THIS DAY
On his 30th birthday, Charles II entered London to be restored as King of England.
GK Chesterton, author and poet, was born in Kensington, London. His detective Father Brown was based on Father John O’Connor, who received him into the Catholic Church.
Sir William Gilbert, librettist of Gilbert & Sullivan operas, died after rescuing two women from a garden pond.
Bing Crosby recorded the world’s topselling disc, White Christmas, for the soundtrack of the film Holiday Inn.
Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay became the first two climbers to reach the summit of Everest.
Pope John Paul II became the first Pope in 450 years to step on to British soil, and the first to pray side by side with the Archbishop of Canterbury.
Some 39 football fans were killed when a wall collapsed during crowd violence at Heysel Stadium, Brussels, before the Liverpool v Juventus European Cup Final.