August 20: On this day …

In 2002, a group of Iraqis protesting about Saddam Hussein’s regime took over the Iraqi embassy in Berlin for 5 hours.

In 1991, 100,000 Russians protested outside the Duma, Russia’s parliament, over the coup which had deposed President Mikhail Gorbachev (pictured), heralding the end of the Soviet Union.

In 1969, The Beatles performed together as a group for the final time, finishing their Abbey Road album.

In 1962, British actress Sophie Aldred was born in Greenwich, London. She would later play Ace in Doctor Who, the assistant of the Seventh Doctor, played by Sylvester McCoy, who was born on the same day in 1943. 

In 1882, Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture premiered in Moscow - only 70 years late!

In 1868, American tennis champion Ellen Roosevelt was born in New York. She was the first cousin of US President Franklin D Roosevelt.

In 1858, Charles Darwin published his theory of evolution for the first time in London, causing outrage among religious groups.