NOW & THEN

1775: Paul Revere made his famous midnight ride, at the outbreak of the War of American Independence.

1874: Remains of missionary and explorer David Livingstone were interred in Westminster Abbey.

1906: San Francisco earthquake shattered the city before dawn, killing between 500 and 700 people, destroying 28,000 buildings and causing $500million worth of damage.

1932: Business reply-paid envelopes were introduced by the GPO.

1934: The first launderette (called a Washateria) was opened in Fort Worth, Texas.

1946: International Court of Justice was opened at The Hague.

1946: League of Nations was dissolved and its assets passed to the United Nations.

1949: The first Bob-a-job Week was inaugurated by the Scout Movement in Britain.

1949: The Republic of Ireland was proclaimed, severing ties with Britain by leaving the Commonwealth.

1961: George Blake, diplomat and Soviet spy, was charged with espionage under Official Secrets Act.

1966: The film world’s biggest musical money-maker, The Sound Of Music, won an Oscar, after bringing $60 million to the box office in its first year.

1976: About 40,000 Israelis marched into occupied West Bank area of Jordan, demanding that Israel annex the territory.

1978: The death penalty was abolished in Spain.

1985: Postal workers went on strike, abandoning 20 million items of undelivered mail.

1986: Angry crowds formed outside American embassies throughout world as backlash continued against United States air attack on Libya.

1986: Guinness won takeover battle for Distillers.

1987: Journalist John Mccarthy was kidnapped in Beirut. He spent more than five years in captivity.

1990: Government announced plans for a privately-funded toll road in Scotland linking the M74 with the M8.

1992: Traverse Theatre’s final performance in its Grassmarket premises in Edinburgh, took place 25 years after it was opened.

1994: West Indian batsman Brian Lara broke the record for 2 On this day in 1949, Bob-a-job Week was introduced by the British Scouting Movement, designating a week when Boy Scouts and Cubs would do jobs for a ‘bob’ or shilling to raise funds the highest individual score in Test cricket when he hit 375 off England’s bowlers in Antigua.

2005: MG Rover, Britain’s last major car-maker, collapsed with the loss of 6,200 jobs.

2011: It was announced that the Queen’s official residence in Scotland, the Palace of Holyroodhouse, was to be utilised to host corporate events.

2013: Britain’s most successful Olympian, cyclist Sir Chris Hoy, announced his retirement from active competition.

2014: Thirteen sherpas were killed and three others reported missing when an avalanche struck their group on Mount Everest.

2017: British Prime Minister Theresa May called for a snap general election on 8 June as she sought to increase the Conservative majority in parliament. Eamonn Bannon, Scottish footballer, 61; Maria Bello, US actress, 52; America Ferrera, US actress, 35; Roger Graef OBE, US television documentary producer, 83; Melissa Joan Hart, actress, 43; Philip Jackson, Scottish sculptor, 75; Jane Leeves, British actress, 58; Hayley Mills, British actress, 73; Rick Moranis, Canadian/ American actor and comedian, 66; Eric Mccormack, Canadian/ American actor, 56; James Woods, US actor and producer, 72 Births: 1480 Lucrezia Borgia, illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI; 1740 Francis Baring, banker and merchant; 1852 Sir George Clausen, painter; 1929 Peter Jeffrey, actor; 1934 Mark Kingston, British actor; 1937 Sir Teddy Taylor, MP 1980-2005. Deaths: 1689 Judge Jeffreys, known for his harshness at the Bloody Assizes after Monmouth’s rebellion in 1685; 1898 Gustave Moreau, painter; 1945 Sir John Fleming, electrical engineer; 1955 Albert Einstein, physicist who propounded theory of relativity; 1992 Benny Hill, comedian; 1993 Dame Elisabeth Frink, sculptor; 2002 Dr Thor Heyerdahl, explorer, anthropologist and author, leader of Kon-tiki Expedition; 2018 Dale Winton, broadcaster.