Above:  Friedrich Pecht, Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn; engraving by T. L. Raab. Anne Boleyn was arrested May 2, 1536

Today in History

• Anne Boleyn is arrested and imprisoned on charges of adultery, incest, treason, and witchcraft (1536)
• Mary Queen of Scots escapes from Loch Leven Castle (1568)
• The King James Bible is first published (1611)
• American Civil War: Stonewall Jackson is wounded by friendly fire; he will die eight days later (1863)
• General Motors acquires Chevrolet (1918)
• The first game of the Negro National Baseball League is played (1920)
• Jack Benny’s radio show airs for the first time (1932)
• World War II: Adolf Hitler bans trade unions (1933)
• World War II: Berlin falls to the Soviets (1945)
• The first jet airliner, the De Havilland Comet 1, makes its maiden commercial flight (1952)
• Accurate GPS coordinates become available to civilians, not merely restricted to the US military (2000)

Birthdays

• The Yongle Emperor (永樂帝), Ming Dynasty monarch (1360)
• Alessandro Scarlatti, composer (1660)
• Catherine the Great, Russian empress (1729)
• Jerome K. Jerome, author (1859)
• Alexander Kerensky (Алекса́ндр Ке́ренский), leader of the Russian Provisional Government (1881)
• Hedda Hopper, gossip columnist (1885)
• Vernon Castle, dancer (1887)
• E. E. “Doc” Smith, science fiction writer (1890)
• Manfred von Richthofen, fighter ace known as the “Red Baron” (1892)
• Lorenz Hart, playwright and composer (1895)
• Benjamin Spock, pediatrician and author (1903)
• Satyajit Ray, filmmaker (1921)
• Faisal II (فيصل الثاني), Iraqi monarch (1935)
• Engelbert Humperdinck, singer (1936)
• Bianca Jagger, model and actress (1945)
• Lesley Gore, singer-songwriter (1946)
• Larry Gatlin, country singer-songwriter (1948)
• Christine Baranski, actress (1952)
• Donatella Versace, fashion designer (1955)
• Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson, wrestler and actor (1972)
• David Beckham, footballer (soccer player) (1975)
• Lily Allen, singer-songwriter (1985)

Deaths