Today in History

352 – Liberius begins his reign as Pope.

884 – St Adrian III begins his reign as Pope.

1521 – Edward Stafford, claimant to English throne, is executed for treason.

1536 – Archbishop Cranmer, right, declares Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne Boleyn invalid.

1590 – Anne of Denmark is crowned Queen of Scotland.

1733 – Great Britain passes the Molasses Act, which put high tariffs on rum and molasses imported to the colonies from a country other than British possessions.

1814 – Norway declares its independence from Sweden with the adoption of a new constitution.

1861 – First package holiday for a popular market is arranged by Thomas Cook: A "Whitsuntide Working Men’s Excursion" from London to Paris for six days.

1940 – Nazi Germany occupies Brussels, Belgium, in World War II.

1948 – Soviet Union recognises the new state of Israel.

1954 – United States Supreme Court outlaws racial segregation in the state school system.

1973 – US Senate opens hearings into the Watergate scandal.

1997 – Zaire’s new leaders rename the African nation the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

2004 – Massachusetts becomes the first US state to allow same-sex marriage.

2011 – Elizabeth II begins the first visit by a British monarch to the Republic of Ireland, unthinkable only 15 years earlier.

Birthdays

Sandro Botticelli, Italian painter (1444-1510); Maria Theresa, Queen of Hungary and Romania (1717-1780); Edward Jenner, English physician (1749-1823); Ayatollah Khomeini, Iranian religious leader (1900-1989); Maureen O’Sullivan, US actress (1911-1998); Dennis Hopper, US actor- director (1936-2010); Tony Roche, Australian tennis player-coach (1945-).