This week, I have a look back in history between October 19 and 26.

During the First World War, the First Battle of Ypres began on October 19, 1914 in western Flanders.

The Allies and Germans settled into the trench warfare that would characterise the rest of the war on the Western Front.

A stark reminder of this time is the tragic image of young people who bravely stepped up to serve, whose memories are cherished in fields and on memorials.

On this day in 1970, British Petroleum announced the first major discovery of oil under the North Sea. On this date in 1987, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted by nearly 23%, the largest one-day percentage drop in its history, in what became known as Black Monday.

On October 19, 2003 Pope John Paul II canonised Mother Teresa. She had rightly been awarded the 1979 Nobel Peace Prize for her charitable work.

How about this? On this date in 2013, the violin reportedly played to calm passengers aboard the Titanic was sold for £900,000. On this date in 2025, thieves broke into the Louvre in Paris and stole jewellery valued at an estimated €88 million.

On October 20, 1632, Christopher Wren was born. On this date in 1882, actor Bela Lugosi was born in Hungary. He became famous for his portrayal of Count Dracula. Dame Anna Neagle was born on this day in 1904.

Muffin the Mule first appeared on BBC television in 1946. In 1973, Queen Elizabeth II opened the Sydney Opera House.

On this date in 1977, a plane carrying the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, known for classic songs such as Free Bird and Sweet Home Alabama, crashed near Gillsburg, Mississippi, killing singer Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Steve Gaines, among others.

On this date in 2022, Liz Truss resigned as leader of the Conservative Party and subsequently as prime minister, becoming the shortest-serving British prime minister after just 45 days in office.

In 2025, demolition of the East Wing of the White House in Washington D.C., began in preparation for the construction of a ballroom.

Swedish chemist, engineer and industrialist Alfred Nobel, who invented dynamite and other powerful explosives and founded the Nobel Prizes, was born in Stockholm on October 21, 1833.

Florence Nightingale and a team of 38 women volunteer nurses whom she had trained were deployed to the Crimea in 1854.

During her first winter in Scutari, 10 times more soldiers died from illnesses such as typhus, typhoid, cholera and dysentery than from battle wounds. She arranged for the sewers to be flushed and ventilation to be improved. Within six months, death rates had fallen sharply.

On this date in 1964, the American musical film ‘My Fair Lady’, starring Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn, had its world premiere. It later won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture.

The images from the mining village of Aberfan in 1966 remain ingrained in our collective memory, even 60 years later. The thought of 116 children among the 144 people who died as a result of a landslide of mining waste and slurry remains heart-breaking. The material came from a nearby coal spoil tip weakened by rain and slid downhill, engulfing the village school, a farm and a row of terraced houses.

The tragedy occurred at the beginning of the school day, just one day before the school was due to close for the half-term holiday. Each year, our thoughts turn to this tragedy, its victims and the families who suffered such devastating loss.

In 1997, Candle in the Wind, Elton John's reworking of his hit single, which he performed live at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, was declared the best-selling single in music history.

On October 22, 1910, in one of the most notorious criminal cases of the 20th century, the American physician Dr Crippen was found guilty of murdering his wife. He was executed in a British prison the following month.

On this date in 1962, President John F. Kennedy alerted Americans to the Cuban Missile Crisis, announcing a naval blockade to prevent further missile shipments to the island nation off the coast of the United States.

On this day in 1972, England goalkeeper Gordon Banks suffered eye injuries in a car crash.

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament held its largest-ever protest in London on this day in 1983, with more than one million people taking part.

In 1986, the world's youngest heart transplant patient, a two-and-a-half-month-old baby, received the heart of a five-day-old Belgian boy. The operation was performed by Professor Magdi Yacoub at Harefield Hospital in Middlesex.

On October 23, 1906, women suffragettes campaigning for the right to vote held a demonstration at the House of Commons. Ten were arrested and sent to prison.

Born in Brazil on October 23, 1940, Pelé became one of the most famous footballers in the history of the sport.

In 1941, the Disney animated classic Dumbo had its world premiere.

It was on this day in 1972 that Access credit cards came into use in Britain.

In 1991, the UK House of Lords ruled that husbands could legally be convicted of raping their wives.

Was it really 28 years ago, on this day, that Britney Spears released the single...Baby One More Time, which became a huge hit?

In 2001, Apple introduced the iPod, a portable media player that became one of the most successful and revolutionary products of the early 2000s.

Remember Alvin Stardust, formerly known as Shane Fenton? He died on this day in 2014.

The United Nations was formed on 24 October 1945 with the aim of “saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war”.

After winning the Japanese Grand Prix, James Hunt became Formula One world champion in 1976.

On this date in 2003, British Airways operated its final Concorde flight. Air France had ceased similar operations in May of that year.

Did any readers ever travel on Concorde? It always seemed like a really exciting supersonic jet to me!

In 2005, African American civil rights activist Rosa Parks died at the age of 92. Her refusal to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man in 1955 helped ignite the American civil rights movement.

In 2017, American musician Fats Domino, remembered for songs such as Blueberry Hill and I'm Walkin', died at the age of 89.

Pablo Picasso was born on October 25, 1881.

How long ago were the first microwave ovens available to buy? The answer is October 25, 1955!

On this date in 1964, the Rolling Stones made their first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in America.

Around the same time, the Beatles won five Ivor Novello Awards for their achievements in 1963, including awards associated with the most-broadcast song, the top-selling single She Loves You, the second-best-selling single I Want to Hold Your Hand, the second-most-outstanding song All My Loving and the most outstanding contribution to music.

The Football Association (FA) was established on October 26, 1863.

The infamous Gunfight at the O.K. Corral took place on this date in 1881.

London buses were painted red. Wasn't it nice to see our buses in their original colours this year?

In 1955, Austria promulgated its constitutional law establishing perpetual neutrality.

In 1958, America's first jet airliner, the Boeing 707, entered commercial service with Pan American World Airways.

Muhammad Ali returned to the boxing ring on this day in 1970 after an absence of three years, defeating Jerry Quarry. Ali had been barred from boxing after refusing to be inducted into the US Army during the Vietnam War.