This Day in History - 16th November

1272 Whilst travelling during the Ninth Crusade, Prince Edward became King of England upon the death of Henry III, but he would not return to England for almost two years to assume the throne.

1724 Jack Sheppard, Stepney born highwayman, was hanged at Tyburn in front of 200,000 spectators.

1811 John Bright, son of a Quaker cotton spinner, was born in Rochdale, Lancashire. He was an MP for Durham, Birmingham and Manchester and as a Quaker and pacifist he was opposed to slavery and to the Crimean War. He campaigned to abolish the Corn Laws (1846) and was also a campaigner for free trade. The John Bright Group employed thousands of Rochdale people in the textile industry for more than 180 years.

1848 Frédéric Chopin gave his last public performance at London’s Guildhall. He played on, despite illness and an uninterested audience who spent most of the evening in the refreshment areas.

1857 Twenty four Victoria Crosses were awarded in the Second Relief of Lucknow (British India). It was the most awarded in a single day.

1896 Birth of Oswald Mosley, English politician who was successively a Conservative and Labour Member of Parliament before forming the British Union of Fascists.

1904 English engineer John Ambrose Fleming received a patent for the thermionic valve (vacuum tube). It drove the expansion and commercialisation of radio broadcasting, television, radar, sound recording, large telephone networks, and analogue and digital computers until the invention of the transistor.

1907 Cunard Line's RMS Mauretania, sister ship of RMS Lusitania, set sail on her maiden voyage from Liverpool to New York City.

1928 In London, obscenity charges were brought against Radclyffe Hall for her crusading lesbian novel The Well of Loneliness.

1934 The death of Alice Hargreaves (nee Liddell) who inspired Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland.

1938 Willie Hall of Tottenham Hotspurs scored five goals for England against Ireland with his three goals in 3 minutes, setting a record for the fastest ever in an international match.

1940 World War II: In response to the heavy bombing of Coventry two days previously, the Royal Air Force bombed Hamburg.

1942 The jockey Willie Carson was born, in Stirling. He was British Champion Jockey five times (in 1972, 1973, 1978, 1980 and 1983) and had a total of 3,828 wins, making him the fourth most successful jockey in Great Britain.

1960 The TV personality with a reputation for outspokenness, Gilbert Harding, died as he left the BBC's Broadcasting House in London.

1961 Frank Bruno, British boxer, was born.

1976 Seven men who took part in an £8m bank robbery raid at the Bank of America in Mayfair, London, received jail terms totalling nearly 100 years. Only £1/2m was recovered. The judge said the sentence ensured that the thieves would not enjoy the fruits of their haul.

1983 More than 20 English football supporters were arrested in Luxembourg after a night of violence.

1995 The Queen Mother, aged 95, had her right hip replaced in an operation in London.

2010 Clarence House announced that Prince William (second in line to the throne) would marry long-term girlfriend Kate Middleton in 2011.

2014 A couple who had been married for 65 years died moments apart. Harry Stevenson (88) died just minutes after care home staff informed him of the death of wife, Mavis (89), at the Derby care home.