IT HAPPENED TODAY
1554:
Lady Jane Grey, Queen of England for nine days, was executed on Tower Green by her cousin and rival claimant to the throne, Mary.
1688:
The Glorious Revolution ended. James II fled to France and Prince William of Orange and Princess Mary were declared King and Queen of England.
1809:
Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States, was born in Kentucky.
1809:
Charles Darwin (above), the naturalist, was born in Shrewsbury. His work On The Origin Of Species (1859) formulated his theory of evolution and natural selection.
1870:
Marie Lloyd (Matilda Alice Victoria Wood), Cockney music hall star who sang risque songs and had a scandalous private life, was born in London.
1898:
Henry Lindfield of Brighton became the first British motorist to be killed in a car crash — a result of a
steering failure.
1818:
Chile is proclaimed an independent republic.
1924:
Rhapsody In Blue by George Gershwin (above) was first performed in New York.
1929:
Actress Lillie Langtry, an intimate friend of Edward VII, died.
2010:
Three faculty members were killed and three other school employees were wounded in a shooting at the University of Alabama.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
Research revealed sea levels are increasing at an accelerating rate that could see a rise of a centimetre per year by 2100.
Franco Zeffirelli, film director, 96; Annette Crosbie, actress, 85; Nicholas Soames, politician, 71; Arsenio Hall, actor and comedian, 63; Steve Backley, former athlete, 50; Gethin Jones, television presenter, 41; Jesse Spencer, actor, 40; Christina Ricci (above), actress, 39.