1606: Guy Fawkes and his associates were hung, drawn and quartered in London.

1747: The first clinic specialising in the treatment of venereal diseases was opened at the London Dock Hospital.

1876: All Native American Indians were ordered to move into reservations.

1929: The USSR exiled Leon Trotsky.

1943: Field Marshall Paulus surrendered the German sixth army to the Russians at Stalingrad, in disobedience to Hitler's orders.

1958: The first American Earth satellite, Explorer 1, was launched from Cape Canaveral.

1973: British Glam rockers, Sweet, were top of the pops with Blockbuster.

1975: Disney lawyers filed a lawsuit to have the Mickey Mouse Club song removed from the soundtrack of The Happy Hooker, a pornographic movie.

1983: The wearing of seatbelts became compulsory in the front seats of cars in Britain.

1990: McDonalds opened in Moscow.

1998: Bath beat French rugby union side, Brive, in Bordeaux, to become the first British winners of the European Cup.