ON THIS DAY

■■ 1452: Leonardo da Vinci, Italian painter, sculptor, architect, musician, engineer, scientist and inventor, the complete Renaissance man, was born.

■■1755: Dr Samuel Johnson’s dictionary was published, containing 40,000 words.

■■1793: £5 notes were first issued by the Bank of England.

■■1912: The Titanic sank after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic on her maiden voyage.

■■1942: The island of Malta was awarded the George Cross for its heroism during German and Italian bombardment.

■■1955: The first McDonald’s franchise restaurant was opened by Ray Kroc in Des Plaines, Illinois. ■■1966: Time magazine voted London “the city of the decade”. ■■1989: Britain’s worst football disaster happened at Hillsborough, Sheffield, when 96 fans were crushed to death during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest.

■■2010: Before a live studio audience in Manchester and millions more watching at home, Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg clashed over the economy, defence and care for the elderly in Britain’s first televised general election leaders’ debate. ■■ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: The only known female member of one of the world’s rarest turtle species, the Yangtze giant softshell turtle, died at a zoo in southern China, it was reported. LETTERS

■■BIRTHDAYS: Marty Wilde, singer, 81; Lord (Jeffrey) Archer, author and former politician, 80; Emma Thompson, actress, 61; Samantha Fox, former model and singer, 54; Ed O’Brien, rock guitarist (Radiohead), 52; Seth Rogen, actor and writer, 38; Eliza Doolittle, singer-songwriter, 32; Emma Watson, actress, 30, above.

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