The black and white feline passed away at the home of a Cabinet Office worker who took him when he "retired". Humphrey was adopted by Number 10 after wandering into the building as a stray while Margaret Thatcher was PM in 1989. He moved out six months after Labour's 1997 general election win, with Tony Blair's wife Cherie denying reports her dislike for the animal was to blame.

American missiles have hit the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, signalling the start of the US-led campaign to topple Saddam Hussein.
President George Bush delivered a live television address shortly after the bombings began, vowing to "disarm Iraq and to free its people". The attack was ordered two hours after a final 48-hour deadline expired for Saddam Hussein to leave Iraq.

Princess Anne, the daughter of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II, escaped unhurt after an armed man tried to kidnap her in London. The attempt was a bizzare bid to draw attention to declining public health services for mental patients in Britain. The gunman Ian Ball, ambushed the princess's car close to Buckingham Palace and fired six shots at it. Ball tried to drag out the princess but was beaten off by bodyguards and a passer by.

The football World Cup was stolen while on exhibition at Central Hall in Westminster, London. The £30,000 solid gold Jules Rimet trophy disappeared while a church service was taking place in another part of the building. the trophy was eventually found by Pickles, a mongrel dog, out for a walk with his owner, on 27 March in south London. Later that year it was England who won the World Cup, but in 1970 Brazil was allowed to keep the trophy for ever, after winning the competition for the third time.