on this day

1494: Christopher Columbus discovered Jamaica while in search of a westward route to the East.

1808: A duel was fought between two hot air balloonists over Paris.

1814: Louis XVIII took the throne of France after Napoleon’s defeat and exile by the allies.

1903: The first electric train ran through the Mersey Railway tunnel between Liverpool and Birkenhead.

1934: Author HG Wells predicted there would be a major world war by 1940.

1952: Newcastle United became the first team since 1891 to win two English FA Cup Finals in succession by beating Arsenal 1-0.

2007: British girl Madeleine McCann disappeared from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal.