ON THIS DAY
1471: Henry VI was murdered in the Tower of London.
1688: Poet and satirist Alexander Pope was born in London.
1780: Elizabeth Fry, English Quaker and prison reformer, was born in Norwich.
1840: New Zealand was declared a colony of Britain.
1851: Gold was discovered in Australia.
1894: The Manchester Ship Canal was opened.
1904: Thomas “Fats” Waller, American jazz pianist and composer, was born.
1916: Clocks and watches in Britain went forward one hour as the Daylight Saving Act (Summer Time) was introduced.
1927: Pilot Charles Lindbergh landed in Paris to win the 25,000 dollar prize for the first solo flight across the Atlantic.
1966: Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) ended Henry Cooper’s hopes of winning the world heavyweight crown for Britain in round six, in London.
ON THIS DAY LAST
YEAR: So-called ‘light’ cigarettes with ventilated filters may have made smokers more vulnerable to what is now the most common form of lung cancer, scientists claimed.
BIRTHDAYS: Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and UN high commissioner for human rights, 74; Leo Sayer, singer, 70; Andrew Neil, journalist and broadcaster, 69; Rosalind Plowright, opera singer, 69; Mr T, actor, 66; Judge Reinhold, actor, 61; Nick Cassavetes, actor, 59; Noel Fielding, comedian and actor, 45; Tom Daley, diver and Olympic medallist, 24.