1771 – Richard Trevithick, Cornish engineer was born. The son of a mining captain, he performed poorly in school, but went on to be an early pioneer in steam-powered rail. Trevithick built the first full-scale working railway steam locomotive, called the ‘Coalbrookdale Locomotive’ in 1802.

1829 – The British Parliament passed the Catholic Emancipation Act, lifting restrictions imposed on Catholics at the time of Henry VIII.

1892 – The birth of Sir Arthur Travers Harris, Royal Air Force Bomber commander, nicknamed ‘Bomber’ Harris by the press, and often within the RAF as ‘Butcher’ Harris. He instituted the mass bombing raids over Germany, including the controversial blanket bombing of Dresden.

1892 – The birth of Sir Robert Alexander Watson-Watt, considered by many to be the inventor of radar. The system provided the vital advance information that helped the Royal Air Force win the Battle of Britain.

1912 – The formation of the Royal Flying Corps (later incorporated into the RAF).

1919 – British troops opened fire on 10,000 unarmed civilians at Amritsar in India who had defied the restrictions against public gatherings. 379 people were killed and 1,200 wounded.

1922 – John Braine, English novelist was born. His books included best sellers ‘Room at the Top’ and ‘Life at the Top’.

1935 – Imperial Airways and QANTAS inaugurated their London to Australia air service.

1936 – Luton Town footballer Joe Payne, aged 22, set a goal scoring record when he scored ten goals in one match against Bristol Rovers.

1937 – The birth of Edward Fox, stage, film and television actor. He is generally associated with portraying the role of the upper-class Englishman, such as the title character in the film The Day of the Jackal (1973) and King Edward VIII in Edward & Mrs. Simpson (1978).

1992 – Neil Kinnock resigned as Labour Party leader. He blamed the Conservative backed press for his party’s defeat at the general election.

1994 – Star Trek actor George Takei had an asteroid named after him. The asteroid 7307 Takei was discovered on this day from Nachi-Katsuura Observatory in Japan.

2014 – New reasearch defined Britishness as the monarchy, the BBC and pubs, with William Shakespeare, the House of Commons and our weather topping the list. The British Social Attitudes survey found that a third of people were very proud to be British, compared with 43 per cent a decade previously.