1938 – Singer P.J. Proby was born. He was later banned from performing when his trousers regularly and ‘accidentally’ split on stage.

1942 – The Church of England relaxed its rule that women must wear hats in church.

1968 – 2300 jobs were lost when British Eagle airlines stopped flying.

1970 – Three times Grand National hero Red Rum, the greatest ever steeplechaser, won his first ever race, a novice event at Doncaster, at odds of 100/7.

1975 – UK punk rock group, the Sex Pistols, gave their first public performance at London’s St Martin’s College of Art. College authorities cut the concert short after a mere 10 minutes.

1986 – Forty five people died after a Chinook helicopter carrying oil rig workers plunged into the North Sea off the coast of Scotland. It is the deadliest civilian helicopter crash on record.

2003 – Michael Howard took over as leader of the Conservative party after Iain Duncan Smith was ousted in a no-confidence vote.

2004 – The death, aged 66, of Fred Dibnah MBE – Bolton born steeplejack, industrial historian, mechnical engineer, steam engine enthusiast and television presenter. His coffin was towed through the centre of Bolton by his restored traction engine, driven by his son, followed by a cortège of steam-powered vehicles.

2008 – The Bank of England made a 1.5% cut in UK interest rates to 3%, the lowest level since 1955.

2011 – Sir Alex Ferguson celebrated 25 years as manager of Manchester United, making him the longest serving manager in their history and the longest serving manager in English League football. He was knighted in 1999 for his services to the game and also holds the Freedom of the City of Aberdeen.

2013 – Anthony Peter McCoy (commonly known as AP McCoy) became the first jump jockey to ride 4,000 winners when he triumphed with the second of two rides at Towcester, (on Mountain Tunes in the 3:10pm race).

2014 – Sheila Marsh, a 77-year-old grandmother-of-four, was granted a final wish of seeing her favourite horse for one last time – after the animal was brought to visit her in her hospital bed at Wigan Royal Infirmary. She passed away from cancer just hours after the horse, named Bronwen, was brought to see her.

2014 – The Government announced that new road signs showing height and width restrictions using both imperial and metric measurements were to be introduced. “Imperial only signs can remain in place only until such time that they become life-expired, or replaced during routine maintenance.”

2016 – New Delhi air pollution was declared a public emergency, causing the city to close many schools and construction sites. The smog had been increasing over six days, and on this day, records found harmful pollutants in the air to be 16 times over the safe limit for humans.