2016 - Scientists discovered the oldest living Greenland Shark, with an estimated age of 392 years old. The international team of scientists declared the shark the longest-living vertebrate in the world.

2017 - A century-old fruit cake was discovered in Antarctica that was “almost edible.” The cake was found wrapped in paper inside a tin, and it is believed to have been made by the British biscuit company Huntley & Palmers.

1984 - Daley Thompson of Great Britain scores 8,797 points to win the Olympic decathlon in Los Angeles and broke the world record for the event four times. He was unbeaten in competition for nine years.

1940 - The German Luftwaffe began a series of daylight air raids on Britain and so began The Battle of Britain which would continue into the following October.

1995 - British athlete Jonathan Edwards twice broke his own world triple jump record, becoming the first man to clear 18 metres - whilst winning the gold medal in the World Athletics Championships in Gothenburg.

2012 - Pioneering astronomer and physicist Sir Bernard Lovell, the founder of University of Manchester’s Jodrell Bank Observatory died, aged 98.

1996 - It was reported that the long running UK TV music show "Top Of The Pops" had hit rock bottom with it's lowest audience ever - only two and a half million viewers. In its heyday the show attracted over 17 million viewers each week.

2012 - The annual stinging nettle-eating competition, started in 1986, was held at The Bottle Inn pub at Marshwood near Bridport in Dorset. The current record at the event for the most amount of nettles eaten in one hour is 76ft (23m).

1926 - Manually operated three-colour traffic lights were first used in Piccadilly, London with automatic traffic lights making their first appearance on an experimental basis in Princes Square, Wolverhampton, during November 1927.