1774 – The birth of Matthew Flinders, English explorer who circumnavigated Australia. The Flinders River in Queensland and the Flinders Range in South Australia are named after him. 

1935 – The first driving test pass slip was presented to Mr. R. Beene of Kensington, a pupil of the British School of Motoring. Tests were introduced on a voluntary basis and became compulsory in June.

1940 – World War II: James Isbister became the first person killed in a German bombing raid; on Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands.

1942 – The first German V-2 rocket test launch. It exploded at lift-off but eventually over 3,000 V-2s were launched as military rockets by the Germans against Allied targets during the war, mostly London and later Antwerp. The attacks resulted in the death of an estimated 7,000+ military personnel and civilians, whilst 12,000 forced labourers were killed producing the weapons.

1964 – The Beatles set a new record for advance sales in the US with 2,100,000 copies of their latest single ‘Can’t Buy Me Love.’

1971 – The British heavyweight boxing champion Henry Cooper announced his retirement after being defeated by Joe Bugner.

1973 – Queen Elizabeth II opened the new London Bridge. The old one was sold to an American oil tycoon for £1m and transported to the United States.

1976 – Harold Wilson, Prime Minister for almost eight years, and leader of the Labour Party for 13 years, resigned. He insisted that there were no hidden reasons for his resignation although it was suggested that he might already have been aware of the first stages of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, which was to cause both his formerly excellent memory and his powers of concentration to fail dramatically.

1988 – A gunman killed 3 mourners and injured at least 50 who had been attending a funeral for IRA members shot dead in Gibraltar.

1993 – Britain’s Chancellor, Norman Lamont, announced the imposition of the Value Added Tax (VAT) on domestic fuel.

1996 – Mike Tyson defeats Frank Bruno in Round 3 for the world heavyweight title. On the same day, England beats Ireland, 28-15 at Twickenham for a second consecutive Five Nations Rugby Championship and Triple Crown.

1998 – Sir George Martin (producer of The Beatles in the 1960s and 70s) announced his retirement, aged 73.

2001 – According to a health survey, 16th March 2001 was the only day between 1993 and 2002 when nobody in the United Kingdom killed themselves.

2002 – The game between West Bromwich Albion and Sheffield United (dubbed the battle of Bramhall Lane) is abandoned when the Blades are reduced to six men through sendings off and injuries.

2013 – Wales routs England by a record 30-3 at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff to retain the Six Nation Rugby Championship.