £200 each for one of the phones.
1962 The opening of Britain's first urban motorway - the M62 (now M60) around Manchester.
1971 The House of Commons backed Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath and by a majority of 112 voted for Britain to apply to join the EEC - the European Economic Community.
1980 Chesterfield celebrated one of their greatest ever victories in the Anglo-Scottish Cup, it was against mighty Rangers in the quarter-finals of the competition. After drawing the first leg at Ibrox the return was played at Saltergate and 13,914 Chesterfield fans saw their side beat Rangers 3-0 on their way to eventually winning the competition in its final season.
1618 Sir Walter Raleigh, English seafarer, courtier, writer and once a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I (he named Virginia after her) was beheaded at Whitehall. He had been falsely accused of treason and sentenced to death, commuted to imprisonment. He was released after 13 years to try and find the legendary gold of El Dorado. He failed and returned to an undeserved fate.
1843 The world's first telegram was sent, from Paddington to Slough.
1863 Eighteen countries, including Britain, met in Geneva and agreed to form the International Red Cross.
1886 Fred Archer rode the last of his 2746 winners at Newmarket, retiring as a jockey after 16 years.
1929 "Black Tuesday" Wall Street Stock Market crashes triggering the "Great Depression"
1960 Cassius Clay's [Muhammad Ali] 1st professional fight beats Tunney Hunsaker on points in 6 rounds in Louisville, Kentucky.
1965 The Who release single "My Generation" in UK.
1967 London criminal Jack McVitie is murdered by the Kray twins, leading to their eventual imprisonment and downfall.
1975 'Yorkshire Ripper' Peter Sutcliffe kills his first victim, Wilma McCann.
1984 Frankie Goes to Hollywood release their debut album, Welcome To The Pleasuredome.
1986 British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher opens the final stretch of London's Orbital Motorway, the M25. Then the world’s longest ring road at 117 miles.The motorway around Greater London was designed to relieve traffic congestion within the capital.
1988 Two of Britain’s greatest middle distance runners, Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram, re-ran the 367 metre ‘Chariots of Fire’ race around the Great Court at Trinity College, Cambridge. Sebastian Coe was the winner in 45.52 seconds. In the original race Lord Burghley crossed the line in 42.5 seconds.
2012 The UK's first fourth generation (4G) mobile service was launched. 11 cities - London, Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, Glasgow and Southampton had access to network EE's 4G.
2013 The Lonely Planet Guide named Yorkshire as one of the top places in the world to visit. It put the area third in the top 10 world regions, behind destinations in India and Australia.
1470 Wars of the Roses: Henry VI returned to the English throne after the Earl of Warwick (known as Warwick the Kingmaker) defeated the Yorkists in battle.
1485 The coronation of Henry VII of England. He founded the Yeoman of the Guard - 'Beefeaters' - to guard Royal Palaces in London.
1580 English explorer Sir Francis Drake completed his circumnavigation of the world when his ship, the 'Golden Hind', arrived back at Plymouth on the south coast of England.
1925 In his workshop in London, Scotsman John Logie Baird achieved the transmission of the first television pictures using the head of a dummy as his image source.. He then persuaded a 15 year old office boy, William Taynton, to sit in front of a camera, becoming the first live person captured on camera.
1938 A radio broadcast of H. G. Wells "The War of the Worlds", narrated by Orson Welles, allegedly causes a mass panic.
1942 Three British Royal Navy personel - Lt. Tony Fasson, Able Seaman Colin Grazier and canteen assistant Tommy Brown from HMS Petard boarded the sinking German submarine U-559, and retrieved vital instruments and documentation which would later lead the Bletchley Park codebreakers to crack the German Enigma code. Brown was the only one of the three to survive when the submarine sank. All three received the George Cross Medal and Tommy Brown (aged 16 and too young to be at sea at the time ) is the youngest person to have ever received that award.
1952 Clarence Birdseye sells first frozen peas.
1965 English model Jean Shrimpton wore a miniskirt to the first day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival in Australia. The event became a milestone in the advancement of the mini as the defining fashion of the 1960s.
1973 The Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed connecting the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosporus for the first time.
1974 "The Rumble in the Jungle": Muhammad Ali KOs George Foreman in the 8th round in Kinshasa, Zaire; regains world heavyweight boxing title with famous "rope-a-dope" tactic. The win earns him the heavyweight title he was stripped of for refusing induction into the US Army in 1967.
1974 "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" horror film premieres in Los Angeles.
1974 Don Revie managed England for the first time and goals from Mick Channon and Colin Bell (2) gave England an impressive 3-0 win over Czechoslovakia in a Euro qualifier at Wembley. Revie's England side didn't concede a goal in his first six matches in charge and were unbeaten in his first nine (including a 2-0 defeat of West Germany) but exactly a year on - 30th October 1975 - England lost for the first time during Revie's reign away to the Czechs in the return match. Czechoslovakia went on to win the qualifying group and then the tournament itself for the only time in its history.
1982 The Jam announce their breakup. Bandleader Paul Weller forms The Style Council with Mick Talbot shortly thereafter.
1988 Brazilian McLaren driver Ayrton Senna wins Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, his record 8th GP win of the season; clinches first Formula 1 World Drivers Championship.
1990 English and French tunnellers met for the first time underneath the English Channel during the construction of the Channel Tunnel.
1997 Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona announces his retirement from football on his 37th birthday.
2001 Farmer Tony Martin, the loner who shot dead a teenage burglar, was cleared of murder but told he must spend at least another year in jail.
2004 A pod of seven dolphins saved four people swimming in the ocean off Whangarei, New Zealand from being attacked by a 3 metre (10 ft) great white shark. A lifeguard was swimming with his daughter and two of her friends off Ocean beach near Whangarei on the North Island, when seven bottle nosed dolphins began aggressively herding the swimmers into a tight group by doing tight circles around them. The dolphins kept their vigil for 40 minutes until the shark lost interest and the group could swim 100m back to the shore.
2012 Arsenal were 4-0 down after just 37 minutes of a Capital One (League Cup) tie at Reading but the Arsenal fans weren't despondent and sang 'We're going to win 5-4'. But they were wrong - Arsenal won 7-5.
2020 UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces a second four-week lockdown for England.
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1720 The English pirate of the Caribbean, John Rackham was captured by the Royal Navy. He is most remembered for two things: the design of his Jolly Roger flag, a skull with crossed swords, which contributed to the popularization of the design, and for having two female crew members, Mary Read and his lover Anne Bonny.
1822 The first edition of the Sunday Times newspaper.
1915 Prime Minister David Lloyd George granted women their 'Right to Serve', thus opening up many new areas of employment for women. Trade Unionists were concerned that the move would depress wages.
1946 'Muffin the Mule', a wooden puppet operated by Annette Mills (sister of actor Sir John Mills) first appeared in a children's television programme on BBC TV.
1960 D.H Lawrence's controversial novel 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' put Penguin Books in the dock at the Old Bailey, London. They were accused of publishing obscene material but were eventually found not guilty.
1967 A purported bigfoot is filmed at Bluff Creek by Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin in Northern California.
1968 American D ick Fosbury using his unconventional technique wins the men's high jump gold medal with 2.24m at the Mexico City Olympics; "Fosbury Flop" becomes accepted most efficient technique.
1973 Queen Elizabeth II opened the new Sydney Opera House in Australia.
1977 Plane chartered by rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd runs out of fuel and crashes in a wooded area near Gillsburg, Mississippi. Six people are killed, including band members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gains, and Cassie Gaines, and road manager Dean Kilpatrick.
1977 In town for a gig with The Police, Sting kills some time by walking through the red light district of Paris. Watching the ladies of the night ply their trade gives him the inspiration for what becomes the band's first hit: "Roxanne."
1988 The British Government announced plans to change the law so that remaining silent could incriminate rather than protect a suspect.
1997 'Brown Monday' on the London Stock Exchange with £10 billion being wiped off the value of shares after British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown failed to clarify his Government's stance on the European single currency.
2001 Despite 20-14 final round loss to Ireland in Dublin, England retains Six Nations Rugby Championship; set new records for points scored (229), tries scored (29) and overall points difference (+149).
2007 6th Rugby World Cup Final, Stade de France, Saint-Denis: Springboks fullback Percy Montgomery lands 4/4 penalties as South Africa beats England, 15-6.
2010 Chancellor George Osborne unveiled the biggest UK spending cuts for decades, with welfare, councils and police budgets all hit.
The First Division match between Manchester United and Arsenal became the 'Battle of Old Trafford' - or is that one of many 'Battles of Old Trafford' - when a clash between Arsenal's Nigel Winterburn and United's Brian McClair erupted into a full-scale brawl involving 21 players with only Arsenal's 'keeper David Seaman watching on. As a result both clubs were charged with and found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute. Manchester United were docked one point and Arsenal - because they had been involved in a similar brawl the previous season against Norwich - lost two points.
Despite a season during which it often looked as though the good points would be outnumbered by the bad points. A player brawl in a league fixture against Manchester United in October saw Arsenal have two points deducted, and a few weeks later captain Tony Adams was given a four-month prison sentence for drink-driving (he ended up serving 8 weeks). But Arsenal managed to keep up a great run of form throughout the season and were crowned league champions having lost just one league game all season long.
RADIO RADIO, a song that began life as ‘Radio soul', was an angry opus aimed at the most vacuous and frustrating enemy a recording artist could have — the people that controlled the airwaves.
“You either shut up or get cut up; they don't wanna hear about it
It's only inches on the reel-to-reel
And the radio is in the hands of such a lot of fools
Tryin' to anesthetize the way that you feel.”
The song itself was a perfect paradox. It would have sounded great on the American airwaves, yet no DJ over the pond would have had the nerve to play it back then. It was a statement of integrity - thumbing the nose at the radio industry while daring them to play it...
1805 At the Battle of Trafalgar, Nelson gave his famous signal, ‘England expects...’ which flew from the HMS Victory shortly after 11:00 a.m. The British won this important battle against Napoleon’s combined French and Spanish fleets off Cape Trafalgar, south-west of Spain and left Britain's navy unchallenged until the 20th century but Nelson was one of the day’s casualties.
1824 Portland cement, the modern building material, was first patented by Joseph Aspdin of Wakefield in Yorkshire. Its name is derived from its similarity to Portland stone, a type of building stone that was quarried on the Isle of Portland in Dorset.
1854 Florence Nightingale and a staff of 38 women volunteer nurses that she trained, were deployed to the Crimea, where the main British camp was based, fighting in the Crimean War. During her first winter at Scutari, ten times more soldiers died from illnesses such as typhus, typhoid, cholera and dysentery than from battle wounds. She had the sewers flushed and ventilation improved. Almost six months after her arrival death rates were sharply reduced.
1940 Geoff Boycott, Yorkshire and England batsman was born.
1960 Britain launched its first nuclear submarine, HMS Dreadnought, at Barrow. Launched by Queen Elizabeth II on Trafalgar Day she was commissioned into service with the Royal Navy in April 1963 and continued in service until 1980.
1964 Film version of "My Fair Lady" starring Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn premieres in New York.
1966 144 people, 116 of them children, were killed in the small Welsh mining village of Aberfan when tons of slush, from a nearby coal s lag tip weakened by rain, slid downhill and engulfed the village school, a farm and a row of terraced houses. The tragedy occurred at the beginning of the school day and on the day before the school closed for the half-term holiday. The children are buried in Aberfan's cemetery, on the hillside above the valley.
1975 Britain's unemployment figure reached 1,000,000 for the first time since World War II.
1977 Meat Loaf releases the landmark album Bat Out Of ****.
1978 Australian civilian pilot Frederick Valentich vanishes in a Cessna 182 over the Bass Strait south of Melbourne, after reporting contact with an unidentified aircraft.
1984 Austrian Ferrari driver Niki Lauda becomes a 3-time Formula 1 World Drivers champion when he finishes 2nd in the season ending Portuguese Grand Prix at Estoril and wins title by just 0.5 from Alain Prost.
1990 Ayrton Senna of Brazil crashes his McLaren during the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka but clinches his second Formula 1 World Drivers Championship.
1997 'Candle in the Wind' - the re-working of the hit single Elton John sang live at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, was declared the biggest selling single in music history.
2007 Finnish Ferrari driver Kimi Räikkönen wins season ending Brazilian F1 Grand Prix to claim his first World Drivers Championship by 1 point from Lewis Hamilton.
2014 Oscar Pistorius is sentenced to five years in prison for killing his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
1878 The first floodlit rugby match took place, between Broughton and Swinton, at Broughton, Lancashire.
1897 World's first car dealer opens in London.
1910 American born Doctor Hawley Crippen was convicted at the Old Bailey Central Criminal Court in London of poisoning his wife Cora. Crippen was hanged on November 23rd at Pentonville prison.
1930 The BBC Symphony Orchestra played their first concert, conducted by Sir Adrian Boult at the Queen’s Hall, London.
1937 The Duke of Windsor formerly King Edward VIII meets Adolf Hitler at his Bavarian retreat the Berghof. The Duchess does not attend the hour-long private meeting she has tea with Rudolph Hess instead.
1957 Stuttering starfish! The children's cartoon hero Captain Pugwash makes his BBC TV debut in a 5 minute animated cartoon called "Down the Hatch".
1964 EMI rejects audition by "High Numbers"; they go on to become "The Who"
1966 A Russian KGB master spy, George Blake, escaped from Wormwood Scrubs in London where he was serving a 40 year sentence for spying against the British Government.
1969 Paul McCartney denies greatly exaggerated rumors of his death.
1972 Travelling home after a session with the Stoke physio Gordon Banks was involved in a car accident which cost him his sight in his right eye and ended the playing career of one of the best goalkeepers the world has known.
1976 The Damned release "New Rose," one of the first ever British punk singles.
1983 The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) held its biggest ever protest against nuclear missiles in London, with an estimated one million people taking part.
1989 Over-competitive McLaren teammates Alain Prost & Ayrton Senna famously collide and skid into an escape road during Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. Prost retires from the race while Senna restarts with a push from the race marshals and goes on to win the race but is later disqualified handing the title to Prost.
1295 The first treaty forming the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France against England is signed in Paris.They agreed to support each other against the threat of attack from England.
1641 The outbreak of the Irish Rebellion began as an attempted coup d'état by Irish Catholic gentry, who tried to seize control of the English administration in Ireland to force concessions for the Catholics living under English rule. However, the coup failed and the rebellion developed into an ethnic conflict between the native Irish Catholics and the English and Scottish Protestant settlers.
1642 The first major battle of the English Civil War took place at Edgehill in South Warwickshire. Charles I and Prince Rupert led the Royalists and the Earl of Essex led the Parliamentarians. It was an inconclusive result that prevented either faction gaining a quick victory in the war, which eventually lasted four years.
1843 Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square was finally completed. It commemorates Admiral Nelson's victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
1941 Walt Disney's animated film "Dumbo" released.
1950 Al Jolson, one of the most popular entertainers of the 1920s, dies at 64 after having a heart attack during a card game in San Francisco, California.
1972 Access credit cards came into use in Britain.
1978 Sid Vicious attempts suicide while at Riker's Detention Center in NYC.
1984 The BBC runs a news report showing shocking and disturbing footage of famine in Ethiopia. Bob Geldof springs into action, setting up the Band-Aid relief effort, which releases the charity single "Do They Know It's Christmas?" a little over a month later.
1987 Former Champion Jockey Lester Piggott was jailed for three years for tax evasion.
1998 Britney Spears releases her debut single "Baby One More Time"
2001 Apple releases the iPod.
2006 "The Black Parade" 3rd studio album by My Chemical Romance is released.
2012 The switchover to digital televison in the UK was complete when the analogue TV signal in Northern Ireland was turned off on Tuesday night at 23:30 BST. Simultaneously BBC Ceefax, the world's first teletext service, launched on 23rd September 1974 took its final bow with a series of graphics on Ceefax's front page.
2012 "Skyfall", 23rd James Bond film starring Daniel Craig premieres in London.
1537 Henry VIII's 3rd wife, Jane Seymour, died following the birth of future king, Edward VI.
1857 The founding of the world's first official football club, Sheffield Football Club, in Yorkshire, by a group of former students from Cambridge University. The club's finest hour came in 1904 when they won the FA Amateur Cup, a competition conceived after a suggestion by Sheffield. They are commemorated by the English Football Hall of Fame for their significant place in football history.
1931 Gangster Al Capone is sentenced to 11 years for tax evasion.
1945 The United Nations was formed with the aim to 'save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.'
1976 British Formula One driver James Hunt won the Japanese Grand Prix and secured the world championship.
1983 Civil servant Dennis Nilsen, from North London, went on trial accused of six murders and two attempted murders.
1987 Heavyweight boxing champion Frank Bruno knocked out Joe Bugner in Britain's most hyped boxing match, held at White Hart Lane, London. Bruno took home £750,000, Bugner got £250,000.
2003 The legendary supersonic aircraft Concorde made its last commercial passenger flight amid emotional scenes at Heathrow airport.
2004 Manchester United beat Arsenal 2-0 at Old Trafford in the Premier League, amazingly Arsenal's first League defeat since May 2003. Since then the Gunners had gone a record 49 League matches without defeat, including the whole of the 2003/04 season.
In the tunnel after the match tempers boiled over between staff of both clubs and amid the brawl a slice of pizza was thrown at Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson allegedly by Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fàbregas. Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger was furious in his post-match briefing criticising referee Mike Riley for his performance and describing Van Nistelrooy as a cheat. His comments were investigated by The Football Association, who later fined him £15,000 for improper conduct. Van Nistelrooy was retroactively banned for three matches for a challenge on Ashley Cole that was missed by Riley.
1415 'Cry God for Harry, England and Saint George' In the Hundred Year's War, King Henry V's Longbowmen defeated a numerically superior French Army at the Battle of Agincourt. His victory crippled France and started a new period in the war, during which Henry married the French king's daughter and his son, Henry VI, was made heir to the throne of France.
1828 The St Katharine Docks opened in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. They were part of the Port of London in the area now known as the Docklands and are now a popular housing and leisure complex.
1839 Bradshaw's Railway Guide the world's first railway timetable was published in Manchester.
1854 Lord Cardigan led the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War. An ambiguous order from the commander Lord Raglan led Cardigan’s brave cavalry to charge the Russians while fire came from three different sides.
1881 Pablo Picasso one of the greatest and most influential artists of the 20th century was born in Malaga, Spain.
1911 London's last horse drawn omnibus made its way from London Bridge Station to Moorgate.
1951 Margaret Roberts (later Thatcher) aged 26 of the Conservative Party became the youngest candidate to stand at a general election. The Conservatives won a narrow overall majority but the future British Prime Minister failed to win the seat.
1961 Mick Jagger and Keith Richards who haven't seen each other since primary school run into each other at the Dartford train station in England - Keith is on his way to Sidcup Art College, Mick is headed to the London School of Economics. Noticing the Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry albums Mick is carrying Keith strikes up a conversation they later form The Rolling Stones.
1966 Jimi Hendrix Experience play their first UK gig as a private showcase at The Scotch of St. James in London.
1968 The New Yardbirds perform for the first time under their new name Led Zeppelin at a gig at Surrey University, England.
1978 "Halloween" starring Jamie Lee Curtis in her film debut is released.
1990 Evander Holyfield KOs Buster Douglas in 3 for heavyweight boxing title.
2019 Leicester City rout Southampton, 9-0 at St. Mary's to record biggest ever win by an away side in an English top-flight league match in the history of the Football League.
2020 Lewis Hamilton won the Portuguese Grand Prix and broke Michael Schumacher's record of the most F1 wins by achieving the 92nd win of his career.
1863 Is seen as the starting date of organised football when at a meeting at the Freemasons’ Tavern in London’s Great Queen Street the Football Association was formed. It has been English football’s governing body ever since and was the first such organisation in the world.
1881 Gunfight at the OK Corral: The most famous shootout in the Wild West occurs between lawmen (including Wyatt Earp) and the Cowboys, with Tom and Frank McLaury and Billy Clanton killed.
1907 The Territorial Army was formed by the Secretary of State for War, Richard Haldane.
1912 Woolwich Foot Tunnel under the Thames river in England opens.
1918 Cecil Chubb gives prehistoric monument Stonehenge to the British nation.
1929 London's world famous buses were painted red.
1965 The Beatles went to Buckingham Palace to be presented with their MBEs by Queen Elizabeth II. Four years later, John Lennon sent back his MBE, stating that he was returning the award in protest against British involvement in Biafra, Nigeria, and Vietnam.
1970 Elton John releases "Your Song," which becomes his first hit.
1973 The Who release Quadrophenia in the UK. Like their 1969 album Tommy, it is a rock opera this time centered on the character Jimmy, a mod on a search for meaning.
1984 "The Terminator" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger is released in the US.
1986 Leading politician Jeffrey Archer was forced to resign from the deputy chairmanship of the Conservative party following allegations that he made a payment to a prostitute to avoid a scandal. He denied the allegations and later fought a successful libel case.
1988 Donald Trump bills Mike Tyson $2,000,000 for 4 months' advisory service.
1989 The re-built Globe Theatre in London reopened for the first time in 350 years.
1993 Michael Jackson is awarded a patent for the system that allows him to lean in unnatural angles during performances of "Smooth Criminal." To recreate the video on stage, Jackson and his dancers wore special shoes that they could insert into pegs set up on stage for the famous lean.
2000 The long awaited report into the spread of BSE or 'mad cow disease' and its fatal human equivalent, CJD, criticised officials, scientists and government ministers.
2001 British troops were put on standby for action in Afghanistan as Tony Blair warned that Osama bin Laden must be stopped.
2014 Camp Bastion, the last UK base in Afghanistan, was handed over to the control of Afghan security forces, ending British combat operations in the country.
2015 "Spectre", 24th James Bond film starring Daniel Craig premieres in London.
Celebrating the 42nd anniversary of the release of the single ONE STEP BEYOND by MADNESS.
Celebrating the 42nd anniversary of the release of the single ETON RIFLES by THE JAM.
TUNE! x 2
1662 Charles II of England sold the coastal town of Dunkirk to King Louis XIV of France.
1936 American Wallis Simpson, the future Duchess of Windsor, was granted a divorce from her second husband Ernest, leaving her free to marry King Edward VIII.
1938 DuPont announces its new synthetic polyamide fiber will be called "nylon"
1952 The BBC screened part one of the 26 part series 'Victory At Sea', Britain's first TV documentary.
1957 Police in Oakland, California, inform Elvis Presley that he is not allowed to swivel his hips onstage in tonight's performance at the Oakland Auditorium. Elvis responds by sarcastically wiggling only his little finger while singing. The cops film the show anyway just in case.
1962 The Rolling Stones record their first demos in London at Curly Clayton Studios, recording covers of songs by Muddy Waters, Jimmy Reed and Bo Diddley. The demos get little interest when they shop them to record companies.
1965 An airliner crashed at Heathrow, killing 36 people.
1980 Mark David Chapman buys a .38 revolver at a gun store in Honolulu for $169. On December 8, he uses it to kill John Lennon.
1982 Prince releases his album 1999. It's a breakthrough selling well over 5 million copies worldwide thanks to "Little Red Corvette" and the title track.
2018 EPL club Leicester City’s billionaire Thai owner, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha dies in a helicopter crash in the car park outside the club’s King Power Stadium following 1-1 draw against West Ham United.
"Pretty women out walking with gorillas down my street"
One of the best records of all time.
1216 Henry III was crowned at Gloucester Cathedral. The boy-king, nine years old, was crowned at St Peter's Abbey now the cathedral. He was the last English monarch to be crowned outside Westminster Abbey.
1664 The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly referred to as the Royal Marines, was established. It was originally known as The Duke of York and Albany's Maritime Regiment of Foot.
1726 "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift is published by Benjamin Motte in London.
1831 Michael Faraday demonstrates his dynamo invention an electrical generator.
1893 HMS Havelock, the Royal Navy's first destroyer, went on trials.
1949 The glove puppet Sooty with Harry Corbett made his first appearance on BBC TV.
1958 The State Opening of Parliament was televised for the first time.Prior to the State Opening of Parliament the cellars beneath the Palace of Westminster are searched by the Yeomen of the Guard in their role as Royal bodyguards. This tradition harks back to the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 when Guy Fawkes and a group of English Catholics attempted to blow up King James I and the Houses of Parliament and has taken place since 1679.
1959 The first use of a car phone, with a call from Cheshire to London. A mere twenty five people had paid the astronomical sum of £200 each for one of the phones.
1962 The opening of Britain's first urban motorway - the M62 (now M60) around Manchester.
1971 The House of Commons backed Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath and by a majority of 112 voted for Britain to apply to join the EEC - the European Economic Community.
1980 Chesterfield celebrated one of their greatest ever victories in the Anglo-Scottish Cup, it was against mighty Rangers in the quarter-finals of the competition. After drawing the first leg at Ibrox the return was played at Saltergate and 13,914 Chesterfield fans saw their side beat Rangers 3-0 on their way to eventually winning the competition in its final season.
1618 Sir Walter Raleigh, English seafarer, courtier, writer and once a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I (he named Virginia after her) was beheaded at Whitehall. He had been falsely accused of treason and sentenced to death, commuted to imprisonment. He was released after 13 years to try and find the legendary gold of El Dorado. He failed and returned to an undeserved fate.
1843 The world's first telegram was sent, from Paddington to Slough.
1863 Eighteen countries, including Britain, met in Geneva and agreed to form the International Red Cross.
1886 Fred Archer rode the last of his 2746 winners at Newmarket, retiring as a jockey after 16 years.
1929 "Black Tuesday" Wall Street Stock Market crashes triggering the "Great Depression"
1960 Cassius Clay's [Muhammad Ali] 1st professional fight beats Tunney Hunsaker on points in 6 rounds in Louisville, Kentucky.
1965 The Who release single "My Generation" in UK.
1967 London criminal Jack McVitie is murdered by the Kray twins, leading to their eventual imprisonment and downfall.
1975 'Yorkshire Ripper' Peter Sutcliffe kills his first victim, Wilma McCann.
1984 Frankie Goes to Hollywood release their debut album, Welcome To The Pleasuredome.
1986 British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher opens the final stretch of London's Orbital Motorway, the M25. Then the world’s longest ring road at 117 miles.The motorway around Greater London was designed to relieve traffic congestion within the capital.
1988 Two of Britain’s greatest middle distance runners, Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram, re-ran the 367 metre ‘Chariots of Fire’ race around the Great Court at Trinity College, Cambridge. Sebastian Coe was the winner in 45.52 seconds. In the original race Lord Burghley crossed the line in 42.5 seconds.
2012 The UK's first fourth generation (4G) mobile service was launched. 11 cities - London, Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, Glasgow and Southampton had access to network EE's 4G.
2013 The Lonely Planet Guide named Yorkshire as one of the top places in the world to visit. It put the area third in the top 10 world regions, behind destinations in India and Australia.
1470 Wars of the Roses: Henry VI returned to the English throne after the Earl of Warwick (known as Warwick the Kingmaker) defeated the Yorkists in battle.
1485 The coronation of Henry VII of England. He founded the Yeoman of the Guard - 'Beefeaters' - to guard Royal Palaces in London.
1580 English explorer Sir Francis Drake completed his circumnavigation of the world when his ship, the 'Golden Hind', arrived back at Plymouth on the south coast of England.
1925 In his workshop in London, Scotsman John Logie Baird achieved the transmission of the first television pictures using the head of a dummy as his image source.. He then persuaded a 15 year old office boy, William Taynton, to sit in front of a camera, becoming the first live person captured on camera.
1938 A radio broadcast of H. G. Wells "The War of the Worlds", narrated by Orson Welles, allegedly causes a mass panic.
1942 Three British Royal Navy personel - Lt. Tony Fasson, Able Seaman Colin Grazier and canteen assistant Tommy Brown from HMS Petard boarded the sinking German submarine U-559, and retrieved vital instruments and documentation which would later lead the Bletchley Park codebreakers to crack the German Enigma code. Brown was the only one of the three to survive when the submarine sank. All three received the George Cross Medal and Tommy Brown (aged 16 and too young to be at sea at the time ) is the youngest person to have ever received that award.
1952 Clarence Birdseye sells first frozen peas.
1965 English model Jean Shrimpton wore a miniskirt to the first day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival in Australia. The event became a milestone in the advancement of the mini as the defining fashion of the 1960s.
1973 The Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, Turkey is completed connecting the continents of Europe and Asia over the Bosporus for the first time.
1974 "The Rumble in the Jungle": Muhammad Ali KOs George Foreman in the 8th round in Kinshasa, Zaire; regains world heavyweight boxing title with famous "rope-a-dope" tactic. The win earns him the heavyweight title he was stripped of for refusing induction into the US Army in 1967.
1974 "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" horror film premieres in Los Angeles.
1974 Don Revie managed England for the first time and goals from Mick Channon and Colin Bell (2) gave England an impressive 3-0 win over Czechoslovakia in a Euro qualifier at Wembley. Revie's England side didn't concede a goal in his first six matches in charge and were unbeaten in his first nine (including a 2-0 defeat of West Germany) but exactly a year on - 30th October 1975 - England lost for the first time during Revie's reign away to the Czechs in the return match. Czechoslovakia went on to win the qualifying group and then the tournament itself for the only time in its history.
1982 The Jam announce their breakup. Bandleader Paul Weller forms The Style Council with Mick Talbot shortly thereafter.
1988 Brazilian McLaren driver Ayrton Senna wins Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, his record 8th GP win of the season; clinches first Formula 1 World Drivers Championship.
1990 English and French tunnellers met for the first time underneath the English Channel during the construction of the Channel Tunnel.
1997 Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona announces his retirement from football on his 37th birthday.
2001 Farmer Tony Martin, the loner who shot dead a teenage burglar, was cleared of murder but told he must spend at least another year in jail.
2004 A pod of seven dolphins saved four people swimming in the ocean off Whangarei, New Zealand from being attacked by a 3 metre (10 ft) great white shark. A lifeguard was swimming with his daughter and two of her friends off Ocean beach near Whangarei on the North Island, when seven bottle nosed dolphins began aggressively herding the swimmers into a tight group by doing tight circles around them. The dolphins kept their vigil for 40 minutes until the shark lost interest and the group could swim 100m back to the shore.
2012 Arsenal were 4-0 down after just 37 minutes of a Capital One (League Cup) tie at Reading but the Arsenal fans weren't despondent and sang 'We're going to win 5-4'. But they were wrong - Arsenal won 7-5.
2020 UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announces a second four-week lockdown for England.