On this day: Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Scotland

On this day in 2010 Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Scotland for the beginning of his four-day visit to the UK. Picture: AFP/Getty

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.

1946: Have a Go began on the Light Programme, with Wilfred Pickles and his wife as “Mabel at the table”. The show ran for more than 20 years.

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 United States 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.

1999: The first ever season of Big Brother began on the Veronica channel in the Netherlands.

2000: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Draggon, directed by Ang Lee, won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.

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 where he celebrated an open-air mass in front of 70,000 people in Bellahouston Park.

2012: A Nato airstrike in Laghman, Afghanistan, killed eight female civilians.

BIRTHDAYS

Katie Melua, singer, songwriter, 31; Loyd Grossman CBE, broadcaster, 65; Ed Begley Jnr, actor, 66; Tommy Carberry, jockey and racehorse trainer, 74; David Copperfield, magician, 59; Andy Irvine MBE, Scottish rugby player and former president of Scottish Rugby Union, 64; Kenny Jones, drummer (Small Faces/Faces/The Who), 67; Richard Marx, singer and songwriter, 52; Mickey Rourke, actor, 63; Jennifer Tilly, actress and poker player, 57; Tina Barrett, dancer, singer-songwriter, actress (member of S-Club 7), 39; Julia Donaldson MBE, writer (The Gruffalo) and performer, 2011-13 Children’s Laureate, 67; Neville Southall MBE, former international goalkeeper, 57; David McCreery, former international footballer, 58; Jerry Pate, major-winning golfer, 62; Dennis Conner, four-time America’s Cup-winning yachtsman, 73.

ANNIVERSARIES

Births: 1387 King Henry V; 1777 Nathan Mayer Rothschild, banker; 1858 Andrew Bonar Law, Conservative prime minister; 1880 Alfred Noyes CBE, poet, short story writer, playwright; 1903 Richard Hall, musician and composer; 1921 The Very Rev William Johnston, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and chaplain to the Queen in Scotland; 1924 Lauren Bacall, actress; 1925 BB King, blues singer/guitarist; 1925 Charles Haughey, Taoiseach of Ireland; 1927 Peter Falk, actor; 1934 Ronnie Drew, folk singer and musician (The Dubliners); 1934 George Chakiris, Oscar-winning actor and dancer.

Deaths: 827 Pope Valentine; 1380 Charles V “the Wise” of France; 1498 Tomás de Torquemada, head of the Holy Office of the Inquisition; 1736 Gabriel Fahrenheit, physicist who devised temperature scale; 1945 1977 Marc Bolan, musician; 1977 Maria Callas, operatic soprano; 2009 Mary Travers, singer-songwriter (Peter, Paul and Mary).