1606: The Union Flag became England's official flag.

1709: The Tatler was first published.

1838: English settlers in South Africa defeated the Zulus at the Battle of Tugela.

1861: The American Civil War, a conflict between 23 northern states and 11 southern states, began with the siege of Fort Sumter in South Carolina.

1914: Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw opened in London.

1945: US President Franklin D Roosevelt died of a brain haemorrhage less than a month before the surrender of Germany to the Allies.

1954: Bill Haley recorded Rock Around The Clock, the first record to sell a million in Britain alone. It was featured in 14 films and recorded in 35 languages.

1961: The Russians made the first manned space flight with Yuri Gagarin in Vostok 1.

1981: Death of Joe Louis, the 'Brown Bomber', world heavyweight boxing champion. On the same day in 1989, Sugar Ray Robinson, unbeaten welterweight champion and five times winner of the middleweight title, died.

1990: The Soviet Union admitted the massacre of up to 15,000 Polish officers at Katyn in the Soviet Union in 1940.

On this day last year: Britain expressed "grave concern" to Israel over reports that "hundreds" of Palestinians were killed in fighting at a refugee camp in Jenin.

BIRTHDAYS: Montserrat Caballe, opera singer, 70; Charles Napier, actor, 67; Sir Alan Ayckbourn, playwright, 64; Herbie Hancock, jazz pianist, 63; Ed O'Neill, actor, 57; George Robertson, Nato Secretary-General, 57; Dan Lauria, actor, 56; David Letterman, chat show host, 56; Jeremy Beadle, TV presenter, 55; Scott Turow, novelist, 54; David Cassidy, pop singer, 53; Andy Garcia, actor, 47; Shannen Doherty, actress, 32; Claire Danes, actress, 24; Bryan McFadden, pop singer (Westlife), 23