ON THIS DAY
1665: Queen Anne, last Stuart ruler, second daughter of James II, was born in London.
1685: The “merry monarch” Charles II died. Some say his last words to his brother James were: “Don’t let poor Nellie starve” – a reference to his favourite mistress Nell Gwyn.
1783: English landscape gardener Lancelot “Capability” Brown died. Kew Gardens and the grounds at Blenheim Palace are
examples of his work. 1788: Massachusetts became the sixth state of the United States.
1838: Sir Henry Irving, English actor, was born in Somerset. He was the first actor to be knighted.
1918: The Representation of the People Act received royal assent, granting the vote to women over 30.
1927: A boy violinist in short trousers, aged 10, caused a sensation in Paris when he performed Symphonie espagnole. The child prodigy was Yehudi Menuhin.
1952: King George VI died during the night at Sandringham, aged 56. His daughter, on safari in Africa at the time, succeeded as Elizabeth II.
1958: Seven Manchester United footballers – the Busby Babes – were killed when their plane crashed in thick snow at Munich airport. An eighth, Duncan Edwards, died 15 days later in hospital.
1983: Nazi fugitive Klaus Barbie was charged in Lyon, France, with crimes against humanity.
1997: A widow was allowed to be inseminated with her dead husband’s sperm by the Court of Appeal in a historic judgment.
2001: Ariel Sharon, leader of the right-wing Likud party, became the new prime minister of Israel.
On this day last year: The Queen became the first British monarch in history to celebrate a platinum jubilee. Her eldest son became King Charles III when she died on 8 September.
Birthdays: Jimmy Tarbuck, comedian, 83; Kevin Whately, actor, 72; Axl Rose, rock singer, 61; Rick Astley, singer, 57; Alice Eve, actor, 41.
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