1979 - The UK release of the controversial comedy film Monty Python's "Life of Brian". The film tells the story of Brian Cohen, a young Jewish man who is born on the same day as, and next door to, Jesus Christ and is subsequently mistaken for the Messiah.

1987 - An IRA bomb exploded shortly before a Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, killing 11 people.

1945 - Captain H J Wilson became the first man to exceed 600 miles per hour (970 km/h), flying a Gloster Meteor jet fighter at Herne Bay in Kent. The aircraft was powered by two 3,500 lb thrust Rolls Royce Derwent V turbojets.

2011 - Sir Alex Ferguson celebrated 25 years as manager of Manchester United, making him the longest serving manager in their history and the longest serving manager in English League football.

1605 - Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes is arrested in the cellars of the Houses of Parliament, where he had planted gunpowder in an attempt to blow up the building and kill King James I of England.

2001 - The first Harry Potter film “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” premiered in Leicester Square, London introducing young stars Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson.

2014 - One World Trade Center opened in New York City on the site of the former World Trade Center complex, which had been largely destroyed in the September 11, 2001, attacks.

2012 - It was announced that more than 100 post boxes, painted gold to celebrate the success of Britain’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes, would remain gold on a permanent basis.

1848 - WH Smith opened its first railway bookstall, at Euston Station in London. These bookstalls become outlets for cheap editions of publications produced for railway travellers, the popular 'yellowbacks'.