1478: George, Duke of Clarence, was murdered in the Tower of London -- drowned in a butt of malmsey wine.

1516: Mary I, Queen of England (1553-1558), was born in Greenwich, daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon.

1546: Martin Luther, father of the Reformation, died at his birthplace of Eislebem Germany, at the age of 63.

1564: The great Renaissance artitist and sculptor Michelangelo died in Rome, aged 88.

1678: John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress was published.

1754: Count Alessandro Volta, physicist who made the first battery, was born in Como, Italy. He gave his name to the measure of the power of electricity (volt).

1784: Niccolo Paganini, Italian violin virtuoso and composer, was born in Genoa.

1911: More than 6,000 letters and postcards were flown five miles from Allahabad to Naini Junction in India by Henri Picquet - the first official airmail.

1915: Germany's blockade of Britain by submarine began.

1930: American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered the planet Pluto from a series of pictures taken the previous month at the Lowell Observatory.

On this day last year: Actress Joan Collins got married for the fifth time to theatre boss Percy Gibson.