ON THIS DAY

● 1483: Martin Luther, German religious reformer, was born in Eisleben.

● 1871: Henry Morton Stanley, sent to Africa by his newspaper to find Scottish missionary David Livingstone, finally made contact with him at Ujiji on Lake Tanganyika with the words: “Dr Livingstone, I presume.”

● 1928: Hirohito was crowned Emperor of Japan. The Crown Prince, aged 27, had been regent for seven years before taking over from his sick father.

● 1982: Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev died of a heart attack, aged 75.

● 1988: George Bush was elected US President.

● 1997: British au pair Louise Woodward walked free from a court in America when judge Hiller Zobel reduced her murder conviction to manslaughter.