1642 – Dutch astronomer Christian Huygens discovered the Martian south polar cap.

1682 – The first Welsh immigrants to the American colonies arrived in Pennsylvania. They were Quakers, and settled near modern Philadelphia.

1792 – Louis XVI of France was formally arrested by the National Tribunal, and declared an enemy of the people. He was found guilty of treason, and executed by guillotine on 21 January 1793

1846 – The American flag was raised for the first time in Los Angeles.

1876 – Wagner’s “Ring Cycle” was performed in its entirety for the first time

1889 – William Gray of Hartford, Connecticut patented the coin-operated telephone.

1907 – The first taxicab took to the streets of New York City.

1912 – St. Joseph’s College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was granted the first experimental radio licence – by the U.S. Department of Commerce

1913 – Otto Witte, a circus acrobat, was supposedly crowned King of Albania. He had a resemblance to the real heir to the throne and tricked troops into crowning him. He enjoyed a Harem for a few days and declared war on Montenegro before he was rumbled. He managed to escape with a substantial portion of the kingdom’s treasury.

1913 – Sheffield man Harry Brearley invented stainless steel

1918 – Women were enlisted in the United States Marine Corps for the first time. Opha Mae Johnson became the first woman to enlist.

1918 – BMW was established in Germany.

1942 – Disney’s Bambi premiered in America

1946 – Carl E. Weller of Easton, Pennsylvania, received patent on the soldering gun.

1954 – Radio Pakistan broadcast the National Anthem of Pakistan for the first time.

1959 – Volvo Engineer Nils Bohlin invented the life-saving V-shaped three-point seat belt

1960 – The first two-way telephone conversation by satellite took place with the help of Echo 1, the first balloon communications satellite launched the previous day.

1961 – Shortly after midnight East German soldiers began laying down barbed wire and bricks as a barrier between Soviet-controlled East Berlin and the democratic western section of the city. Two days later, work began on the Berlin Wall.

1964 – Manfred Mann were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Do Wah Diddy Diddy’, the bands first of three UK No.1′s.

1964 – The Supremes recorded ‘Baby Love’, the song went on to be the group’s first UK No.1

1965 – Mike Smith, lead singer of The Dave Clark Five, suffered two broken ribs when he was pulled off the stage by fans. The group were in Chicago at the beginning of a US tour.

1965 – The Beatles arrived at Kennedy International Airport for a tour of North America. The set list for the tour was ‘Twist and Shout’, ‘She’s a Woman’, ‘I Feel Fine’, ‘Dizzy Miss Lizzie’, ‘Ticket to Ride’, ‘Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby’, ‘Can’t Buy Me Love’, ‘Baby’s in Black’, ‘Act Naturally’, ‘A Hard Day’s Night’, ‘Help!’, ‘I’m Down’ and ‘I Wanna Be Your Man.’ The tour was not a happy one for The Beatles, John Lennon took to screaming off-microphone obscenities at the audiences.

1966 – ‘Revolver’ The Beatles seventh album release in three years started a seven-week run at No.1 on the UK charts. It spent a total of 34 week’s on the UK chart 1966 – China announced the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.

1967 – Fleetwood Mac made their live debut when they appeared at the National Jazz and Blues Festival in Windsor.

1971 – John Lennon flew from Heathrow Airport to New York. He never set foot on British soil again.

1976 – The Clash played a private gig for the press at Chalk Farm rehearsal studios, London.

1977 – Bachman Turner Overdrive split up. They had the 1974 UK No.2 hit “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet”

1983 – KC and the Sunshine Band were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘Give It Up’.

1987 – Fossil bones discovered in Texas in 1984 were proclaimed to be the remains of possibly the world’s oldest birds.

1988 – Robert Smith of The Cure married his childhood sweetheart Mary Poole.

1991 – The Prince of Wales, who previously called the original re-design plans for the National Gallery “a monstrous carbuncle”, resigned as the patron of Scotland’s national museum over a competition to design a new building. A statement from Buckingham Palace said too much weight had been given to the opinion of “so-called experts”.

1992 – Comedian, actor and director Woody Allen began legal action against actress Mia Farrow to win custody of their three children. A judge ruled against Allen in June 1993.

1994 – Members from Oasis and The Verve were arrested after smashing up a hotel bar and breaking into a church to steal communion wine. Both bands had been appearing at Hulsfred Festival in Sweden. 1996 – Microsoft released Internet Explorer 3.0

1999 – Tennis player Steffi Graf retired from the sport she had dominated for a decade

1999 – Mick Jagger’s marriage to model Jerry Hall was been declared null and void at the High Court in London. Neither Jagger nor Hall were present for the 30-minute hearing before Mr Justice Connell. After hearing evidence on behalf of Hall the judge ruled their “marriage” in Bali in 1990 was not valid either in Indonesia or under English law, and a decree of nullity was granted to Hall. The annulment avoided what had been expected to be a long and costly court battle, in which Ms Hall, 43, was reportedly seeking a £30m share of Jagger’s wealth.

2000 – Melanie C went to No.1 on the UK singles chart with ‘I Turn To You’. It gave the former Spice Girl her second UK No.1.

2002 – Adam Ant pleaded guilty to threatening drinkers at The Prince Of Wales Pub in London in January of this year. The former 1980′s pop star had returned to the bar with a starting pistol after being refused entry. He had also thrown a car alternator through the window of the pub.

2002 – Central Europe was recovering after the worst floods in living memory, with thousands of Germans having to cross the border to find somewhere else to live

2002 – Reports said Man United star, Roy Keane, could be sued after admitting he fouled an opponent in his autobiography

2003 – Researchers claimed the UK was the road rage capital of the world, with nearly nine out of 10 drivers saying they’d been victims at least once

2003 – In Beirut, angry fans of the Arab TV version of Pop Idol staged a protest after a Lebanese singer was voted out at the semi-final stage

2004 – ‘Angels’ by Robbie Williams was voted the best single which should have been a number one but never was, in a poll for music channel VH1. Sir Cliff Richard’s hit ‘Millennium Prayer’ was voted the worst number one single of all time.

2005 – It was announced that actor Mike Reid would return to the BBC soap EastEnders after three years away from the programme

2007 – Amy Winehouse pulled out of two Rolling Stones gigs in Hamburg Germany citing exhaustion, British group Starsailor replaced Winehouse for the shows.

2008 – American swimmer Michael Phelps set the Olympic record for the most gold medals won by an individual in Olympic history with his win in the men’s 200m butterfly.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

1918 – Frederick Sanger, English chemist, the only living man to have won two Nobel Prizes (94)

1926 – Fidel Castro, Cuban revolutionary and politician, Cuba’s President from 1976 till his resignation in 2008. He is now First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba (86)

1940 – John Stokes, singer with 60′s group The Bachelors, who had 17 top 40 hits, including the Number One single “Diane” in 1964) (72)

1945 – Robin Jackman, England cricketer, fast-medium bowler who played in 4 tests, now commentates on the Indian Premier League (67)

1949 – Philippe Petit, French high wire artist famous for walking between the Twin Towers on a 200 kilogram cable using a 26-foot balancing pole (63)

1952 – Marie Helvin former model, once married to photographer, David Bailey – she now presents fashion shows on TV around the world (60)

1955 – Paul Greengrass, English film director, directed “The Bourne Supremacy” and “The Bourne Ultimatum” amongst others (57)

1958 – Fergal Sharkey, musician, lead singer with The Undertones of “Teenage Kicks” fame – also a floppy-haired solo star, he’s now a big-wig in the UK Music Industry (54)

1959 – Danny Bonaduce, American actor, a child star who played Danny Partridge on The Partridge Family (53)

1959 – Mark E Nevin, Welsh born guitarist with Faiground Attraction of “Perfect” fame (53)

1959 – Bruce French, former England cricketer, a wicket-keeper who played 16 tests for England (53)

1959 – Michael Bradley, Northern Irish bassist with The Undertones – he has the same birthday as Feargal Sharkey, though is one year younger (53)

1960 – Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor, English darts player, the best ever – 14 times World Champion, he’s has won over 130 professional tournaments, over twice as many as anyone else in the history of the game (52)

1961 – Stuart Maconie, English music writer and broadcaster, drones on about The Smiths all the time (51)

1961 – Neil Mallender, ex-England cricketer, played for Northants – a Fast-Medium bowler who played in 2 tests (51)

1970 – Alan Shearer, English ex-footballer – a hero in Newcastle (42)

1975 – Shoaib Akhtar, Pakistani cricketer one of the fastest bowlers in the world, known as The Rawlpindi Express, he set a world record by bowling at 100mph twice (37)

1975 – Joe Perry, English snooker player, known as the ‘Fen Potter’ (37)

1978 – Benjani Mwaruwari, Zimbabwean footballer, a striker who used to play for Man City – currently without a club (34)

1982 – Gary McSheffrey, English footballer, striker who’s with Coventry City – and used to play with Birmingham City. (30)

1984 – Niko Kranjar, Croatian footballer, was in the Premiership with Spurs, but moved to Dynamo Kyiv in 2012 (28)

1984 – James Morrison, Brit-Award winning singer songwriter, Born James Morrison Catchpole, famous for his debut album “Undiscovered” and the hit “You Give Me Something”. He thinks his distinctive voice is down to a severe bout with whooping Cough that nearly killed him when he was a baby (28)