ON THIS DAY
1530:
Following his arrest for treason, Cardinal Wolsey was recalled to London and died on the way at Leicester. He was buried there in Abbey Park.
1797:
Gaetano Donizetti, opera composer (Lucia de Lammermoor), was born in Bergamo, Italy.
1895:
Busby Berkeley, choreographer and director who devised a style which revolutionised Hollywood musicals, was born. His kaleidoscopic ballets, with overhead shots to show the changing patterns his dancers could create, were his trademark in films such as 42nd Street and Gold Diggers Of 1933.
1907:
Florence Nightingale, the “Lady of the Lamp”, was presented with the Order of Merit by Edward VII for her work during the Crimean War.
1929:
US admiral Richard Byrd, with pilot Bernt Balchen, became the first man to fly over the South Pole.
1932:
The first performance took place of Cole Porter’s The Gay Divorcee in New York starring Fred Astaire and featuring the song Night And Day.
1934:
First broadcast of a royal wedding – that of the Duke of Kent and Princess Marina in Westminster Abbey.
1954:
Sir George Robey, comedian and actor, died. He introduced the song If You Were The Only Girl In The World during the First World War.
1986:
Debonair British-born actor Cary Grant died.
2010:
A French couple came forward with 271 previously unknown works by Picasso – a staggering trove worth £50m.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
More than 100 revellers at an illegal rave in Birmingham were issued with £200 fines after it was broken up by police.
BIRTHDAYS:
Dame Shirley Porter, former politician, 91; Diane Ladd, actress, 86; David Rintoul, actor, 73; Don Cheadle, actor, 57; Ryan Giggs, footballer, 48; Anna Faris, actress, 45; Simon Amstell, comedian/television presenter, 42.