ON THIS DAY
1760: The first hanging took place at Tyburn in London. Earl Ferrers was executed for murdering his valet.
1821: Napoleon Bonaparte died in exile on the island of St Helena.
1930: Amy Johnson left Croydon in Gypsy Moth “Jason” to become the first female to fly solo to Australia,
arriving on May 24.
1941: Emperor Haile Selaisse returned to Ethiopia from exile in England after liberation of his country by British forces.
1961: Commander Alan Shepard returned to Earth after becoming the first American in space.
1980: The SAS stormed the terrorist-occupied Iranian Embassy in Knightsbridge, killing four gunmen and rescuing 19 hostages.
2005: The UK general election took place, in which Tony Blair’s Labour Party was re-elected for a third consecutive term.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Scientists revealed that they had discovered a simple, efficient way to recreate the early structure of the human embryo from stem cells in the laboratory.