1606: The Union Jack was adopted as the official flag of England.

1682: The first pressure cooker was unveiled in London.

1861: The American Civil War began when Confederate troops fired on the federal garrison at Fort Sumter.

1911: Pierre Prier made the first non-stop flight from London to Paris. The journey took four hours.

1922: Fatty Arbuckle was acquitted of rape in San Francisco, but his career was in ruins after revelations about his unusual sex life.

1954: "Rock Around The Clock" was recorded by Bill Haley and The Comets.

1961: Soviet cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin, became the first man to orbit the earth. he was in space for 108 minutes.

1972: T Rex was a number one in the charts with "Hot Love".

1975: David Bowie announced his second retirement.

1981: The first American space shuttle, Columbia, was launched from Cape Canaveral.