On this DAY

1812: Limerick writer Edward Lear, author of The Book Of Nonsense, was born in London.

1820: “Lady of the Lamp” Florence Nightingale, hospital reformer who tended the wounded during the Crimean War, was born in Italy.

1926: The TUC called off the General Strike after nine days. 1932: The kidnapped baby son of aviator Charles Lindbergh was found dead. 1935: Self-help group Alcoholics Anonymous was founded by William Wilson in Ohio.

1937: The coronation of King George VI took place in Westminster Abbey and was broadcast worldwide by the BBC.

1949: The Soviet blockade of Berlin ended after 11 months. It had cost the Allies £200 million to fly in food and essential supplies.

1967: John Masefield, Poet Laureate from 1930, died.

2008: An earthquake (measuring around 8.0 magnitude) occurred in Sichuan, China, killing more than 69,000 people.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A fire at a hospital in St Petersburg killed five coronavirus patients who were on ventilators, Russian emergency officials said.