1587The English naval commander Sir Francis Drake sailed a small number of ships into Cadiz Harbour and sank most of the Spanish fleet. The incident became known as 'singeing the King of Spain's beard'.

1770Explorer Captain James Cook sighted the eastern coast of what is now Australia. Cook spent his boyhood years at Great Ayton in North Yorkshire and attended this school (see picture), now a museum. This statue (see picture) of the young James Cook is on the village green.

1775The start of the American War of Independence against Britain when fighting began at Lexington and Concord.

1824Lord Byron, the great English poet, died (aged 36) from malaria on his way to fight for Greek independence.

1880The Times war correspondent telephoned a report of the Battle of Ahmed Khel (part of the Second Afghan War). It was the first time that news had been sent from a field of battle in this manner.

1881 The death, in London, of Benjamin Disraeli, first Earl of Beaconsfield and British Prime Minister. See picture of Disraeli at Ormskirk, where he was MP. He became the first Conservative Prime Minister in 1868, but was defeated at the next election. He was Prime Minister again in 1874 with a substantial majority.

1882Charles Darwin, the English biologist who developed the theory of evolution, died at his home in Kent. Born in Shewsbury, Shropshire, the Quantum Leap sculpture (see picture) was created to celebrate the bicentenary of his birth. This statue to Darwin (see picture) is outside Shrewsbury library, a building that was once his former school.

1883At a meeting in Liverpool to establish a home for dogs, the proposer, T.F. Agnew, suggested it should perhaps be turned into a home for children as he had seen the work of the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to children. On the evening of this day, the Liverpool Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children was formed. Later, it would become the National Society (NSPCC).

1905The birth of James Allan ‘Jim’ Mollison, Scottish aviator who flew from Australia to England in 1931 in eight days, 19 hours and 28 minutes. He married aviator Amy Johnson, and together they made the first east-west crossing of the North Atlantic and several other pioneering flights.

1928The 125th and final section of the Oxford English Dictionary was published.

1933'Dickie' Bird, (Harold Dennis Bird) English cricket umpire, was born in Barnsley, Yorkshire.

1935The birth of Dudley Moore, English actor, comedian and composer.

1951The first Miss World Contest was won by Kiki Haakonson, a 21 year old from Sweden. There were 30 contestants and 25 came from Britain, although all nations could enter. The contest was devised by Mecca publicity officer, Eric Morley, as part of the Festival of Britain celebrations.

1958The legendary English footballer Bobby Charlton made the first of his 106 appearances for England against Scotland and scored the first of his record 49 goals for his country.

1992The death of Frankie Howerd OBE, English comedian and comic actor whose career, (described by fellow comedian Barry Cryer as 'a series of comebacks'), spanned six decades.

1995The first television advert for football pools was screened in a £1.5m Littlewood's campaign. The ban on such commercials was lifted after the company protested to the government that the National Lottery was hitting their profits.

2004The death of Norris McWhirter, Scottish co-founder (along with Ross McWhirter) of the Guinness Book of Records.

2014A family had to flee their people carrier after suffering the misfortune of seeing it catch fire in the middle of the lion enclosure at Longleat Safari Park.

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