Anniversaries

Anniversaries

Births: William Harvey, physician, discoverer of the circulation of the blood, 1578; Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninov, composer, 1873. Deaths: Max Ernst, painter and sculptor, 1976; Rene Cutforth, journalist and broadcaster, 1984. On this day: the Territorial Army was founded, 1908; the Royal Air Force came into being, 1918; Adolf Hitler was sentenced to five years' imprisonment, 1924; persecution of the Jews in Germany began, 1933; the Soviet Union began a land blockade of Berlin, 1948; the military side of the Warsaw Pact was disbanded, 1991. Today is the Feast Day of St Catharine of Palma, St Gilbert of Caithness, St Hugh of Bonnevaux, St Hugh of Grenoble, St Macarius the Wonderworker, St Melito and St Valery or Walaricus.