1687: Jean-Baptiste Lully, composer who made French opera popular, died from an abscess on his foot caused by striking it with the stick he used to conduct his Te Deum.

1859: In Melbourne, plasterer Ben Douglas became chairman of the Political Labour League of Victoria, the first Labour Party.

1888: The English Football League was formed by 12 clubs meeting at a Fleet Street hotel.

1895: The first celluloid film was presented publicly on a screen by Auguste and Louis Lumiere in Paris.

1896: Thomas Hughes, reformer and author, died. He founded working mens' clubs throughout the country - and also wrote Tom Brown's Schooldays.

1926: The first directional arrows and markings on British roads came into operation at Hyde Park Corner, London. It took drivers by surprise and there were seven accidents on the first day.

1933: Dachau concentration camp was opened on the site of an old munitions factory near Munich to detain Communists and other "political undesirables".

1945: The Arab League was founded by seven Middle East countries.

1958: Showman Michael Todd, husband of Elizabeth Taylor, died when his light aircraft iced up and crashed into mountains in New Mexico. The plane was called Lucky Liz.

1969: Soccer hooligans ran riot on the London Underground, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.