It happened today – this day in history – October 28

969: Byzantine troops occupy Antioch.

1420: Beijing is declared the capital of the Ming dynasty.

1492: Christopher Columbus sights Cuba and claims it for Spain under the name “Juana”.

1726: Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift is published.

1746: The cities of Lima and Callao are demolished by an earthquake in Peru, killing 18,000.

1903: Author Evelyn Waugh is born in London.

1904: St Louis police try a new investigation method – fingerprints.

1918: Czechoslovakia gains independence as Austria-Hungary breaks up.

1940: Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini meet in Florence.

1948: The flag of Israel is adopted.

1951: Alfa Romeo driver Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina wins the Formula 1 World Drivers Championship.

1954: Ernest Hemingway is awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.

1958: Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli is elected Pope, taking the name John XXIII.

1961: Raymond Jones goes into Liverpool’s NEMS Record store trying to buy My Bonnie, a song that had been released in Germany by a band called The Beatles. Shop manager Brian Epstein promises to investigate further.

1962: The Cuban Missile Crisis ends as US President John F Kennedy welcomes Russia’s announcement that it will dismantle its missiles based on the island.

1971: John Lennon and Yoko Ono record Happy Xmas (War Is Over) in New York.

1974: Sports Minister Denis Howell’s wife and young son survive an IRA bomb attack on their car.

1979: Chairman Hua Kuo-Feng becomes the first Chinese leader to visit Britain.

1986: 24-year old Essex man Jeremy Bamber is sentenced to life in prison for killing five members of his family.

1997: REM drummer Bill Berry announced that he was leaving the group after 17 years to become a farmer – albeit a multi millionaire one.

1998: Poet Ted Hughes dies aged 68.

2007: Country musician Porter Wagoner dies in Nashville aged 80 from lung cancer.

Singles chart:

1. Bleeding Love – Leona Lewis
2. Rule The World – Take That
3. The Heart Never Lies – McFly
4. About You Know – Sugarbabes
5. Valerie – Mark Ronson ft Amy Winehouse
6. Gimme More – Britney Spears
7. Apologize – Timbaland ft One Republic
8. Uninvited – Freemasons ft Bailey Tzuke
9. Goodbye Mr A – The Hoosiers
10. Lord Don’t Slow Me Down – Oasis

Album chart:

1. The Trick To Life – The Hoosiers
2. Still On Top – Van Morrison
3. Version – Mark Ronson
4. Change – Sugarbabes
5. Back To Black – Amy Winehouse
6. Pull The Pin – Stereophonics
7. Complete – Eric Clapton
8. Hits – Phil Collins
9. Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace – Foo Fighters
10. Pictures – Katie Melua

2017: Spain’s central government imposes direct rule on Catalonia, dismisses its government and calls for new elections in December.

2019: The EU agrees to another Brexit extension to January 31, 2020. On the same day, musician Stephen Morris appealed for the return of his £250,000 antique violin after leaving it on a train.

BIRTHDAYS: Dame Cleo Laine, jazz singer, 93; Bernie Ecclestone, motorsport impressario, 90; David Dimbleby, political commentator, 82; Hank Marvin (Brian Rankin), guitarist (The Shadows) 79; Caitlyn Jenner, former Olympic decathlete, 71; Annie Potts, actress, 68; Desmond Child, songwriter, 67; Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, 65; Stephen Morris, drummer (Joy Division/New Order) 63; William Reid, guitarist/songwriter (The Jesus and Mary Chain) 62; Lauren Holly, actress, 57; Julia Roberts, actress, 53; Joaquin Phoenix, actor, 46; Gwendoline Christie, actress, 42; Matt Smith, actor, 38; Frank Ocean (Christopher Breaux), singer-songwriter, 33.