2000: Rescuers race to save stricken Kursk
A rescue operation is underway to save the lives of more than 100 sailors on board a Russian submarine grounded at the bottom of the Barents Sea.

1945: Allied nations celebrate VJ Day
Allied nations across the globe rejoice on Victory in Japan day that marks the end of World War II.

1977: Rock and roll 'king' Presley dies
Elvis Presley, whose singing and style revolutionised popular music in the 1950s, dies after collapsing at his home.

1978: US balloonists' record Atlantic crossing
Three Americans make the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by hot air balloon.

1964: South Africa banned from Olympics
South Africa are barred from taking part in the 18th Olympic Games in Tokyo over its refusal to condemn apartheid.

1897 The London Electric Cab Company began operating the electric-powered taxi cabs in London's West End and the City. They had a range of up to 30 miles, and a top speed of 9 miles an hour. The cabs prove uneconomical and were withdrawn in 1900.

1956 Calder Hall, Britain's first nuclear power station, began operating.

1968: Russia brings winter to 'Prague Spring'
Dozens are killed in a massive Soviet military clampdown in Czechoslovakia.

1989 British Telecom launched the world's first mobile phones.They had a very limited operating range that restricted their use to 100 yards from a public base station.

1966 First Photograph of the Earth Taken From the Orbit of the Moon

NASA’s Lunar Orbiter 1 was the first American unmanned spacecraft to orbit the Moon. Taking black and white pictures of the Earth was not the Orbiter’s main task. Its primary task was to scope out landing sites on the Moon for future spacecrafts.

1967 Two penguins from Chessington Zoo were taken on a day trip to a local ice-rink to cool off during sweltering London temperatures.