IT HAPPENED TODAY

MAY29

1660:

Charles II entered London to be restored as King of England on his 30th birthday.

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 had 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 (above) recorded the world’s top-selling disc, White Christmas, for the soundtrack of the film Holiday Inn.

1953:

Sir Edmund Hillary (below) 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 pontiff in more than 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:

Writer Simon Armitage formally took up his post as the nation’s new Poet Laureate.

BIRTHDAYS:

Nanette Newman, actress, 86; Michael Berkeley, composer, 72; Francis Rossi, rock musician (Status Quo), 71; Latoya

Jackson (above), singer, 64; Rupert Everett, actor, 61; Adrian Paul, actor, 61; Melissa Etheridge, singer, 59; Noel Gallagher, rock musician (Oasis), 53; Melanie Brown, former Spice Girl Mel B, 45.