1788The British First Fleet, led by Arthur Phillip, sailed into Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) to establish Sydney, the first permanent European settlement on the continent. 26th January is now commemorated as Australia Day.

1823The death of Edward Jenner, the pioneer of smallpox vaccine. (See statue of Jenner at Gloucester Cathedral). Sometimes referred to as the 'Father of Immunology'; it's been said that his work 'saved more lives than the work of any other man'.

1834 The death of Jean Armour, wife of the poet Robert Burns. See her statue in Dumfries. They had nine children, three of whom survived into adulthood. She was buried beside her famous husband in the mausoleum (see picture) in Saint Michael's Cemetery, Dumfries.

1841Hong Kong was proclaimed British sovereign territory.

1871The Rugby Football Union was formed, in London, by an initial 20 clubs.

1878 The death of Kirkpatrick McMillan, Scottish blacksmith. He is generally credited with inventing the pedal driven bicycle. See picture.

1885The British commander of Khartoum, General Charles Gordon, was killed during the attack on Khartoum by troops of the Mahdi following a 10 month siege.

1907A riot broke out in the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, on the first night of J.M. Synge’s Playboy of the Western World, when the audience took offence at the ‘foul language’. The riots continued for a week, but the show went on, heavily guarded by police.

1907The Short Magazine Lee-Enfield Mk III was officially introduced into British Military Service. Its name comes from the designer of the rifle's bolt system, James Paris Lee, and the factory in which it was designed, the Royal Small Arms Factory in Enfield.

1908The 1st Glasgow Boy Scout group, the first Scout group ever, was registered. Today, there are nearly 32 million members in 218 countries and territories and the movement is still growing. In the UK, the total membership is over 500,000.

1910Police rescued the Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith, from a crowd of angry Suffragettes.

1922The birth of Michael Bentine, British comedian, comic actor and founding member of the Goon Show radio show with Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe.

1926John Logie Baird gave a special public demonstration of television to members of the Royal Institution in London. Baird's invention used mechanical rotating disks to scan moving images into electronic impulses.

1942World War II: The first United States forces arrived in Europe, landing in Northern Ireland.

1950India became a Republic within the British Commonwealth.

1952At least 20 people were killed and hundreds injured in anti-British riots in Cairo.

1968The National Provincial Bank and the Westminster Bank merged to form the National Westminster (NatWest).

1982Conservative Prime Minister Mrs. Thatcher was elected in 1979 on the slogan 'Labour isn't working', yet the number of people out of work in Britain rose above three million for the first time since the 1930s.

1986The Sunday Times and News of the World were printed at Wapping for the first time as the nation's presses moved away from Fleet Street.

1994A protester fired two blank shots from a starting pistol at Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, as he prepared to speak at an Australia Day rally in Sydney.

2014The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, was named Honorary Australian of the Year for displaying 'archetypal Aussie characteristics in abundance'.

2014Police stopped a learner driver for speeding on the M62 in West Yorkshire. She was accompanied only by her pet parrot. 'Since parrots are not allowed to supervise learner drivers, her vehicle has been seized,' police tweeted.

2015 Australian PM Tony Abbott used the country's national day (Australia Day) to announce a knighthood for Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, for his "long life of service and dedication".

2015 The Rt. Rev. Libby Lane became the first female Church of England bishop, when she was consecrated Bishop of Stockport in a ceremony at York Minster. See the consecration picture outside York Minster - picture.

2021 Government figures showed a grim, new milestone in the coronavirus pandemic. 1,631 deaths were recorded in the UK today, with deaths from the disease now surpassing 100,000 since the first death was recorded on 2nd March 2020. A total of 100,162 deaths have now been recorded in the UK, making it the first European nation to pass the landmark, with the highest death total in Europe and the 5th highest death toll in the world.

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