1705Queen Anne of England knighted the scientist Isaac Newton at Trinity College, Cambridge.

1746Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) was defeated at the Battle of Culloden Moor by British government forces under the command of William, Duke of Cumberland. Cumberland's army comprised 16 infantry battalions, including four Scottish units and one Irish. The bloody battle earned the Duke the name ‘Butcher Cumberland’. The Young Pretender Charles Stuart escaped and was later helped by Flora Macdonald to flee the country.

1786The birth of John Franklin, English Arctic explorer who, in 1845, was assigned to traverse the last, unnavigated sections of the Northwest Passage. After being icebound for more than a year, his ships Erebus and Terror were abandoned and by that point Franklin and nearly two dozen others had died. The survivors, led by Franklin's deputy Francis Crozier and Erebus' captain James Fitzjames, set out for the Canadian mainland and disappeared. In 2014, a Canadian search team discovered the wreck of Erebus. Two years later, the Arctic Research Foundation found the wreck of his ship Terror. Both sites are now protected as a combined National Historic Site.

1886 The death of Alexander Balfour, Scottish merchant and founder of the Liverpool shipping company 'Balfour Williamson'. This statue of Balfour (see picture) is in St John's Gardens, Liverpool. He was a committed philanthropist, and founded the Duke Street Home, to provide better conditions for sailors, and orphanages for their children.

1889Charlie Chaplin, English-born film actor and director was born.

1895The birth of Sir Ove Arup, English structural engineer, to Danish parents. He built the Sydney Opera House and worked with Sir Basil Spence on Coventry Cathedral.

1912American Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly an airplane across the English Channel. She took off from Dover, en route to Calais, France and made the flight in 59 minutes, landing about 25 miles from Calais, on a beach. Although Quimby died at the age of thirty-seven (in an aeroplane accident), she had a major influence upon the role of women in aviation.

1918Spike Milligan, English comedian and writer was born.

1919Gandhi organized a day of 'prayer and fasting' in response to the killing of Indian protesters in the Amritsar Massacre by the British. Official Government of India sources estimated the fatalities at 379, with 1,100 wounded, many of them women and children.

1921The birth of Peter Ustinov (Peter Alexander Freiherr von Ustinov), British actor, film maker and writer. He was also a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF and chancellor of Durham University from 1992 until his death in 2004.

1953Queen Elizabeth II launched the Royal Yacht Britannia (see picture) at Clydeside. She was used by the British Royal Family for state visits and diplomatic missions for the next 45 years and is now permanently moored as an exhibition ship at Ocean Terminal, Leith - Edinburgh.

1964Twelve members of the Great Train Robbery gang were sentenced, to a total of 307 years.

1982Queen Elizabeth proclaimed the new Canadian constitution, severing Canada's last colonial links with Britain.

1986Brewery heiress Jennifer Guiness was released in Dublin after being kidnapped and held hostage for 7 days.

1996The Duke and Duchess of York, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson, announced that they were to divorce.

1996Barclay's bank revealed that it had been the target of a 15-month terrorist campaign by the 'Mardi Gras' bomber who was attempting to extort large sums of money from the bank.

1997A DNA data base for birds was launched, to deter thieves from stealing valuable eggs.

2008It was announced that Karen Matthews (aged 32, from Dewsbury) was to stand trial alongside Michael Donovan, charged with the kidnapping and false imprisonment of her 9 year old daughter Shannon who disappeared on 19th February. On 23rd January 2009, Matthews and Donovan were sentenced to eight years in prison by Mr. Justice McCombe. In February 2017 a British television drama of the kidnap (entitled 'The Moorside) was shown on BBC Television.

2020 Shortly before 06:00 this morning, Tom Moore, a 99-year-old war veteran from Bedfordshire, who is walking 100 laps of his garden with the aid of a walking frame before he turns 100, had raised nearly £12million for the NHS. More than 600,000 people from around the world donated money to his fundraising page since it was set up the previous week.

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