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.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article