1901 – The birthday of Florence Beatrice Green, a former member of the Women’s Royal Air Force. She was the last known surviving veteran of the First World War and died on 4th February 2012, aged 110.

1910 – Manchester United played its first game at Old Trafford. The Sporting Chronicle said “The most handsomest, the most spacious and the most remarkable arena I have ever seen. As a football ground it is unrivalled in the world, it is an honour to Manchester and the home of a team who can do wonders when they are so disposed.”

1914 – ‘Colonel Bogey March’ was registered at the British Museum by its composers Kenneth J. Alford and F. J. Ricketts.

1915 – The birth of the comedian Dick Emery. In the 1950s he worked with comedians such as Charlie Drake, Tony Hancock and Michael Bentine that led to an exclusive BBC contract, and the long-running programme The Dick Emery Show (BBC, 1963–81).

1957 – The beginning of British TV’s first medical soap opera series ‘Emergency Ward 10’ which ran twice a week for 10 years.

1959 – The United Kingdom granted Cyprus independence, which was then formally proclaimed on 16th August 1960.

1968 – The High Court awarded compensation to 62 children born with thalidomide induced deformities.

1975 – The Queen knighted cricketer Gary Sobers on her visit to Barbados, his birth place.

1976 – Iceland broke off diplomatic relations with Britain after the two countries failed to agree on limits in the ‘cod war’ fishing dispute.

1982 – Ozzy Osbourne is arrested in San Antonio, Texas, for urinating on the cenotaph at the Alamo while wearing one of his wife Sharon’s dresses after she had hidden all of his clothes in an effort to stop him from going out.

1985 – EastEnders begins on BBC1. It began with a bang as, Arthur Fowler, Ali Osman and Den Watts forced their way into Reg Cox’s flat and found Reg near death. Several weeks later Nick Cotton was revealed as Reg’s murderer.

1996 – Icelandic singer Bjork attacks a news reporter as she arrives at Bangkok International Airport.

1996 – The oil tanker Sea Empress grounded near Milford Haven. 3,500 dead sea birds were washed ashore and the disaster had a devastating impact on the fishing industry.

2001 – A five-mile exclusion zone was placed around an abattoir in Essex after a suspected case of foot and mouth disease was detected. By the end of March the disease was at its peak, with up to fifty new cases a day. The final case was reported on Whygill Head Farm near Appleby in Cumbria on 30th September. Tourism and farming were severely affected.

2002 – NASA’s Mars Odyssey space probe begins to map the surface of Mars using its thermal emission imaging system.