1925 London's first red buses with roofed-in upper decks went into service, but they had been in use in Widnes, Cheshire, since 1909.

1959 Postcodes were introduced in Britain.

1957 World's first artificial satellite launched.
The Soviet Union launched the Sputnik from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Baikonur Cosmodrome is the world’s oldest and largest space launch facility still in operation. The successful launch of Sputnik spurred the Space Race – a race between Cold War rivals USSR and US to gain supremacy in spaceflight.

1967 For the first time in Britain, a court in Brighton accepted a 'majority verdict' from a jury instead of the usual 'unanimous verdict' required previously.

1769 English explorer Captain James Cook, aboard the Endeavour, discovered New Zealand.

1986 A new British newspaper, The Independent, was published.

1965 London's Post Office Tower, once Britain's tallest building, opened. Prime Minister Harold Wilson made the first telephone call.

1799 The sinking of HMS Lutine off the coast of Holland, with the loss of 240 men. The ship's bell was salvaged from the wreck and was later presented to shipping insurers Lloyds of London. The Lutine Bell has been rung ever since to mark a marine disaster.

1999 Thousands gathered to watch the giant Millennium wheel become the latest landmark on the London skyline.

1982: Mary Rose rises after 437 years. The Mary Rose, flagship of King Henry VIII, rises to the surface after 437 years at the bottom of the Solent.

1979 The publication of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

2008 The government said that they would pump billions of pounds of taxpayers money into three UK banks in one of the UK's biggest nationalisations. Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Lloyds TSB and HBOS would have a total of £37bn injected into them. In return for the investment, the government would get a say in how the banks were run, including controls over the bonuses paid to management.

1066 The Battle of Hastings.
King Harold II of England is defeated by the Norman forces of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings, fought on Senlac Hill, seven miles from Hastings, England.

1961 The human rights organisation Amnesty International was established in London.