1825 - The world’s first public railway service began with the opening of the Stockton and Darlington Railway. Built by George Stephenson, the track was 27 miles long, and the steam locomotive pulled 32 passenger wagons at ten miles per hour.

1997 - Two earthquakes strike the Italian regions of Umbria and the Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi to collapse and damaging priceless artefacts.

1977 - Independent airline owner Freddie Laker took on the main commercial airlines with his first ‘Skytrain’ service between London and New York... Look how comefy those seats look!

2009 - The UK’s largest haul of Anglo-Saxon treasure was discovered buried in a field in Staffordshire. Experts said that the collection of 1,500 gold and silver pieces, which may date to the 7th Century, was unparalleled in size and worth “a seven-figure sum”.

2019 - Travel company Thomas Cook goes into liquidation, stranding 600,000 travellers worldwide with 150,000 of them being British.

1934 - The worst pit disaster in Britain for 21 years killed more than 260 miners in an explosion and fire at the Gresford Mine in Wales.

1984 - Police and miners clashed at a pit in Maltby, South Yorkshire, in one of the biggest pickets since the miners’ strike began.

1997 - Elton John started a six week run at No.1 in the UK singles chart with “Candle in the Wind ’97’ as a tribute to Princess Diana. It became the best-selling single of all time.

1975 - The first episode of Fawlty Towers aired on 19 September 1975. Audiences were keen to see what John Cleese would do after Monty Python, but at first the situation comedy received some less than enthusiastic reviews.