1972 - Last human landing on the Moon. Apollo 17 was the last mission of the United States’ Apollo lunar landing program. It was also the sixth and the last time humans landed on the Moon.

1982 - 30,000 women formed a 9 mile human chain that encircled Greenham Common air base in Berkshire, in protest against the proposed siting of US Cruise missiles there.

2005 - A huge fire continued to burn at Buncefield oil depot near Hemel Hempstead in Hertfordshire. It was the largest of its kind in peacetime Europe and the noise of the explosions could be heard as far away as the Netherlands.

1936 - Edward VIII signed to abdicate the British throne. Edward VIII signed his Declaration of Abdication (in the presence of his younger brothers: Prince Albert, Duke of York, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester; and Prince George, Duke of Kent) so that he could marry Wallis Simpson.

2012 - The death of the British astronomer and broadcaster Sir Patrick Moore, aged 89. He was the presenter of the BBC’s Sky At Night for over 50 years, from its first airing on 24th April 1957.

1864 - The Clifton Suspension Bridge spanning the Avon Gorge and the River Avon was finally opened. It was from this bridge that the first modern bungee jumps were taken.

1941 - Pearl Harbor was attacked. The Imperial Japanese Navy used 353 planes to attack the US fleet at Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor Naval Base. The attack killed 2,403 people.

2017 - Scientists discovered the most distant supermassive black hole. It’s estimated to be 13 billion light-years away and 800 million times the mass of our Sun.

1958 - Prime Minister Harold Macmillan 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.