July 1, 1997 – Hong Kong was handed back to the Chinese after more than 150 years of British control. Britain had controlled the island since 1842, apart from a brief period during World War II when it was taken over by Japan.

July 4, 1954 – Food rationing in Britain finally came to an end after 14 years (and nine years after the end of World War II). To mark the occasion, members of the London Housewives’ Association held a special ceremony in Trafalgar Square.

July 14, 1789 – The fall of the Bastille occurred at the beginning of the French Revolution.

July 16, 1969 – The Apollo 11 space rocket, carrying astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins, took off from Cape Kennedy, in Florida, at the start of the first attempt to land a man on the moon. Four days later, the rocket landed and Neil Armstrong took that now legendary giant leap for mankind.