1190The Crusaders massacred 150 Jews at Clifford's Tower, York, following a wave of attacks against Jews that had moved north from London, to Stamford, Lincoln, King's Lynn, Colchester and Bury St. Edmunds, before culminating in the bloodiest atrocity of them all, in York. See picture of Clifford's Tower. Some Jews committed mass suicide rather than submit to baptism and they set the castle on fire to prevent their bodies being mutilated after their deaths. A few Jews did surrender, promising to convert to Christianity, but 150 were killed by the angry crowd.

1322The battle of Boroughbridge (North Yorkshire) resulted in a victory for forces loyal to Edward II and saw the total defeat of rebel forces under the command of Edward's cousin the Earl of Lancaster. Lancaster and 30 of his followers were executed, including Roger de Clifford, Second Lord of Skipton, who was hung from Clifford’s Tower in York, which now bears his name. The battle allowed Edward to re-establish royal authority and hold on to power for almost five more years.

1485The death (aged 28) of Anne Neville, Queen of England as the wife of King Richard III. She was born here (see picture) at Warwick Castle, and was the younger daughter of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, and Anne de Beauchamp. Her father was one of the most powerful noblemen in England and the most important supporter of the House of York.

1647Harlech Castle (see picture) surrendered in the English Civil War. It was a Royalist stronghold and the last Welsh castle to be taken by Parliament.

1689The 23rd Regiment of Foot (later known as the Royal Welch Fusiliers) was founded to oppose James II and the imminent war with France.

1774The birth of Matthew Flinders, English explorer who circumnavigated Australia. The Flinders River in Queensland and the Flinders Range in South Australia are named after him.

1872The Wanderers Football Club, based in London, beat the Royal Engineers 1–0 in the first English FA Cup Final, at Kennington Oval. The number of spectators was 2000 and the winning goal was scored by Morton Betts.

1935The first driving test pass slip was presented to Mr. R. Beene of Kensington, a pupil of the British School of Motoring. Tests were introduced on a voluntary basis and became compulsory in June.

1940World War II: James Isbister became the first person killed in a German bombing raid; on Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands.

1942The first German V-2 rocket test launch. It exploded at lift-off but eventually over 3,000 V-2s were launched as military rockets by the Germans against Allied targets during the war, mostly London and later Antwerp. The attacks resulted in the death of an estimated 7,000+ military personnel and civilians, whilst 12,000 forced labourers were killed producing the weapons.

1971The British heavyweight boxing champion Henry Cooper announced his retirement after being defeated by Joe Bugner.

1973Queen Elizabeth II opened the new London Bridge. The old one was sold to an American oil tycoon for £1m and transported to the United States.

1976Harold Wilson, Prime Minister for almost eight years, and leader of the Labour Party for 13 years, resigned. He insisted that there were no hidden reasons for his resignation although it was suggested that he might already have been aware of the first stages of early-onset Alzheimer's disease, which was to cause both his formerly excellent memory and his powers of concentration to fail dramatically.

1988A gunman killed 3 mourners and injured at least 50 who had been attending a funeral for IRA members shot dead in Gibraltar.

1993Britain's Chancellor, Norman Lamont, announced the imposition of the Value Added Tax (VAT) on domestic fuel.

1998Sir George Martin (producer of The Beatles in the 1960s and 70s) announced his retirement, aged 73.

2001According to a health survey, 16th March 2001 was the only day between 1993 and 2002 when nobody in the United Kingdom killed themselves.

• Contact Form