1912 – Unionists in Northern Ireland signed the Solemn League and Covenant, pledging resistance to Home Rule for Ireland.

1918 – World War I: The start of the Fifth Battle of Ypres. The British sustained almost 5,000 casualties but advanced the front line by up to 18 miles and captured approximately 10,000 German soldiers, 300 guns and 600 machine guns.

1923 – The Radio Times was first published.

1928 – Parliament passed the Dangerous Drugs Act outlawing cannabis.

1928 – Scottish born pharmacologist Alexander Fleming accidentally discovered what later became known as penicillin when he found that a mould had developed on an accidentally contaminated staphylococcus culture plate. His ‘bacteria killer’ discovery changed the world of modern medicine and has saved millions of people around the world.

1946 – Future England football captain Billy Wright played in his first England international.

1984 – A high court judge ruled that the miners’ strike was unlawful because a union ballot was never held.

1985 – Riots broke out on the streets of south London after a woman was shot and seriously injured in a house search. Local people had already been very critical of police tactics in Brixton and a mood of tension exploded into violence as night fell.

1986 – British boxer Lloyd Honeyghan won the world welterweight title.

1996 – At Ascot, Frankie Dettori became the first jockey to win all seven races at a meeting. The odds on this happening were 25,095 to 1. Bookmakers lost over £18 million pounds as a result.

2013 – Baroness Thatcher’s ashes were laid to rest in the grounds of the Royal Hospital Chelsea in London. Lady Thatcher died, aged 87, on 8th April. A simple headstone bore the inscription Margaret Thatcher 1925 – 2013. She was Britain’s first woman prime minister and the longest-serving prime minister of the twentieth century.

2018 – Science magazine announced that half the killer whale population would likely die due to human pollution.

2019 – Elon Musk announced that he was building a spaceship called Starship that would travel to Mars and return to Earth. This incredible ship will be 164 feet tall by 30 feet wide (50 x 9 meters) and capable of carrying 300,000 lbs (150 tons).