1561: The Elizabethan statesman and writer Francis Bacon was born in London.

1720: The South Sea "Bubble" speculation fever began.

1788: Lord Byron, English poet, was born George Gordon in London. He succeeded to his title through an uncle.

1901: Queen Victoria (pictured) died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, aged 81.

1905: Bloody Sunday in St Petersburg when at least 500 people were slaughtered as thousands marched on the Winter Palace in protest at Tsar Nicholas II's regime.

1924; James Ramsay MacDonald became Britain's first Labour Prime Minister.

1927: The Football League game between Arsenal and Sheffield United was the first to be broadcast.

1944 : The Allied Army landing began at Anzio, Italy.

1947: Fresh meat ration was reduced to 1s (5p) worth weekly.

1952: The Goon Show, with Peter Sellers, Harry Secombe, Spike Milligan and Michael Bentine, started on BBC Radio. It ran until 1959.

1992: US military material was seized in Germany as it was about to be loaded on to a cargo plane bound for Libya.