ON THIS DAY
1536: Anne Boleyn, second wife of Henry VIII and mother of Queen Elizabeth I, was executed on Tower Green for alleged adultery.
1588: The Spanish Armada set sail from Lisbon.
1802: The French Legion d’Honneur was created by Napoleon.
1898: William Ewart Gladstone, four times Liberal prime minister, died at Hawarden Castle in north Wales aged 88.
1900: Britain annexed Tonga, the Friendly Islands.
1906: The 20km Simplon rail tunnel between Switzerland and Italy was officially opened.
1935: TE Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) died six days after a motorcycle accident in Dorset.
1982: Italian actress Sophia Loren was jailed for a month for tax evasion.
1984: Sir John Betjeman, Poet Laureate since 1972, died aged 77.
THIS DAY LAST YEAR: The daughter of a Dambusters hero launched an appeal to trace his stolen logbook, urging people to come forward and help “bring a piece of Dad home”.
BIRTHDAYS: James Fox, actor, 79; Robert Kilroy-Silk, former politician and television presenter, 76; Pete Townshend, guitarist and singer (The Who), 73; Grace Jones, model, singer and actress, 70; Jodi Picoult, author, 52; Amanda de Cadenet, actress and photographer, 46; Sam Smith, singer, 26.