1998
Death of James Earl Ray, convicted killer of American civil rights leader Martin Luther King (died in prison).
United States
1994
Scientists at the US Department of Energys Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory found evidence of the top quark subatomic particle after a ten-year search
United States
1984
HIV, the virus that causes Aids, was discovered by scientists in the USA and France
1983
Death of Buster Crabbe, American swimmer and actor .
United States
1968
Britain’s first decimal coins, the 5p and 10p, were issued .
Great Britain
1959
Britains first heliport opened in London
Great Britain
1915
Death of Rupert Brooke, English war poet, who died from septicaemia whilst at sea en-route to the Dardanelles, and was buried on the island of Skyros.
Great Britain
1908
US President Theodore Roosevelt signed an act creating the US Army Reserve.
United States
1907
Jack Dash born 1907 (died 1989). Communist unofficial dockers' leader. Denounced in the Commons in 1966 by Harold Wilson when Prime Minister.
Great Britain
1907
Birth of Lee Miller, photographer who accompanied US troops to Dachau when working as a war correspondent for Vogue.
United States
1858
Birth of Max Planck, German physicist who developed quantum theory, Nobel Prize winner.
Germany
1807
Birth in Edinburgh of Andrew Young author of the hymn, There is a Happy Land.
Great Britain
1616
Death of Miguel de Cervantes (of Don Quixote fame) in Madrid
Spain
1616
Death of William Shakespeare, dramatist and poet
Great Britain
1564
Birth of William Shakespeare, dramatist and poet
Great Britain
1348
English order of knighthood founded
Great Britain