1917 – World War 1: The British Royal Family, in a proclamation issued by George V, adopted the name of the House of Windsor in place of their German family name of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha due to the anti-German sentiment at the time. 

1918 – The RMS Carpathia, the ship that rescued the 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic, was sunk off Ireland by the German SM U-55, with the loss of 5 lives.

1923 – The birth of John Cooper. He developed the British Motor Corporation Mini Cooper, adored by rally racers and ordinary drivers.

1960 – The Beatles began a three-month engagement at The Indra Club in Hamburg, Germany, their first appearance outside Britain.

1964 – British speed pioneer Sir Donald Campbell set a new land speed world record of 403.10 mph in his car, Bluebird. In July 2014, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the achievement, unseen family video footage of Donald Campbell breaking both the land and water speed records in 1964 was restored.

1974 – An explosion in the Tower of London left one person dead and 41 injured. The incident happened without the coded warning typical of the IRA.

1981 – The Humber Estuary Bridge was officially opened by the Queen. For 16 years after its construction it was the world’s longest single-span structure.

1987 – Former Guinness director Thomas Ward was ordered to repay £5.2m to the brewing giants after being found guilty of illegal practices during the takeover of drinks company Distillers Group the previous year.

1995 – Robbie Williams left Take That, leaving them as a ‘fab four’. The group had scored six UK No.1 singles with Robbie in the group.

2000 – Tesco decided to revive imperial measures in its stores after shoppers’ pressure.

2001 – Michael Portillo was dropped from the Tory leadership contest after coming third in a final ballot of MPs.

2014 – Retired Det. Sgt. Jack Tasker, a former detective with Lancashire Police said that three investigations into Cyril Smith sex abuse allegations were stopped, claiming that senior officers ordered him to hand over notes and warned he would be “in serious trouble” if he continued the investigation. Smith was MP for Rochdale from October 1972 – April 1992. After his death in 2010 numerous allegations of child sexual abuse emerged (including many made during his lifetime), leading the police to believe that Smith was a serial sex offender.

2019 – The World Health Organization declares the DR Congo Ebola outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern”. On the same day, Mexican drug lord Joachim El Chapo Guzman is sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years.