1422: King Henry V of England died in Vincennes, France, struck down with dysentery. He was succeeded by his nine-month-old infant son, Henry VI.

1888: Mary Ann "Polly" Nichols, first victim of Jack the Ripper, was found mutilated in Buck's Row in the East End.

1900: Coca-Cola first went on sale in Britain.

1908: At the age of 60, and after a career spanning 43 years, the legendary WG Grace retired from first-class cricket. He scored 54,896 runs (126 centuries), took 2,879 wickets and held 871 catches.

1936: Elizabeth Cowell, Britain's first woman TV announcer, made her debut at Alexandra Palace.

1957: Malaya became independent. On this same day in 1962, Trinidad and Tobago in the West Indies also became independent, having been a British possession since 1802.

1962: Chris Bonington and Ian Clough became the first Britons to conquer the north face of the Eiger.

1968: Gary Sobers (now Sir Garfield) of Nottinghamshire became the first cricketer to score six sixes off an over, at Swansea against Glamorgan. The hapless bowler was Malcolm Nash.

1972: American swimmer Mark Spitz won his fifth gold medal at the Munich Olympics.