ON THIS DAY

● 1492: Christopher Columbus left Andalucia, Spain, on his first voyage to America. He was actually searching for a land called India.

● 1778: La Scala Opera House in Milan was opened.

● 1887: The soldier poet Rupert Brooke was born in Rugby. His early death on active service during the First World War made him a famous figure but he never heard a shot fired in anger – he died from the combined results of a mosquito bite and sunstroke.

● 1914: The first ship passed through the Panama Canal.

● 1926: Electric traffic lights were installed at Piccadilly Circus, the first in Britain.

● 1955: SamuelBeckett’snowacknowledged classic Waiting For Godot was performed for the first time in London at the Arts Theatre. The performance was punctuated throughout with the clatter of seats as half the audience walked out.

● 1966: American comedian Lenny Bruce was found dead from a drugs overdose.

● 2004: The pedestal of the Statue of Liberty reopened after being closed for nearly three years following 9/11.

● 2010: Riots were triggered in Karachi, Pakistan, after a senior politician was assassinated, leaving 45 people dead.

● ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: An earthquake off Indonesia’s Java island killed four people and damaged more than 200 houses.

● BIRTHDAYS: Tony Bennett, singer, 94; Steven Berkoff, actor, director and writer, 83; Martin Sheen, actor, 80; John Landis, filmmaker, 70; Ossie Ardiles, former footballer, 68; James Hetfield, singer/guitarist (Metallica), 57.