On this day

1859-The bell known as Big Ben is hauled to the Palace of Westminster from Whitechapel Bell Foundary on a carriage pulled by 16 horses.

1930-The Chrysler Building in New York opens.

2002-The Mars Odyssey finds signs of large ice deposits on the planet.

Birthdays.

David Baddiel-46
Kylie Minogue-42
Carey Mulligan-25

1953 - Sir Edmund Hillary and his sherpa Tenzing Norgay, became the first men to reach the summit of Mount Everest in the Himalayas. The news of the British expedition broke in Britain on Queen Elizabeth II's Coronation Day, June 2nd. The Queen knighted Edmund Hillary later that year.

1968 - Manchester United become the first English club to win the European Cup beating Portuguese side Benfica by four goals to one.

1977 - Nigel Short, an 11 year old English schoolboy , qualified as the youngest ever competitor in a national chess championship. He had already beaten Viktor Korchnoi during an exhibition game.

1984 - Police used riot gear for the first time since the miners' strike began as they faced the biggest picket to date at Orgreave, near Sheffield.

1985 - 39 football fans were killed and at least another 400 injured when a wall collapsed during crowd violence at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels, only minutes before the start of the European Cup Final between Liverpool and Juventus.

Birthdays

Noel Gallagher-43
Anette Bening-52
LaToya Jackson-54

John F Kennedy-b..1917
Bob Hope-b..1903

1431 - Joan of Arc, the French peasant girl who became a national heroine leading French troops against the English, was burnt at the stake in Rouen for heresy.

1656 - The formation of the Grenadier Guards, the senior regiment of the British Army.

1942 - World War II: The RAF carried out its first 1,000 plus bombing raid of Germany, sending 1,047 aircraft to bomb Cologne.

1959 - The first full-size experimental hovercraft, the SR-N1, built by Saunders-Roe and designed by Sir Christopher Cockerell, was launched at Cowes on the Isle of Wight.

Birthdays

Lamont"Big L"Coleman b-1974
Mel Blanc-b 1908,The voice of Bugs Bunny&Daffy Duck.

Cee-Lo Green-36
Wynonna Judd-46
Tom Morello-46

1859 - The clock in the clock tower of the Houses of Parliament was started, with the bell (Big Ben) sounding for the first time on 11th July 1859.

1889 - A painting of a small dog listening to a phonograph was shown to the general manager of 'The Gramophone Company' in London by the painter, Francis Barraud. It was of his dog, Nipper. The phonograph was painted out and a gramophone substituted. It soon became the famous trademark for the company 'His Master's Voice'.

1902 - The Peace of Vereeniging ended the Boer War, in which British casualties numbered 5,774 killed (and 16,000 deaths from disease) against 4,000 Boers killed in action.

1911 - The White Star liner Titanic was launched at Belfast. At the ceremony, a White Star Line employee claimed, 'Not even God himself could sink this ship.'

1961-The Republic of South Africa is created.

1970-The Ancash earthquake causes a landslide that buries the town of Yungay,Peru,killing more than 47,000.

Birthdays.

Brooke Shields-45
Darryl McDanniels aka run-dmc-46
Colin Farrell-34

Birthdays

Ronnie Wood-63
Jason Donovan-42
Heidi Klum-37