1877 – The birth of Sir Bernard Spilsbury, the British pathologist who became known for his conclusive evidence in the trial of Dr. Crippen.

1943 – The famous ‘Dam Busters’ raid by the 617 Squadron of Lancaster bombers led by Wing Commander Guy Gibson breached the Mohne, Eder and Sorpe dams in Germany using the ‘bouncing’ bombs developed by Dr Barnes Wallis. The Dambuster Pilots practiced their techniques at the Derwent Dam in Derbyshire.

1951 – The first regularly scheduled transatlantic flights began between John F Kennedy International Airport in New York and Heathrow Airport in London.

1956 – England’s Jim Laker took all 10 Australian wickets for 88 in 46 overs at the Oval.

1983 – London police began wheel clamping illegally parked vehicles.

1985 – Two South Wales miners, Russell Shankland and Dean Hancock , both aged 21, were jailed for life for the murder of taxi driver David Wilkie during the miners’ strike. In November 1984, Shankland and Hancock had planned to disrupt a police escort and taxi taking miner David Williams to the Merthyr Vale pit. The taxi driver died after the men hurled a concrete block and a concrete post from a bridge over the Head of the Valleys Road at Rhymner.

1990 – Muppets creator Jim Henson dies from toxic shock syndrome caused by pneumonia, aged 53. On the same day, Sammy Davis Jr dies from throat cancer aged 64.

1990 – John Gummer (government minister) attempted to reassure the public that British beef was safe despite growing fears over BSE. He enlisted his daughter by having her filmed eating a beef burger for the benefit of the TV cameras.

1991 – Queen Elizabeth II addressed the U.S. Congress, the first British monarch to do so.

2001 – Labour’s Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, punched a man who threw an egg at him during his visit to, Rhyl, North Wales. The two men were then involved in a scuffle (dubbed the rumble in Rhyl) before the police intervened and arrested Craig Evans, aged 29.

2013 – Following earlier government plans to raise the state pension age, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), a ‘think tank’, found that retirement resulted in a ‘drastic decline in health’ in the medium and long term. Many of us who are retired would disagree!

2013 – George Michael is injured when he falls out of a Range Rover travelling on the M1 Motorway. On the same day, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates regains his position as the world’s richest man with a fortune of $72.7 billion.

2019 – The Jeremy Kyle Show is axed by ITV after a guest later dies.