ON THIS DAY
1471: Henry VI was murdered in the Tower of London.
1688: Poet and satirist Alexander Pope was born in London.
1780: Elizabeth Fry, English Quaker and prison reformer, was born in Norwich.
1840: New Zealand was declared a colony of Britain.
1851: Gold was discovered in Australia in a waterhole near Bathurst, New South Wales.
1894: The Manchester Ship Canal was opened.
1904: Thomas “Fats” Waller, American jazz pianist and composer, was born.
1916: Clocks and watches in Britain went forward one hour as the Daylight Saving Act (Summer Time) was introduced.
1927: Pilot Charles Lindbergh landed in Paris to win the 25,000 dollar prize for the first solo flight across the Atlantic.
1966: Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) ended Henry Cooper’s hopes of winning the world heavyweight crown for Britain in round six, in London.