ON THIS DAY

1455: Opening battle in England’s 30-year War of the Roses takes place at St Albans, when the Lancastrians defeated the Yorkists.

1840: An official order is issued ending the practice of sending convicts from Britain to the penal colony Australia.

1860: First meeting of the Queensland parliament.

1908: Wright brothers patent their flying machine in the US.

1981: Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper, is jailed for life after being convicted of 13 murders.

1998: Voters in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland vote overwhelmingly for peace, ending 20 years of sectarian strife.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, English author (1859-1930); Laurence Olivier, English actor (1907-1989); Morrissey, English pop singer (1959-); Naomi Campbell, English model (1970-).