NOW & THEN
30 MAY
1536: King Henry VIII married Jane Seymour, the third of his six wives, in the Queen’s Chapel, Whitehall 11 days after the execution of Anne Boleyn.
1656: The Grenadier Guards formed.
1766: The Royal in Bristol, the oldest theatre still in use in Britain, was opened.
1842: John Francis fired a pistol at Queen Victoria as she was driving down Constitution Hill, London, with Prince Albert. Francis was seized by a policeman and was convicted of high treason.
1911: The Indianapolis 500 car race of 200 laps was inaugurated in the US. It was won by Ray Harroun at an average 74.59mph.
1946: The Minister of Food for the post-war Labour government, John Strachey, told the Commons that bread would be rationed, with the greatest allowance going to manual workers in heavy industry.
1959: The first full-sized experimental hovercraft, built by Saunders-roe, was launched at Cowes on the Isle of Wight.
1961: Rafael Trujillo, dictator of Dominican Republic, was assassinated.
1967: Biafra, formerly the province of Eastern Nigeria, changed name and declared itself an independent republic. Ravaged by a war with Nigeria and famine, it was re-incorporated into Nigeria in 1970.
1969: British Transarctic Expedition completed first surface crossing of the continent, covering 3,600 miles in 464 days.
1971: Mariner 9 was launched from Cape Kennedy for a Mars mission.
1982: Spain became 16th member of Nato.
1984: The 45-month Gulf war heated up as Iraq reported new attacks on naval targets near Iran’s Kharg Island oil port.
1989: Military source said Chinese troops told to prepare for lengthy struggle in government crackdown on student protests.
1990: France banned beef exports from Britain in “mad cow disease” scare.
1990: One of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded occurred in central and eastern Europe, from the Baltic to the Black Sea, with the epicentre in Romania.
1991: Car bomb exploded near Civil Guard barracks in Vic, Spain, killing at least nine people and injuring 50.
1992: The United Nations imposed arms and other sanctions of warring states in the former Yugoslavia.
2002: 272 days after the 11 September attacks, closing ceremonies are held for the clean-up/recovery efforts at the World Trade Centre site in New York City.
2003: At least 70 people associated with the National League for Democracy were killed by government-sponsored mobs in Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi fled the scene, but was arrested soon afterwards.
2010: Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Laws resigned after it was revealed he broke Commons rules by claiming £40,000 in rent on a flat owned by his male partner. Ray Cooney OBE, British playwright and producer, 87; Tim Burgess, rock singer (The Charlatans), 52; Harry Enfield, writer, actor and comedian, 58; Steven Gerrard MBE, football manager and former player, 39; David Shukman, British broadcaster, 61; Sir Tim Waterstone, Scottish bookseller, 80; Bob Willis MBE, English cricketer and broadcaster, 70; Sally Dynevor, British actress (Coronation Street), 56
ANNIVERSARIES
Births: 1672 Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia; 1846 Peter Carl Fabergé, goldsmith and jeweller; 1896 Howard Hawks, film director; 1909 Benny Goodman, clarinettist and band leader; 1909 George Headley, West Indies cricketer; 1924 Trevor Philpot, journalist and broadcaster.
Deaths: 1431 Joan of Arc, French patriot and martyr; 1640 Peter Paul Rubens, painter; 1744 Alexander Pope, poet; 1778 Voltaire, philosopher and historian; 1847 Thomas Chalmers, first Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland; 1912 Wilbur Wright, aviation pioneer; 1960 Boris Pasternak, poet and novelist; 1998 Walter Carr, actor and comedian; 1999 Kenny Macintyre, broadcaster.