1811 The death of Robert Raikes ("the Younger"). He was an English philanthropist and Anglican layman, noted for his promotion of Sunday schools. They pre-dated state schooling and by 1831 they schooled 1,250,000 children. His Sunday Schools were seen as the first precursor schools of the English state school system. They lived at Ladybellegate House (see picture) in Gloucester from 1735 - 1772. See also the plaque - a picture.

1827The birth of Joseph Lister, the English physician who introduced the idea of using antiseptics during surgery.

1843Queen Victoria proclaimed Hong Kong a British crown colony.

1847Birkenhead Park, on the Wirral Peninsula, opened On This Day. Designed by Joseph Paxton it is generally acknowledged as the first publicly funded civic park in Britain.

190225 football fans were killed at Ibrox Park, Glasgow, when a stand collapsed during a Scotland / England international match. At least another 200 were injured.

1904The first international rugby league match was played between England and an 'Other Nationalities team' (consisting of Welsh & Scottish players) in Central Park, Wigan.

1922The birth, in Preston, Lancashire of former footballer Sir Tom Finney. He was famous for his loyalty to his league club, Preston North End and for his performances in the English national side. He played his entire career for his local club, appearing 433 times and scoring 187 goals.

1941The death of Sir Nigel Gresley, one of Britain's most famous steam locomotive engineers. His designs included the A1 series (Flying Scotsman) and the A4 class - Mallard (see picture) which holds the record for being the fastest steam locomotive in the world at 126 mph. After a 10 year £4.2M rebuild the Flying Scotsman (see picture) was back on track for test runs on the East Lancs. Railway on 9th January 2016.

1942World War II: The Imperial Japanese Navy launched a carrier-based air attack on Colombo, Ceylon during the Indian Ocean Raid. The port was damaged, civilians were injured and the Royal Navy cruisers HMS Cornwall and HMS Dorsetshire were sunk south-west of the island.

1955Sir Winston Churchill, the British leader who guided Great Britain through the crisis of World War II, retired as Prime Minister, aged 81, handing over to Anthony Eden.

1964Automatic, driverless trains began operating on the London Underground.

1976Harold Wilson resigned as Prime Minister and was succeeded by James Callaghan.

1982A British Task Force set sail from Southampton to recapture the Falkland Islands after the invasion by Argentina.

1997The 150th running of the Grand National at Aintree, Liverpool was cancelled because of an IRA bomb scare.

1999Richard Dunwoody became the most successful jump jockey of all time, when he clocked up his 1,679th win at Wincanton. (The record is now held by Tony McCoy with over 2,000 winners.)

2001Perry Wacker, a Dutch lorry driver was sentenced to 14 years in prison for his part in the deaths of 58 Chinese illegal immigrants. They were found suffocated in the back of his lorry when it was searched at Dover in June 2000.

2002People queued for miles beside the Thames to pay their last respects to the Queen Mother, whose body was lying in state in Westminster Hall, London.

2020 Dr Catherine Calderwood, Scotland's chief medical officer, resigned after the Scottish Sun newspaper published photographs of her and her family visiting their second home during the coronavirus lockdown. The home was more than an hour's drive from her main family home in Edinburgh and it was her second such visit. Calderwood had fronted TV and radio adverts urging the public to stay at home to save lives and protect the NHS, during the coronavirus epidemic and had taken part in daily televised media briefings alongside Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.

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