ON THIS DAY
1478: George, Duke of Clarence, was murdered in the Tower of London. According to legend, he drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine. 1516: Mary I, Queen of England (1553-1558), daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, was born in Greenwich. 1546: Martin Luther, father of the Reformation, died at his birthplace at Eisleben, Germany, aged 62 – supposedly of overwork. 1564: The great Renaissance artist and sculptor Michelangelo died in Rome, aged 88. 1678: John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress was published. 1745: Count Alessandro Volta, physicist who devised the first battery, was born in Como, Italy. He gave his name to the electrical unit volt. 1911: More than 6,000 letters and postcards were flown five miles from Allahabad to Naini Junction in India by Henri Picquet – the first official airmail. 1915: Germany’s blockade of Britain by submarine began. 1930: American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered the planet Pluto from a series of pictures taken the previous month at Lowell Observatory. 2005: Fox hunting became illegal in England and Wales. The Hunting Act outlawed hunting with dogs. ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: David Cameron declared he was ‘’battling for Britain’’ as he arrived for crunch talks on his European Union reforms. BIRTHDAYS: Yoko Ono, artist/singer, 84; Graeme Garden, actor, comedian and presenter, 74; Michael Buerk, broadcaster, 71; Sinead Cusack, actress, 69; Cybill Shepherd, actress; 67; Randy Crawford, singer, 65; John Travolta, actor, 63; Greta Scacchi, actress, 57; Matt Dillon, actor, 53; Colin Jackson, former athlete, now commentator/presenter, 50; Molly Ringwald, actress, 49; Gary Neville, former footballer, 42.