On this day

1461: England’s bloodiest battle raged for 10 hours around the village of Towton in Yorkshire. More than 28,000 died as Henry VI’s Lancastrian forces were crushed and the throne was claimed by Edward IV.

1788: Death of evangelist Charles Wesley, writer of more than 5,500 hymns and co founder, with his brother John, of Methodism.

1871: The Royal Albert Hall, built in memory of Prince Albert, was opened in London by Queen Victoria.

1886: A new fizzy drink was launched by graduate chemist John S Pemberton in Atlanta, Georgia. It is now known as Coca-Cola.

1912: Captain Robert Falcon Scott died in Antarctica while returning from his expedition to the South Pole.

1960: Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and US President Dwight D Eisenhower agreed on new proposals for a nuclear test ban treaty.

1971: Charles Manson and three members of his cult were sentenced to death in Los Angeles for the murders of seven people and one unborn child.

1974: The US spacecraft Mariner 10 took the first close-up pictures of Mercury.

1981: The first London marathon was won by Norwegian Inge Simonsen and American Dick Beardsley – crossing the tape hand in hand.

2004: The Republic of Ireland became the first country in the world to ban smoking in all workplaces, including bars and restaurants.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A hijacker wearing a fake suicide vest forced an Egyptian plane to divert to Cyprus and took passengers and crew hostage.