Our look at some of the significant happenings 100 years ago this month.

4. The United Kingdom general strike begins at midnight, in support of a strike by coal miners.

8. Birth. Sir David Attenborough, British broadcaster, naturalist, and producer

9. Explorer Richard E Byrd and co-pilot Floyd Bennett claim to be the first to fly over the North Pole in the Josephine Ford monoplane, taking off from Spitsbergen, Norway and returning 15 hours and 44 minutes later. Both men are immediately hailed as national heroes, though some experts have since been skeptical of the claim, believing the plane was unlikely to have covered the entire distance and back in such a short time. Byrd’s diary, discovered in 1996, suggests the plane actually turned back 150 miles short of the North Pole, due to an oil leak.

9. Death. JM Dent, British publisher (b.1849)

12. Roald Amundsen and his crew fly over the North Pole, in the airship Norge.

12. The United Kingdom general strike is called off by the trade unions, although miners remain on strike.

14. Birth. Eric Morecambe, English comedian, author (d.1984)