On this day

1431: Joan of Arc, the French peasant girl who became a national heroine, was burned at the stake in Rouen for heresy. She was canonised in 1920 on the anniversary of her death.

1498: Christopher Columbus set sail on his third voyage of discovery, in which he would discover the South American mainland.

1536: King Henry VIII married Jane Seymour, the third of his six wives, in the Queen’s Chapel, Whitehall, 11 days after the execution of Anne Boleyn.

1593: English playwright Christopher Marlowe, who greatly influenced William Shakespeare, was killed in a tavern brawl.

1656: The Grenadier Guards, the senior regiment of the British Army, was formed. 1672: Peter the Great, Emperor of Russia, was born in Moscow. He decided that all Russians should be cleanshaven. Those exempted had to pay a beard tax.

1842: An attempt was made on the life of Queen Victoria as she drove down Constitution Hill with Prince Albert. The would-be assassin was John Francis. 1946: Labour minister of food John Strachey announced that bread would be rationed, with the greatest allowance going to manual workers in heavy industry.

1959: The first full-sized experimental hovercraft, built by Saunders-Roe, was launched at Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

1989: Cliff Richard released his 100th single.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: Prince Harry, pictured at last year’s games with Barack Obama, urged the UK’s Invictus Games team to grasp the opportunity the sporting tournament will give the wounded, sick and injured competitors as they battle back to fitness.

BIRTHDAYS: Bob Willis, broadcaster and former cricketer, 69; Harry Enfield, comedian, 57.