2010: Before a live studio audience in Manchester and millions more watching at home, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg clashed over the economy, defence and care for the elderly in Britain’s first televised general election leaders’ debate.
2013: Margaret Thatcher’s funeral was held at St.Paul’s Cathedral.
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1689: Death – in the Tower of London – of the despised Judge Jeffreys, who sentenced more than 300 to death at his “bloody assizes”. 1775:American patriot Paul Revere made his famous ride from Charleston to Lexington to warn of the British Army’s advance.
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1746:The army of Charles Stuart, the Young Pretender ‘Bonnie Prince Charlie’, was routed by Cumberland at the Battle of Culloden. 1850: Death of Marie Tussaud, Swiss-born modeller who established the world-famous waxworks near Baker Street, London, in 1835.
1906: San Francisco was devastated by a massive earthquake.
1934:The first launderette opened in Fort Worth,Texas. It was called a Washateria.
1889: Charlie Chaplin (later Sir Charles), English comedian, was born in London.
1946:The League of Nations was formally dissolved, its assets passing to the United Nations.
1912:American Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel.
1949:The Republic of Ireland Act came into force as Eire became a republic and withdrew from the British Commonwealth. 1954: Colonel Gamel Abdal Nasser became prime minister and military governor of Egypt, having seized power while President Neguib was away from the capital.
1951:The British submarine Affray sank in the English Channel with the loss of 75 lives.
1953:The royal yacht Britannia was launched by the Queen.
1964:Twelve members of the Great Train Robbery gang were sentenced to a total of 307 years in jail.
1955: Death of physicist Albert Einstein, one of the most creative intellects in history.
2007:The Bank of England was forced to publish an open letter to the Chancellor for the first time after a shock surge in inflation to above 3%. 2010:Travel chaos spread across Europe as planes were grounded in the United Kingdom, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia as a result of an ash cloud from Iceland.
1966:The Sound Of Music won an Oscar after receiving an almost universal panning from the critics. It grossed #60 million in its first year. 1968: London Bridge was sold for £1 million to oil tycoon Robert McCullough. He had it rebuilt at Lake Havasu in the United States.
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1860:The first world title fight took place near Farnborough, Hants, when Tom Sayers took on American John Heenan. After 37 rounds – two hours and 27 minutes – the match was declared a draw. 1937:A British attendance record at a football match was set when 149,547 people watched Scotland v England at Hampden Park, Glasgow.
1980: Rhodesia became the independent nation of Zimbabwe with Canaan Banana as the country’s first president.
1956: Premium Bonds were launched by Chancellor Harold Macmillan.
1960:American rock star Eddie Cochran died in a car crash near Chippenham while on tour with Gene Vincent.
1961:An attempt by Cuban exiles and US forces to invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs, and overthrow Castro’s Communist regime, was repulsed. 1984: Pc Yvonne Fletcher was shot dead outside the Libyan People’s Bureau in central London. She had been policing a small demonstration outside the embassy.
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