1536The birth of Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk. He was imprisoned by Queen Elizabeth I for scheming to marry Mary, Queen of Scots. Following his release, he participated in the Ridolfi plot with King Philip II of Spain to put Mary on the English throne and restore Catholicism in England. He was executed for treason in 1572 and is buried at St. Peter ad Vincula within the walls of the Tower of London.

1629Charles I dissolved the Parliament, beginning an eleven year period known as the Personal Rule. He had been harshly criticized by Parliament and realized that, as long as he could avoid war, he could rule without them. It caused discontent among those who provided the ruling classes, although the effects were more popular with the common people.

1787The birth, in York, of William Etty, English painter best known for his paintings of nudes. His works are exhibited extensively in major British galleries. He resided in London but when his health failed he returned to York, where he died. This life-size, Portland stone sculpture of Etty (see picture) is outside the York Art Gallery.

1801Britain's first National Census. A census has taken place every ten years since 1801, with the exception of the 1941 census, cancelled because of World War II.

1850The birth of Spencer Gore, tennis player and cricketer for Surrey. He won the first Wimbledon Championships in 1877.

1886Cruft's Dog Show was held in London for the first time. Previously it had been held in Newcastle. The organizer was Charles Cruft, general manager of a dog biscuit firm.

1914Suffragette Mary Richardson slashed Velazquez's painting - 'Rokeby Venus' at London's National Gallery with a meat cleaver as a protest against the Government's treatment of Emmeline Pankhurst.

1919The British Government decided in favour of building a tunnel linking England to France.

1922Mahatma Gandhi was arrested by the British governors of India and sentenced to six years in prison. This memorial (see picture) in Hull, the city that bore William Wilberforce, the campaigner against cruelty and slavery, commemorates the Indian nationalist leader.

1956Peter Twiss, former Brooke Bond tea taster and later a test pilot, became the first man to fly at more than 1,000 mph.

1964Prince Edward, youngest son of Queen Elizabeth II was born.

1967 Singer Sandy Shaw released her record 'Puppet on a String' which won the Eurovision Song Contest for Britain.

1988Prince Charles narrowly escaped death in an avalanche at Kloisters (Switzerland). His friend Hugh Lindsay was killed.

1997The Spice Girls made pop music history by becoming the first group to top the charts with every one of their first four singles.

2003Former world motorcycle champion Barry Sheene died after a long battle against cancer.

2003MP Clare Short threatened to resign from the Cabinet if Tony Blair led the country to war against Iraq without approval from the UN ..... and she did, on 12th May. Read all about it here.

2015 The Queen officially named the new cruise superliner 'Britannia'. The 3,600 P&O passenger vessel is the largest cruise ship designed for the British holiday market. Its home port will be Southampton for the summer months, after being built in Italy at a cost of almost £0.5bn.

2017 The death (aged 83) of the former Formula 1 and motorcycling world champion John Surtees. Surtees is the only man to have won the grand prix world championship on both two wheels and four. He won four 500cc motorcycling titles - in 1956, 1958, 1959 and 1960 - and the F1 crown with Ferrari in 1964.

2023 Buckingham Palace announced that Prince Edward would be the new Duke of Edinburgh. King Charles gave the title to his youngest brother on Prince Edward's 59th birthday. The title is strongly associated with their father, Prince Philip, who was Duke of Edinburgh for more than 70 years, up until his death in 2021.

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