A big day in history

Dominic Sandbrook charts significant dates in history

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

The battle of Marston Moor: what happened?

An illustration depicting the death of William II at the hands of Walter Tirel. Although his death is thought to have been a hunting accident, some contemporary observers

Death in the New Forest: how King William II met his demise

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)

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

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

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?

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

A big day in history: a royal icon is stabbed through the heart

The Fire of Rome, by Hubert Robert (1733-1808).

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

Mikado Maids

A big day in history: Gilbert and Sullivan unveil ‘The Mikado’

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

A big day in history: Florence’s bonfire of the vanities

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

General ancient history

A big day in history: the all-conquering Byzantine emperor Nikephoros II loses his head