1985 The Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior was sunk by two bomb explosions while berthed in Auckland Harbour, New Zealand; it was later revealed that French intelligence agents had planted the explosives.

1979: Skylab tumbles back to Earth
The space laboratory, Skylab I, plunges to Earth scattering debris across the southern Indian Ocean and the sparsely populated Australian desert.

1990: Yeltsin resignation splits Soviet Communists
Boris Yeltsin resigns from the Soviet Communist Party, bringing the radical-conservative split into the open.

1985: Live Aid makes millions for Africa
The Live Aid concert for the starving in Africa, the world's biggest rock festival held in London and Philadelphia, raises £30m.

1991: UK forces withdraw from Kurdish haven
British troops protecting the Kurdish population in Iraq begin to pull out amid fears of reprisal.

Close-up pictures of Mars provided by Mariner 4
Mariner 4, an uncrewed space probe launched by NASA in 1964, flew by Mars and returned close-up pictures of its surface on this day in 1965, the pictures proving that the planet's rumoured canals were actually illusions.

1965 The Mont Blanc Tunnel officially opened, linking France and Italy; at the time, it was the world's longest vehicular tunnel, spanning 7.3 miles (11.7 km).

Beginning of the Spanish Civil War
A well-planned uprising by Nationalist rebels against the Republican government of Spain began this day in 1936, sparking a bloody civil war that lasted until 1939, when the Nationalists and Francisco Franco assumed power.

2003: Missing Iraq expert - body found
A body believed to be that of government scientist Dr David Kelly is found in Oxfordshire - an inquiry will be held into his death.

1976: Fight for fishing rights in Europe
British fishermen are urging the Foreign Secretary, Anthony Crosland, to secure a 50-mile fishing zone around the UK.

First Moon landing
On this day in 1969, the Eagle lunar landing module, carrying U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin (“Buzz”) Aldrin, landed on the Moon, and several hours later Armstrong became the first person to set foot on its surface.

2011 The U.S. space shuttle program ended, after 135 missions, as the orbiter Atlantis landed at NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida

Deng Xiaoping reinstated
After falling from favour during the Cultural Revolution (1966–76), Deng Xiaoping returned to power on this day in 1977 after the Chinese Communist Party reinstated all his former high posts, including that of vice-premier.

Egyptian monarchy toppled by coup
On this day in 1952, the Free Officers, a nationalistic military group led by Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser, engineered a coup that overthrew King Farouk I of Egypt, ending the monarchy and bringing Nasser to power.

1974: Nixon 'must hand over Watergate tapes'
The US Supreme Court orders President Nixon to surrender tape recordings of White House conversations about the Watergate affair.