ON THIS DAY
1555: Bishops Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley were burnt at the stake for heresy. 1793: Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, was convicted of treason and guillotined in Paris. 1846: An anaesthetic was successfully used for the first time at the Massachusetts General Hospital, where dentist William Morton used diethyl ether before removing a tumour from a man’s jaw. 1847: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte was published under the pseudonym Currer Bell. 1854: Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin. 1881: The Sunday People was published for the first time, as The People. 1902: The first detention centre for young offenders was opened at the village of Borstal, Kent. 1946: The Nuremberg executions began. They included von Ribbentrop, Rosenberg and Streicher. 1958: Blue Peter started on BBC TV. The presenters were Leila Williams and Christopher Trace. 1964: Harold Wilson became prime minister of a Labour government which won a general election with a majority of four. ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Boris Johnson claimed his previously unseen newspaper column in which he backed staying in the European Union was “semi-parodic” but admitted he was “wrestling” with whether to back Brexit. BIRTHDAYS: Angela Lansbury, actress, 92; Peter Bowles, actor, 81; Terry Griffiths, former snooker player and coach, 70; Tim Robbins, actor, 59; Gary Kemp, actor/musician (Spandau Ballet), 58; Flea (Michael Peter Balzary), rock bassist (Red Hot Chili Peppers), 55; Davina McCall, TV presenter, 50.