PHOTO OF THE DAY. The official colour Coronation photograph of Queen Elizabeth II, taken by Cecil Beaton on 2 June 1953.

USA No.1 on this day in 1962: Ray Charles - I Can't Stop Loving You youtu.be/w-YqaTDDCDM?si… via YouTube

UK No.1 on this day in 1966: Frank Sinatra - Strangers In the Night youtu.be/CnPy7DmMHgQ?si… via YouTube

2 June 2017. British actor Peter Sallis died (aged 96). He was the voice of Wallace in Wallace & Gromit, and also played Clegg in the popular BBC TV sitcom, Last of the Summer Wine.

2 June 2010. 12 people were killed at random in Cumbria by a lone gunman called Derrick Bird, who then killed himself. It was one of the worst criminal acts involving firearms in British history.

2 June 2008. Bo Diddley (Ellas McDaniel) died (aged 79). He was a key figure during the transition from blues to rock ‘n’ roll. He influenced many artists, including: Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley, The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton and The Animals.

2 June 1997. Timothy McVeigh was convicted on 15 counts of murder and conspiracy for his leading role in the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City, in which 168 people were killed. He was executed 4 years later.

2 June 1990. Rex Harrison died (aged 82). He’s best known for playing Professor Higgins in My Fair Lady, which earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor, and the lead role in Doctor Dolittle. In June 1989, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II.

2 June 1979. Pope John Paul II arrived in his native Poland to begin the 1st Papal visit to a Communist country, which lasted for 8 days. Hundreds of thousands of people lined the route from the airport to the city centre just to catch a glimpse of the Pope.

2 June 1960. Tony Hadley was born in London. He rose to fame as the lead singer of 1980s hitmakers, Spandau Ballet, who had a number of chart hits, including: Through the Barricades, Gold, To Cut a Long Story Short, and UK No 1, True. He now tours as a solo artist.

2 June 1954. Lester Piggott (aged 18), became the youngest jockey to win the Epsom Derby on Never Say Die at odds of 33-1. He went on to win the race 8 more times, which remains a record.

2 June 1953. The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II took place in Westminster Abbey, London. It was the 1st British coronation to be televised live, with TV cameras allowed inside Westminster Abbey for the first time. It’s viewed as the first major BBC TV live event.

2 June 1941. Charlie Watts, drummer with The Rolling Stones, was born in London. He’s rated as one of the greatest rock drummers of all time, and was ranked 12th on the Rolling Stone's list of the “100 Greatest Drummers of All Time'

2 June 1904. Legendary swimmer Johnny Weissmuller was born in Szabadfalva, Kingdom of Hungary (today Freidorf, Romania). He was the 1st person to swim the 100 metres Freestyle in under 1 minute, and he went on to play Tarzan in several Hollywood movies.

2 June 1897. Responding to press reporting that he was dead, the novelist and noted wit, Mark Twain (aged 61), famously said to a newspaper reporter from the New York Journal: “The report of my death was an exaggeration.”

2 June 1886. US President Grover Cleveland married Frances Folsom in the White House, to become the only president ever to wed in the mansion. Cleveland’s bride was the 21 year-old daughter of Cleveland’s late law partner and friend, Oscar Folsom. Only 40 guests attended.

2 June 1868. The inaugural meeting of what became known as the Trade Union Congress (TUC), took place at the Mechanics’ Institute in David Street, Manchester.

2 June 1857. English classical composer Edward Elgar was born in Lower Broadheath, Worcestershire. Among his best-known compositions are the Enigma Variations and the Pomp and Circumstance Marches. His music was most popular in the Edwardian era, but remains popular even now.

2 June 1840. Thomas Hardy was born in Dorchester. Although he regarded himself primarily as a poet, he is much better known as the author of classic novels such as Far from the Madding Crowd, The Mayor of Casterbridge, Tess of the d’Urbervilles, and Jude the Obscure.

2 June 1793. Maximillian Robespierre began the “Reign of Terror”, to purge those suspected of treason against the new French Republic. By the end, 16,594 official death sentences had been handed out throughout France, of which 2,639 were in Paris.