Friday January 4 1929 Australian Test cricket legend Don Bradman made his maiden century against England at Melbourne. 1936 First pop music chart appeared in Billboard magazine. 1967 Donald Campbell was killed while attempting a new water speed record on

Friday January 4

1929 Australian Test cricket legend Don Bradman made his maiden century against England at Melbourne.

1936 First pop music chart appeared in Billboard magazine.

1967 Donald Campbell was killed while attempting a new water speed record on Coniston Water in the Lake District.

1981 Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe was arrested.

1995 Planning permission was granted for exploratory oil drilling in Windsor Great Park.

Deaths: Albert Camus, author of The Outsider and The Plague, 1960; TS Eliot, poet, 1965; Phil Lynott, musician with Thin Lizzy, 1986; Christopher Isherwood, author of Goodbye Berlin, 1986.

Saturday January 5

1920 New York Yankees signed Babe Ruth for a record 125,000 US dollars.

1971 First one-day international cricket match between Australia and England, in Melbourne.

1972 Nasa announced the development of the space shuttle.

Today's birthdays: Walter Mondale, ex-US Presidential candidate, 79; Robert Duvall, actor, 76; Umberto Eco, author of The Name of the Rose, 75; Jan Leeming, ex-BBC newsreader, 65; Diane Keaton, actress, 61; Vinne Jones, ex-Wimbledon soccer hard-man, 42.

Deaths: Ernest Henry Shackleton, polar explorer, 1922; Calvin Coolidge, US President, 1933; Amy Johnson, aviator, 1941; Brian Johnston, cricket commentator, 1994; Sonny Bono, one of Sonny and Cher, 1998; Roy Jenkins, ex-Labour minister, 2003.

Sunday January 6

1540 Henry VIII married Anne of Cleves.

1838 Samuel Morse gave the first public demonstration of the electric telegraph.

1916 The House of Commons voted for the introduction of conscription.

1985 Jaques Delors became President of the European Commission.

Today's birthdays: Terry Venables, ex-England soccer boss, 65; Barry John, ex-Wales rugby star, 63; Anthony Minghella, director of The English Patient, 55; Rowan Atkinson, comedian, 53.

Deaths: Theodore Roosevelt, US President, 1919; Dizzy Gillespie, jazz trumpeter, 1993; Rudolf Nureyev, ballet dancer, 1993.

Monday January 7

1927 The Harlem Globetrotters basketball team was set-up.

1961 First episode of The Avengers broadcast.

1967 First episode of The Forsythe Saga broadcast.

1973 Hitler's car was sold at an auction in Arizona for 153,000 US dollars.

Today's birthdays: Kenny Loggins, singer-songwriter, 60; Helen Worth, from Coronation Street, 57; Nicolas Cage, actor, 44; Mark Lamar, television presenter, 41.

Deaths: Trevor Howard, actor, 1988; Larry Grayson, comedian and presenter of The Generation Game, 1995; Magnus Magnusson, presenter of Mastermind, 2007.

Tuesday January 8

1815 In the American War of Independence, the British were defeated at the Battle of New Orleans

1959 General Charles de Gaulle became President of France.

1997 Kevin Keegan quit as manager of Newcastle United.

2001 A lunar eclipse took place across the country.

Today's birthdays: Ron Moody, actor, 84; Dame Shirley Bassey, singer, 71; Stephen Hawking, physicist and mathematician, 66; David Bowie, rock legend, 61.

Deaths: Lord Baden-Powell, creator of the Scout movement, 1941; Terry-Thomas, actor, 1990; Francois Mitterand, President of France, 1996; Tony Banks, ex-Labour Sports Minister, 2006.

Wednesday January 9

1942 Joe Louis defending his world heavyweight boxing title for the 20th time.

1957 The Post Office introduced TV detector vans in a crackdown on licence dodging.

1957 Sir Anthony Eden resigned as Prime Minister.

1960 Work began on the building of the Aswan Dam in Egypt.

1965 An experimental speed limit of 70mph was introduced on British motorways.

Today's birthdays: Clive Dunn, from Dad's Army, 88; Joan Baez, country singer, 67; Susannah York, actress, 67; Scott Walker, once of the Walker Brothers, 65; Jimmy Page, of Led Zepplin, 64; Joely Richardson, actress, 43.

Deaths: Tommy Handley, war-time radio comedian, 1949; Peter Cook, comedian, 1995.

Thursday, January 10

1840 Sir Issac Pitman began correspondent courses for shorthand.

1863 First section of the London Underground from Paddington to Farringdon Street opened.

1920 First meeting of the League of Nations, in Geneva.

1924 Columbia Pictures was set up in Hollywood.

1946 First meeting of the United Nations general assembly, in London.

1949 Vinyl records were launched by RCA and Columbia.

1957 Harold Macmillan became Prime Minister after the resignation of Sir Anthony Eden.

1985 Sir Clive Sinclair launched the C5 electric car.

Today's birthdays: Rod Stewart, singer-songwriter, 63; George Foreman, ex-world heavyweight boxing champion, 59; Pat Benatar, singer-songwriter, 55.

Deaths: William F Cody, otherwise Buffalo Bill, 1917; Coco Chanel, designer, 1971.