ON THIS day

■■1471: The Yorkists defeated the Lancastrians at the Battle of Tewkesbury in the War of the Roses. ■■1780: The first Derby was run at Epsom.

■■1839: The Cunard shipping line was founded by Canadian Sir Samuel Cunard.

■■1896: The Daily Mail, founded by Lord Northcliffe, was first published, priced one halfpenny.

■■1904: Charles Rolls and Henry Royce signed a provisional agreement to produce Rolls-Royce cars.

■■1926: The General Strike began, the first in British history. It was called off on May 12.

■■1974: Abba reached the top of the pop charts with Waterloo, the Eurovision song contest winner.

■■1979: Margaret Thatcher, above, became Britain’s first woman prime minister.

■■1982: HMS Sheffield was struck by an Exocet missile during the Falklands War. It was the first British ship to be lost to enemy action since the Second World War. ■■1990: Latvia declared itself an independent democratic republic in the first stage of withdrawal from the Soviet Union.

■■2000: Ken Livingstone became the first Mayor of London.

■■ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Producers announced the next series of Love Island was being postponed because of coronavirus.

■■BIRTHDAYS: John Watson, former racing driver, 75; Michael Barrymore, TV personality, 69, above; Randy Travis, country singer, 62; Jay Aston, singer (Bucks Fizz), 60; Kate Garraway, TV presenter, 54; Julian Barratt, comedian/actor, 53; Rory McIlroy, golfer, 32.

■■ The recycled paper content of UK newspapers in 2016 was 62.8%