1542Catherine Howard, the fifth wife of Henry VIII of England, was executed for adultery.

1692The massacre of the MacDonalds at Glencoe, for not promptly pledging allegiance to the new king, William of Orange. See picture of Glencoe. The massacre began simultaneously in three settlements along the glen - Invercoe, Inverrigan, and Achnacon, although the killing took place all over the glen as the fleeing MacDonalds were pursued. Thirty eight MacDonalds from the Clan MacDonald of Glencoe were killed and another forty women and children died of exposure after their homes were burned.

1938The birth of Oliver Reed, English actor. His films included Oliver, Women in Love and The Three Musketeers. His final role was as the elderly slave dealer Proximo in Gladiator, in which he played alongside Richard Harris, an actor whom Reed admired greatly.

19451400 RAF and 450 US Airforce planes bombed Dresden in three waves over a 14-hour period, devastating one of the world’s most beautiful cities. Over a three-day period, 3,900 tons of explosives and incendiaries reduced much of the city to smouldering rubble and killed between 35,000 and 135,000 civilians.

1948The Science Museum in London announced that it would return the Wright Brothers’ biplane, Kitty Hawk, the first to fly, to the Smithsonian Institution. It had been sent to England in 1928 by Orville Wright when he found that the Smithsonian had labelled another plane as the first capable of sustained flight.

1969An announcement stated that eggs removed from a woman volunteer had been fertilized in a test tube as a result of work done at Cambridge University in collaboration with Dr. P. Steptoe at Oldham General Hospital.

1974The birth of Robbie Williams, former member of the pop group Take That. After many disagreements, Williams left the group in 1995 to launch his solo career but he rejoined Take That in 2009 and left again in 2012. The group released a new album in November 2010 which became the second fastest selling album of all time in UK chart history and the fastest-selling record of the century.

1975British mineworkers' leaders agreed to accept the coal board's latest pay offer of up to 35%.

1975The birth of Ben Collins, British racing driver. On 1st September 2010 the BBC was refused a court injunction to prevent the revelation that 'Stig', Top Gear's 'tame racing driver' was, in fact Ben Collins. In future Top Gear programmes the team regularly referred to him as 'sacked Stig'.

1978Tomorrow's World presenter Anna Ford was officially announced as ITN's first female newsreader.

1987London’s property boom resulted in a 5ft 6in x 11ft broom cupboard opposite Harrods being offered for sale at £36,500 - over £600 per square foot.

1988The Winter Olympics opened in Calgary, Canada. English ski-jumper and plasterer Eddie Edwards, became the surprise sensation of the Games. The fearless contestant came last, but won all the headlines and the nickname The Eagle. His life story was made into a film, Eddie the Eagle, in 2016

2001Stephen Kelly, aged 33, went on trial in Glasgow for knowingly infecting a woman with the HIV virus in a case believed to be the first of its kind in Scotland. He was found guilty of 'culpable and reckless conduct' and was sentenced to five years in prison.

2015 PC Robert Brown, who joined the Metropolitan Police in the era of 'Dixon of Dock Green', retired after 47-years service. He was the country's longest serving policeman. In recognition of his service, he was awarded the Queen's Police Medal at Buckingham Palace, one of the highest honours bestowed on police officers.

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