Birthdays |
| 1632 | Jan Vermeer, Dutch painter |
| 1795 | John Keats, English poet; works include 'Ode to a Nightingale' |
| 1920 | Dick Francis, Former Royal National Hunt jockey, turned author |
| 1926 | Sir Jimmy Saville, Charity fund raiser and radio/TV entertainer |
| 1929 | Eddie Charlton, Australian snooker player |
| 1930 | Mike Collins, US astronaut, and command module pilot of Apollo 11 |
| 1945 | Barrie Keefe, Dramatist, work includes 'The Long Good Friday' |
Events |
| 1485 | The coronation of Henry VII took place |
| 1903 | In Glasgow, the Hampden Park football ground was opened |
| 1922 | Benito Mussolini became Prime Minister and Dictator of Italy |
| 1926 | The escape artist Harry Houdini died in hospital, of a burst appendix |
| 1951 | In Britain, 'Zebra' crossings came into use for the first time |
| 1952 | The US detonated its first hydrogen bomb at Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific |
| 1984 | In India, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was murdered by members of her bodyguard |
