This day in history

On this day in 1974, people rioted at food distribution centres in San Francisco, set up as part of a ransom payment for kidnapped heiress Patty Hears…

On this day in in 1861, Tsar Alexander II issued a declaration emancipating 23 million Russian serfs from their feudal overlords.

On this day in 1911, the first official airmail flight took off from Allahabad in India, with Frenchman Henri Pequet flying a Humber Sommer biplane.

On this day in 1958, as the nuclear arms race hotted up, 5,000 people crammed in to Westminster’s Central Hall to witness the launch of CND, the Campa…

On Saturday, 16 February, 1957, the “Toddlers’ Truce” – a programme-free hour on TV between 6pm and 7pm – was finally broken.

Merchant Nicholas Vanacker made out the first British cheque payable to Mr Delboe for the grand sum of £400, dated 16 February 1659.

On this day in 1914, musicians and writers formed the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) to better enforce their copyrights…

On this day. in 1851 gold prospector Edward Hargraves discovered a grain of gold in New South Wales, and sparked Australia’s first gold rush.

One of the world's most famous paintings, The Scream by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, was stolen from the National Art Museum in Oslo on this day in …

On this day in 1990, Nelson Mandela was released from prison after 26 years, as South Africa began the process of dismantling apartheid.

London University – later University College, London – was founded on this day in 1826, becoming in the process England's third university.

On this day in 1355, the “town versus gown” rivalry in Oxford boiled over into three days of fighting, dubbed the St Scholastica’s Day riots.

Britain upped the stakes in naval warfare when it launched the era-defining HMS Dreadnought on this day in 1906 – by far the most powerful ship of its…

On this day in 1971, America’s “National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations” – or Nasdaq exchange – began trading.

With the passing of the Fourth Reform Act on this day in 1918, certain British women over the age of 30 were given the right to vote.

On this day in 1869, the world's biggest gold nugget – the 71kg “Welcome Stranger” – was unearthed in Australia by two Cornish tin hunters.

Having fallen into the hands of the Duke of Austria and the Holy Roman Emperor, King Richard I of England was freed from captivity on this day in 1194…