Eleven people were killed and more than 4,000 passengers and crew were rescued after a packed cruise liner began capsizing off the Italian coast after running aground. Costa Concordia which had left port at 7pm for a seven-day Mediterranean Cruise - but within two hours, it ran aground in the sea with a major electrical fault. The 13 deck liner then began to take on water after hitting rocks creating a 160ft gash in the hull, near the island of Giglio, off the Tuscan coast. It was reported the Captain took an unapproved short cut

Former Blockbusters host Bob Holness died at the age of 83. Holness, who had suffered from a series of strokes, had been in a nursing home. He is survived by his wife Mary, three children and seven grandchildren. But he is best known for hosting ITV gameshow Blockbusters, from 1983 to 1993, complete with its hexagonal board, gold runs and the classic double entendre contestant request: "Can I have a P please Bob?"

Samoa and Tokelau skipped a day - and jumped westwards across the international dateline - to align with trade partners. As the clock struck midnight (10:00 GMT Friday) as 29 December ended, Samoa and Tokelau fast-forwarded to 31 December, missing out on 30 December entirely.

The Military Wives Choir scooped the Christmas number one, knocking X Factor's Little Mix off the top spot. Wherever You Are sold 556,000 copies, more than the rest of the top 12 combined.

England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson retired from international rugby union. The 32-year-old won 91 England caps, kicked the winning drop-goal in the 2003 World Cup final and played six Tests for the British and Irish Lions.

Silvio Berlusconi resigned as prime minister of Italy, after dominating the country's politics for 17 years.

Joe Frazier, has died of liver cancer at the age of 67, was one of the most significant players in the heavyweight division's most glorious era and one half of the most compelling rivalry in the history of boxing. Frazier's three fights with Muhammad Ali in the 1970s constituted the sport's greatest ever trilogy and meant both men became inextricably intertwined. Obituary

Sir Jimmy Savile was famed for his eccentric jewellery, charismatic presenting style and flamboyant clothes — mainly brightly coloured shell suits and tinted glasses. He was on Top of the Pops from its start in 1964 and presented the final show in 2006. He raised more than £40million during his lifetime for various charities, including Leeds Hospitals.

He took part in 217 marathons, 300 professional bike races and 107 professional wrestling matches. His Saturday night show Jim'll Fix It granted wishes for thousands of children from 1975 until 1993.

The new Bishop of Salisbury, The Right Reverend Nicholas Holtamwas, enthroned in a service at Salisbury Cathedral. He became the first Church of England clergyman married to a divorcee to be made a bishop, following a rule change by the General Synod.

Lyneham was the wettest place in the south-west on the 22nd September 2011 where 2.4mm of rain fell in a twenty-four hour period and the following day, Lyneham was the sunniest place in the south-west with 7.3 hours of sunshine. How you can rely on the British weather!

A unique licensing service took place, lead by the Archdeacon of Wilts at St Mary’s Bradenstoke and subsequently at St Michael and All Angel's Church in Lyneham. During this service, the Reverend Richard Selby-Boothroyd was welcomed and licensed as associate priest in Lyneham with Bradenstoke, and as associate priest in the parish of Wootton Bassett and the Benefice of Woodhill. Read more

Lyneham was the sunniest place in the South-West with 10 hours of sunshine. Thermometers topped 19.4 degrees C at 4pm.

A 49-year-old man was found dead when emergency services arrived at F Drury and Sons abattoir in Tockenham. It is believed that the man was cleaning a piece of equipment used for pulling the hides from carcasses when he may have accidentally triggered a switch which set the machine in motion. It is thought the victim was crushed to death.

Despite grey and overcast weather for the whole country, Lyneham was completely different. The village recorded the sunniest day in the south-west where 5.7 hours of sunshine was documented.

Lyneham was the sunniest place in the south-west as clear blue skies allowed a 9.9 hour period of sunshine. Thermometers reached 20.4 degrees C at 4pm.

At least 84 people died when a gunman opened fire at an Utoeya island youth camp in Norway, hours after a bomb attack on the capital, Oslo. No group has admitted responsibility for the attack but the suspect is reported by local media to have had links with right-wing extremists.

After more than 30 years, the Space Shuttle era has come to a close. Space shuttle Atlantis and the STS-135 crew landed safely on runway 15 at 9:57 a.m. BST at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida. more

THE former RAF Lyneham base is to remain under military occupation it has been announced. The move is part of a £1.5 bn investment in UK reserve forces over the next 10 years as part of a wide-ranging shake-up of the UK's military. Defence Secretary Liam Fox told parliament that defence technical training programme will move to the former RAF base ‘guaranteeing its future’. more

The Atlantis Space Shuttle lifted off at 1129 local Florida time (1629 BST) on a mission to haul critical supplies to the International Space Station. The flight is the 135th and final space shuttle launch and will be the 33rd lift-off for the Atlantis orbiter.

The 12-day mission will ferry 3.5 tonnes of supplies to the International Space Station. Upon its return, the 30-year space shuttle programme will come to a close, with Atlantis and the other two shuttles retired to museums.

The king of light entertainment Bruce Forsyth finally receives a knighthood. After a TV career stretching back to the Second World War – and years of campaigning by fans – the 83-year-old Strictly Come Dancing host tops the Queen’s Birthday Honours list. Three-times-married Sir Bruce, one of Britain’s best-loved TV stars whose other hits included The Generation Game and Play Your Cards Right, Strictly Come Dancing. Joining Sir Bruce on the honours list is actor Colin Firth, awarded a CBE only months after collecting an Oscar for playing the Queen’s father George VI in The King’s Speech.

Lyneham recorded the highest rainfall in a twenty four hour period in the south-west of England. 7.2mm of rain fell over the village.

Lyneham experienced a complete wash out as the heavens opened and 29mm of rain fell within a twenty four hour period. This deluge was half of the expected monthly total for June.

Paolo di Canio has been named as the new manager of Swindon Town. The controversial former West Ham striker agreed terms on a two-year deal. Di Canio, 42, was one of eight candidates interviewed for the position by Swindon chairman Jeremy Wray. Di Canio follows Paul Hart as the club's permanent manager, after the former Nottingham Forest and Portsmouth boss left last month following Swindon's relegation from League One. Former player Paul Bodin was in charge for Swindon's final two games of the season.

Spanish golf legend Seve Ballesteros died after a protracted battle with cancer. The 54-year-old passed away surrounded by his family at his home in Pedrena, northern Spain. Ballesteros was diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2008 after losing consciousness at Madrid Airport. The five-time major winner had four operations to remove the tumour as well as undergoing chemotherapy. Ballesteros, who claimed 87 titles over his career, won the Open in 1979, 1984 and 1988 and became the first European to win the Augusta Masters in 1980, repeating the feat in 1983. He also enjoyed a successful Ryder Cup career as both player and captain - playing in eight Ryder Cups and winning 20 points from 37 matches before guiding Europe to victory over the United States as a non-playing captain at Valderrama in 1997.

Lyneham continued to be the sunniest place in the south west with 7.1 hours of sunshine. With two of the driest months (March and April) on record, finally gardeners and farmers had some rainfall. Despite neighbouring communities experiencing thunderstorms and heavy downpours, Lyneham only had a slight dampening.

The country voted in a referendum to decide if the current voting system needed changing. Officials say 19.1m people voted in the second UK-wide referendum in history - a higher than expected turnout of 41%. The final referendum result put the Yes vote at 32.1% and the No vote at 67.9%. As well as the AV defeat, the Lib Dems suffered a rout in English local election and lost support in Scotland. The party lost around 700 councillors - more than a third of the seats they were defending - in England - and 12 of its 17 MSPs at Holyrood, where the SNP scored an historic victory.

Eleven point four hours of sunshine again, cloudless skies, allowed Lyneham to record the record of the sunniest place in the south-west. Gardeners and farmers alike, are experiencing unusually dry periods for this time of year as crops are in desperate need of rain.

Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden was killed by American forces in Pakistan. The al-Qaeda leader was killed in a ground operation outside Islamabad based on US intelligence, the first lead for which emerged August 2010. Bin Laden was accused of being behind a number of atrocities, including the attacks on New York and Washington on 11 September 2001. Bin Laden approved the 9/11 attacks in which nearly 3,000 people died.

Despite having cloudless skies twenty four hours earlier and recording the sunniest place in the south west, Lyneham achieved the same record with only 4.2 hours of sunshine. The sunniest place in the south-west for the 24 hours ending 2200 on 1 May 2011

Sir Henry Cooper, always remembered for flooring Muhammad Ali, died aged 76. Cooper, who was knighted in 2000, is best remembered for two famous clashes with Ali in the 1960s. He floored Ali in the fourth round with "Enry's Ammer" – his trademark left hook – but Ali eventually won the 1963 non-title fight at Wembley. Ali triumphed again when they boxed three years later but Cooper remained a favourite with the British public.