On this day

1566: James VI, later James I – and first Stuart king – of England, was born in Edinburgh Castle.

1623: Blaise Pascal, French mathematician and philosopher who invented the first calculating machines, was born. Other research led to the invention of the syringe and hydraulic press and with it, Pascal’s law of pressure.

1829: The London Metropolitan Police was founded by Sir Robert Peel.

1896: Bessie Wallis Warfield (Mrs Simpson) was born in Baltimore.

She later became the Duchess of Windsor, after Edward VIII abdicated the throne because of his love for her.

1903: Wally Hammond, England cricketer, was born.

1905: The world’s first all-motion picture theatre opened in Pittsburgh.

1910: Deutschland, the first Zeppelin airliner, was launched, and crashed on June 28.

1953: Ethel and Julius Rosenberg went to the electric chair in New York, having been found guilty of spying for the Soviet Union.

1961: Kuwait declared its independence from the UK.

1967: The Monterey Pop Festival attracted thousands of hippies to watch stars including Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding, Janis Joplin, pictured left, and The Who.

Birthdays

Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel peace laureate and freedom campaigner, 76; Salman Rushdie, author, 74; Kathleen Turner, actress, 67; Paula Abdul, singer, 59; Rory Underwood, former rugby union player, 58; Boris Johnson, British prime minister, 57; Sadie Frost, pictured right, actress/designer, 56; Zoe Saldana, actress, 43.

Quote of the day

“I always aim to push myself and my music in new directions and hopefully you’ll hear that on the new single. Feels great to be back!” – Ed Sheeran on his new song Bad Habits, which will be released later this month – his first solo single since 2017.