On this day: Pope Benedict XVI in Edinburgh

On this day in 2010 Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Edinburgh for the start of a four-day visit to the UK. Picture: Phil Wilkinson

National day of Mexico.

1620: The 101 Pilgrim Fathers set sail from Plymouth in the Mayflower, captained by Myles Standish.

1810: The Mexican Revolution began for independence from Spanish rule.

1847: The United Shakespeare Company bought the house in which Shakespeare was born at Stratford-upon-Avon for £3,000, the first building in Britain to be bought for preservation.

1859: David Livingstone discovered Lake Nyasa.

1861: The Post Office Savings Bank was instituted in Britain.

1945: Japan surrendered Hong Kong at end of Second World War.

1955: Uprising in Cordoba under General Eduardo Lonardi spread throughout Argentina.

1963: The name of Malaysia was adopted for the Federation of Malaya when joined by Singapore, North Borneo and Sarawak.

1966: Britain’s first Polaris submarine, Resolution, was launched.

1967: United Nations secretary-general U Thant called on United States to halt bombing of North Vietnam.

1968: The two-tier postal system was introduced in Britain.

1976: The US Episcopal Church approved ordination of women to the priesthood.

1981: The Liberals entered into an alliance with the Social Democratic Party, which had been formed on 26 March by a group of former Labour politicians.

1990: Iraq opened Kuwait’s borders and thousands of Kuwaitis attempted to flee.

1992: Black Wednesday on the money markets as Britain raised interest rates by 2 per cent, then another 3 per cent, then quit the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. The interest rate rises were revoked later in the day.

1994: A six-year broadcasting ban on Sinn Fein, political wing of the IRA, was lifted.

1996: The Roman Catholic Bishop of Argyll, the Right Reverend Roderick Wright, resigned a week after disappearing with Kathleen MacPhee, 40, a divorced mother of three. It was revealed later that he had a teenage son by another woman.

2010: Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Scotland for the start of his four-day visit to the UK. He was welcomed by the Queen at the Palace of Holyroodhouse, in Edinburgh. Later, he travelled to Glasgow.

BIRTHDAYS

Katie Melua, singer, songwriter, 30; Ed Begley Jnr, actor, 65; David Copperfield, magician, 58; Loyd Grossman OBE, broadcaster, 64; Andy Irvine MBE, Scottish rugby player and former president of Scottish Rugby Union, 63; Kenny Jones, drummer (Small Faces/Faces/The Who), 66; BB King, blues musician, 89; Richard Marx, singer, 51; Mickey Rourke, actor, 62; Jennifer Tilly, actress and poker player, 56; Julia Donaldson MBE, writer (The Gruffalo) and performer, 2011-13 Children’s Laureate, 66; Neville Southall MBE, former international goalkeeper, 56; David McCreery, former international footballer, 57; Dennis Conner, America’s Cup-winning yachtsman, 72.

ANNIVERSARIES

Births: 1387 King Henry V; 1858 Andrew Bonar Law, Conservative prime minister; 1875 James Cash Penney, entrepreneur who founded the JC Penney chain stores; 1924 Lauren Bacall, actress; 1925 Charles Haughey, Taoiseach of Ireland.

Deaths: 1498 Tomás de Torquemada, head of the Holy Office of the Inquisition; 1736 Gabriel Fahrenheit, physicist who devised temperature scale; 1977 Marc Bolan, rock musician.