Anniversaries

Anniversaries

Births: Anne of Cleves, fourth wife of King Henry VIII, 1515; Michael Faraday, physicist and chemist, 1791; Dame Christabel Harriette Pankhurst, suffragette, 1880; Erich von Stroheim (Erich Oswald Stroheim), actor and film director, 1885. Deaths: Alain-Fournier (Henri-Alban Fournier), writer, killed in action 1914; Oliver Joseph St John Gogarty, physician and writer, 1957; Axel Springer, publisher, 1985; Dorothy Lamour (Mary Leta Slaton Kaumeyer), actress, 1996. On this day: Sir Philip Sidney was mortally wounded at the relief of the Spanish colony of Zutphen in the Netherlands, 1586; Sir Robert Walpole became the first prime minister to move into 10 Downing Street, 1735; France was declared to be a Republic, 1792; Joseph Smith announced the discovery of the Book of Mormon, 1827; Wagner's Das Rheingold was first performed, Munich 1869; Independent Television began operating in Britain, 1955. Today is the Feast Day of St Emmeramus, St Felix III (IV), pope, St Lauto or Lo, St Maurice of Agaunum, St Salaberga, St Thomas of Villanueva and the Theban Legion.