This Day in History - 28th May

1503James IV of Scotland and Margaret Tudor were married by Pope Alexander VI. A 'Treaty of Everlasting Peace' between Scotland and England was signed on that occasion. The everlasting peace lasted just ten years.

1533The Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer declared that the marriage of King Henry VIII of England to Anne Boleyn was valid. Shortly afterwards, the Pope decreed sentences of excommunication against both Henry and Cranmer. Subsequently the first break between the Church of England and Rome took place and the Church of England was brought under the King's control.

1588The Spanish Armada, with 130 ships and 30,000 men, set sail from Lisbon heading for the English Channel.

1660King George I was born. He succeeded Queen Anne in 1714 but spent most of his reign in Hanover, never having mastered the English language.

1759William Pitt the Younger, British politician, was born. He became the youngest ever British prime minister at the age of 24.

1842Britain's first public library opened, in Frederick Street, Salford.

1849The death, at the age of 29, of Anne Brontë, English novelist, poet and author of Agnes Grey and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. 

1907The first Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) motor cycle races were held. The winner was Charlie Collier on his pedal assisted Matchless, at an average speed of 38.22 mph. It was argued that rival Jack Marshall, riding a Triumph, would have won if he'd fitted pedals, and the following year pedals were banned.

1908The birth of Ian Fleming, English author of the James Bond novels.

1920 The death of Canon Hardwicke Drummond Rawnsley, a Church of England clergyman, poet, hymn writer and conservationist. He worked for the protection of the countryside and was also one of the founders of the National Trust. His grave is in the churchyard of his former parish, St. Kentigern's at Crosthwaite, in Cumbria.

1937Neville Chamberlain became Prime Minister of a coalition government following the retirement of Stanley Baldwin.

1945World War II: the English broadcaster of Nazi propaganda, William Joyce (Lord Haw-Haw) was captured near Hamburg. He was later tried for treason, found guilty, and hanged.

1951BBC radio broadcast the first edition of The Goon Show, starring Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe.

1967Sir Francis Chichester arrived in Plymouth on his yacht, Gipsy Moth IV, after completing his solo voyage around the world.

1982Falklands War: British troops re-captured Port Darwin and Goose Green, taking almost 1500 Argentine prisoners.