1871 – The English Football Association Challenge Cup Competition was formed, to become better known as the FA Cup. The first final saw the Wanderers beat the Royal Engineers by one goal to nil, watched by a crowd of 2,000.

1885 – The Football Association legalized professionalism in football under pressure from the British Football Association.

1889 – John Reith, Scottish engineer and first director general of the BBC, was born.

1938 – Diana Rigg, English actress, was born. She is probably best known for her portrayals of Emma Peel in The Avengers and Countess Teresa di Vicenzo in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

1943 – The birth of the actress Wendy Richard. She played Miss Brahms in the BBC’s Are You Being Served? and Pauline Fowler in EastEnders.

1944 – World War II: Adolf Hitler escaped death after a third attempt on his life when a bomb exploded in Rastenberg.

1968 – During a BBC radio interview, actress Jane Asher announced that her engagement to Beatle Paul McCartney was off. He was not the first to find out!

1982 – An IRA terrorist bomb in Hyde Park, London, killed 3 members of the Blues and Royals during the Changing of the Guard ceremony. Two hours later 8 bandsmen were killed by an IRA bomb planted at the bandstand in Regent’s Park.

1990 – An IRA bomb blew a 10-foot hole in the London Stock Exchange.

2000 – Families of the victims of serial killer GP Harold Shipman won their High Court battle for an open inquiry into how their loved ones died.

2002 – Charles Kennedy, former Leader of the Liberal Democrats, and his fiancee Sarah Gurling, were married in the House of Commons chapel.

2003 – The BBC confirms weapons expert Dr David Kelly, found dead two days earlier in Oxfordshire, had been the source for reports that the government “sexed up” a dossier on Iraq’a arms capabilities.

2012 – 12 people are killed and 59 injured when a gunman opens fire at a cinema showing The Dark Knight in Aurora, Colorado. Also on this day, journalist and broadcaster Sir Alastair Burnet dies aged 84.

2017 – Linkin Park singer Chester Bennington committed suicide aged 41.

2018 – Director James Gunn is fired as director of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” by Disney after past offensive tweets surface. Actor Dave Bautista and other cast members threaten to quit the franchise unless Gunn’s script is used for the film and the director is reinstated.

2020 – The UK suspends an extradition treaty with Hong Kong in wake of new Chinese security laws for the territory.