It happened today – this day in history – January 28
- It happened today – this day in history – September 19 - 19/09/2021
- It happened today – this day in history – September 18 - 18/09/2021
- It happened today – this day in history – September 17 - 17/09/2021
814: Death of Charlemagne aged 71.
1099: Siege of Hosn-el-Akrad, Syria, during the First Crusade.
1225: Birth of St Thomas Aquinas in Italy.
1457: Birth of Henry VII at Pembroke Castle.
1495: Pope Alexander VI gives his son Cesare Borgia as a hostage to Charles VIII of France.
1547:Nine-year-old Edward VI succeeds Henry VIII as king.
1596: Sir Francis Drake dies of dysentery aged 50.
1671: Pirate Henry Morgan captures Panama City.
1689: Parliament resolves that the English throne is vacant.
1770: Frederick North becomes Prime Minister of Great Britain after Augustus FitzRoy resigns.
1807: London’s Pall Mall becomes the first street lit by gaslight.
1813: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice” is published.
1819: Sir Stamford Raffles lands in Singapore.
1846: The British defeat Sikhs at the Battle of Allwal in the Punjab.
1871: Paris surrenders to Prussia.
1887: Work begins on the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
1912: Birth of artist Jackson Pollock in Wyoming.
1915: President Woodrow Wilson refuses to prohibit the immigration of illiterates into the US.
1916: The German colony of Cameroon surrenders to Britain and France.
1918: Rebels seized control of Helsinki during the Finnish Civil War.
1932: Japanese forces attack Shanghai.
1933: The name “Pakistan” is coined by Choudhry Rahmat Ali and gradually accepted by Muslims in the Indian sub-continent who use it to push for a separate Muslim homeland in South Asia.
1935: Iceland becomes the first western country to legalise abortion.
1939:Poet W B Yeates dies aged 73.
1942: Soviet troops move into Ukraine. On the same day, German troops occupy Benghazi Libya.
1944: 683 British bombers attack Berlin.
1953: Derek Bentley, a 19-year old man with a mental age of 11, is executed at Wandsworth Prison for his part in the fatal shooting of PC Sidney Miles during a bungled burglary in Croydon. The shot was fired by accomplice Christopher Craig, but as he was a juvenile he avoided the death sentence. Bentley was posthumously pardoned 45 years later.
1958: The Lego company patents its design of Lego bricks.
1960: The last Goon Show is broadcast on radio.
1961: The Republic of Rwanda is proclaimed.
1968: A recovery team searches for wreckage from an American Air Force B-52 bomber that crashed in Greenland armed with four hydrogen bombs.
1973: The Godfather wins best drama at the Golden Globes with Marlon Brando as best actor.
1982: Italian police rescue US Brigadier General James Dozier who had been held hostage by the Red Brigade for six weeks.
1983: Singer Billy Fury (Ronald Wycherley) dies of heart failure aged 42.
1985: The recording took place for We Are The World, the US equivalent of Band Aid at A&M Studios in Hollywood.
1986: The space shuttle Challenger explodes shortly after take-off killing all seven astronauts on board.
1990: The San Francisco 49ers beat Denver Broncos, 55-10 to win the Super Bowl.
1991: Dictator Siad Barre flees Somalia ending 22 year rule.
1996: Death of Jerry Siegel, co-creator of Superman, aged 81. On the same day, Dallas Cowboys beat Pittsburgh Steelers, 27-17 to win the Super Bowl.
2001: The Baltimore Ravens beat the New York Giants, 34-7 to win the Super Bowl.
Singles chart:
- Limp Bizkit
- Pop Ya Collar – Usher
- The Next Episode – Dr Dre ft Snoop Dogg
- Touch Me – Rui Da Silva ft Cassandra
- Everytime You Need Me – Fragma ft Maria Rubia
- Played A Live (The Bongo Song) – Safri Duo
- On The Radio – Martine McCutcheon
- Love Don’t Cost A Thing – Jennifer Lopez
- Dream To Me – Dario G
- Things I’ve Seen – Spooks
Album chart:
- Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavoured Water – Limp Bizkit
- J Lo – Jennifer Lopez
- The Greatest Hits – Texas
- Onka’s Big Moka – Toploader
- Parachutes – Coldplay
- Not That Kind – Anastacia
- 1 – The Beatles
- The Marshall Mathers LP – Eminem
- No Angel – Dido
- Sing When You’re Winning – Robbie Williams
2005: Drummer and singer-songwriter Jim Capaldi of Traffic dies of stomach cancer aged 60.
2009: Lynyrd Skynyrd keyboard player Billy Powell dies aged 56.
2010: Five Bangladeshi military officers are hanged for the murder of president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
2015: Funk legend Sly Stone is awarded $5m (£3.3m) in missed royalties by a Los Angeles court. He had been living in a camper van.
2016: Guitarist/singer-songwriter, Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane died in San Francisco at the age of 74 due to multiple organ failure and septic shock after suffering a heart attack days earlier.
2018: Bruno Mars wins the Grammy best song (That’s What I Like) and for best album (24K Magic).
2020: Broadcaster Nicholas Parsons dies aged 96.
BIRTHDAYS: Alan Alda, actor/director, 85; Dick Taylor, guitarist (The Pretty Things) 78; Robert Wyatt, former drummer, singer-songwriter, 76; Nicolas Sarközy, former president of France, 66; Frank Skinner (Christopher Collins), comedian, 64; Sarah McLachlan, singer-songwriter, 53; Lee Latchford-Evans, singer (Steps) 46; Joey Fatone, singer, (NSYNC) 44; Jamie Carragher, football pundit, 43; Nick Carter, singer, (Backstreet Boys) 41; Elijah Wood, actor, 40; Jessica Ennis Hill, Olympic athlete, 35; Will Poulter, actor, 28; Ariel Winter (Workman), actress, 23.
