On this day: Belgrano sunk off the Falklands

On this day in 1982 the Argentine cruiser the General Belgrano was sunk by the British Bavy off the Falklands. Picture: AP

1536: Queen Anne Boleyn was sent to Tower of London and eventually beheaded.

1641: Dutch Prince William of Orange married Princess Mary, daughter of Charles I.

1813: Napoleon Bonaparte defeated Prussian and Russian armies at Lutzen, Germany.

1933: Adolf Hitler abolished trade unions in Germany.

1942: HMS Edinburgh sank in the Barents Sea off northern Norway after being torpedoed on 30 April while carrying gold from Russia to the US to pay for arms. In 1981 bullion worth more than £45m was salvaged from the wreck by divers working 800ft down.

1945: Soviet Army completed capture of Berlin. German forces surrendered in Italy.

1953: Stanley Matthews helped Blackpool recover from 3-1 down to beat Bolton Wanderers 4-3 in a thrilling FA Cup final, dubbed forever the “Matthews final”.

1959: Chapelcross nuclear power station, the first in Scotland, was opened.

1963: The Beatles achieved their first Number One record when From Me To You reached the top of the UK singles charts.

1967: Labour government under prime minister Harold Wilson decided to seek membership in European Common Market.

1969: The QE2 made her maiden voyage.

1982: Argentine cruiser General Belgrano was sunk by British submarine HMS Conqueror off the Falklands, with loss of 368 lives.

1990: African National Congress and South African government opened three days of negotiations in Cape Town on gradually ending white rule in South Africa.

1990: In London, a mugger snatched a city messenger’s case containing $291.9m worth of bonds. It became worthless when the Bank of England flashed details to dealers.

1990: Northwest Airlines inaugurated first regular transatlantic flights between Glasgow and North America.

1991: As Yugoslav federation came under increasing strain, 35 people died in fighting between Serbian militants and Croatian police near Vukovar, in eastern Croatia.

1992: At 56, Lester Pigott won his 30th British classic, riding Rodrigo de Triano to victory in the 2000 Guineas.

1993: Bosnian Serbs signed Vance-Owen peace plan, raising hopes of an end to the fighting in former Yugoslavia.

1994: Stephen Hendry won his fourth World Snooker Championship at the Crucible, Sheffield, beating Jimmy White in the final frame.

1998: The European Central Bank was founded in Brussels to define and execute the European Union’s monetary policy.

1999: Mireya Moscoso became the first woman to be elected president of Panama.

2003: From the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln, US president George W Bush announced in a nationally televised address in front of a “Mission Accomplished” banner to mark the end of major combat operations in Iraq.

2004: More than 630 nomad Muslims were massacred by Christians in Yelwa, Nigeria.

2011: Osama bin Laden, the world’s most wanted man and the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, was killed at a private compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, by US elite forces.

BIRTHDAYS

Lily Allen, singer and television presenter, 29; David Beckham OBE, footballer, 39; Isla St Clair, Grangemouth-born singer, film-maker, presenter, 62; Sir James Dyson, founder of Dyson, 67; Engelbert Humperdinck (born Arnold Dorsey), singer 78; Bianca Jagger, human rights advocate, 69; Steve James, snooker player, 53; Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, actor and former wrestler, 42; Brian Lara, Test cricketer, 45; Lynda Myles, film producer, director, Edinburgh International Film Festival 1973-80, 67; Willie Miller MBE, Scottish footballer and broadcaster, 59; Dawn Primarolo, Labour MP, 60; David Suchet CBE, actor, 68; Alan Titchmarsh MBE, broadcaster and author, 65; Jimmy “The Whirlwind” White MBE, snooker player, 52; Lord Woolf, Lord Chief Justice 2000-5, 81; Donatella Versace, fashion designer, 59.

ANNIVERSARIES

Births: 1729 Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia; 1810 Ebeneezer Cobham Brewer, author and compiler of Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable; 1859 Jerome K (Klapka) Jerome, humorous writer; 1860 Theodor Herzl, writer and founder of Zionism; 1892 Baron Manfred von Richthofen, German air ace known as the Red Baron; 1903 Doctor Benjamin Spock, paediatrician and author on child care; 1904 Bing Crosby, singer and film actor; 1925 John Neville OBE, actor and director.

Deaths: 1519 Leonardo da Vinci, artist and man of science; 1964 Nancy, Lady Astor, first woman to sit in Commons; 1972 John Edgar Hoover, director of the FBI; 2008 Beryl Cook, painter; 2010 Lynne Redgrave OBE, actress.