1985 - The first episode of the BBC soap opera, EastEnders was screened. 13 million viewers watched as Arthur Fowler, Ali Osman and Den Watts forced their way into Reg Cox's flat and found Reg near death. Several weeks later Nick Cotton was revealed as Reg's murderer.

1990 - Freddie Mercury made his final public appearance on stage when he joined fellow band members Brian May, John Deacon and Roger Taylor to collect the Brit Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, held at the Dominion Theatre in London.

1955 - Fanny Cradock's first cookery programme Kitchen Magic, was broadcast on television. She mostly worked with her then common-law husband Johnny Cradock, adopting his surname long before they married.

2020 - The 80-meter cargo vessel MV Alta washed ashore near Ballycotton, County Cork, Ireland, after being driven onto rocks by Storm Dennis.

1998 - The Angel of the North sculpture by Antony Gormley is installed at Low Eighton in Gateshead.

1992 – Wayne's World, the hit American comedy film starring Mike Myers and Dana Carvey, was released in the United States.

1996 - Take That split up. The biggest band of the 90s announced their demise in front of the world's press at The Hilton in Manchester.

2017 - Elaine Hopley, a 45 year old Scottish mother-of-two, broke the solo female record in a prestigious rowing race across the Atlantic.

1983 – Police launched a mass murder investigation in London after discovering human remains in drains. Civil servant Dennis Andrew Nilsen, 37, was later charged with 12 murders and sentenced to six life sentences.