1470: Henry VI was restored to the English throne, having been deposed nine years earlier.

1701: Yale College in the United States received its charter.

1779: The first Luddite riots broke out in a lace factory in Loughborough when workers protested against labour-saving machinery.

1804: Hobart, Tasmania, was founded.

1888: The 555ft white marble Washington Monument, designed by Robert Mills, was opened.

1905: Sarah Bernhardt had the accident which was to blight her career. Playing Floria in Tosca, she had to jump from a parapet. Stage hands forgot the mattresses and she fell heavily on her right knee. Her leg was later amputated.

1940: Beatle John Winston Lennon, right, was born during an air raid in Liverpool.

1962: Uganda became independent.

1967: Revolutionary leader Che Guevara was captured in Bolivia and shot.

1990: Hundreds of Chinese queued to buy Big Macs when McDonalds opened its first restaurant in Shenzhen.

On this day last year: The first daylight raids on Afghanistan were launched after another night of bombardment against Osama bin Laden and his Taliban protectors.

BIRTHDAYS: The Duke of Kent, 67; Brian Blessed, actor, 65; John Pilger, journalist, 63; John Doubleday, sculptor, 55; Sally Burgess, classical singer, 49; Steve Ovett, former athlete, 47; PJ Harvey, rock singer, 32; Sean Lennon, pop star, 27; Mark Viduka, footballer, 27; Nicky Byrne, pop star (Westlife), 24