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In England, notorious murderer and serial killer Frederick West commits suicide in prison aged 53.

A report funded by The Department of Health in England finds that the convicted serial killer, former GP Harold Shipman, may have killed in excess of 300 of his patients.

In England, Prince Edward and Sophie Rhys-Jones (the Duke and Duchess of Wessex) announce their engagement.

Indria Gandhi wins a landslide election victory in India.

World War I: In order to provide a safe area for the thousands of refugees fleeing the fighting in Serbia, French forces take formal military control of the Greek island of Corfu.

Sven-Goran Eriksson starts his job as the manager of the England football team. He is the first foreigner to hold this position.

The Hundred Years War: Rouen formally surrenders to King Henry V of England.

In England, the trial of the 'A6 murderer', James Hanratty begins. In February 1962, Hanratty was found guilty and hanged.

The Dutch government refuses to extradite Wilhelm II to the Allies. The former Kaiser of Germany has been living in exile in the Netherlands since November 1918.

In Britain, Peter Mandelson, the Northern Ireland Secretary, resigns from the cabinet over a row concerning a passport application from an Indian billionaire. It the second time Mandelson has had to reign from the Cabinet.

The second NASA rover, sent to explore Mars, lands on the surface of the planet, where it will look for signs of water.

The first American forces arrive in Europe, landing in Northern Ireland.

World War II: The Red Army liberates the Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz, in Poland.

A recovery team is searching for wreckage from an American Air Force B-52 bomber, armed with four hydrogen bombs, which crashed into the sea near the Arctic air base of Thule in Greenland.

In England, the IRA explodes a series of bombs in the West End of London.

'Bloody Sunday': British troops shoot dead 13 people during a demonstration in Londonderry, Northern Ireland. The troops argued that they opened fire in response to shots from gunmen in a nearby block of flats.

In the Netherlands, a court convicts one Libyan and acquits another for their part in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which crashed in Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.

In Northern Ireland, loyalist paramilitary group the Ulster Freedom Fighters kill prominent lawyer Pat Finucane.

In Glasgow, Stephen Kelly goes on trial for knowingly infecting a woman with the HIV virus in a case believed to be the first of its kind in Scotland. Kelly is found guilty.

In England, jurors at the inquest into the death of Stephen Lawrence rule that the black teenager was killed in an unprovoked racist attack.

In England, Ministry of Defence assistant secretary Clive Ponting resigns. Ponting become famous for passing information to an M.P about the sinking of the Argentinean ship the General Belgrano by British forces during the Falklands War.

In America, Robert Preston, a discontented US army private, steels a helicopter, flying it to the White House where he hovers over the building before landing. President Nixon is not in the White House during the incident.

Fox hunting with dogs becomes illegal in England and Wales.

In England, an abattoir in Essex is suspected of having Foot-and-mouth disease. It is later confirmed that it has the disease, starting a crisis in British farming.

In England, the IRA explodes two bombs at the army barracks in Tern Hill, Shropshire.

In England, the Court of Appeal quashes the conviction of the "Bridgewater three", three men who were convicted of the killing of 13-year-old boy Carl Bridgewater in 1979.

In Scotland, Scientists in Edinburgh clone a sheep called Dolly.

The Second World War: U.S. troops raise the Starts and Strips flag on Mount Suribachi on the island of Iow Jima, but the fighting against the Japanese still continues.

Queen Elizabeth I of England is excommunicated by Pope Pius V.

In Britain, the Church of England’s General Synod votes in favour of ordaining women as priests.

In England, Rowan Williams is enthroned as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury.

Queen Ranavalona III of Madagascar is deposed by a French military force. She is the last monarch of the island.

The Enigma coding machine, used by Germany to code its messages during the Second World War, is stolen from its display cabinet at Bletchley Park Museum in England.

In a referendum the People of Northern Ireland vote in favour of accepting the Good Friday peace agreement.

In England, the British National Party wins its first council seat in East London.

Iran-Iraq War: The Iraqi air force bombs Iran's Kharg Island crude oil export terminal.

In Northern Ireland, General John de Chastelain, the head of the arms decommissioning body, announces that the IRA has put all of its weapons beyond use.

In England, Sheila Thorns from Birmingham gives birth to six children, sadly only three of the children survive. 

A fire on Southend Pier in England traps 300 people as the pier gets split by the blaze. The fire is eventually contained and there are no casualties.  

British Home Secretary Michael Howard announces stringent new gun controls following the mass shooting of children at a school in Dunblane, Scotland.

U.S. troops land in Somalia in attempt to restore order in the country and help combat the famine.

The Mars Polar Lander launches from Cape Canaveral, U.S.A.