1942 – World War Two: Soap rationing began in Britain.

1945 – World War II: The Battle of the Atlantic – HMS Venturer sank U-864 off the coast of Fedje, Norway, in a rare instance of submarine-to-submarine combat.

1964 – Seventy three million Americans tuned in to the Ed Sullivan Show to watch four youths from Liverpool (the Beatles) appear in America for the first time.

1972 – The British Government declared a ‘state of emergency’ three months into a National Miners’ Strike.

1979 – Football club Nottingham Forest clinched Britain’s first £1m transfer deal when England forward Trevor Francis signed for Brian Clough’s League and Cup winning side after eight seasons with Birmingham City.

1995 – Dr Michael Foale, originally from Lincolnshire, become the first British born American to walk in space. In April 1998 he was awarded the Order of Friendship by Russian President Boris Yeltsin for his subsequent four month mission (1997) to the Russian space station Mir.

1996 – The IRA detonated an enormous bomb in London’s Docklands, effectively bringing an end to the cease-fire and signalling the start of a new bombing campaign on mainland Britain.

2001 – Lance Corporal Roberta Winterton became the first serving soldier to pose topless on Page Three of The Sun newspaper.

2002 – The Queen’s sister, Princess Margaret, aged 71, died in her sleep after suffering a stroke and a heart attack. Her body was laid to rest at Kensington Palace in order for the Royal Family to pay their respects.

2006 – The death of Freddie Laker, British airline entrepreneur. Laker was one of the first airline owners to adopt the ‘no-frills’ airline business model that is now used worldwide with companies such as Ryanair and EasyJet.

2015 – A tipper truck crash in Bath killed four people including Mitzi Rosanna Steady (aged 4). Her grandmother suffered life-changing injuries and three people in a car that was hit by the vehicle were killed. The truck driver, Philip Potter (19) had only qualified for his HGV licence five days before the tragedy. Mitzi’s funeral was held at Bath Abbey on 23rd February.

2015 – Seven straw houses went on sale at Shirehampton – Bristol, clad in brick to fit in with the surroundings. Declared to be safe from ‘huffing and puffing’ the prefabricated timber walls, filled with straw bales were said to be 90% cheaper in terms of heating costs than traditional brick houses.

2021 – Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial began.
The House of Representatives impeached the former US President on January 13 for inciting insurrection after he lost the presidential election.