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1979: Pope speaks in Ireland
In his first visit to Ireland, Pope John Paul II addresses a crowd of more than one million in Dublin and makes an impassioned plea for an end to violence between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland. In 1978, Pope John Paul II, born as Karol Wojtyla in Wadowice, Poland became the first Polish Pope in history and the first non-Italian pope in 456 years. Fluent in seven modern languages and Latin, the pope fully embraced his role as ambassador of the Roman Catholic Church, and travelled more extensively than any other pope in history. Known for his staunch anti-communism, the Pope was an outspoken supporter of democratic movements in his native Poland and elsewhere during the 1980s. He survived being shot in an assassination attempt in 1981 and died from a heart condition aged 84 in April 2005.
2004
The asteroid 4179 Toutatis passes within 1 million miles of Earth.1997
British scientists establish link between Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease, a brain disorder which humans, and a brain disease found in cows, which produces BSE infected meat.1991
The first freely-elected President of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is removed from office in a military coup.1988
NASA successfully launches the space shuttle, Discovery, the first launch since the Challenger disaster two and a half years before.1960
Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev voices his disapproval of the UN handling of the troubles in the Congo making several interruptions during the course of a UN debate on the issue in New York.1957
A passenger train collides with an oil-tanker train in the Gambar province of western Pakistan, killing 300 people.1952
British and world water speed record holder John Cobb is killed on Loch Ness in Scotland when his craft Crusader breaks up after hitting waves at 240 mph.1941
The Second World War: The Babi Yar massacre of nearly 34,000 Jewish men, women and children carried out the SS begins on the outskirts of Kiev in the Nazi-occupied Ukraine.1938
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, French Prime Minister Edouard Daladier, Italian leader Benito Mussolini and German leader Adolf Hitler sign the Munich Agreement, ceding the Sudetenland to Germany.1918
The First World War: After a 56-hour-long bombardment, Allied forces breach the Hindenburg Line, the last line of German defence on the Western Front.1829
The first professionally organised police service in Britain, instigated by Home Secretary Sir Robert Peel, is founded.1364
An English army defeats the French at the Battle of the Battle of Auray in France ending the Breton War of Succession.855
Benedict III is elected Pope.