ON THIS DAY
1498:
Vasco da Gama arrived at Calicut, southern India, after discovering a route via the tip of southern Africa.
1506:
Christopher Columbus, Genoese
explorer, died in Valladolid, Spain. 1799:
Honore de Balzac, French novelist, who produced 85 novels in 20 years, was born at Tours.
1840:
York Minster was badly damaged by fire. 1867:
The foundation stone of the Royal Albert Hall was laid.
1903:
Kew Bridge over the river Thames was opened by Edward VII. Its real name is Edward VII Bridge.
1932:
Amelia Earhart became the first woman to make a solo air crossing of the Atlantic.
1941:
Germany began an aerial invasion of the Geeek island of Crete.
1956: 1991:
America dropped its first hydrogen bomb over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.
In the USSR, the government passed a new law allowing Soviet citizens to leave the country of their own free will.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR:
The Duke of Cambridge announced he’d received his first Covid jab, as the vaccine rollout across the country continued.
BIRTHDAYS:
Lynn Davies, Olympic gold medallist, 80; Keith Fletcher, cricket coach, 78; Cher, singer and actress, 76; Greg Dyke, former BBC director general, 75; Annabel Giles, TV presenter, actress and author, 63; Nick Heyward, singer, 61; Owen Teale, actor, 61; Louis Theroux, broadcaster, 52.