On this day
1554: Lady Jane Grey, Queen of England for nine days, was executed on Tower Green by her cousin and rival claimant to the throne, Mary.
1688: The Glorious Revolution ended. James II fled to France and Prince William of Orange and Princess Mary were declared King and Queen of England. 1809: Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the United States, was born in Kentucky.
1809: Charles Darwin, naturalist and author, was born in Shrewsbury. His work On The Origin Of Species (1859) formulated his theory of evolution and natural selection.
1870: Marie Lloyd (Matilda Alice Victoria Wood), Cockney music hall star who sang risque songs and had a scandalous private life, was born in London.
1898: Henry Lindfield of Brighton became the first British motorist to be killed in a car crash - a result of a steering failure.
1818: Chile proclaimed an independent republic.
1924: Rhapsody In Blue by George Gershwin was first performed in New York.
1929: Actress Lillie Langtry, an intimate friend of Edward VII, died.
2010: Three faculty members were killed and three other school employees were wounded in a shooting at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: The Duchess of Cambridge turned snake charmer, as she handled a corn snake on a surprise day trip to Northern Ireland.