Sir Peter de la Mare takes office as the first Speaker of the House of Commons |
|
1376 |
Joan of Arc enters Orleans to relieve the English siege |
|
1429 |
Ambrose Rookwood, Robert Lowick and Cranbourne executed for attempting to assassinate William III |
|
1696 |
Elizabeth Canning sentenced to transportation on conviction for perjury |
|
1754 |
Captain Cook lands at Kurnell, Botany Bay |
|
1770 |
Corn Act receives Royal Assent |
|
1842 |
Peter Roget signs the preface to the first edition of his Thesaurus |
|
1852 |
Oxford University passes a statute admitting women to examinations |
|
1885 |
Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George introduces a "supertax" of sixpence in the pound on incomes
over £5,000 per annum, to finance old age pensions and naval rearmament |
|
1909 |
The UK Parliament passes Llod George's 'People's Budget' – the first budget in British history
with the expressed intent of redistributing wealth among the British public |
|
1910 |
Gideon Sundback patents an improved version of the zip fastener |
|
1913 |
Irish rebel leaders surrender to British forces in Dublin, bringing the Eater Rising to an end |
|
1916 |
9,000 British troops surrender to Turkish general Khalid Pasha after being besieged for 143 days in
Kut–el–Amara (modern Iraq) |
|
1916 |
Telephone link established between Britain and Australia |
|
1930 |
US chemist Wallace Home Carothers commits suicide, two years after patenting nylon |
|
1937 |
Adolf Hitler marries Eva Braun in his Berlin bunker, and designates Admiral Karl Dönitz as his successor |
|
1945 |
German forces in Italy surrender to the Allies |
|
1945 |
Allied troops discover the Nazi death camp at Dachau, near Munich |
|
1945 |
Captain
–class frigate HMS Goodall is torpedoed by U–286 outside the Kola Inlet of the Barents Sea, becoming the last ship
of the Royal Navy to be sunk in the European theatre of World War II |
|
1945 |
The International Military Tribunal for the Far East convenes, and indicts Hideki Tojo, former Prime Minister of Japan,
and 28 former Japanese leaders for war crimes |
|
1946 |
First London performance of Oklahoma! |
|
1947 |
My Fair Lady opens to a rapturous reception on its first night at the Drury Lane Theatre in the West End |
|
1948 |
An episode of Space Patrol on Los Angeles ABC affiliate KECA–TV becomes he first US experimental 3D
television broadcast |
|
1953 |
Manchester United become the first English team to win the European Cup, beating Benfica 4–1 after extra time
(at Wembley) |
|
1968 |
Earthquake in Ethiopia kills 24 and injures 168 |
|
1969 |
US Navy marshalling yard at Roseville, California, accidentally blown up by a munitions train |
|
1973 |
Spain's ban on trade unions, in force since 1936, lifted |
|
1977 |
British Aerospace founded |
|
1977 |
400,000 books and other items are damaged or destroyed in a fire at the City of Los Angeles Public Library |
|
1986 |
The Duchess of Windsor is laid to rest alongside her husband in a low–key ceremony at the Royal Burial Ground on
the Frogmore Estate |
|
1986 |
Cabaret is performed without music at the Strand Theatre, London, as the orchestra goes on strike after five
of its members are sacked for playing out of tune and excessive drinking |
|
1987 |
At least 138,000 people lose their lives, and as many as ten million are left homeless, when a cyclone with winds of
around 155 mph (249 km/h) strikes the Chittagong district of south–eastern Bangladesh |
|
1991 |
Three days of riots, in which 63 people would lose their lives and hundreds of buildings would be destroyed, begin in
Los Angeles, following the acquittal of four white police officers charged with excessive force in the beating of black motorist Rodney King |
|
1992 |
The Queen announces that Buckingham Palace is to be opened to the public for an admission fee of £8 – the
proceeds to fund the restoration of Windsor Castle, damaged by fire in November 1992 |
|
1993 |
New Zealand's Danny Morrison scores a record 24 th Test Match duck (v. West Indies, in Antigua) |
|
1996 |
The Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993 enters into force, outlawing the production, stockpiling and use of chemical
weapons by its signatories |
|
1997 |
Two days after announcing the execution of ousted President Mohammed Daoud, the new left–wing rulers of
Afghanistan announce that almost all the leaders of his regime have been killed in fighting |
|
1978 |
Tensions erupt into violence in Iraq after US forces open fire on protesters in Fallujah, killing at least 14 and
injuring dozens more |
|
2003 |
CBS shows pictures of US soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners in a jail in Baghdad |
|
2004 |
England's World Cup plans are thrown into chaos as Wayne Rooney breaks a metatarsal bone in a tackle by
Chelsea's Paulo Ferreira in the 82nd minute of Manchester United's 3–0 defeat |
|
2006 |
Prince William marries Catherine Middleton in Westminster Abbey |
|
2011 |
43 people are injured by an explosion in an office building in Prague, believed to have been caused by natural gas |
|
2013 |