1997 - Two earthquakes strike the Italian regions of Umbria and the Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi to collapse and damaging priceless artefacts.

1977 - Independent airline owner Freddie Laker took on the main commercial airlines with his first ‘Skytrain’ service between London and New York… Look how comfortable those seats look!

2009 - The UK's largest haul of Anglo-Saxon treasure was discovered buried in a field in Staffordshire. Terry Herbert, who found it on farmland using a metal detector, said that it was a metal detectorist's dream.

2019 - Travel company Thomas Cook (founded by Thomas Cook, a Baptist cabinet maker, on 5th July 1841) goes into liquidation, stranding 600,000 travellers worldwide with 150,000 of them being British.

1934 - The worst pit disaster in Britain for 21 years killed more than 260 miners in an explosion and fire at the Gresford Mine in Wales.

1984 - Police and miners clashed at a pit in Maltby, South Yorkshire, in one of the biggest pickets since the miners’ strike began.

1997 - Elton John started a six week run at No.1 in the UK singles chart with “Candle in the Wind ’97’ as a tribute to Princess Diana. It became the best-selling single of all time.

2022 - The State Funeral for Her Majesty The Queen took place at Westminster Abbey. The Queen's Coffin had been Lying-in-State since the evening of Wednesday 14th September.

2014 - A referendum was held in Scotland, with one single question on the ballot paper - "Should Scotland be an independent country?" The "No" side won, with 2,001,926 (55.3%) voting against independence and 1,617,989 (44.7%) voting in favour.