1921 – Irish independence was granted for the 26 southern states that became known as the Irish Free State. Six counties which formed Ulster (Northern Ireland) remained as part of the UK. 

1963 – English call-girl Christine Keeler, one of the models named in the scandal involving British Secretary of State for War John Profumo, was jailed for 9 months for perjury arising from the trial of an ex-boyfriend.

1975 – The Balcombe Street siege in Central London was watched by millions on television. It ended when the four IRA gunmen, who had taken a couple hostage following a gun battle and chase, finally gave themselves up without a shot being fired.

1977 – The birth of Andrew Flintoff, English and Lancashire cricketer. His nickname ‘Freddie’ or ‘Fred’ comes from the similarity between his surname and that of Fred Flintstone. He developed deep vein thrombosis after surgery to his knee and announced his retirement from all cricket on 16th September 2010.

1982 – The ‘Droppin Well’ bombing: The Irish National Liberation Army detonated a bomb in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland, killing eleven British soldiers and six civilians.

1983 – Surgeons successfully completed the first heart and lung transplant operation to be performed in Britain. Swedish journalist, Lars Ljungberg underwent the transplant, receiving the organs of a woman from the south of England who had died the previous day.

1994 – The Queen gave the go ahead for oil drilling to take place in the grounds of Windsor Castle. The move came after studies showed there could be up to £1bn of oil lying beneath the castle.

2005 – David Cameron beat David Davis to the leadership of the Conservative Party.

2012 – The SA Agulhas set off from London on the start of the world’s first ever attempt to cross the Antarctic in winter. On 25th February 2013, Sir Ranulph Fiennes had to pull out of the expedition due to frostbite. On 18th June 2013, after encountering a crevasse field extending up to 60 miles, with temperatures close to -90c and operating in near permanent darkness the team officially halted its mission and decided to focus only on scientific experiments.

2013 – Communities on the east coast of England began assessing the damage caused by the previous night’s worst tidal surge for 60 years. Thousands had abandoned their homes, 1,400 properties were flooded and seven cliff-top homes collapsed into the sea at Hemsby – Norfolk. It was the start of a winter of severe floods and storms that affected many parts of Britain.

2015 – Exactly two years later, communities in Cumbria and the Scottish Borders began assessing the damage caused by the previous night’s rain storms that broke river banks and flooded properties in towns and villages, including Appleby, Cockermouth, Keswick and Hawick. Residents were evacuated from their homes and all trains between England and Scotland were cancelled.

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.