IT HAPPENED TODAY

1603: Funeral of Queen Elizabeth I

(above) took place at Westminster

Abbey.

1789: The crew of the HMS Bounty, led by Fletcher Christian, mutinied in the Friendly Islands in the South Seas, sailing for the Pitcain Islands.

1923: The first English FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium was staged. Bolton Wanderers defeated West Ham2-0.

1945: Benito Mussolini and his mistress Claretta Petacci were executed by Italian partisans and their bodies hung in a square in Milan.

1947: The Kon Tiki expedition set out with Thor Heyerdahl, aiming to prove that ancient cults could have sailed on a balsa wood raft from Peru to Polynesia.

1967: Muhammad Ali refused induction into the US Army and was stripped of his world heavyweight boxing title.

1969: General de Gaulle resigned as President of France.

1985: Dennis Taylor (above) won the Embassy World Snooker Championship after a spectacular final frame against Steve Davis with 18 million people watching on television. Taylor was born in Coalisland, Co Tyrone, and started playing snooker when he was nine and was the local senior champion at 14. The Irishman is famous for his ‘upside down’ glasses, which have become his trade mark.

1990: A Chorus Line closed on Broadway after a record-breaking 15 years.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Heavy metal band Iron Maiden said they would take a weekend breather from their hectic world tour — because their drummer Nicko McBrain could not bear missing snooker’s World Championship final.

BIRTHDAYS: Mike Brearley, former cricketer, 76; Jay Leno, chat show host, 68; Mary McDonnell, actress, 66; Howard Donald, singer (Take That), 50; Penelope Cruz, actress, 44; Sir Bradley Wiggins, former road and track cyclist, 38; Jessica Alba (above), actress, 37.