1824 – The birth of Samuel Plimsoll, British politician and social reformer. He devised the Plimsoll Line, to thwart unscrupulous ship owners who regularly overloaded their ‘coffin ships’. His safe loading line painted on the ships acted as a regulation for the weight that ships could safely carry. Rope sandals for sailors were also named after him.

1840 – Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, both aged 20, were married in St James’ Palace, London.

1846 – The birth of Charles Beresford, British admiral and politician. He was a well-known and popular figure who courted publicity and was widely known to the British public as ‘Charlie B’. He was considered by many to be a personification of John Bull and was normally accompanied by his trademark, a bulldog.

1884 – The birth of Frederick William Hawksworth, locomotive designer and Chief Mechanical Engineer of the Great Western Railway.

1894 – The birth of Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, who, as British Prime Minister after Eden’s resignation following the Suez crisis, claimed ‘You’ve never had it so good’ and warned South Africa that ‘the wind of change’ was blowing through the continent. He was nicknamed ‘Supermac’.

1906 – Britain’s first modern & largest battleship, HMS Dreadnought, was launched. It established the pattern of the turbine-powered, “all-big-gun” warship, a type that dominated the world’s navies for the next 35 years.

1971 – The Royal Albert Hall bans a scheduled concert by Frank Zappa and the Mothers Of Invention. Frank sues for breach of contract.

1988 – Sir John Gielgud made theatrical history when, after an absence of ten years from the stage, he played the longest role ever for an actor of his age. Just weeks away from his 84th birthday he played Sydney Cockerell in The Best of Friends by Hugh Whitmore at the Apollo.

1996 – IBM computer Deep Blue beats reigning champion Gary Kasparov at chess. On the same day, an IRA bomb explodes in the Docklands area of London.

2005 – Clarence House announces the engagement of HRH Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles. On the same day, singer Roger Daltrey is awarded the CBE for services to music.

2006 – The 20th Winter Olympic Games open in Turin, Italy. Luciano Pavarotti sings ‘Nessun Dorma’ in his last ever performance.

2013 – The Department for Transport announced that TV advertisements, which have been shown since the 60s, with characters such as Tufty the squirrel and the Green Cross Code Man would no longer be broadcast because of ‘re-prioritised’ budgets.

2014 – Child star turned diplomat Shirley Temple Black dies aged 85.

2014 – Jenny Jones from Bristol won bronze in the women’s snowboarding slopestyle event. Not only was it Britain’s first medal of the Sochi Winter Olympic Games, but it was Britain’s first ever medal on snow. Aged 33 she was also the oldest in the competition.