ON THIS DAY

1540: Thomas Cromwell, chancellor to Henry VIII, was beheaded for promoting the king’s failed marriage to Anne of Cleves. On the same day, Henry married his fifth wife, Catherine Howard. 1586: The first potatoes arrived in Britain in Plymouth, brought from Colombia by Sir Thomas Harriott. 1750: Johann Sebastian Bach, German composer, died of a stroke. 1794: Maximilien Robespierre, one of the leaders of the French Revolution, was guillotined in Paris. 1866: Beatrix Potter was born in London - she was the author and illustrator who created the immortal characters Peter Rabbit, Squirrel Nutkin and Jemima Puddleduck, among others. 1945: A US bomber crashed into the 78th floor of the Empire State Building, killing three crew. 1959: Postcodes were introduced into Britain by the Postmaster General together with new postal sorting machines. 1976: One of the greatest natural disasters of recent centuries occurred when an earthquake hit Tangshan in China, killing three-quarters of a million people. 1987: Laura Davies became the first Briton to win the US Women’s Open. ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Researchers revealed they were edging closer towards a blood test that could detect Alzheimer’s disease even before symptoms appear.