978 Edward the Martyr, King of England from 975, was murdered at Corfe Castle, Dorset, apparently at the instigation of half-brother Ethelred, who wanted the crown for himself.

1584 Death of Ivan the Terrible, the first to assume the title of Tsar.

1858 Rudolf Diesel, German engineer who invented the diesel engine, was born in Paris.

1869, Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister at the outbreak of the Second World War, was born in Edgbaston, Birmingham.

1883 First World War poet Wilfred Owen was born in Oswestry, Shropshire. He died in action during the war.

1949 The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) was set up with Britain and seven other European countries.

1958 The last debutantes were presented to the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

1965 The first walk in space was made by Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, from the spaceship Voskhod 2.

1967 The oil tanker Torrey Cannon ran on to rocks near Land's End, spilling 120,000 gallons of crude oil into the sea.

1975 The Cabinet decided by 16 votes to seven to advise the nation to vote in the approaching referendum to keep Britain in the Common Market.

1985 Iraq and Iran both claimed victory in the biggest battles in the Gulf war six days after an Iranian offensive began north of Basra.

1990 East Germany's first election since the Nazi takeover of 1933 ended in overwhelming victory for the three-party conservative alliance.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Controversial Lambeth police chief Commander Brian Paddick was removed from his job as an inquiry was launched into allegations that he smoked cannabis and allowed his gay lover to use the drug in their flat.

BIRTHDAYS: Peter Graves, actor, 77; John Updike, writer, 71; FW de Klerk, former South African President, 67; Ron Atkinson, former football manager, 64; Kenny Lynch, singer/actor, 64; Wilson Pickett, soul singer, 62; Alex Higgins, snooker player, 54; Brad Dourif, actor, 53; Pat Eddery, jockey, 51; Luc Besson, film director, 44; Irene Cara, singer, 44; Vanessa Williams, actress, 40; Courtney Pine, saxophonist, 39; Stuart Zender, rock musician, 29.