1931 - The official opening of Whipsnade Zoo near Dunstable, in Bedfordshire. Animals began arriving at Whipsnade in 1928, with pheasants, llama, wombats and skunks among the first to arrive.

1981 - Peter Sutcliffe, known as the Yorkshire Ripper, was sentenced to life imprisonment after the judge described him as ‘an unusually dangerous man’. He was found guilty of killing 13 women and the attempted murder of 7 others.

1932 - American Amelia Earhart landed in Derry, Ireland, after taking off from Newfoundland the previous day. It was the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean by a female pilot.

1913 - The first Chelsea Flower Show was held in the grounds of the Royal Hospital, attracting around 200,000 visitors.

2013 - At 1:00 p.m. BST the aircraft carrier Ark Royal left Portsmouth Harbour for the final time, to be towed to Turkey for scrap. The Royal Navy’s former flagship had been decommissioned early following the 2010 defence review.

1991 - Chemist Helen Sharman from Sheffield in South Yorkshire was the first Briton to go into space as a participant in a Soviet space mission. Sharman was selected from over 13,000 applicants through Project Juno.

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.