1858 – Charles Hallé founded the celebrated Hallé Orchestra in Manchester. Charles Hallé remained its principal conductor, proprietor and performer until his death in 1895.

1915 – The birth of John Profumo, British politician. He is best remembered today for his involvement in a 1963 scandal involving the ‘call-girl’ Christine Keeler. After his resignation, Profumo began to work as a volunteer, cleaning toilets at Toynbee Hall, a charity based in the East End of London with a focus on working towards a future without poverty. Eventually Profumo volunteered as the charity’s chief fundraiser and was awarded a CBE in 1975 for his charitable activities.

1937 – Birth of the actress Vanessa Redgrave. She remains the only British actress ever to win the Oscar, Emmy, Tony, Cannes, Golden Globe, and the Screen Actors Guild awards. She was also the recipient of the 2010 BAFTA Fellowship ‘in recognition of an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film’.

1965 – The state funeral, in London, of Sir Winston Churchill, former Prime Minister of Britain. It was the biggest state funeral of its kind since the burial of the Duke of Wellington in 1852. After his state funeral service, his body was taken by train to Bladon, Oxfordshire and there the private burial took place, conducted by the rector. By contrast with the earlier service, only relatives and close friends were present.

1969 – The Beatles played their last public performance, on the roof of Apple Records in London. The impromptu concert was broken up by the police.

1972 – ‘Bloody Sunday’ in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. British paratroopers, believing they were under fire from Catholic protesters on a banned march which had become a violent riot, opened fire, killing 13 people.

1988 – A microlight aircraft landed near Sydney, Australia, to create a record time of 55 days since leaving London.

2003 – British-born Richard Reid was sentenced to life in jail for trying to bomb an American Airlines flight carrying 197 people.

2012 – London City trader Kweku Adoboli appeared in the dock at Southwark Crown Court accused of fraudulently gambling away a record £1.5bn whilst working for Swiss bank UBS. He was subsequently jailed for seven years after being found guilty of two counts of fraud.

2015 – Sir Jay Tidmarsh, Lord-Lieutenant of Bristol between 1996 and 2007, found an old school library book as he cleared his shelves. He decided to return the book to Taunton School, in Somerset, and made a £1,500 donation to the library in lieu of a fine for not returning the book for 65 years.

2019 – Scientists reveal discovery of cavity six miles long, 1,000 feet deep under Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica, leading to fears it might collapse and raise sea levels by two feet.

2020 – The World Health Organisation declares COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern at a meeting in Geneva.