1789: The Bastille, the state prison in Paris, was stormed by the citizens of Paris and burned to the ground at the start of the French Revolution.

1858: Suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst was born in Manchester.

1867: Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel first demonstrated the use of dynamite.

1888: The first record company, the North American Phonograph Company, was founded in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, by businessman Jesse L Lippincott.

1940: The Soviet Union annexed Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

1946: Dr Benjamin Spock's famous baby bible - Baby And Child Care - was published. 28 years later he said he no longer supported his own theories.

1958: King Faisal of Iraq was assassinated in a military coup led by General Kassem, and a Republic was established.

1959: Grock, described as the "greatest clown on earth", died in Italy.

1967: Parliament voted to legalise abortion.

LAST YEAR: An inquiry slammed police officers who failed to spot any offences in a probe into serial killer GP Harold Shipman.