1985 - Oxford University snubbed Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher by refusing her an honorary degree. Academics led a campaign against honouring Mrs. Thatcher in protest against the government’s cuts in funding for education.

1986 - Space Shuttle Challenger exploded just 73 seconds after takeoff, killing all seven crew members. Several crew survived the initial breakup of the craft but not the impact of the Atlantic Ocean. The explosion was caused by a failure of an O-ring seal in one of the solid rocket boosters, which led to a breach in the fuel tank.

2001 - The first Holocaust Memorial Day was held in Britain on the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet troops.

1926 - John Logie Baird gave a special public demonstration of television to members of the Royal Institution in London.

1995 - After being sent off in a Premier League match at Crystal Palace, Manchester United’s Eric Cantona launches a kung-fu attack on Palace fan Matthew Simmonds.

2015 - A racehorse named Sir Winston Churchill netted a win, on the 50th anniversary of the wartime leader's death, in the 3:25pm race at Uttoxeter racecourse.

2005 - Former Happy Mondays dancer Bez, won the £50,000 Celebrity Big Brother prize after gaining 54% of the final viewer vote. The "Madchester" pop legend danced his way to becoming the sixth member of the indie-dance band in the late-1980s.

1901 - Queen Victoria died after being diagnosed with ‘cerebral exhaustion’, aged 81 at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. At the time, her reign was the longest in British history, spanning 63 years.

1990 - John McEnroe becomes the first player ever to be expelled from the Australian Open tennis event.