On this day: Charles II restored king at Edinburgh | Wilson quit as leader of SNP

Events, birthdays and anniversaries from 14 May

Harold Macmillan, then prime minister, inaugurates a memorial to John F Kennedy at Runnymede, Surrey, on this day in 1965. Picture: Getty

1660: Charles II proclaimed restored king at Edinburgh.

1754: The Society of St Andrews Golfers was constituted, and became (in 1834) the Royal and Ancient Golf Club.

1796: Edward Jenner made his first vaccination against smallpox, and laid the foundation for modern immunology.

1842: The British periodical Illustrated London News was first published.

1921: The British Legion was founded in London by Earl Haig. It became the Royal British Legion in 1971.

1931: Interest rate cut by Bank of England to 2.5 per cent in financial crisis.

1932: Last programme was broadcast from BBC studios at Savoy Hill, London.

1940: Anthony Eden, Secretary of State for War, broadcast an appeal to all men between 17 and 60 who could hold a rifle to enrol as Local Defence Volunteers (later called Home Guard)

1948: British mandate in Palestine ended, and an independent Jewish state of Israel was established

1951: New law removed Coloured (mixed race) people from voting registers in South Africa.

1965: The Queen unveiled a memorial to the late president John F Kennedy at Runnymede.

1973: America’s Skylab I was launched, returning to Earth on 11 July, 1979, after 34,981 orbits, where it disintegrated on impact with the atmosphere.

1977: Soviet newspaper Pravda warned the West that any aid to China eventually would be used to start world conflict.

1987: Armed troops stormed Fiji parliament, declaring military government after kidnapping prime minister

1988: Iraqi warplanes attacked and set ablaze five ships at offshore oil-loading terminal belonging to Iran.

1990: Gordon Wilson quit as leader of Scottish National Party.

1991: Mao Tse-Tung’s widow, Jiang Qing, Gang of Four member, committed suicide in Peking. 2004: The Constitutional Court of South Korea overturned the impeachment of president Roh Moo-hyun.

2005: The former USS America, a decommissioned supercarrier of the United States Navy, was deliberately sunk in the Atlantic Ocean after four weeks of live-fire exercises.

BIRTHDAYS

David Byrne, Dumbarton-born vocalist with Talking Heads, 61; Francesca Annis, British actress, 68; Ian Astbury, rock singer (The Cult), 51; Cate Blanchett, actress, 44; Hazel Blears, Labour MP, 57; Sir Chay Blyth CBE, Scottish round-the-world yachtsman, 73; Jack Bruce, Bishopbriggs-born rock musician, 70; Sophie Anderton, British model, 36; George Lucas, film director and producer, 69; Sir George Mathewson, chairman, Royal Bank of Scotland Group 2001-06, 73; Tony Stanger, Scottish rugby player, 45; Robert Zemeckis, film director, 61.

ANNIVERSARIES

Births: 1686 Gabriel Fahrenheit, inventor of mercury thermometer; 1771 Robert Owen, Welsh industrialist and social reformer; 1897 Sidney Bechet, jazz saxophonist; 1926 Eric Morecambe, comedian; 1936 Bobby Darin, rock and roll singer,.

Deaths: 1812 Duncan MacIntyre (Donnchadh Ban), Gaelic poet; 1919 Henry John Heinz, food manufacturer; 1925 Sir Rider Haggard, novelist; 1979 Jean Rhys, novelist; 1998 Frank Sinatra, singer and actor; 2003 Dame Wendy Hiller, actress; 2003 Robert Stack, actor.