This Day in History - 9th October

1470 Henry VI of England was restored to the throne after being deposed in 1461. Six months later he was deposed again and then murdered in the Tower of London.

1779 The first 'Luddite' riots broke out in a lace factory in Loughborough as workers protested against labour-saving machinery which was likely to make them redundant. Similar riots begin at a spinning cotton factory in Manchester.

1799 The sinking of HMS Lutine off the coast of Holland, with the loss of 240 men. The ship's bell was salvaged from the wreck and was later presented to shipping insurers Lloyds of London. The Lutine Bell has been rung ever since to mark a marine disaster.

1897 Henry Stumey set off in his 4.5hp Daimler from Land's End, and became the first person to drive to John o' Groats. His 929 mile journey took him 10 days.

1913 The Glasgow built steamship SS Volturno caught fire in mid-Atlantic. Eleven ships came to her aid and rescued 520 passengers and crewmen but 130, most of them women and children, died in the incident, in unsuccessfully launched lifeboats.

1940 The birth of John Lennon, rock singer, songwriter and a founder member of The Beatles.

1948 English football legend Billy Wright first captained the England international team (aged 24), against Northern Ireland.

1955 Three armed men raided a Turkish bath in London, but the well heeled customers were wearing very little clothing, and the robbers' total haul was only £7.

1955 Steve Ovett, English athlete, was born.

1959 The Conservatives, under Harold Macmillan, (Supermac) won a third consecutive general election.

1961 Britain's youngest ever Conservative MP, Margaret Thatcher, was given her first governmental job.

1962 Uganda proclaimed its independence from Britain.

1968 Prime Minister Harold Wilson met Rhodesian premier Ian Smith aboard HMS Fearless in Gibraltar to discuss Rhodesia's decision to declare UDI -a Universal Declaration of Independence.

1976 The listing of the art-deco Midland Hotel in Morecambe, Lancashire. The hotel was built in 1933, by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). In its heyday it was 'the place' to stay and quickly attracted the wealthy middle classes.

1986 The musical The Phantom of the Opera had its first performance at Her Majesty's Theatre in London.

1988 The death of the footballer Jackie Milburn (full name John Edward Thompson Milburn). By the time Milburn left Newcastle in 1957, he had become the highest goalscorer in Newcastle United's history. He remained so until he was surpassed by Alan Shearer in February 2006.

1991 The first Sumo wrestling tournament ever held off Japanese soil in the sport's 1500 year history began 'on this day' , at the Royal Albert Hall.

1997 The campaign to ban landmines, a cause made popular by Diana, Princess of Wales was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

1999The new Scottish Parliament building was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II. Construction of the building commenced in June 1999 and the Members of the Scottish Parliament (MSPs) held their first debate in the new building on 7th September 2004.

2010 A ticket bought in the UK won a new record of £113m on the Euromillions lottery draw, making the anonymous winner the UK’s 589th richest person.

2013 Environment Secretary Owen Paterson claimed that "badgers moved the goalposts" when asked why marksmen failed to reach their badger cull target in the counties of Gloucestershire and Somerset.

2013 The Royal Mail share-offering for private investors was seven times over-subscribed, with 700,000 applications in total. Labour claimed that the shares were being sold too cheaply. Two days later the shares rose 38% to 455p in their first day of conditional dealings on the London Stock Exchange.

2014 A report from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) found that populations of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish had declined on average by 52 per cent in the last 40 years. Almost the entire decline was down to human activity, through habitat loss, deforestation, climate change, over-fishing and hunting.