ON THIS DAY
1413: Henry IV, also known as Henry of Bolingbroke, died aged 45 after suffering a stroke at Westminster Abbey.
1549: Death of Thomas Seymour, Lord High Admiral of England, who married Henry VIII’s widow Catherine Parr. When she died, he planned to marry Princess Elizabeth - but was arrested for treason and executed.
1806: The foundation stone of Dartmoor prison in Devon was laid by Thomas Tyrwhitt.
1815: After his banishment to Elba, Napoleon returned to regain power in France. It was his “Last Hundred Days”, ended by defeat at Waterloo.
1819: The famous and exclusive Burlington Arcade opened in London.
1852: Uncle Tom’s Cabin, an anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe, was published. It became the best-selling novel of the 19th century.
1890: Beniamino Gigli, great Italian tenor, who succeeded Caruso at the New York Met, was born in Recanati, near Ancona.
1969: Beatle John Lennon married Yoko Ono in Gibraltar.
1974: An attempt to kidnap Princess Anne was made by a gunman who fired six shots, then tried to drag her from her car in Pall Mall. He was later charged with attempted murder.
1980: The pirate radio station Radio Caroline, on the ship Mi Amigo, sank after16 years of broadcasting.
1989: The IRA killed two senior Royal Ulster Constabulary officers in an ambush.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: TV viewing figures revealed Ant And Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway had trumped its competition once again to dominate Saturday-night ratings.
BIRTHDAYS: Dame Vera Lynn, singer, 101; Brian Mulroney, former Canadian prime minister, 79; William Hurt, actor, 68; Spike Lee, actor/director, 61; Theresa Russell, actress, 61; Holly Hunter, actress, 60; Paul Merson, former footballer, 50; Michael Rapaport, actor, 48; Alex Kapranos, singer and guitarist (Franz Ferdinand), 46; Jane March, actress, 45; Freema Agyeman, actress, 39.