ON THIS DAY

• 1422: King Henry V of England died in Vincennes, France, struck down with dysentery. He was succeeded by his nine-month-old infant son, Henry VI.

• 1888: Mary Ann “Polly” Nichols, first victim of Jack the Ripper, was found mutilated in Buck’s Row in the East End.

• 1900: Coca-cola first went on sale in Britain.

• 1936: Elizabeth Cowell, Britain’s first woman TV announcer, made her debut at Alexandra Palace.

• 1962: Chris Bonington and Ian Clough became the first Britons to conquer the north face of the Eiger.

• 1968: Gary Sobers (now Sir Garfield) of Nottinghamshire became the first cricketer to score six sixes off an over, at Swansea against Glamorgan. The hapless bowler was Malcolm Nash.

• 1969: Rocky Marciano, American world heavyweight boxing champion from 1952 to 1956, who retired undefeated, was killed in an air crash in Iowa.

• 1997: Diana, Princess of Wales was killed in a car crash in central Paris along with Dodi Fayed.

• 2012: The German manufacturer of anti-morning sickness drug thalidomide apologised for the thousands of children born without limbs as a result of its use.

• ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Singer Ellie Goulding and Caspar Jopling tied the knot with a starstudded wedding at York Minster.

• BIRTHDAYS: Martin Bell, former broadcaster and MP, 82; Clive Lloyd, former cricketer, 76; Van Morrison, singer, 75; Richard Gere, actor, 71; Edwin Moses, former athlete, 65; Glenn Tilbrook, rock musician (Squeeze), 63; Todd Carty, actor, 57.