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.

1805 - Scottish civil engineer Thomas Telford designed and completed The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct. The aqueduct allowed the Llangollen Canal to cross the River Dee in the Vale of Llangollen in northeast Wales.

1984 - The cream of the British pop world including Bono, George Michael, Boy George, Paul Young and Sting gathered to record the historic Do They Know It’s Christmas? as Band Aid.

1991 - Queen frontman Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara) died at the age of 45, following complications from the AIDS virus. His death came just one day after he announced his diagnosis. Mercury co-founded Queen in 1970, and remained the band’s frontman throughout his life.

2014 - Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton wins the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit to clinch his second Formula 1 World Drivers Championship.