ON THIS DAY
1614: American Indian Pocahontas married English colonist John Rolfe in Virginia.
1827: Joseph Lister, the surgeon who introduced antiseptics, was born in London.
1874: Johann Sebastian Strauss’s opera Die Fledermaus was first performed, in Vienna.
1900: Spencer Tracy, American actor who won Oscars two years in succession (1937 and 1938), was born.
1902: A stand at Ibrox Park stadium in Glasgow collapsed during a Scotland v England match, killing 26 people and injuring more than 500.
1908: Herbert von Karajan, one of the most prominent conductors of the post-war period, was born in Salzburg.
1908: American actress Bette Davis was born in Massachusetts.
1910: Kissing was banned on the French railways because it could cause delays.
1955: Sir Winston Churchill, aged 80, resigned as Prime Minister, and the following day Anthony Eden took office.
1976: Billionaire recluse Howard Hughes died on his private jet on his way to Houston, Texas.
1982: A British Task Force set out to recover the Falklands from their Argentine occupiers.
1994: Kurt Cobain, the iconic singer of US grunge band Nirvana, committed suicide - his body was not discovered until three days later.
2008: Hollywood legend Charlton Heston, who won the 1959 best actor Oscar as the chariot-racing Ben-Hur, died at the age of 84.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Friday Night Dinner and Chernobyl actor Paul Ritter died at age 54, due to a brain tumour.
BIRTHDAYS: Michael Moriarty, actor, 81; Jane Asher, actress/ writer, 76; Agnetha Faltskog, singer (ABBA), 72; Stan Ridgway, singer, 68; Pharrell Williams, singer, 49; John Hartson, former Wales international footballer, 47; Hayley Atwell, actress, 40.