1904 – The first performance in London of James Barrie’s most famous work, Peter Pan. A Broadway production was mounted in 1905 and the play has since seen adaptation as a pantomime, a stage musical, a television special, and several films, including a 1924 silent film, a 1953 animated Disney full-length feature, and a 2003 live action production with state of the art special effects.

1918 – A British sovereign welcomed an American President to Britain for the first time when King George V and Queen Mary met President and Mrs. Wilson at Charing Cross Railway Station and then escorted them to Buckingham Palace. A state banquet was held at the palace and President Wilson visited Carlisle, his mother’s home.

1945 – The World Bank and International Monetary Fund were created with the signing of an agreement by 29 nations.

1965 – Thirteen people were killed when Britain’s first North Sea drilling rig (Sea Gem) capsized.

1966 – Manchester United midfielder Bobby Charlton wins the Ballon d’Or.

1975 – The Sex Discrimination and Equal Pay Acts came into effect in Britain.

1977 – Thousands of people flocked to UK cinemas to watch the long-awaited blockbuster, Star Wars.

1978 – The Amundsen – Scott South Pole Station recorded a temperature of −13.6 °C (7.5 °F), making it the highest temperature ever recorded at the South Pole.

1984 – Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was voted Woman of the Year, on Radio 4’s Today programme. According to a Gallup Poll she was the woman most admired by the American people; the third consecutive year that the ‘Iron Lady’ had received that honour.

1997 – Windsor Castle was reopened to the public following restoration work. 100 rooms of the palace were damaged in a fire in 1992.

1997 – A leading protestant paramilitary, Billy Wright, was shot dead at the maximum security Maze prison in Northern Ireland. Wright was the leader of a dissident paramilitary group, the Loyalist Volunteer Force, one of several Protestant militias that wanted Northern Ireland to remain in British hands.

2003 – The death of actor Alan Bates. He appeared in almost 70 films including the children’s story Whistle Down the Wind, the drama A Kind of Loving, Far From the Madding Crowd, Women In Love, Spartacus and The Fixer, which gave him an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor.

2008 – With his Hull City side 4-0 down at half-time away to Manchester City, manager Phil Brown refuses to allow his team to leave the pitch, carrying out the team talk in front of the of the 5,500 travelling fans.

2012 – The death, at the age of 83, of Gerry Anderson, the creator of hit TV shows including Thunderbirds, Stingray and Joe 90. His other creations included UFO, Space: 1999, Supercar and Fireball XL5.