1651Charles II was crowned King of Scotland at Scone, a village in Perth and Kinross.

1660Samuel Pepys began writing the Diary which he kept for nine years, writing in an early form of shorthand.

1766The death in Rome of ‘the Old Pretender’, James Stuart, father of Bonnie Prince Charlie. He is buried in the crypt of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.

1772The London Credit Exchange Company issued the first traveller’s cheques, accepted in 90 cities and guaranteed against theft.

1773The hymn that became known as "Amazing Grace", was first used to accompany a sermon, led by John Newton in the town of Olney, Buckinghamshire.

1781The first all-iron bridge in the world, Iron Bridge in Shropshire (see - picture) was opened to traffic. The bridge was built by Abraham Darby III, from a design by Thomas Farnolls Pritchard.

1785John Walter published the first issue of the Daily Universal Register. In 1788 it was renamed The Times.

1812The Bishop of Durham, Shute Barrington, ordered troops from Durham Castle (see - picture) to break up a miners' strike in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, at collieries owned by the Dean & Chapter of Durham Cathedral.

1818 The publication of Mary's Shelley's book 'Frankenstein', frequently called the world’s first science fiction novel. She was married for six years to the poet PB Shelley.

1833Britain claimed sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.

1839 The death, in Portsmouth, of John Pounds, shoemaker, philanthropic teacher and the man most responsible for the creation of the concept of the Ragged School Movement. This replica (see picture) of his workshop school can be seen at Portsmouth in the grounds of the Unitarian Chapel.

1876Bass Ale’s ‘Red Triangle’ became the first registered trade mark in Britain.

1877The British Prime Minister, Disraeli, had Queen Victoria proclaimed Empress of India.

1894The opening of the Manchester Ship Canal linking Manchester to the River Mersey. Queen Victoria later formally opened the canal, on 21st May 1894. After the dockyards closed in 1982, Manchester Docks was transformed into Salford Quays, now the home to the Lowry theatre (see - picture) , retail outlets, the Imperial War Museum North (see - picture) and Media CityUK (see - picture) , home to the BBC and ITV studios.

1919 More than 200 men, returning home after the end of World War One, died when the naval yacht HMY Iolaire hit a reef in bad weather close to Stornoway harbour and sank just yards from the Lewis coastline.

1944 The death of Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, English architect. After World War I Lutyens became architect to the Imperial War Graves Commission. His work included the Cenotaphs in London, Manchester and Rochdale (see - picture).

1951The first episode of the BBC’s radio serial The Archers - farming folk of Ambridge. It is the world's longest running radio 'soap'. By 18th December 2011 it had reached 16,600 episodes.

1962The Beatles had an audition for Decca Records, who turned them down and signed Brian Poole and the Tremeloes instead.

1964Jimmy Savile presented the very first Top of the Pops, the longest running music show in the world. He also co-hosted the last, on 30th July 2006. After Savile's death in October 2012, numerous allegations were made that he had sexually abused hundreds of young people, dating back to 1958. Police also confirmed that Savile had been questioned over allegations of child sex abuse in 2007. His gravestone at Scarborough was removed at the request of Savile's family and plaques and statues of him in other locations were removed to prevent further defacement.

1965Stanley Matthews was knighted, the first professional footballer to receive this honour.

1973The UK became a fully-fledged member of the European Economic Community.

1985Michael Harrison, the son of former Vodafone chairman Sir Ernest Harrison, made the first ever mobile phone call in Britain. He called his father from London's Parliament Square on the newly-launched Vodafone network using an 11lb (5kg) Transportable Vodafone VT1, which boasted around 30 minutes of talk time. A few days later, a crowd gathered at St Katherine's Dock in London to watch comedian Ernie Wise make the first public mobile phone call using the same device. All were far from portable and cost around £2,000 - equivalent to roughly £5,000 today.

1995Fred West, the 53 year old Gloucestershire builder charged with 12 murders, was found dead in his prison cell.

2014Right wing newspapers gathered at airports to interrogate an expected influx of millions of unemployed Romanians and Bulgarians after transitional controls were lifted. They were greeted by two new entrants, both of whom already had jobs.

2022Tobias Weller, aged 11 and Max Woosey, 12, became the youngest-ever recipients of New Year’s Honours after raising more than £700,000 between them for charity. Tobias, who has cerebral palsy and autism walked more than 50 miles using his walking frame, plus a 112 mile ride on his trike, a 4km swim and running the length of a full marathon. Max inspired nearly 2,000 other young people all over the world to raise money for their own charities through Max's Big Camp Out and has spent every night in a tent since March 2020.

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