NEWS
1862 - The machine-gun was patented by Dr Robert Gatling.
1905 - Asprin went on sale in Britain.
1925 - Scottish inventor John Logie Baird made the first televised transmission of a moving object – a 15 year old office boy.
1945 - The US government announced the end of wartime shoe rationing.
1961 - Stalin's body was removed from the Great Mausoleum in Red Square and re-buried in a plot near the Kremlin Wall.
1971 - An IRA bomb exploded at the top of the Post Office Tower in London.
1992 - The Vatican admitted that Galileo was right when he said the Earth revolved around the Sun.
2000 - Scientists claimed that Adam and Eve couldn't have lived together because the first fully developed woman lived about 84,000 years before the first modern man.
SPORT
1972 - George Best was reported to have said that if Manchester United were relegated, he would ask for a transfer.
1974 - Muhammad Ali became the second boxer ever to regain the world heavyweight title when he beat George Foreman in the eight round at a fight in Zaire. Floyd Patterson was the first.
1997 - Sir John Smith called for anti-betting laws in football to be checked after research showed betting in football was commonplace.
2000 - The Wembley auction sold off bits of the stadium, including turf, goalposts and even the twin towers.
ENTERTAINMENT
1938 - Orson Wells caused widespread panic amongst American radio listeners with his play 'War of the Worlds'.
1982 - Mari Wilson, pictured above, insured her beehive hairdo for a reported £100,000.
2001 - It was revealed that actor Gene Hackman had been involved in a road rage attack and a fist fight with two younger men after their cars collided.
2005 - Anna Ford announced she was to give up presenting the news after 27 years.
MUSIC
1971 - John Lennon's 'Imagine' was number one in both the UK and US album charts.
1980 - Paul McCartney recorded with George Martin for the first time in eight years.
2000 - Halloween tricksters pelted Ronan Keating's house with eggs. He chased after them and demanded they clean up the mess.
2001 - It was reported that Michael Jackson's favourite hobby was climbing trees.
NUMBER ONES
2005 - Arctic Monkeys: 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor'.
1999 - Westlife: 'Flying without Wings'.
1997 - Aqua: 'Barbie Girl'.
1991 - U2: 'The Fly'.
1986 - Nick Berry: 'Every Loser Wins'.
1971 - Rod Stewart" 'Maggie May'.
1966 - Four Tops: 'Reach Out I'll Be There'.
