1689William III (Prince of Orange and champion of Protestants) and Mary II were crowned joint monarchs by the Bishop of London. The Archbishop of Canterbury refused to officiate.

1713France handed over Gibraltar and Newfoundland to Britain in the Treaty of Utrecht.

1755James Parkinson, the English physician who discovered Parkinson's disease was born. His observations were so detailed and complete that they laid the foundation for all subsequent research.

1819Charles Hallé, the German-born British pianist and conductor was born.

1855Britain's first pillar boxes were put up in London. There were six of them, all painted green.

1936 Billy Butlin opened his first holiday camp at Skegness. See picture. One of the original chalets is on site (see picture) and is a grade II listed building.The camp was officially opened by Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia.

1939The game of darts was banned in public houses in Glasgow because it was 'too dangerous'.

1951The Stone of Scone, (the stone upon which Scottish monarchs were traditionally crowned) was found on the site of the altar of Arbroath Abbey in Angus. It had been stolen from Westminster Abbey 107 days earlier by Scottish nationalists who wanted it returned to Scotland. In 1996, in a symbolic response to growing dissatisfaction among Scots, the Conservative Government decided that the Stone should be kept in Edinburgh Castle when not in use at coronations.

1952Queen Elizabeth II announced that her children and descendents would bear the surname of Windsor.

1957Britain agreed to Singapore self rule, to come into effect in 1958.

1959Billy Wright, former England football captain became the first player in the world to play for his country in a hundred matches when England beat Scotland 1-0.

1961The trial began, in Israel, of Adolf Eichmann, accused of helping Hitler in his plan to exterminate the Jews. He faced 15 charges, including crimes against humanity, crimes against the Jewish people and war crimes.

1973The British Government introduced a tar content table to be printed on cigarette packets.

1981The arrest of a black man led to hundreds of youths rampaging through the streets of Brixton in south London. Over a 100 vehicles were burned and almost 150 buildings were damaged. Reports suggested that up to 5,000 people were involved.

1983The film Gandhi, directed by Sir Richard Attenborough, won eight Oscars, the most any British film has ever won. In October 2004 a four feet high bust of Gandhi (see picture) was erected in the city of Hull, donated by Hull's Indian community . The chair of the ceremony, pointed out that no other city in the world had, within half-a-mile, the statues of Wilberforce, Mandela and Gandhi who devoted their lives to fight against slavery, racism and colonialism.

1987The London Agreement was secretly signed between Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Shimon Peres and King Hussein of Jordan. The agreement outlined the framework for an international peace conference hosted by the United Nations, and whose purpose was 'the peaceful solution of the Arab-Israeli conflict.'

2001The death of Harry Secombe, Welsh actor, singer and comedian. He is best known for playing Neddie Seagoon, the central character in the BBC radio comedy series The Goon Show (1951–60).

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