Now & Then
◆ 30 MAY
1536: King Henry VIII married Jane Seymour, the third of his six wives, in the Queen’s Chapel, Whitehall 11 days after the execution of Anne Boleyn.
1656: The Grenadier Guards formed.
1842: John Francis fired a pistol at Queen Victoria as she was driving down Constitution Hill, London, with Prince Albert. Francis was seized by a policeman and was convicted of high treason. The death sentence was commuted to transportation for life.
1911: The Indianapolis 500 car race of 200 laps was inaugurated in the US.
1946: The Minister of Food for the post-war Labour government, John Strachey, told the Commons that bread would be rationed, with the greatest allowance going to manual workers in heavy industry. 1957: Britain relaxed its restrictions on trade with China. 1967: Biafra, formerly the province of Eastern Nigeria, changed name and declared itself an independent republic. Ravaged by a war with Nigeria and famine, it was re-incorporated into Nigeria in 1970.
1969: British Trans Arctic Expedition completed the first surface crossing of the continent, covering 3,600 miles in 464 days. 1982: Spain became 16th member of Nato.
1984: The 45-month Gulf war heated up as Iraq reported new attacks on naval targets near Iran’s Kharg Island oil port.
1987: Mob of militant “low-caste” villagers massacred at least 42 members of upper-caste landlord families in India’s impoverished eastern state of Bihar.
1989: Military source said Chinese troops told to prepare for lengthy struggle in government crackdown on student protests.
1989: Cliff Richard issued his 100th single, The Best of Me. 1990: Israeli soldiers killed four Palestinian guerrillas and captured 12 as they sped toward the coastline, apparently to launch attacks coinciding with Jewish holiday of Shavuot.
1990: France banned beef exports from Britain in “mad cow disease” scare.
1990: One of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded occurred in central and eastern Europe, from the Baltic to the Black Sea, with the epicentre in Romania. 1991: Car bomb exploded near Civil Guard barracks in Vic, Spain, killing at least nine people and injuring 50.
1998: A magnitude 6.6 earthquake hit northern Afghanistan, killing up to 5,000 people.
2002: 272 days after the 11 September attacks, closing ceremonies were held for the clean-up/recovery efforts at the World Trade Center site in New York City. The last remaining steel beam was removed and transported to the Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island.
2003: At least 70 people associated with the National League for Democracy were killed by government-sponsored mobs in Burma. Leader Aung San Suu Kyi fled the scene, but was arrested soon afterwards.
2010: Liberal Democrat Chief Secretary to the Treasury David Laws resigned after it was revealed that he broke House of Commons rules by claiming £40,000 in rent on a flat that was owned by his partner.
◆ BIRTHDAYS
Ray Cooney OBE, British playwright, 92; Tim Burgess, rock singer (The Charlatans), 57; Jennifer Ellison, British actress, 41; Harry Enfield, writer, actor and comic, 63; Steven Gerrard MBE, football manager, 44; Wynonna Judd, country singer, 60; David Shukman, British broadcaster, 66; Sir Tim Waterstone, Scottish bookseller, 85; Helen Sharman OBE, astronaut, 61; Ceelo Green, US rap artist, 49; Sally Dynevor, British actress, 61.
◆ ANNIVERSARIES
Births: 1672 Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia; 1846 Peter Carl Fabergé, goldsmith and jeweller; 1896 Howard Hawks, film director; 1909 Benny Goodman, band leader; 1949 Bob Willis MBE, English cricketer and broadcaster.
Deaths: 1431 Joan of Arc, French patriot; 1593 Christopher Marlowe, playwright; 1640 Peter Paul Rubens, painter; 1744 Alexander Pope, poet; 1778 Voltaire, philosopher; 1912 Wilbur Wright, who made first controlled flight; 1960 Boris Pasternak, writer; 1967 Claude Rains, actor; 1999 Kenny Macintyre, Scots broadcaster