1958 - Prime Minister Harold Macmillan (center) opened the Preston bypass in Lancashire. It was the first stretch of motorway in Britain and is now part of the M6 and M55 motorways.

1952 - A lethal fog began to cover London, lasting for five days, causing the term “smog” to be termed – a combination of smoke and fog.

1992 - The first text message was sent to a mobile phone by Vodafone engineer Neil Papworth in Berkshire. It was sent to test out the technology and read Merry Christmas.

1697 - The rebuilt St Paul’s Cathedral, the work of Sir Christopher Wren, was opened. The previous cathedral had been destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666.

2010 - Large parts of the UK were brought to a standstill by the early freeze. Temperatures plunged again overnight to -16C (3F) in the Scottish Highland after one of the coldest starts to December in more than 20 years.

1934 - The steam locomotive Flying Scotsman (Engine No. 4472) became the first to officially exceed 100mph. She recently underwent major restoration at the National Railway Museum in York.

2015 - Great Britain won the Davis Cup for the first time since 1936 after Andy Murray beat Belgium's David Goffin to clinch the decisive point in Ghent, Belgium.

1935 - The Miles quadruplets (Ann, Ernest, Michael and Paul) were born in Cambridgeshire and were the first British quads to survive infancy.

1944 - Between 3,500 and 4,000 tons of explosives stored in a cavern beneath Staffordshire detonated, killing 68 people and wiping out an entire farm. The explosion was heard over 100 miles away in London, and recorded as an earthquake in Geneva.