1653: Oliver Cromwell dissolved the Long Parliament which had governed during the Civil War.

1657: The Spanish fleet at Santa Cruz was destroyed by the English under Admiral Blake.

1770: Captain James Cook discovered New South Wales, Australia.

1841: The Murders In The Rue Morgue by Edgar Allan Poe, considered to be the first modern detective story, was published in the USA.

1887: The world's first motor race took place along the banks of the river Seine from the centre of Paris to Neuilly.

1889: Adolf Hitler was born in Austria, the son of a customs official who changed his name from Schickelgruber.

1893: Harold Lloyd, bespectacled comedian famous for his stunt scenes, was born in Nebraska.

1929: The first Italian parliament made up exclusively of Fascists led by Benito Mussolini was opened by Victor Emmanuel III.

1945: Soviet troops entered Berlin.

1989: Scientists said that the Earth narrowly missed being struck by a passing asteroid weighing 400 million tons.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: China reported 18 new Sars deaths and sacked two officials amid accusations that the scale of the outbreak was being hidden.