1155The birth of "Henry the Young King", the eldest surviving son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine. He was the only English king since the Norman Conquest to be crowned (aged 15) during his father's reign. Henry was a titular ruler, meaning that he had an official position of leadership but few, if any, actual powers. He died, aged just 28, six years before his father, leaving his brother Richard I to become the next king.

1784John Wesley signed the deed of declaration which established the Wesleyan faith. It has been called the Magna Carta of Methodism.

1874Arthur Orton, who claimed to be the long lost heir to the wealthy Tichborne estate in Hampshire, was found guilty of perjury after a trial of 260 days, the longest trial in England. He was sentenced to 14 years’ hard labour, as the real Sir Roger Tichborne had perished at sea in 1853.

1888In a Belfast street, a small boy named Johnny Dunlop was riding his tricycle under the supervision of his father. The two rear wheels of the tricycle were the world's first pneumatic tyres and he was testing them. The test was so successful that his father was granted patent number 10607 on 23rd July.

1900The four-month siege of the British garrison at Ladysmith in Natal (South Africa) ended, as a relief force broke through the Boers at Spion Kop. There were extraordinary scenes of jubilation in Britain, followed by much larger celebrations after the Siege of Mafeking. Four Victoria Crosses awarded during the siege.

1918The birth of Alfred Burke, British actor best known for his portrayal of Frank Marker in the drama series Public Eye, which ran on television for ten years.

1925The birth of the actor Harry H. Corbett. In the early 1950s, he added the initial "H" to avoid confusion with the television entertainer Harry Corbett, who was known for his act with the glove-puppet Sooty. A chance meeting with writers Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, who had been successful with Hancock's Half Hour, changed Corbett's life. He is best known for his starring role in the popular and long-running BBC Television sitcom Steptoe and Son. Early in his career he was dubbed 'the English Marlon Brando' by some sections of the British press.

1931Having left the Labour Party, Sir Oswald Mosley formed the "New Party" which he said was dedicated to turning parliament "from a talk-shop into a workshop". The party later evolved into the British Union of Fascists.

1942The birth of Brian Jones, English musician and a founding member of The Rolling Stones. He died at the age of 27 by drowning in the swimming pool at his home in East Sussex thus becoming a member of the so called '27 Club'. Members are all former musicians who died at the age of 27 and the list includes Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse,

1966The Cavern Club, Liverpool, where the Beatles and other pop groups began, was forced into liquidation.

1975At 8.37 am in the London rush hour, a Northern Line underground train crashed through the buffers at Moorgate station and hit a solid dead-end wall, killing 41 people and seriously injuring 50. The rescue operation took three days to complete.

2001A GNER train from York to London King's Cross crashed at Great Heck between Goole and Selby, North Yorkshire, on the East Coast main line. Gary Hart fell asleep at the wheel of his Land Rover and plunged 40ft down the railway embankment from the M62 into the path of an express train. The 4.45am Great North Eastern Intercity service from Newcastle to London King's Cross ploughed into the Land Rover before colliding with a coal train travelling north. 10 people, including both train drivers, died and more than 70 were injured. See plaque in the memorial garden that overlooks the track. See also picture. With an estimated closing speed of 142 mph the collision between the trains is the highest speed railway incident that has occurred in the UK. Hart was convicted of ten charges of causing death by dangerous driving, but served just 30 months of a five-year jail term.

2001A clean-up operation got under way after a suspected arson fire at Coventry Cathedral the previous day. Insurance experts started assessing the damage to the Cathedral's priceless artefacts, including this famous tapestry 'Christ the King', by Graham Sutherland. See picture.

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