1888 – In a Belfast street, a small boy named Johnny Dunlop was riding his tricycle under the supervision of his father. The two rear wheels of the tricycle were the world’s first pneumatic tyres and he was testing them. The test was so successful that his father was granted patent number 10607 on 23rd July.

1900 – The four-month siege of the British garrison at Ladysmith in Natal (South Africa) ended, as a relief force broke through the Boers at Spion Kop. There were extraordinary scenes of jubilation in Britain, followed by much larger celebrations after the Siege of Mafeking. Four Victoria Crosses awarded during the siege.

1918 – The birth of Alfred Burke, British actor best known for his portrayal of Frank Marker in the drama series Public Eye, which ran on television for ten years.

1925 – The birth of the actor Harry H. Corbett. In the early 1950s, he added the initial “H” to avoid confusion with the television entertainer Harry Corbett, who was known for his act with the glove-puppet Sooty. A chance meeting with writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, who had been successful with Hancock’s Half Hour, changed Corbett’s life. He is best known for his starring role in the popular and long-running BBC Television sitcom Steptoe and Son. Early in his career he was dubbed ‘the English Marlon Brando’ by some sections of the British press.

1931 – Having left the Labour Party, Sir Oswald Mosley formed the “New Party” which he said was dedicated to turning parliament “from a talk-shop into a workshop”. The party later evolved into the British Union of Fascists.

1942 – The birth of Brian Jones, English musician and a founding member of The Rolling Stones. He died at the age of 27 by drowning in the swimming pool at his home in East Sussex thus becoming a member of the so called ’27 Club’. Members are all former musicians who died at the age of 27 and the list includes Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse,

1966 – The Cavern Club, Liverpool, where the Beatles and other pop groups began, was forced into liquidation.

1975 – At 8.37 am in the London rush hour, a Northern Line underground train crashed through the buffers at Moorgate station and hit a solid dead-end wall, killing 41 people and seriously injuring 50. The rescue operation took three days to complete.

2001 – A GNER train from York to London King’s Cross crashed at Great Heck between Goole and Selby, North Yorkshire, on the East Coast main line. Gary Hart fell asleep at the wheel of his Land Rover and plunged 40ft down the railway embankment from the M62 into the path of an express train. The 4.45am Great North Eastern Intercity service from Newcastle to London King’s Cross ploughed into the Land Rover before colliding with a coal train travelling north. 10 people, including both train drivers, died and more than 70 were injured.

2001 – A clean-up operation got under way after a suspected arson fire at Coventry Cathedral the previous day. Insurance experts started assessing the damage to the Cathedral’s priceless artefacts, including this famous tapestry ‘Christ the King’, by Graham Sutherland.