1791    The Priestley Riots drive Joseph Priestley, a supporter of the French Revolution, out of Birmingham, England.

1837    Grand Junction Railway, the world's first long-distance railway, opens between Birmingham and Liverpool.

1948    Boxer Dick Turpin beats Vince Hawkins at Villa Park in Birmingham to become the first black British boxing champion in the modern era.

1964    Charlie Wilson, one of the Great Train Robbers, escapes from Winson Green Prison in Birmingham, England.

2005    Tornadoes touch down in a residential areas in south Birmingham and Coventry England, causing £4,000,000 worth of damages and injuring 39 people.

2007    Suspects are arrested in Birmingham in the UK, accused of plotting the kidnap, holding and eventual beheading of a serving Muslim British soldier in Iraq.