1348Records indicate that the Black Death plague, which originated in Asia, arrived on a ship moored at Melcombe Regis 'On This Day'.

1533The death, at the age of 37, of Mary Tudor, the younger sister of King Henry VIII and queen consort of France through her marriage to Louis XII. She was first buried at the abbey at Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, but her body was moved to nearby St. Mary's Church, Bury St Edmunds, when the abbey was destroyed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. See picture of her tomb and memorial plaque in St. Mary's Church.

1646The surrender of Oxford to the Roundheads virtually signified the end of the English Civil War.

1870The birth of Robert Erskine Childers, Irish author and nationalist who resigned as a clerk in the House of Commons to promote Irish Home Rule. He was elected as a Sinn Fein member to the Irish assembly and joined the IRA which eventually led to his arrest and execution for being in possession of unauthorized weapons.

1891The first episode of an Arthur Conan Doyle novel involving the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes was printed in the Strand Magazine in London.

1900Lord Louis Mountbatten of Burma was born. He was Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Navy in South East Asia during the Second World War, and later Viceroy of India during the transfer of power from Britain to India. Mountbatten was assassinated in 1979 by the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA), who planted a bomb in his fishing boat, the Shadow V, at Mullaghmore, County Sligo, in the Republic of Ireland. His tomb (see picture) is in Romsey Abbey, Hampshire along with the family Coat of Arms. See picture.

1903The birth of George Orwell, English novelist of 'Animal Farm' and '1984'.

1912The Prime Minister, Herbert Asquith was bitterly attacked in the Commons for the 'torture' of force-feeding suffragettes in prison.

1953John Christie was sentenced to hang for murdering his wife and then hiding her body under the floorboards of their Notting Hill home in London. Christie, 54, had admitted murder but pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. It took the jury an hour and 22 minutes to reject his defence and declare him guilty.

1967An estimated worldwide audience of 350 million in 26 nations watched the world’s first, live, televised satellite hook up; the Beatles' recording of 'All You Need Is Love' at Abbey Road. The event, which lasted just over two hours, had the largest television audience to date and around 10,000 technicians, producers and translators were involved.

1969Wimbledon saw the longest men’s singles match ever when Charlie Passarell was beaten by Pancho Gonzalez 22-24, 1-6, 16-14, 6-3, 11-9.

2001Race violence erupted in Burnley, Lancashire. White and Asian youths were involved in a series of overnight attacks on pubs, shops and restaurants. Many vehicles were also damaged or destroyed. See picture of quieter times in Towneley Park, Burnley.

2011The Pirates of Penzance - 8,734 people in fancy dress assembled on Penzance promenade at 13:00 BST. The Guinness World Records later confirmed that Penzance now held the title for the largest gathering of pirates in one place, officially breaking the previous record set by 6,166 pirates in Hastings in 2010.

2013A Lola B12 69/EV, developed by Drayson Racing Technologies broke the world land speed record for a lightweight electric car when it hit a top speed of 204.2mph at a racetrack at RAF Elvington in Yorkshire. The previous 175mph record had been set by Battery Box General Electric in 1974.

2014Royal aides said that the refurbishment of the Kensington Palace apartment for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, a renovation boosted by £4.5m of taxpayers' money, had made the space neither 'lavish' nor 'opulent', but just like 'an ordinary family home'.

2014Britain's best-known payday lender, 'Wonga', was ordered to pay more than £2.6m compensation after it was found to have sent threatening letters to customers from non-existent law firms.

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