1304 The fall of Stirling Castle (see picture) in the Wars of Scottish Independence. King Edward I of England took the stronghold using the 'War Wolf', a type of catapult that used the energy of a raised counterweight to throw a projectile. Ten years later Stirling Castle was recaptured by the Scots, an event that was the immediate cause of the Battle of Bannockburn in which Edward Longshanks's son, Edward II, came with an army two or three times the Scottish numbers and lost.

1685 A fortnight after the Battle of Sedgemoor, Lady Alice Lisle sheltered two supporters of Monmouth's defeated army at her home, Moyles Court (see picture) in Hampshire. In the morning the men were arrested; she was charged with harbouring traitors and was subsequently executed.

1807Round-arm (over-arm) bowling was introduced to English cricket by John Willes in the Kent v England match at Fenenden Heath.

1837London’s first railway station opened, in Euston Grove. The new Euston station was described as ‘mightier than the pyramids of Egypt’.

1871The English Football Association Challenge Cup Competition was formed, to become better known as the FA Cup. The first final saw the Wanderers beat the Royal Engineers by one goal to nil, watched by a crowd of 2,000.

1885The Football Association legalized professionalism in football under pressure from the British Football Association.

1889John Reith, Scottish engineer and first director general of the BBC, was born.

1938Diana Rigg, English actress, was born. She is probably best known for her portrayals of Emma Peel in The Avengers and Countess Teresa di Vicenzo in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

1943The birth of the actress Wendy Richard. She played Miss Brahms in the BBC's Are You Being Served? and Pauline Fowler in EastEnders.

1944World War II: Adolf Hitler escaped death after a third attempt on his life when a bomb exploded in Rastenberg.

1968During a BBC radio interview, actress Jane Asher announced that her engagement to Beatle Paul McCartney was off. He was not the first to find out!

1982An IRA terrorist bomb in Hyde Park, London, killed 3 members of the Blues and Royals during the Changing of the Guard ceremony. Two hours later 8 bandsmen were killed by an IRA bomb planted at the bandstand in Regent's Park.

1990An IRA bomb blew a 10-foot hole in the London Stock Exchange.

2000Families of the victims of serial killer GP Harold Shipman won their High Court battle for an open inquiry into how their loved ones died.

2002Charles Kennedy, former Leader of the Liberal Democrats, and his fiancée Sarah Gurling, were married in the House of Commons chapel.

2003The BBC confirmed that weapons expert Dr David Kelly, found dead two days earlier, was the source for reports that the government had 'sexed up' an Iraq dossier.

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