ON THIS DAY

■■ 1603: Elizabeth I died aged 69, after nearly 45 years as Queen.

■■1834: Artist and poet William Morris was born in London.

■■1877: The University Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge ended in a dead heat. On the same date in 1951, the race was called off when the Oxford boat sank. It was rerun two days later, when Cambridge won by 12 lengths.

■■1887: Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, US silent film comedian, was born. In 1921 he was involved in a sex scandal that ruined his career.

■■1944: The breakout from prisoner of war camp Stalag Luft III by 76 inmates began. The event was the inspiration for the movie The Great Escape.

■■1946: Alastair Cooke read his first Letter From America on BBC Radio.

■■1953: Queen Mary, widow of George V, died after a lengthy illness.

■■1956: In the Grand National, the Queen Mother’s horse Devon Loch collapsed after clearing the final fence in first place. The unlucky rider was Dick Francis.

■■1958: Elvis Presley, 23, signed up for the US Army in Memphis, Tennessee.

■■1965: David Steel, aged 26, won Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles for the Liberals to become Britain’s youngest MP.

■■1973: Rock band Pink Floyd released The Dark Side Of The Moon, above, which went on to become one of the biggest-selling albums of all time.

■■1976: President Isabel Peron of Argentina was deposed in a bloodless military coup.

■■1989: The Exxon Valdez tanker ran aground on a reef in Prince William Sound off the Alaskan coast and released 11 million gallons of crude oil into the sea.

■■1993: Ezer Weizman was elected president of Israel.

■■BIRTHDAYS: David Irving, military historian, 83; Patrick Malahide, actor, 76; Archie Gemmill, coach and former footballer, 74; Lord (Alan) Sugar, businessman, 74; Nick Lowe, musician, 72; Tommy Hilfiger, fashion designer, 70; Kelly LeBrock, actress, 61; Lara Flynn Boyle, actress, 51; Alyson Hannigan, actress, 47; Jessica Chastain, actress, 44; Lake Bell, actress, 42.

■■ The recycled paper content of UK newspapers in 2016 was 62.8%