On 28th October…

1664 - The Duke of York and Albany’s Maritime Regiment of Foot was established during the reign of King Charles II. The regiment became known as the Royal Marines in 1802 when they were given their new title by King George III.

1726 - Gulliver’s Travels written by Jonathan Swift was published in London. It is a set of stories about a man called Lemuel Gulliver and his travels to different nations in distant lands. Some of those lands were inhabited by tiny people where Gulliver was seen as a giant.

On 29th October…

On 30th October…

On 31st October…

On 1st November…

1762 - Spencer Perceval, the only British Prime Minister to be assassinated, was born in London.

1848 - Mr W.H. Smith opened the first ever travel retail store when his railway bookstall began trading in Euston Station, London. He already had a newspaper shop in Grosvenor Street, London, which he had taken over from his parents in 1828.

1887 - The British artist L.S. Lowry was born in Greater Manchester, England. He is famous for painting industrial scenes with thin, matchstick looking people.

On 2nd November…

On 3rd November….

1957 - The Soviet Union (now Russia) launched the first animal in space. Laika, the dog was aboard the spacecraft Sputnik 2. Unfortunately, no provisions had been put into place for Laika’s return to Earth and the dog died in space. The spacecraft finally re-entered Earth’s atmosphere the following April but burned up when re-entering.