Today in History

1453 – The French defeat the English at the battle of Castillon, ending the Hundred Years’ War. 1586 – Sir Francis Walsingham, principal secretary to England’s Queen Elizabeth, exposes the Babington Plot, a letter from Mary, Queen of Scots, to Anthony Babington planning Queen Elizabeth’s murder.

1762 – Peter III, Tsar of Russia, is assassinated a week after he abdicates the throne.

1841 – The first edition of humour and satire magazine Punch is published.

1917 – King George V, left, issues a proclamation changing the name of the British royal family from the German Saxe-Coburg and Gotha to Windsor.

1936 – Spanish Civil War starts as General Francisco Franco leads army forces in revolt against the government.

1945 – US President Harry S Truman, British Prime Minister Clement Attlee, and Soviet leader Josef Stalin meet at Potsdam, Germany, to settle the post World War II future of Europe.

1955 – Disneyland opens its gates in Anaheim, California.

1956 – High Society, Grace Kelly’s last film, opens in theatres.

1976 – Indonesia annexes East Timor. 1994 – Brazil beat Italy in penalty shootout in the Fifa World Cup final. 2006 – A tsunami crashes into beach resorts and villages on Java island. More than 500 people die.

2014 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 is shot down over Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.

Birthdays

David Lloyd George, Welsh statesman (1863-1945); Erle Stanley Gardner, US lawyer and author, creator of crime-solver Perry Mason; James Cagney, US actor (1899-1986); Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall (1947-); Angela Merkel, German chancellor (1954-); Andre Adams, New Zealand cricketer (1975-).