ON THIS DAY
1284: Peterhouse College, Cambridge, was founded. 1732: Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn was born. He went on to compose 104 symphonies and numerous chamber and vocal works. 1837: English landscape painter John Constable, who painted The Hay Wain, died. 1855: Charlotte Bronte, eldest of the Bronte sisters and author of Jane Eyre, died. 1889: The 985ft-high Eiffel Tower, costing £260,000, was officially opened by French premier Pierre Tirard. 1939: Britain and France pledged to support Poland against any aggression from Hitler’s Germany. 1959: The Dalai Lama was granted political asylum in India, having arrived in the country fleeing Chinese repression of an uprising in Tibet. 1973: Red Rum won the Grand National in record time - nine minutes 1.9 seconds. 1980: Jesse Owens, winner of four Olympic golds in Berlin in 1936, died. 1986: The Greater London Council was abolished. 1990: An anti-Poll Tax demonstration ended in a riot in Trafalgar Square with looting and arson in the West End. 1991: The Warsaw Pact formally ceased to exist as a military force when Soviet commanders surrendered their powers. 1993: The United Nations Security Council authorised military intervention in Yugoslavia, allowing planes violating a no-fly zone over Bosnia-Herzegovina to be shot down. ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Two Ronnies star and “true great of British comedy” Ronnie Corbett died aged 85. BIRTHDAYS: Richard Chamberlain, actor, 83; Herb Alpert, musician, 82; Lord (David) Steel, former Liberal leader, 79; Volker Schlondorff, film director, 78; Christopher Walken, actor, 74; Al Gore, former US vice president, 69; Angus Young, rock guitarist (AC/DC), 62; Roger Black, broadcaster and former athlete, 51; Ewan McGregor, actor, 46; Daniel Mays, actor, 39.