This Day in History - 25th October

1400 The death of Geoffrey Chaucer, the English poet famous for the Canterbury Tales. Chaucer is known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey.

1415 In the Hundred Year's War, King Henry V's Longbowmen defeated a numerically superior French Army at the Battle of Agincourt. His victory crippled France and started a new period in the war, during which Henry married the French king's daughter and his son, Henry VI, was made heir to the throne of France.

1760 King George II died. George III Hanover, his grandson, became king. In the later part of his life, George III suffered from recurrent, and eventually permanent, mental illness which may have been caused by a blood disease. After a final relapse in 1810, a regency was established, and George III's eldest son, George, Prince of Wales, ruled as Prince Regent.

1800 The birth of Thomas Macaulay, British poet, historian, and politician. He was a member of the supreme council of India from 1834 - 1838 and pressed for parliamentary reform and the abolition of slavery.

1828 The St Katharine Docks opened in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. They were part of the Port of London, in the area now known as the Docklands, and are now a popular housing and leisure complex.

1839 Bradshaw's Railway Guide, the world's first railway timetable, was published, in Manchester.

1854 Lord Cardigan led the Charge of the Light Brigade during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War. An ambiguous order from the commander, Lord Raglan, led Cardigan’s brave cavalry to charge the Russians while fire came from three different sides.

1920 The Sinn Féin Lord Mayor of Cork, Terence MacSwiney died in Brixton Prison after 74 days on hunger strike.

1951 Margaret Roberts (later Thatcher), aged 26, of the Conservative Party, became the youngest candidate to stand at a general election. The Conservatives won a narrow overall majority but the future British Prime Minister failed to win the seat.

1964 The Beatles won five UK Ivor Novello Awards - 1963's Most Broadcast Song, and Top-Selling Single 'She Loves You', Second Best-Selling Single 'I Want to Hold your Hand', Second Most Outstanding Song 'All My Loving', and the Most Outstanding Contribution to Music.

1976 The new National Theatre on the South Bank in London, was officially opened after years of delays.

1978 Queen Elizabeth II opened the new Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool.

1995 Fans gathered outside Buckingham Palace, to sing 'Congratulations' after singer Cliff Richard formally received his knighthood.

2001 British Crime Survey revealed that the chances of being a victim of crime were the lowest for 20 years.

2004 The death, aged 65, of John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE, known professionally as John Peel. Peel was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs and broadcasted regularly from 1967 until his death. Peel was 11 times Melody Maker′s DJ of the year and in 2005 the New Musical Express awarded him Hero of the Year. He was also posthumously given a special award for Lifelong Service To Music.

2013 A dog walker found around sixty thousand pounds in banknotes (some charred after being burnt), floating in a Lincolnshire waterway (South Drove Drain in Spalding) . Six months later police were still following up a number of lines of enquiry.

2013 The former Labour home and foreign secretary, Jack Straw (67) announced that he was to stand down as MP for Blackburn at the next general election.He was elected in Blackburn in 1979 and stood in eight general elections in the constituency.