1588: The Spanish Armada, sent by Philip II in an attempt to invade England, was sighted off Cornwall. It was defeated by the English fleet under Howard and Drake, the battle beginning off Plymouth.

1565: Mary Queen of Scots married her cousin, Lord Darnley, in the Old Abbey Chapel at Holyrood, Edinburgh.

1801: George Bradshaw, English publisher and originator of the railway guides, was born.

1856: Robert Schumann, German composer who went insane and threw himself in the Rhine in 1854, died in an asylum near Bonn.

1883: Benito Mussolini, Italian founder of the Fascist Party and ally of Hitler, was born in Predappio.

1922: Will Hay was the first comedian on British radio, when excerpts from a show at the Apollo Theatre were broadcast on a programme called Listening In.

1938: First edition of the Beano comic was published.

1948: The first post-war Olympic Games opened in London.

1966: Bob Dylan was badly hurt in a motorbike crash near Woodstock.

1981: The Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer were married at St Paul's Cathedral.

ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR: A victim support group condemned a reported £11,000 compensation offer made to the parents of murdered seven-year-old Sarah Payne as "derisory".

BIRTHDAYS: David Warner, actor, 61; Joe Johnson, snooker player, 50; Diane Keen, actress, 56; Anji Hunter, political adviser, 47; Stephen Timms, Schools Minister, 47; Carl Cox, DJ, 40; Sally Gunnell, athlete, 36; Andi Peters, TV presenter, 32; Wil Wheaton, actor, 30; Stephen Dorff, actor, 29.