On this day: James III of Scotland died | QE2 returned to Southampton from Falklands

1488: Battle of Sauchieburn between James III and the confederate nobles supporting his son. The king was murdered in his flight.

1509: Henry VIII married the Spanish Princess Catherine of Aragon, the first of his six wives.

1679: Royal troops under Claverhouse were defeated by Covenanters at Battle of Drumclog.

1727: George II was proclaimed king of Great Britain.

1891: Britain and Portugal signed further convention of territories north and south of Zambesi.

1900: Edward VII’s (then Prince of Wales) first car – a chocolate, black and red 6bhp Daimler – was delivered to the Royal stables at Ascot Heath House

1913: Norwegian parliament granted universal suffrage to women.

1930: The liner Empress of Britain was launched by the Prince of Wales at Clydebank.

1940: Princess Juliana of the Netherlands arrived in Canada as an exile during the Second World War.

1955: A car competing in the Le Mans 24-hour car race skidded off the track killing 82 spedctators .

1963: Greek premier Constantine Caramanlis resigned in protest at King Paul’s state visit to Britain.

1975: The first oil was pumped ashore from the North Sea oil fields.

1981: NatWest Tower opened in London – at the time, the tallest building in Europe.

1982: The QE2 returned to Southampton from the Falklands with survivors from three destroyed British warships.

1988: Syrian-backed dissidents battled with loyalists of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat at two devastated refugee camps in west Beirut.

1990: It was reported that divorce was costing Britain £4 million a day in legal and welfare payments.

1995: Gavin Hastings played his 61st and last match for Scotland, in a World Cup quarter-final defeat by New Zealand.

2001: Tony Blair sacked 20 ministers, including Robin Cook .

2002: Antonio Meucci acknowledged as the inventor of the telephone by US Congress.

2008: Canadian premier Stephen Harper made an official apology to Canada’s First Nations for abuse to children in residential schools.

BIRTHDAYS

Sir Jackie Stewart, former world motor racing champion, 74; Kenneth John Cameron, Baron Cameron of Lochbroom, Lord Advocate 1984-89, 82; Vince Earl, British actor and singer, 69; Athol Fugard, South African actor, director and playwright, 81; Jane Goldman, author and television producer, 43; Joshua Jackson, actor, 35; Shia LaBeouf, actor, 27; Hugh Laurie OBE, actor, comedian and writer, 54; Joe Montana, American Football legend, 57; Diana Moran, British fitness guru, 69; Lynsey de Paul, British singer, 63; Jenny Pitman, British racehorse trainer, 67; Caroline Quentin, actress, 53; David Quilter, British actor, 71; Gene Wilder, actor and film director, 80.

ANNIVERSARIES

Births:1572 Ben Jonson, poet and dramatist; 1696 James Keith from Peterhead governor of the Ukraine 1740-41; 1776 John Constable, artist; 1910 Jacques Cousteau, underwater explorer; 1919 Richard Todd OBE, actor; 1926 Frank Carson, comedian.

Deaths:1488 James III, King of Scotland 1460-88 (murdered after Battle of Sauchieburn); 1979 John Wayne, film actor; 1998 Dame Catherine Cookson, novelist.