1283 Dafydd ap Gruffydd, Prince of Gwynedd and the last independent ruler of Wales, became the first nobleman to be executed by being hanged, drawn and quartered; for plotting the death of King Edward I. Dafydd was dragged through the streets of Shrewsbury attached to a horse's tail then hanged alive, revived, then disembowelled and his entrails burned before him before being cut into four quarters. A picture of a more peaceful Shrewsbury!

1691 The Treaty of Limerick was signed, ending the Irish Rebellion against English rule.

1712 The Duke of Montrose issued a warrant for the arrest of Rob Roy MacGregor, the famous Scottish folk hero and outlaw of the early 18th century. He was later imprisoned, finally pardoned in 1727 , died in 1734 and is buried in Balquhidder churchyard. See picture.

1811 The first recorded women's county cricket match - between Hampshire and Surrey at Newington.

1844 Sir Patrick Manson, Scottish doctor, was born in Aberdeenshire. He was known as 'Mosquito Manson' from his pioneer work with Sir Ronald Ross in malaria research.

1896 The death of William Morris, English craftsman, painter, wallpaper and textile designer and novelist. The south transept window in St Michael church and All Angels - Lyndhurst, Hampshire was made in the William Morris workshop. It is thought that the bearded man being grabbed by the scruff of his collar in the lower left window (see closeup) may be a depiction of William Morris.

1916 The birth, in Sunderland, of James Alfred Wight (James Herriot ), vet and author of 'All Creatures Great & Small'. His surgery (see picture) was in Thirsk, North Yorkshire.

1929 The Church of Scotland merged with the United Free Church of Scotland, retaining the name Church of Scotland.

1932 Iraq gained independence from Britain. In 1958, the monarchy was overthrown and the Republic of Iraq was created.

1940 Former British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigned from Winston Churchill's coalition Government.

1952 Britain's first atomic bomb was detonated on the Monte Bello Islands, off W. Australia.

1952 News of the end of tea rationing meant the prospect of unlimited 'cuppas' for the first time in 12 years.

1956 The Bolshoi Ballet performed in Britain, at Covent Garden, for the first time.

1959 Postcodes were introduced in Britain.

1967 Sir Malcolm Sargent, British music conductor died.

1967 The first conservation area was established, at Stamford in Lincolnshire. See picture of Stamford.

1991 Sir Allan Green, a QC and British Director of Public Prosecutions resigned after being stopped by police for alleged kerb crawling. Sir Allan and his wife later separated, on the eve of their silver wedding anniversary and Lady Eva Green, (47) committed suicide in January 1993.

2013 The cost of a National Lottery Lotto ticket doubled to £2. The rise was the first since the lottery started in 1994.

2014 Samuel Tree (68) who claimed that plastic devices he made in his garden shed could detect bombs and drugs and find the missing schoolgirl Madeleine McCann was jailed for three and a half years. His plastic 'Alpha 6' cost just a few pounds but sold for thousands.

2014 The cast and crew of the BBC's Top Gear had to abandon their vehicles and flee Argentina after they were pelted with stones. A crowd was incensed that one of their vehicles had a number plate (H982 FKL) that appeared to refer to the Falklands conflict of 1982.

2019 Scotland became the first country in the UK to make it a criminal offence for parents to smack their children. The ban on all physical punishment was backed overwhelmingly by 84 votes to 29 by the Scottish Parliament. The ban was opposed by the Scottish Conservatives, who claimed that the bill was bad legislation that risked criminalising good parents for using reasonable chastisement.

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