This Day in History - 22nd January

871 The Battle of Basing, in the then kingdom of Wessex (now Hampshire) following an invasion of Danes. The Saxon army, led by King Ethelred, was beaten but, like its predecessors, this was an indecisive battle. Ethelred died in April and was succeeded by Alfred the Great. Much of King Alfred's 28 year reign was taken up with the Danish conflict.

1561The birth of Francis Bacon, Viscount St. Albans. He was a statesman, a lawyer, a philosopher, an essayist and Lord Chancellor of England. Some even claim that he was the real author of Shakespeare’s works.

1719 The death of Sir William Paterson, Scottish trader, financier and co-founder of the Bank of England.

1771Port Egmont in the Falkland Islands was ceded to Britain, by the Spanish.

1788The birth, in London, of the poet George Gordon Byron, better known as Lord Byron.

1879The Zulus massacred British troops at Isandlwana, the first major encounter in the Anglo–Zulu War. Later, at the Battle of Rorke's Drift, two British officers and 150 British and colonial troops defended their garrison from the attacks of between 3,000 and 4,000 Zulu warriors. Eleven Victoria Crosses were awarded to the defenders, along with a number of other decorations and honours. 

1901Queen Victoria died, aged 81, at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. At the time, her reign was the longest in British history, spanned 63 years and saw the growth of 'an empire on which the sun never set'. 

1920The birth of Sir Alf Ramsey, football manager of England when they won the 1966 World Cup. He was knighted in 1967 in recognition of England's World Cup win the previous year.

1924Stanley Baldwin resigned as British Prime Minister at the end of an unsuccessful election and the new Labour Party had their first Prime Minister, Ramsay MacDonald.

1927The first live radio commentary of a football match anywhere in the world, between Arsenal F.C. and Sheffield United, at Highbury.

1941World War II: British and Commonwealth troops captured Tobruk from Italian forces during Operation Compass.

1955Joe Davis recorded the first official maximum snooker break of 147 in an exhibition match at Leicester Square Hall

1959Mike Hawthorn, English race car driver and one-time F1 world champion died, aged 29, in a road accident on the A3 bypass near Guildford driving his British Racing Green Jaguar 3.4-litre car. What happened on that day is still unknown.

1962The ‘A6 Murder’ trial began, the longest murder trial in British legal history. James Hanratty was accused of murdering Michael Gregston at a lay-by near Bedford. The trial finally ended on 17th February 1962 with Hanratty sentenced to hang, despite his protests of innocence and disquiet amongst some observers of the trial.

1972The United Kingdom, the Irish Republic and Denmark joined the Common Market.

1992Rebecca Ridgway became the first woman to row around Cape Horn in a canoe. The expedition began on 8th January in Chile & the 200 mile expedition, through the Beagle Channel to Cape Horn Island, was directed by her father, ex -transatlantic rower John Ridgway.

2015 Mothers invited to a Scottish Government-backed breastfeeding conference were left angry and bemused after being told that they would not be allowed to breastfeed their babies.

2015 Survival expert Ray Mears, who was due to make at least £10,000 as a speaker at the Caravan, Camping and Motorhome Show was sacked after he chose caravans as one of his pet hates on the TV show 'Room 101'.

2017 Peter Maddox's bright yellow Corsa car was targeted in the Cotswold village of Bibury by vandals who broke the rear window and scratched ‘move’ on the paintwork.