On this day

1530: Following his arrest for treason, Cardinal Wolsey was recalled to London and died on the way at Leicester. He was buried there in Abbey Park. 1832: Louisa M Alcott, author of Little Women, was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania. 1895: Busby Berkeley, choreographer and director who devised a style which revolutionised Hollywood musicals, was born. His kaleidoscopic ballets, with overhead shots to show the changing patterns his dancers could create, were his trademark in films such as 42nd Street and Gold Diggers Of 1933.

1907: Florence Nightingale, the “Lady of the Lamp”, was presented with the Order of

Merit by Edward VII for her work during the Crimean War. 1929: US admiral Richard Byrd, with pilot Bernt Balchen, became the first man to fly over the South Pole.

1934: First broadcast of a royal wedding - that of the Duke of Kent and Princess Marina in Westminster Abbey.

1954: Sir George Robey, comedian and actor, died. He introduced the song If You

Were The Only Girl In The World during the First World War. 1986: Debonair British-born actor Cary Grant died.

2010: A French couple came forward with 271 previously unknown works by Picasso - a staggering trove worth £50 million.