IT HAPPENED TODAY
— commemorating King Charles II finding safety in an oaktree in the grounds of Boscobel House, Shropshire, after the Battle of Worcester (1651).
1660:
On his 30th birthday, Charles II entered London to be restored as King of England.
1871:
Whit Monday became the first bank holiday in Britain.
1874:
GK Chesterton, author and poet, was born in Kensington, London. His detective Father Brown was based on Father John O’Connor, who received him into the Catholic Church.
1911:
Sir William Gilbert, librettist of Gilbert & Sullivan operas, died after rescuing two women from a garden pond.
1942:
Bing Crosby recorded the world’s top-selling disc, White Christmas, for the soundtrack of the film Holiday Inn.
Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first two climbers to reach the summit of Everest. The news broke on Coronation Day, June 2.
1982:
Pope John Paul II became the first Pope in 450 years to step on to British soil, and the first to pray side by side with the Archbishop of Canterbury in Canterbury Cathedral.
1985:
Some 39 football fans were killed when a wall collapsed during crowd violence at Heysel Stadium, Brussels, before the European Cup final between Liverpool and Juventus.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
Motorists waste up to 29 hours every year using sat navs, a study claimed.
BIRTHDAYS:
Nanette Newman, actress, 84; Michael Berkeley, composer, 70; Francis Rossi, rock musician (Status Quo), 69; LaToya Jackson, singer, 62; Rupert Everett, actor, 59; Melissa Etheridge, singer, 57; Noel Gallagher, rock musician, 51; Melanie Brown former Spice GirlMelB,43.