TODAY: THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 2017

ON THIS DAY 36 YEARS AGO (1981)

Our front page revealed how 17-year-old Marcus Sarjeant, who fired six blank shots at the Queen as she rode along The Mall, was a former Air Training Corps Marksman of the Year. Her Majesty’s horse was startled but she managed to control it.

46 YEARS AGO (1971)

Education Secretary Margaret Thatcher ended free school milk for the over-sevens, earning her the nickname “milk snatcher”.

40 YEARS AGO (1977)

Spain held its first democratic elections since 1936. Fascist dictator General Franco, who ruled the country until his death in 1975, had named Prince Juan Carlos as his successor. The Prince ruled as a constitutional monarch while the country made the reforms necessary for its transition to a democracy.

TODAY’S EVENTS

8am A special event is being staged in Central London to mark the 75th anniversary of Operation Frankton and the “Cockleshell Heroes” who launched a daring raid in Germanoccupied France. SBS Association members will paddle down the Thames in military canoes from Lambeth Pier to Butler’s Wharf Pier.

2pm Imperial War Museum Duxford, near Cambridge, is marking its centenary with the unveiling of an artwork by artist Nick Ryan shaped to look like a futuristic Spitfire.

8.45pm In London, Chancellor Philip Hammond delivers his annual Mansion House Speech about the state of the UK economy.