1935 – Sir Malcolm Campbell reaches a speed of 304.331 miles per hour on the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, becoming the first person to drive an automobile at over 300 mph.

1939 – British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, in a radio broadcast, announced that Britain and France had declared war on Germany. He formed an all-party War Cabinet with Winston Churchill as First Lord of the Admiralty.

1939 – In Britain, the formation of the Citizens’ Advice Bureau – established to help people understand and comply with new rules and regulations that were introduced at the start of World War II.

1943 – The Allies landed at Salerno, on mainland Italy, and the Italian government surrendered. It was four years to the day after war had been declared on Germany.

1954 – The National Trust purchased Fair Isle in northern Scotland, famous for its bird sanctuary and knitted sweaters.

1966 – British soldiers Captain John Ridgway and Sergeant Chay Blyth become the first Britons to row across the Atlantic. They completed a 91-day row across the Atlantic in the English Rose III, when they rowed into Inishmore on the Isle of Aran.

1988 – The first fines for not filling and returning poll tax registration forms were issued in Scotland.

1988 – HMS Southampton was seriously damaged in a collision with the MV Tor Bay in the Persian Gulf. She was only 7 years old at the time and after recovery to the UK she was rebuilt by Swan Hunter, re-entering service in 1991. She served a further 18 years.

1995 – Admiral of the Fleet, Lord Hill Norton, backed claims that the British Government was covering up evidence of a UFO sighting in the south of England in 1990.

1999 – Charges were dropped against nine photographers and a motorcyclist in connection with the 1997 crash that killed Princess Diana, Dodi Al Fayed and their driver.

2010 – The death of Cyril Smith, MP for Rochdale from 26th October 1972 – 9th April 1992. After his death, numerous allegations of child sexual abuse emerged (including many made during his lifetime), leading the police to believe that Smith was a serial sex offender.

2014 – More than 50,000 illegal immigrants told to leave the country have been granted a “de-facto amnesty” after Home Office officials admitted they have no idea where they are.

2019 – Songwriter LaShawn Daniels, who co-wrote such hits as Destiny’s Child’s ‘Say My Name’ and Lady Gaga’s ‘Telephone’ dies in a car crash in South Carolina aged 41.