ON THIS DAY
1879:
Conductor Sir Thomas Beecham was born in St Helens.
1895:
Conductor Sir Malcolm Sargent was born in Ashford, Kent.
1899:
Duke Ellington, jazz composer, bandleader and pianist, was born in Washington, DC.
1909:
In a revolutionary Budget, Chancellor David Lloyd George introduced a “supertax” of sixpence in the pound for anyone earning more than £5,000 a year, to pay for pensions and re-armament.
1930:
The Academy Award-winning war classic All Quiet On The Western Front opened in America. Twelve years later, its star Lew Ayres refused to fight in the Second World War, declaring himself a conscientious objector.
1933:
Footballers’ shirts were first numbered – from 1 to 22 – in the English FA Cup Final at Wembley.
1980:
Film director Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense, died aged 80.
1990:
Stephen Hendry, at 21, became the youngest world snooker champion by beating Jimmy White 18-12 in the final at Sheffield.
1991:
A 145mph cyclone devastated the port of Chittagong in Bangladesh, killing more than 100,000 people and making millions homeless.
2011:
Prince William and Kate Middleton began their life together as a married couple after a glittering wedding ceremony at Westminster Abbey. They sealed their love with not one but two kisses on Buckingham Palace’s famous balcony.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
Official documents about a £1.3 billion Royal Navy “hunter killer” submarine were reportedly found in the toilets of a Wetherspoons pub in Cumbria.
BIRTHDAYS:
Cheryl Kennedy, actress, 77; Anita Dobson, actress, 75; Jerry Seinfeld, comedian, 70; Daniel Day-Lewis, actor, 67; Michelle Pfeiffer, actress, 66; Phil Tufnell, former cricketer, 58; Andre Agassi, former tennis player, 54; Uma Thurman, actress, 54.