IT HAPPENED TODAY
1536:
William Tyndale, English religious reformer and translator of the Bible, was burned at the stake as a heretic in Brussels.
1820:
Jenny Lind, soprano known as the Swedish Nightingale, was born in Stockholm.
1829:
Trials began at Rainhill for a locomotive to use on the Liverpool to Manchester Railway. The winner was Stephenson’s Rocket.
1927:
The first full-length talking picture, The Jazz Singer, opened in New York. Al Jolson (top) sang Toot Toot Tootsie, Goodbye, Mammy and Blue Skies in a soundtrack that was almost entirely music.
1968:
British drivers took the first three places in the US Grand Prix: Jackie Stewart, Graham Hill and John Surtees.
1981:
Muslim extremists assassinated Egyptian president Anwar Sadat.
1991:
In California, Elizabeth Taylor (above) married for the eighth time — her husband was Larry Fortensky, a builder.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
Ukipleadership favourite Steven Woolfe was recovering in hospital after being admitted in a ‘’serious’’ condition following an altercation at a meeting of the party’s MEPs.
BIRTHDAYS:
(Lord) Melvyn Bragg, broadcaster and author, 78; Britt Ekland (above), actress, 75; Richard Caborn, politician, 74; Bruce Grobbelaar, former footballer, 60; Niall Quinn, former footballer, 51; Ioan Gruffudd, actor, 44; Ricky Hatton, former boxer, 39.