1849The birth of Sir Rickman John Godlee, an English surgeon. In 1884, at the Epileptic Hospital, Regent’s Park, he became one of the first to surgically remove a tumour of the brain.

1874The birth, in Ireland, of Sir Ernest Shackleton, British Antarctic explorer. He went on Scott’s original expedition in 1901-4 before leading his own in 1907, which got within a short distance of the South Pole.

1901Winston Churchill entered Parliament for the first time, as MP for Oldham. MPs of the period were unpaid and Churchill was forced to take a speaking tour in order to fund his tenure.

1928After some 70 years of work, the 1st Edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was completed.

1928The death of the statesman and Prime Minister H. H. Asquith. During his time in office (1908 - 1916) Asquith attempted to introduce home rule in Ireland, provoking fierce opposition in Ulster and amongst the Conservative opposition. Civil war over the issue in Ireland was only averted by the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914.

1929Graham Hill, British motor racing world champion, was born. He won the Formula One World Championship twice and was the only driver to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport — the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Indianapolis 500 and the Formula One World Championship. Graham Hill and his son Damon are the only British father and son pair to have both won the Formula One World Championship. Graham Hill and five of his team members died in 1975 when the aeroplane he was piloting crashed in foggy conditions near Arkley golf course in London.

1942 World War II: The Fall of Singapore. Following an assault by Japanese forces, the British General Arthur Percival surrendered. About 80,000 Indian, United Kingdom and Australian soldiers become prisoners of war. It was the largest surrender of British-led military personnel in history.

1952The Queen's father, King George VI, was laid to rest in St .George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

1955The Government unveiled plans to construct 12 nuclear power stations in the following decade, at a cost of £300 million.

1971The British Government launched a new, decimal currency across the country. The familiar pound (£), shilling (s) and pence (d) coins that had been in existence for more than 1000 years were to be phased out in the space of 18 months in favour of a system with 100 pennies to the pound rather than 240.

1978New Zealand won a Test Series against England for the first time, after 48 years of matches.

1981An English Football League match was played on a Sunday for the first time.

1986Eight police officers were injured in an outbreak of violence outside the News International printing plant in Wapping, east London. Similar mass protests had taken place regularly outside the Wapping plant since the start of a strike three weeks previously over new working conditions and the move from Fleet Street.

2003Protests against the Iraq war occurred in over 600 cities worldwide. Estimates from 8,000,000 - 30,000,000 people took part, making it the largest peace demonstration ever.

2015 Investigators uncovered what is thought to be the biggest ever cybercrime, with more than £650 million going missing from banks around the world. British banks were thought to have lost tens of millions of pounds after a gang of Russian based hackers infiltrated the bank’s internal computer systems using malware, which lurked in the networks for months, gathering information and feeding it back to the gang. The illegal software was so sophisticated that it allowed the criminals to view video feeds from within supposedly secure offices, as they gathered the data they needed to steal.

2022 Prince Andrew settled a civil sexual assault case brought against him in the United States by Virginia Giuffre, who claimed that he sexually assaulted her on three occasions when she was 17. Prince Andrew had repeatedly denied the allegations. The duke also pledged to "demonstrate his regret for his association" with the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein by supporting the "fight against the evils of sex trafficking, and by supporting its victims". Virginia Giuffre's lawyer David Boies commented "I believe this event speaks for itself."

202352 year old Nicola Sturgeon announced that she was to resign as Scotland's First Minister. She was Scotland's first woman First Minister and also the longest serving First Minister. She assumed office on 29th November 2014 and represented the Scottish National Party.

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