Oct  8

1999  The comic actor Derek Guyler died in an Australian retirement home

1965  The death penalty was abolished in the UK

Oct  9

1977  Scottish pubs served drinks on a Sunday for the first time in a hundred years

Oct10

1975  Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were married for the second time

1970  The Fiji Islands became independent

Oct11

1982  The Mary Rose was raised from the Solent, 437 years after she sunk

1963  The French singer Edith Piaf died

1521  The Pope Leo X conferred the title 'Defender of the Faith' on Henry VIII

Oct12

1986   The Queen became the first British monarch to visit China

1984   A bomb exploded at the Grand Hotel, Brighton during the Conservative Party Conference

1973   Spiro T Agnew, accused of tax evasion, resigned as Vice-President of the US

1971   Gene Vincent died in Newhall, California from a bleeding ulcer

Oct13

1943  Italy declared war on Germany

Oct14

1969  The 50p coin was first issued

1947  Captain Chuck Yeager became the first person to fly supersonically

1937  The first London Motor Show opened at Earl's Court

1926  Winnie the Pooh first published

1066  Battle of Hastings

Oct15

1917  Mata Hari was executed for spying