The Chronicle (South Tyneside and Durham)
ON THIS DAY
1498: Mozambique, on Africa’s southeastern coast, was discovered by Vasco da Gama.
1711: The first edition of The Spectator was published.
1810: Composer Frederic Chopin was born near Warsaw, Poland. 1904: Glenn Miller, US trombonist, bandleader, composer and arranger, was born.
1913: The International Lawn Tennis Federation, the world’s governing body for tennis, was founded in Paris with representatives from 13 countries.
1932: The baby son of US aviator Charles Lindbergh was kidnapped. He was found dead on May 12.
1940: Vivien Leigh won the Best Actress Oscar for her role as Scarlett O’hara in Gone With The Wind.
1949: Joe Louis, US world heavyweight boxing champion known as the Brown Bomber, retired aged 35, after a record 25 successful defences of his title.
1957: Israel bowed to UN and US pressure and agreed to pull out of Gaza and Aqaba.
1978: Charlie Chaplin’s coffin was stolen from a Swiss cemetery three months after burial. It was found 10 miles away on May 17.
1992: Bosnian Serb snipers opened fire on civilians after a majority of Muslim and ethnic Croatian communities voted for Bosnia’s independence.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
Scientists revealed fossils of the oldest known potential pollinators had been discovered in a Russian village – dating back 280m years.
BIRTHDAYS:
Mike d’abo, rock singer, 80; Roger Daltrey, actor and singer (The Who), 80; Catherine Bach, actress, 70; Ron Howard, actor/director, 70; Nik Kershaw, singer, 66; Lady Rose Windsor, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester, 44; Justin Bieber, singer, 30.