1513Edmund de la Pole, Yorkist pretender to the English throne, was executed on the orders of Henry VIII.

1625 The death of Sir Lawrence Tanfield at Burford in Oxfordshire. Tanfield was a prominent lawyer and politician and lord of Burford manor. Relationships with the locals were poor. There were accusations of Tanfield's corruption and overbearingness and he stripped the vicarage of much of its endowment. Tanfield's widow arranged for him to be buried in Burford church, under an elaborate tomb (see picture) in the north chapel at dead of night, without the permission of the priests or town. The ghosts of Tanfield and his wife have been reportedly sighted racing around Burford in a fiery coach, bringing death to all who see them.

1770The birth of David Thompson, London-born Canadian explorer who explored much of western Canada, including the Columbia River.

1789 George Washington became the first President of the United States of America. The Washington Window (see picture) at Selby Abbey in Yorkshire incorporates the Washington family coat of arms, three red stars above two red bands on a white shield, the model for the American Flag. It most probably represents some kind of benefaction made to the Abbey to commemorate John Wessington. He was Prior of Durham from 1416~1446 and the most distinguished collateral ancestor of George Washington.

1821The first iron steamship, Aaron Manby, named after the proprietor of the Staffordshire ironworks at which she had been made, was completed. She weighed 116 tons and after trials on the River Thames made her maiden voyage across the Channel.

1938The FA Cup was televised on British TV in its entirety, for the first time. The TV audience was estimated as 10,000. Preston played Huddersfield Town and Preston won in the last minute of extra time.

1943The body of a mystery man (planted with false invasion plans) was used by Britain to fool Nazi Germany into defending the 'wrong' regions of the Mediterranean, aiding a successful invasion of Sicily.

1944The first of 500,000 prefab homes went on show in London. They were designed for demobilised servicemen and bombed-out families and consisted of 2 bedrooms, a living room, bathroom and toilet and kitchen on one floor. They covered an area of 616 sq ft and were built by the motor industry

1945Nazi leader Adolf Hitler committed suicide. Before beginning his assault on Europe, Hitler had assured his followers that the Third Reich would last for 1,000 years. His mistress, Eva Braun, whom he'd married the day before, died alongside him after taking a cyanide pill.

1947The birth of Leslie Grantham, English actor best known for his role as "Dirty" Den Watts in the soap opera EastEnders.

1948 The launch of the Land Rover Defender. The first model was sold for £450 at the Amsterdam Motor Show. See a military Land Rover outside The Fusilier Museum in Bury.

1952The British public got the chance to read 'The Diary of a Young Girl', written by Anne Frank who hid from the Nazis in Holland during the war.

1974England's football manager Sir Alf Ramsey, manager of the England team which won the World Cup in 1966 was sacked, after 11 years as manager.

1980Armed terrorists seized the Iranian Embassy in London taking 20 hostages and threatening to blow up the building.

1988Queen Elizabeth II officially opened World Expo '88 in Brisbane, Australia. The fair was the largest event of the Bicentennial celebrations of the European settlement of Australia and attracted almost 16,000,000 visitors.

1999Two people were killed and at least 30 injured in the third nail-bomb attack in London in two weeks. The bomb went off in a public house in the heart of London's gay community.

2009The Met. Office forecasted 'odds on for a barbecue summer', with no repeat of the washouts of the previous two years but ..... average rainfall for the summer was up 40%.

2012A flamboyant Australian billionaire ordered a shipyard in China to build him an exact replica of the Titanic. The Chinese navy has been invited to escort Titanic II on its maiden voyage from England to New York in 2016.

2013A 40 thousand piece, 19.5ft. by 8ft. jigsaw commemorating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee crashed to the floor just days before it was due to go on display at Sandringham. Creator Dave Evans, who had spent five weeks creating the jigsaw believed that it would enter the Guinness World records as the world’s largest jigsaw. You can find downloadable jigsaws on the Beautiful Britain website. No chance of these crashing to the floor.

201463 year old Jeremy Paxman announced that he was to quit his job as 'rottweiler-in-chief' presenter of Newsnight after 25 years.

2020 The 100th birthday of Captain Tom Moore. On 6th April he set out to raise £1000 for NHS Charities Together by walking 100 lengths of his 25 metre garden and ended up raising almost £30M in donations. It was the largest-ever amount raised by a JustGiving campaign. He later featured in a charity cover version of the song "You'll Never Walk Alone" with Michael Ball, with proceeds going to the same charity. The single topped the UK music charts and made Captain Moore the oldest person to ever achieve a UK number one. He was made an honorary colonel on his 100th birthday, received more than 125,000 birthday cards and will be made an honorary England cricketer by former captain Michael Vaughan. A Great Western Railway intercity express train (No. 800025) was also named in his honour on his birthday and an RAF flypast took place over his house.

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