1154: Nicholas Breakspear became the only English Pope - as Adrian IV.

1791: The Observer, the oldest Sunday newspaper in the United Kingdom, was first published.

1865: Edith Cavell, the nurse shot by the Germans in 1915 for helping refugees, was born in Norfolk.

1875: Thriller writer Edgar Wallace was born. He was one of the most prolific writers with some 175 books and 15 plays to his credit.

1921: Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, silent film comedian, was found not guilty by 10-2 of rape and manslaughter. He was retried twice and found not guilty both times - but his career was ruined.

1935: The game of Monopoly was born - the brainchild of unemployed engineer Charles Darrow.

1937: The Dandy comic was first published by DC Thomson, featuring Desperate Dan.

1947: Tennessee Williams’ play A Streetcar Named Desire was premiered on Broadway with Marlon Brando and Jessica Tandy in the leading roles.

1952: Smog enveloped London and killed more than 4,000 people in less than a week.

LAST YEAR: Ministers faced calls to begin destroying DNA data collected from innocent people after a court ruled holding it breached privacy rights.