Friday January 18 1919 The Versailles Peace conference opened. 1944 The three-year German siege of Leningrad came to an end. 1978 Geoffrey Boycott became England Test cricket team captain. 2005 The Airbus A380 – the world s largest passenger plane – was

Friday January 18

1919 The Versailles Peace conference opened.

1944 The three-year German siege of Leningrad came to an end.

1978 Geoffrey Boycott became England Test cricket team captain.

2005 The Airbus A380 - the world's largest passenger plane - was unveiled.

Births: AA Milne, creator of Winnie the Pooh, 1882; Arthur Ransome, author of Swallows and Amazons, 1884; Oliver Hardy, comedian, 1892; Cary Grant, actor, 1904; Danny Kaye, actor and comedian, 1913.

Today's birthdays: David Bellamy, botanist, 75; Raymond Briggs, author of The Snowman and Father Christmas, 74; Kevin Costner, actor, 53; Jane Horrocks, actress, 46; Richard Dunwoody, jockey and Grand National winner, 44.

Deaths: Rudyard Kipling, author of The Jungle Book, 1936; Hugh Gaitskell, leader of the Labour party, 1963; Wilfred Brambell, from Steptoe and Son, 1985.

Saturday January 19

1966 Indira Gandhi became Prime Minister of India.

1966 Kevin and Ian Maxwell were cleared of conspiring to defraud the Mirror Group pensioners of £122 million.

1999 Ex-Conservative Cabinet minister Jonathan Aitken admitted perjury in his libel case again The Guardian.

Births: Edgar Allen Poe, author and poet, 1809; Paul Cezanne, French impressionist painter, 1839; Matthew Webb, English Channel swimmer, 1848; Janis Joplin, singer-songwriter, 1943; Robert Palmer, singer-songwriter, 1949.

Today's birthdays: Phil Everly, of the Everly Brothers, 69; Michael Crawford, actor, 66; Dolly Parton, country singer, 62; Sir Simon Rattle, conductor, 53; Jensen Button, Formula 1 racing driver, 27.

Deaths: Carl Perkins, rock-n-roll legend, 1998; Wilson Picket, soul singer, 2006.

Sunday January 20

1265 First English parliament met in Westminster Hall.

1841 Hong Kong was occupied by the British.

1885 The Prince of Wales opened the Mersey Tunnel.

1958 First radar speed checks introduced in Britain.

1980 President Jimmy Carter announced that the US would boycott the Moscow Olympics.

1981 More than 50 American hostages were released in Tehran after being held in the US Embassy for 444 days.

1987 Terry Waite disappeared while on a peace mission in Beirut.

Births: George Burns, comedian, 1896; Roy Plomley, creator of Desert Island Discs, 1914; Frederico Fellini, Italian movie director, 1920.

Today's birthdays: Slim Whitman, country and western singer, 84; Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin, US astronaut, 78; Eddie Shah, newspaper publisher, 64; David Lynch, movie director, 62; The Countess of Wessex, wife of Prince Edward, 43; Gary Barlow, singer-songwriter, 37; Will Young, Pop Idol winner, 29.

Deaths: George V, 1936; Alan Freed, pioneer US disc jockey, 1965; Johnny Weissmuller, actor who played Tarzan, 1984; Audrey Hepburn, actress, 1993; Sir Matt Busby, legendary manager of Manchester United, 1994.

Monday January 21

1846 First edition of The Daily News - edited by Charles Dickens - published.

1911 First running of the Monte Carlo Rally.

1935 Snowdonia became a National Park.

1936 Edward VIII proclaimed King.

1941 The British communist newspaper, the Daily Worker, was banned due to war-time restrictions.

1954 First nuclear submarine - USS Nautilus - launched.

1956 Bill Haley's album Rock Around the Clock entered the charts.

Births: Stonewall Jackson, American civil war general, 1824; Christian Dior, designer, 1905; Telly Savalas, actor, 1924; Benny Hill, comedian, 1924.

Today's birthdays: Paul Scofield, actor, 86; Jack Nicklaus, legendary golfer, 68; Placido Domingo, opera singer, 67; Billy Ocean, singer-songwriter, 58; Geena Davis, actress, 52; Emma Bunton, from the Spice Girls, 32; Philip Neville, England and Everton soccer star, 31; Brian O'Driscoll, Ireland Rugby Union captain, 29.

Deaths: Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin, Russian leader, 1924; George Orwell, author of Animal Farm, 1950; Cecil B de Mille, Hollywood director, 1959; Jackie Wilson, singer-songwriter, 1997; Jack Lord, actor from Hawaii Five-0, 1998.

Tuesday January 22

1771 Spain ceded the Falkland Islands to Britain.

1924 Ramsay McDonald became British Prime Minister.

1973 George Foreman became world heavyweight boxing champion after defeating Joe Frazier.

1999 Five officials were sacked after a bribery inquiry into the running of the Olympic Games.

Births: Francis Bacon, politican and philosopher, 1561; Lord Byron, poet and writer, 1788; Sam Cooke, singer-songwriter, 1931.

Today's birthdays: John Hurt, actor, 68; Malcolm McLaren, ex-manager of the Sex Pistols, 62.

Deaths: Queen Victoria, 1901; Mike Hawthorn, Grand Prix racing driver, 1959; Lyndon B Johnson, US President, 1973.

Wednesday January 23

1901 Edward VII was proclaimed King after the death of Queen Victoria.

1970 First jumbo jet landed at Heathrow.

1985 First broadcast of proceedings in the House of Lords.

Births: Serhei Eisenstein, director of Battleship Potemkin, 1898; Django Reinhardt, jazz guitarist, 1910; Bob Paisley, Liverpool FC manager, 1919.

Today's birthdays: Jeanne Moreau, actress, 80; Princess Caroline of Monaco, 51.

Deaths: William Pitt the Younger, Prime Minister, 1806; Anna Pavlova, Russian ballerina, 1931; Edvard Munch, painter, 1944; Paul Robeson, actor and singer, 1976; Salvador Dali, painter, 1989; Johnny Carson, chat show host, 2005.

Thursday January 24

1924 St Petersburg was renamed Leningrad.

1940 The Jockey Club decided to cancel The Derby due to weather conditions.

1972 The treasures of Tutankhamen arrived for an exhibition in London.

1986 News International unveiled plans to move The Sun, The Times and The Sunday Times to Wapping.

Births: Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, 1712; Charles James Fox, Liberal statesman, 1749.

Today's birthdays: Desmond Morris, zoologist and author of The Naked Ape, 79; Babmer Gascoigne, ex-host of University Challenge, 73; Neil Diamond, singer-songwriter, 67; Jools Holland, musician, 50; Vic Reeves, comedian, 49.

Deaths: Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister, 1965.