1997 - British astronaut, Michael Foale, returned safely to earth aboard the space shuttle 'Atlantis' after four and a half months on 'MIR', the Russian space station.

1936 - The start of the ‘Jarrow March’ – around 200 unemployed shipyard workers from Jarrow in north east England began walking to London to protest about the lack of jobs. The protestors arrived on 31st October.

2013 - 93 year old Clifford Dadson, from Cumbria become the oldest graduate in the UK after receiving an Arts degree from the Open University. He began studying when his wife, Rae, passed away in 2009 and has vowed to continue studying by signing up to a religious module with the university.

1952 - News of the end of tea rationing means Britons will soon be able to enjoy unlimited “cuppas” for the first time in 12 years. During a speech in Newcastle the Minister of Food, Major Gwilym Lloyd-George, said rationing and price controls on tea would be lifted the following Sunday.

1995 - British rock band Oasis released their second album, “(What’s the Story) Morning Glory?” The album sold a record 347,000 copies in its first week.

1990 - A large explosion above the Pacific Ocean turned out to be a meteorite. It was originally thought to be a nuclear event; however, analysis concluded that the exploding object had been a stony, 100-ton asteroid.

1840 - The foundation stone for Nelson’s Column (laid by Charles Davidson Scott) was laid in Trafalgar Square and completed in 1843.

2007 - Calder Hall, the world’s first commercial nuclear power station, was demolished in a controlled explosion. When it closed on 31st March 2003, the first reactor had been in use for nearly 47 years.

1928 - Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered what later became known as penicillin when he found that a mould had developed on an accidentally contaminated staphylococcus culture plate. His ‘bacteria killer’ discovery changed the world of modern medicine and has saved millions of people around the world.