Now and Then
5 MAY
1641: England’s Star Chamber was abolished by the Long Parliament. 1646: Charles I surrendered to Scots at Newark. 1762: Russia and Prussia signed Treaty of St Petersburg, under which Russia restored all conquests and formed defensive and offensive alliance. 1824: British troops took over Rangoon, Burma. 1862: Confederates were victorious at the Battle of Williamsburg. 1881: Louis Pasteur carried out successful inoculations against anthrax on an ox, cows and sheep. 1882: Excavation of Corinth Canal began in Greece. 1912: First issue of Pravda was published. 1930: Amy Johnson left Croydon in the Gypsy Moth Jason to become the first female to fly solo to Australia, arriving on 24 May. Germanies, opened in Bonn. 1992: Twelve football supporters died and 527 were injured when a temporary stand collapsed at Bastia, Corsica. 1994: Despite United States protests, American Michael Fay, 18, received four strokes of the cane for spray-painting cars and other offences in Singapore. 1995: The Queen paid tribute to Second World War dead at the start of three days of celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of VE Day. 2005: Tony Blair secured an historic third term in government for Labour, with a majority down from 161 to 66. 2011: Voting took place in the Scottish election. A day later, the Scottish National Party emerged triumphant as it formed Scotland’s first ever majority government by taking 69 seats in the 129-seat parliament.
BIRTHDAYS
Adele, singer, 26; Jessie Cave, actress, 28; James Cracknell OBE, rower, 43; Craig David, singer-songwriter, 34; Richard E Grant, actor, 58; Lance Henriksen, actor, 75; Ian Mcculloch, guitarist and singer (Echo & the Bunnymen), 56; Lord (John) Maxton, MP 1979-2001, 79; Michael Palin CBE, actor and author, 72; Roger Rees, actor, 71; John Rhys-davies, actor, 71; Dilys Watling, actress, 72; Yossi Benayoun, Israeli-born footballer, 35.
ANNIVERSARIES
Births: 1600 Jean Nicot, who introduced the French court to tobacco in the form of snuff and gave his name to nicotine; 1818 Karl Heinrich Marx, the Sage of Highgate and father of Communism; 1830 John Batterson Stetson, hat manufacturer; 1846 Henryk Sienkiewicz, novelist; 1867 Nellie Bly, American journalist and campaigner for women’s rights; 1890 Christopher Morley, novelist and playwright; 1904 Sir Gordon Richards, champion jockey 26 times; 1913 Tyrone Power, film actor; 1942 Tammy Wynette, singer and songwriter. Deaths: 1672 Samuel Cooper, miniaturist painter; 1821 Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France (in exile on St Helena); 1887 James Grant, novelist and historian; 1921 William Friese-greene, cinema pioneer; 1936 Beatrice Harraden, novelist; 1977 Professor Ludwig Erhard, West German chancellor 1963-66; 1985 Sir Donald Bailey, wartime bridge designer; 1995 Mikhail Botvinnik, world chess champion.