1969 The BBC began colour television programmes.

1994 The launch of Britain's first Internet newspaper, The Electronic Telegraph.

1976: Bank robbers jailed for 100 years. Seven men who took part in an £8m bank robbery receive jail terms totalling nearly 100 years.

1955 Anglesey became the first authority in Britain to introduce fluoride into the water supply.

1991: Church envoy Waite freed in Beirut.
Church envoy Terry Waite is freed by the Islamic extremists who kidnapped him in Beirut in 1987.

1994 Britain's first National Lottery draw. It had a jackpot of £7M and was shown live on BBC television. A £1 ticket gave a one in 14-million chance of correctly guessing the winning six out of 49 numbers.

1990: Thatcher fails to win party mandate.
The Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, fails to win outright victory in her battle for the leadership of the Conservative Party.

1936 The world's first gardening programme, 'In Your Garden, with Mr. Middleton', was broadcast by the BBC.

1963: Kennedy shot dead in Dallas. The president of the United States has been assassinated by a gunman in Dallas, Texas.

1963 The BBC broadcast the first ever episode of Doctor Who, starring William Hartnell as the Doctor, and Ann Ford as his first female companion. It is the world's longest running science fiction drama.

1939 Imperial Airways and British Airways merged to become BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation), which later merged with British European Airways and returned to one of the previous names, British Airways.

1963: John F Kennedy is laid to rest.
The funeral of the assassinated President, John F Kennedy, takes place in Washington.

1983: £25m gold heist at Heathrow.
An armed gang carries out Britain's largest-ever robbery from the Brinks Mat warehouse, at London's Heathrow Airport.

1967: De Gaulle says 'non' to Britain - again.
The French President, Charles de Gaulle, says he will veto Britain's application to join the Common Market for a second time.