1871: The Great Chicago Fire began, in which 250 were killed and 95,000 made homeless.
1920: Oxford University admitted its first 100 women for degrees.
1922: The first royal broadcast was made by the Prince of Wales, on 2LO, 11 days before it changed its name to the British Broadcasting Company.
1922: Marie Lloyd, English music hall entertainer, died aged 52, defying doctor's orders not to go on stage when unwell.
1946: Woman's Hour was first broadcast, a daily programme of music, advice and entertainment for the home. Joan Griffiths was the first regular presenter. The thriller serial Dick Barton, Special Agent, also started.
1959: Lunik III took the first pictures of the far side of the moon.
1986: A new British newspaper, The Independent, was published.
LAST YEAR: The high court ruled that desperately ill premature baby Charlotte Wyatt should be allowed to die.
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