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A big day in history

Dominic Sandbrook charts significant dates in history

The opening of the Great Exhibition by Queen Victoria on 1 May 1851. (The Print Collector/Getty Images)

A big day in history: Queen Victoria opens the Great Exhibition at the famous Crystal Palace

Police Constable Neil finds the body of MARY ANN NICHOLS in Buck's Row, Whitechapel Date: 31 August 1888

A big day in history: Mary Ann Nichols becomes the first victim of ‘Jack the Ripper’ (31 August 1888)

The last days of Pompeii by Karl Brjullov, dated 1830. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

A big day in history: Pompeii is engulfed by ash (24 August AD 79)

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

A big day in history: Tuesday 2 July 1644

Senator Edward 'Ted' Kennedy photographed shortly after the infamous Chappaquiddick drowning incident. (Photo by John Loengard/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

A big day in history: a woman drowns as the Kennedy curse strikes again

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”

A cartoonist's depiction of the Ely and Littleport riots. For the Tory government at the time, the riots were a "frightening warning of the revolutionary anarchy beneath the surface of British life", says Dominic Sandbrook. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A big day in history: Rioters give East Anglia’s rich and respectable a fright

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

LA Times photo from newspaper report 1942

Second World War

A big day in history: Japanese planes attack Los Angeles. Or do they?

Gold miners in California in 1849. The gold rush sparked one of the greatest mass migrations in American history. (Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

A big day in history: A speck of glitter triggers the California Gold Rush

"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

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

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

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 Library A big day in history: the Great Fire of Rome

Dressed as a parson, Irish-born adventurer Thomas Blood flees the Tower of London with St Edward's Crown, part of the English Crown Jewels, hidden under his coat. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A big day in history: Thomas Blood steals the crown jewels