1969: Martin Luther King's killer gets life.
James Earl Ray is jailed for 99 years by a court in Memphis, Tennessee, after admitting the murder of the American civil rights leader.

1955: Farewell to scientist who discovered penicillin.
Sir Alexander Fleming - the man who first discovered the life-saving drug penicillin - dies of a heart attack.

1999: Violinist Yehudi Menuhin dies.
One of the 20th century's finest musicians Yehudi Menuhin dies, aged 82.

1996: Massacre in Dunblane school gym.
A lone gunman goes on a shooting spree at a school in Dunblane, Scotland, killing 16 children and their teacher.

1960: Radio telescope makes space history.
The radio telescope at Jodrell Bank sets a new space record making contact with the American Pioneer V satellite at a distance of 407,000 miles.

1877 The first cricket test between Australia and England was played in Melbourne. Australia won by 45 runs.

1973 Queen Elizabeth II opened the new London Bridge. The old one was sold to an American oil tycoon for £1m and transported to the United States.

1995: Killer Ronnie Kray dies.
Notorious gangland killer Ronnie Kray dies in hospital two days after he collapses in his ward at Broadmoor.

1967: Supertanker Torrey Canyon hits rocks.
The supertanker Torrey Canyon has run aground between Land's End and the Scilly Isles, leaking oil into the sea.

1970: Willi and Willy meet in East Germany. Crowds of East Germans cheer West Germany's Chancellor Willy Brandt as he meets East Germany's leader Willi Stoph for the first time since the two countries were divided.

2003: US launches missiles against Saddam.
American missiles hit the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, signalling the start of the US-led campaign to topple Saddam Hussein.

1999: Comedy genius Ernie Wise dies.
One of Britain's most loved and most successful comedians, Ernie Wise, dies aged 73.

2002: Woman granted 'right to die'.
A woman paralysed from the neck down wins the legal right to die by having her treatment withdrawn.

1983: Reagan launches Cold War into space.
President Reagan has unveiled plans to combat nuclear war in space.

1965: Millions watch space probe crash into Moon.
Ranger 9 beams live pictures of the Moon to ordinary Americans as it hurtles down to crash on the surface.