1896 – The birth of Henry Allingham, English First World War veteran, and supercentenarian (i.e. someone who has reached the age of 110 years). For one month, he was verified as the oldest living man in the world. He was also the last survivor of the Battle of Jutland, the last surviving member of the Royal Naval Air Service and the last surviving founding member of the Royal Air Force.

1921 – The Southwark Bridge in London was opened to traffic by King George V and Queen Mary.

1936 – Gatwick Airport opened in Surrey. Half a century later, it became Britain’s second biggest international airport, and one of the world’s busiest.

1944 – World War II: The Battle of Normandy began. D-Day, code named Operation Overlord, commenced with the landing of 155,000 Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy in France to liberate Western Europe from German occupation.The allied soldiers quickly broke through the Atlantic Wall and pushed inland in the largest amphibious military operation in history.

1949 – Nineteen Eighty-Four, George Orwell’s prophetic novel of a world ruled by Big Brother, was published.

1958 – Mike Gatting, English cricketer was born.

1962 – An unknown British group, The Beatles, played at an audition for EMI record producer George Martin.

1967 – President Nasser closed the Suez Canal, alleging that US and British forces were aiding Israel.

1968 – The death of Randolph Churchill, journalist, Conservative MP for Preston from 1940-45 and the only son of Winston Churchill. He is buried in St Martin’s Churchyard in Bladon, Oxfordshire, along with other members of the Churchill family.

1975 – Results of a nationwide referendum on 5th June backed the UK’s continued membership of the EEC by a large majority.

1988 – Queen Elizabeth II stripped champion jockey Lester Piggott of his OBE after he was jailed for tax evasion.

1994 – Six detainees held in an Oxfordshire immigration centre made their escape after a rooftop protest.

2018 – Xi’an, China, introduced a pedestrian lane for people who walk while looking at their phones.

2022 – Boris Johnson is to face a vote of no confidence later today after the threshold of 54 letters from Conservative MPs seeking his departure was reached.