On this day: British forces occupied Mandalay

Circa 1520, a print of Ferdinand Magellan discovering the path to the Pacific. Picture: Getty Images

1520: Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan sailed through the strait later named after him and into the Pacific Ocean.

1660: The Royal Society was founded at a meeting in London of 12 scholars, including Sir Christopher Wren.

1666: Battle of Rullion Green and defeat of the Covenanters by Sir Thomas Dalyell.

1821: Panama declared itself independent of Spain and joined Republic of Colombia.

1885: British forces occupied Mandalay in Burma.

1905: Sinn Fein founded in Dublin.

1912: Albania declared independence.

1916: London experienced its first air raid.

1918: The Kaiser abdicated the crown of Prussia and Germany.

1922: Six former ministers of Greece were executed.

1934: Winston Churchill gave warning that weak defences could leave Britain “tortured into absolute subjection” in a war with Germany.

1937: General Franco began naval blockade of Spanish coast.

1943: The “Big Three” – Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin – met in Tehran to discuss post-war policy.

1960: Mauritania became independent Islamic republic.

1964: Nasa launched Mariner 4 to explore Mars.

1971: Jordan’s prime minister, Wasfi Tell, was assassinated at an Arab conference in Cairo.

1977: Rhodesia announced at least 1,200 deaths in raids against black nationalist guerrillas across border in Mozambique.

1987: South African Airways jet with 159 people aboard crashed in Indian Ocean near Mauritius.

1989: West German chancellor Helmut Kohl proposed a plan for the confederation of East and West Germany.

1990: Singapore’s prime minister Lee Kwan Yew stepped down after 31 years in power.

1994: Eight rebel MPs were stripped of the Conservative whip as Prime Minister John Major survived a vote of confidence on Europe.

1994: In Portage, Wisconsin, convicted serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer was clubbed to death by a fellow inmate in the Columbia Correctional Institution gymnasium.

2010: A body of UK and international doctors voted antibiotics the most important medical development of the past 50 years.

BIRTHDAYS

Berry Gordy, founder of Tamla Motown record label, 84; Fiona Armstrong, television presenter, 57; Manolo Blahnik CBE, designer of shoes and furniture, 71; Alistair Darling, Labour politician and head of the Better Together campaign, 60; Lord Macdonald, Chief of the Name and Arms of Macdonald, 66; Caitlin McClatchey, Scottish swimmer, 28; Dervla Murphy, Irish author, 82; Randy Newman, singer and songwriter, 70; Stephen Roche, Tour de France winner, 54.

ANNIVERSARIES

Births: 1628 John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim’s Progress; 1757 William Blake, poet and artist; 1820 Friedrich Engels, German socialist and associate of Karl Marx; 1829 Anton Rubinstein, Russian pianist and composer; 1908 Claude Lévi-Strauss, anthropologist; 1931 Hope Lange, actress.

Deaths: 1680 Gian Bernini, sculptor; 1859 Washington Irving, author; 1945 Dwight Davis, donor of the Davis Cup for tennis; 1968 Enid Blyton, writer of children’s books; 1976 Rosalind Russell, actress; 2000 Len Shackleton, Sunderland and England footballer; 2001 Bill Reid, Glasgow-born VC; 2010 Leslie Nielsen, actor.