On this day: Pavarotti in Glasgow | Ravenscraig closed

EVENTS, birthdays and anniversaries for 16 May

Luciano Pavarotti waves to his fans in Glasgow, where he performed on this day in 1990. Picture: TSPL

1568: Mary, Queen of Scots sailed across Solway Firth to begin her exile in England.

1763: Doctor Johnson and James Boswell met for the first time, at Tom Davie’s bookshop in London.

1770: Marie Antoinette was married to France’s King Louis XVI.

1888: Emile Berliner demonstrated the first gramophone in Philadelphia.

1907: Pact of Cartagena among Britain, France and Spain to counter German designs on Balearic and Canary Islands.

1908: Britain’s first diesel submarine, D1, was launched at Barrow.

1911: The Queen Victoria Monument in front of Buckingham Palace was unveiled.

1920: Joan of Arc was canonised.

1932: Japan’s premier, Tsuyoshi Inukai, was assassinated in Tokyo.

1943: The Dambusters made their famous raid on the Moehne, Eder and Sorpe dams in the Ruhr.

1962: United States Marines began arriving in Thailand to help defend it against communist threat in neighbouring Laos.

1969: The Russian spacecraft Venus 5 touched down on Venus to send back information about planet’s atmosphere.

1975: Local Government (Scotland) Act came into effect, replacing 430 local authorities with nine regional, 53 district and three islands councils.

1975: Mrs Junko Tabei, of Japan, climbed Mount Everest, the first woman to do so.

1976: Civil war in Lebanon reached new peak of violence with scores of people killed in fighting between Christians and Muslims in Beirut.

1979: Police in El Salvador sealed off capital after ten days of violence by anti-government terrorists took 44 lives.

1990: British Steel announced decision to close the hot strip mill at Ravenscraig with the loss of 770 jobs.

1990: Pavarotti sang to an audience of 12,000 at a sell-out concert at the SECC, Glasgow.

1991: President François Mitterrand appointed France’s first woman prime minister, Edith Cresson, aged 57.

2003: In Casablanca, Morocco, 33 civilians were killed and more than 100 people injured in terrorist attacks.

2005: Kuwait permitted women’s suffrage in a 35-23 National Assembly vote.

BIRTHDAYS

Pierce Brosnan OBE, actor, 60; Sarah Boyack, MSP, minister for transport 1999-2001, 52; Billy Cobham, Panamanian American jazz drummer, 69; Judy Finnegan, television presenter, 65; Megan Fox, American actress, 27; Robert Fripp, rock guitarist (King Crimson), 67; Roy Hudd OBE, British comedian, playwright and author, 77; Janet Jackson, soul singer, 47; Olga Korbut, Olympic gymnast, 58; Krist Novoselic, American rock bassist (Nirvana), 48; Christian Lacroix, French fashion designer, 62; Hazel O’Connor, British singer, 58; Gabriela Sabatini, tennis player, 43; Tori Spelling, actress, 40; Nigel Twiston-Davies, British racehorse trainer, 56.

ANNIVERSARIES

Births: 1831 David Hughes, inventor of the microphone; 1891 Richard Tauber, singer and composer of operettas; 1905 Henry Fonda, American film actor; 1919 Waldzin Valentino (Liberace), pianist and entertainer.

Deaths: 1703 Charles Perrault, writer of fairytales including Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella; 1782 Daniel Solander, botanist; 1990 Jim Henson, creator of The Muppets; 1990 Sammy Davis, Junior, entertainer.