On this day
■ 1587: Sir Francis Drake sailed into Cadiz harbour and sank the Spanish fleet – an action known as “singeing the King of Spain’s beard”.
■ 1775: In Lexington, the opening shot was fired – by a British general – in the American War of Independence. This was the shot “heard around the world”.
■ 1824: Poet Lord Byron died at 36 of a fever at Missolonghi while aiding Greek insurgents against the Turks in their fight for independence.
■ 1882: Death of biologist Charles Darwin, whose theory of evolution revolutionised scientific thinking.
■ 1906: Pierre Curie, French physicist who worked with his wife on magnetism and radioactivity and who discovered radium, was killed in a carriage accident in Paris.
■ 1927: Mae West was found guilty of indecent behaviour in her Broadway production of Sex. She was sentenced to 10 days in prison and fined 500 dollars.
■ 1956: Prince Rainier III of Monaco married actress Grace Kelly.
■ 1958: Footballer Bobby Charlton made the first of 106 appearances for England. In the match, against Scotland, he scored the first of his record 49 international goals.
■ 1987: The Simpsons premiered as a short cartoon on the Tracy Ullman Show.
■ 1995: Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols carried out a bomb attack on Oklahoma City, USA killing 168 people.
■ 2011: Fidel Castro resigned from the Cuban Communist Party and stepped down as party leader after 45 years of holding the title.
■ ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: The King’s coronation procession would be led by a cross that included religious relics gifted to the monarch by the Pope, it was announced.
■ BIRTHDAYS: Alan Price, musician, 82; Tim Curry, actor, 78; Ruby Wax, comedienne, 71; Sue Barker, sports broadcaster, 68; Ashley Judd, actress, 56; Kelly Holmes, former Olympic athlete, 54.