1859: Flogging was abolished in the British Army.

1908: Britain's first woman mayor, Elizabeth Garett Anderson, was elected at Aldeburgh.

1911: Neon advertising signs were patented by George Claude.

1961: JFK was elected American President.

1961: Brian Epstein, manager of several Liverpool record shops, saw the Beatles at the Cavern Club. He had heard about them from a customer looking for their record, My Bonnie. After the gig, he persuaded the band to let him manage them.

1965: Capital punishment was abolished in Britain .

1966: John Lennon and Yoko Ono met for the first time in London, at one of the Yoko's exhibitions.

1983: Brewing magnate, Alfred Heineken, was kidnapped in Amsterdam.

1985: Gary Kasparov became the youngest world chess champion. He was 22 and beat defending champion Anatoly Karpov in Moscow.

1986: Berlin's Take My Breath Away, from the Top Gun sound track, was riding high at the top of the singles chart.

1996: Liam Gallagher of Oasis was arrested for being in possession of a Class A drug.