Friday January 25 1919 The League of Nations was set up. 1924 First Winter Olympics took place, at Chamonix in the French Alps. 1949 First Emmy Awards took place. 1971 Idi Amin led a coup in Uganda to depose President Milton Obote. 1981 The Gang of Four

Friday January 25

1919 The League of Nations was set up.

1924 First Winter Olympics took place, at Chamonix in the French Alps.

1949 First Emmy Awards took place.

1971 Idi Amin led a coup in Uganda to depose President Milton Obote.

1981 The Gang of Four - Roy Jenkins, David Owen, Bill Rodgers and Shirley Williams - left the Labour party to set up the SDP.

Births: William Somerset Maugham, novelist and writer, 1874; Virginia Woolf, author, 1882.

Today's birthdays: Eduard Shevarnadze, ex-Russian politician, 80; Alicia Keys, singer, 28.

Deaths: Al Capone, gangster, 1947; Ava Gardner, actress, 1990.

Saturday January 26

1828 The Duke of Wellington became Prime Minister.

1841 Hong Kong was proclaimed a British sovereign territory.

1871 The Rugby Football Union was set up.

1939 Filming became on Gone With the Wind.

1998 The Liverpool dock strike came to an end of three years.

Births: Douglas Macarthur, US Army general, 1880; Michael Bentine, comedian, 1922; Jacqueline Du Pre, cellist, 1945.

Today's birthdays: Paul Newman, actor, 83; Andrew Ridgeley, once of Wham, 45; Simon Thomas, ex-Blue Peter presenter, 35.

Deaths: William Wrigley, chewing gum pioneer, 1932; Edward G Robinson, actor, 1973; Nelson Rockefeller, US statesman, 1979.

Sunday January 27

1926 John Logie Baird gave a public demonstration of television.

1945 Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by Soviet troops.

1973 The US and North Vietnam signed a ceasefire agreement.

Births: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, composer, 1756; Lewis Carroll, author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, 1832; Jerome Kern, composer, 1885.

Today's birthdays: Mohammed Al Fayed, owner of Harrods, 79; Mimi Rogers, actress, 52; Bridget Fonda, actress, 44.

Monday January 28

1813 First editor of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice published.

1960 Last broadcast of The Goon Show.

1986 The US space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after take-off, killing its seven crew.

1990 First edition of The Independent on Sunday published.

Births: Henry VII, 1457; Henry Morton Stanley, journalist and explorer, 1841; Jackson Pollock, artist, 1912.

Today's birthdays: Alan Alda, actor, 72; Frank Skinner, comedian, 51; Jamie Carragher, Liverpool and England soccer star, 30.

Tuesday January 29

1856 Queen Victoria created the Victoria Cross, the highest military decoration.

1942 First broadcast of Desert Island Discs.

1985 Oxford dons refused to grant Margaret Thatcher an honorary degree.

Births: Thomas Paine, political writer, 1737; Anton Chekov, dramatist and writer, 1860; Sacha Distel, French singer, 1933.

Today's birthdays: Tony Blackburn, disc jockey, 65; Tom Selleck, actor, 63; Oprah Winfrey, chat show host, 54; Heather Graham, actress, 38.

Deaths: George III, 1820; Edward Lear, poet, 1888; Alan Ladd, actor, 1964.

Wednesday January 30

1826 The Menai Bridge between Wales and Anglesey opened.

1913 The House of Lords rejected a Bill paving the way for Irish home rule.

1933 Adolph Hitler was appointed German Chancellor.

1972 In Londonderry, British troops shot 13 civilians during a Civil Rights demonstration which became known as Bloody Sunday.

1974 Mount Etna erupted on the island of Sicily.

Births: Franklin Delano Roosevelt, US President, 1882.

Today's birthdays: Gene Hackman, actor, 78; Vanessa Redgrave, actress, 71; Boris Spassky, chess champion, 71; Phil Collins, singer-songwriter, 57; Peter Crouch, Liverpool and England soccer star, 27.

Deaths: Charles I, 1649; Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Indian leader, 1948; Ferdinand Porsche, motor car engineer, 1951; Stanley Holloway, actor, 1982.

Thursday January 31

1867 The lion sculptures in Trafalgar Square were unveiled.

1958 First US earth satellite, Explorer I, launched from Cape Canaveral.

1965 Jock Stein was appointed manager of Celtic FC.

2000 GP Dr Harold Shipman was convicted of the murder of 15 patients.

Births: Franz Schubert, composer, 1797; Zane Grey, wild west novelist, 1872; Mario Lanza, opera tenor, 1921; Norman Mailer, author, 1923; Derek Jarman, director of Caravaggio and Blue, 1942.

Today's birthdays: Philip Glass, composer, 71; John Lydon, once of the Sex Pistols, 52; Minnie Driver, actress, 38; Patrick Kietly, television presenter, 37; Justin Timerlake, singer, 27.

Deaths: AA Milne, creator of Winnie the Pooh, 1956; Samuel Goldwyn, Hollywood studio pioneer, 1974.