1413: Henry IV died, aged 46, after suffering a stroke at Westminster Abbey.

1549: Death of Thomas Seymour, Lord High Admiral of England, who married Henry VIII's widow Catherine Parr. When she died, he planned to marry Princess Elizabeth - but was arrested for treason and executed.

1806: The foundation stone of Dartmoor prison in Devon was laid.

1815: After his banishment to Elba, Napoleon returned to take regain power in France. It was his "Last Hundred Days, ended by defeat at Waterloo.

1819: The famous and exclusive Burlington Arcade opened in London.

1852: Uncle Tom's Cabin, an anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, was published. It sold a million copies in the first year.

1890: Benjamino Gigli, great Italian tenor, who succeeded Caruso at the New York Met, was born in Recanati, near Loreto.

1969: Beatle John Lennon married Yoko Ono in Gibraltar.

1974: An attempt to kidnap Princess Anne was made by a gunman who fired six shots, then tried to drag her from her car in The Mall. He was later charged with attempted murder.

1980: The pirate radio station Radio Caroline, on the ship Mi Amigo, sank after 16 years of broadcasting.

1989: The IRA killed two top Royal Ulster Constabulary officers.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: The second Gulf War began with a missile attack, directed at Saddam Hussein and his family after coalition forces received intelligence of his whereabouts. Iraq launched several Scud missiles in reply, but none are believed to have hit their target.