ON THIS DAY

1770:

Marie Antoinette, aged 14, is wed to France’s King Louis XVI, aged 15. 1804: Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed emperor.

The first electric tram goes into public service, near Berlin in Germany.

Joan of Arc is canonised in Rome.

A Soviet space ship reaches the vicinity of Venus and drops a capsule that sends back information on the planet’s atmosphere. Japanese climber Junko Tabei becomes the first woman to climb Mount Everest.

Death from throat cancer of entertainer Sammy Davis Jr in Los Angeles at age 64. Belgium becomes the second country after the Netherlands to decriminalise euthanasia.

Henry Fonda, US actor (1905-1982); Pierce Brosnan, Irish actor (1953-); Danielle Spencer, Australian singer/actress (1970-).

1881: 1920: 1969: 1975: 1990: 2002: Birthdays: