This Week in History

Fascinating, surprising and eye-opening stories from the past, brought to life.

11th November 1920 - An unknown soldier is buried in Westminster Abbey.

15th November 1533 - Spanish forces led by Francisco Pizarro take the Inca capital of Cusco (modern day Peru)

11th November 1992 - The Church of England votes for the ordination of female priests.

Fascinating, surprising and eye-opening stories from the past, brought to life.

5th November 1605: A plot by Catholic conspirators to blow up the Houses of Parliament - in order to restore England to the Catholic faith - is foiled.

4th November 1979: Iranian students demanding the extradition of the deposed Shah from the US storm the American embassy in Tehran, resulting in a hostage crisis which lasts over a year.

4th November 1966: The city of Florence suffers one of the worst floods in its history when the River Arno bursts its banks, leading to death and the destruction of countless artworks.

1st November 1908: Belgium annexes Congo, previously private property of King Leopold II.

31st October 1922: Benito Mussolini becomes Italian Prime Minister.

1st November 1755: An enormous earthquake shakes Lisbon and kills over 50,000 people.

24 October 1945: The Charter of a new international organisation, the United Nations, comes into effect.

23 October 1642: King Charles I beats English Parliamentarian forces at the Battle of Edgehill in Warwickshire.

20 October 1960: Penguin Books fights for the right to publish DH Lawrence’s novel 'Lady Chatterley's Lover' in a landmark trial at the Old Bailey.

Fascinating, surprising and eye-opening stories from the past, brought to life.

16th October 1793: Marie Antoinette is executed in Paris.

17th October 1814: A flood of beer courses through the streets of London.

13th October 1963: The Beatles perform on 'Sunday Night at the London Palladium', marking the beginning of Beatlemania.

Fascinating, surprising and eye-opening stories from the past, brought to life.

5th October 1910 - The centuries-old Portuguese monarchy was overthrown in a coup d'état organized by the Portuguese Republican Party. 

10th October 1881 - The Savoy Theatre - the first public building to be lit by electricity - opens with a performance of Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience.

11th October 1440 - King Henry the Sixth founds Eton College. It was established as a charity school to provide free education to 70 poor boys who would then go on to King's College, Cambridge.

28th September 1985: The shooting of Cherry Groce in her own home during a mishandled police raid, leads to clashes between the police and the black community in Brixton.

28th September 48 BC: Pompey the Great is assassinated on the order of King Ptolemy of Egypt.

28th September 1865: Elizabeth Garrett Anderson becomes the first woman to qualify as a doctor in Britain.

Fascinating, surprising and eye-opening stories from the past, brought to life.

23rd September 1846: Through applying maths and physics, the planet Neptune is officially observed and identified by the German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle. 

22nd September 1735: The man regarded as the first British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole, moves into Number 10 Downing Street.

26th September 1968: Theatre censorship is abolished in the UK, ending restrictions which had existed for over 200 years.

Fascinating, surprising and eye-opening stories from the past, brought to life.

19th September 1991: Two tourists stumble onto the mummified body of a man who lived around 3;500 years ago - Ötzi the Iceman

16th September 1400: Owain Glyndŵr begins a fierce but ultimately unsuccessful Welsh revolt against English rule.

14th September 1752:  The British Empire adopts the Gregorian Calendar after skipping 11 days between September 3 and September 13.

Presented by Caroline Nicholls and Jane Steel.

Fascinating, surprising and eye-opening stories from the past, brought to life.

7th Sept 1978: Georgi Markov is assassinated in London by a poison umbrella.

13th Sept 1814: Francis Scott Key writes 'The Star Spangled Banner'.

Sept 12th 1878: Cleopatra's needle is erected in London.