On this day: Fire at Windsor Castle

On this day in 1992 a large fire caused widespread damage to the state apartments at Windsor Castle. Picture: Getty

Events, birthdays and anniversaries for 20 November

1616: Cardinal Richelieu appointed minister of state in France.

1780: Britain declared war on Holland.

1892: The union was broken and nine were left dead as 3,000 workers called off a five-month strike at Carnegie Steel Works, Pennsylvania.

1906: Charles Rolls and Henry Royce collaborated to form their car company, Rolls-Royce Ltd.

1917: British tanks took part in their first major battle.

1944: The lights were switched on again in Piccadilly, The Strand and Fleet Street, London, after five years of wartime blackout.

1947: Princess Elizabeth married Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten in Westminster Abbey. She was 21. The BBC covered the occasion in 42 different languages.

1951: Snowdonia in Wales was designated a national park.

1970: The 50p coin replaced the ten-shilling note.

1970: Majority in United Nations General Assembly voted to give China a seat, but two-thirds majority required for admission was not met.

1990: Saddam Hussein ordered 250,000 more Iraqi troops into Kuwait.

1992: A fire caused extensive damage to the state apartments at Windsor Castle.

1993: The New Zealand All Blacks beat Scotland 51-15 at Murrayfield, the home team’s biggest ever home defeat.

1995: In a BBC Panorama interview, the Princess of Wales admitted she had had an affair with Major James Hewitt and that she had known of Prince Charles’ affair with Camilla Parker Bowles, saying: “There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.”