1991 - Chemist Helen Sharman from Sheffield was the first Briton to go into space, as a participant in a Soviet space mission.

1899 - Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone of the newly named Victoria & Albert Museum, and proclaimed, "I trust it will remain for ages a monument of discerning liberty and a source of refinement and progress".

1943 - The famous ‘Dam Busters’ raid by the 617 Squadron of Lancaster bombers led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson breached the Mohne, Eder and Sorpe dams in Germany using the ‘bouncing’ bombs developed by Dr Barnes Wallis.

1921 - The formation of the British Legion by Earl Haig (known as 'Butcher of the Somme').. It brought together four National Organisations of ex-Service men that had established themselves after the Great War.

1894 - Blackpool Tower first opened to the public who paid a 6d (six pence) entrance fee, six pence more for a ride in the lifts to the top, and a further six pence for the circus.

1949 - Britain’s first jet bomber, the Canberra, was given its first test flight at Warton in Lancashire and was flown by Wing Cdr. RP Beaumont.

1945 - The publication of the first of the 'Thomas the Tank Engine' series by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry. It was entitled 'The Three Railway Engines' and featured Edward, Gordon and Henry.

1964 - Interior designer and businessman Terence Conran opened his first Habitat Shop in London's Fulham Road.

1824 - The National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, London opened to the public. It houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900.