A big day in history

Dominic Sandbrook charts significant dates in history

A black and white photo of a line of young people doing the conga around a bonfire

"We sang, we danced and we all held hands": celebrating VE Day. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Senator Edward Kennedy leaves the Dukes County Courthouse in Edgartown, Mass

What was the Chappaquiddick incident?

Oliver Cromwell at the battle of Marston Moor. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

The battle of Marston Moor: what happened?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Death in the New Forest: how King William II met his demise. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A big day in history: Mary Ann Nichols becomes the first victim of ‘Jack the Ripper’ (31 August 1888). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A depiction of Hannibal at the battle of Trasimene, which is "today remembered as one of the most stunning victories in military history". (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

A big day in history: Hannibal smashes his foes "at the very gates of Rome". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A big day in history: Rioters give East Anglia's rich and respectable a fright. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Battle on the Ice, fought between the men of Novgorod and the Teutonic Knights, was a landmark in European history, says Dominic Sandbrook. (Alamy)

A big day in history: Nevsky's Russians crush the Teutonic Knights. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

LA Times photo from newspaper report 1942

A big day in history: Japanese planes attack Los Angeles. Or do they?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

"Pope Urban II’s address at the Council of Clermont, the moment that triggered the First Crusade, has gone down as perhaps the most influential speech in history," writes Sandbrook. (Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

A big day in history: The day Pope Urban II exhorted Christians to go on crusade. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A relief showing Emperor Constantine's over Maxentius at the battle of Milvian Bridge. (Prisma/UIG/Getty Images)

A big day in history: “A cross of light” leads Constantine to victory. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The "hauntingly beautiful" Elisabeth, Empress of Austria, was never at ease in Vienna's stuffy court. (Getty Images)

A big day in history: a royal icon is stabbed through the heart. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Fire of Rome, by Hubert Robert (1733-1808). "It was the worst possible place for a fire to break out, and fear turned into outright panic," says Dominic Sandbrook. Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

The LibraryA big day in history: the Great Fire of Rome

Mikado Maids

A big day in history: Gilbert and Sullivan unveil 'The Mikado'. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Girolamo Savonarola is burned at the stake in the centre of Florence (Getty)

A big day in history: Florence's bonfire of the vanities. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration of Nikephoros II. (Photo by INTERFOTO/Alamy Stock Photo)

A big day in history: the all-conquering Byzantine emperor Nikephoros II loses his head. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Francisco Pizarro seizing the Inca of Peru John Everett Millais. (Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

A big day in history: Francisco Pizarro's tiny Spanish army takes a mighty Incan leader hostage. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

British microbiologist and discoverer of penicillin, Alexander Fleming. (Photo by Ipsumpix/Corbis via Getty Images)

A big day in history: Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The front page of the first edition of The Sun newspaper. (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)

A big day in history: The Sun first appeared on shelves in newsagents. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A big day in history: the debate on whether Britain should join the European Community. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.