1519 Leonardo da Vinci, Italian artist and man of science, died at the Chateau Cloux near Amboise.

1670 The Hudson's Bay Company was chartered.

1859 Jerome K Jerome, novelist whose Three Men In A Boat sold more than one million copies, was born in Walsall.

1904 Bing Crosby, was born in Tacoma, Washington, as Harry Lillis Crosby.

1942 HMS Edinburgh was sunk in the Barents Sea off Norway. Its cargo of gold bars lay in 803 feet of water until salvaged in 1981.

1952 The first jet passenger service began, between London and Johannesburg.

1953 Stanley Matthews, at 38, won his first FA Cup winners medal as Blackpool beat Bolton 4-3 after trailing 3-1.

1965 Britain's Early Bird satellite began transmitting TV programmes to 300 million viewers - the first programme was Out Of This World.

1969 The Queen Elizabeth II sailed from Southampton on her maiden voyage.

1982 The Argentine cruiser General Belgrano was sunk by British submarine HMS Conqueror off the Falklands.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A "potent" force of more than 1,000 Royal Marines was hunting out al Qaida terrorists in the Afghan mountains in an operation which US military planners hoped would lead to the last big battle in the conflict.

BIRTHDAYS: Bianca Jagger, ex-wife of Mick, 58; David Suchet, actor, 57; Alan Titchmarsh, horticulturist and broadcaster, 54; Dawn Primarolo, Paymaster General, 49; David O'Leary, football manager, 45; Gary Megson, football manager, 44; Jimmy White, snooker player, 41; Brian Lara, cricketer, 34; David Beckham, footballer, 28.