Anniversaries

Births: Gilbert Sheldon, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1598; Garrett Colley Wellesley, first Earl of Mornington, composer, 1735; John Martin, historical painter, 1789; Samuel Colt, inventor of the revolver, 1814; Gottfried Keller, poet and novelist, 1819; Hilaire Germaine Edgar Degas, Impressionist painter, 1834; Edward Charles Pickering, astronomer, 1846; Lizzie Andrew Borden, alleged axe murderess, 1860; Charles Horace Mayo, surgeon and co-founder of the Mayo Clinic, 1865; Vladimir Vladimirovich Mayakovsky, poet, 1894; Dr Archibald Joseph Cronin, novelist, 1896; Herbert Marcuse, political theorist, 1898; John Bratby, painter and author, 1928.

Deaths: Dr John Caius (Keys), physician, founder of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, 1573; Matthew Flinders, explorer of Australia, 1814; Georges-Maurice de Guerin du Cayla, poet, 1839; Thomas Cook, travel agent, 1892; Samuel Insull, industrialist, 1938; Thomas ('Tom') Walter Hayward, cricketer, 1939; Edward Knoblock, playwright, 1945; Syngman Rhee, president of Korea, 1965; Georges Auric, composer, 1983.

On this day: Edward III of England defeated the Scots at the Battle of Halidon Hill, 1333; the Mary Rose, flagship of King Henry VIII, sank in the Solent with the loss of 700 lives, 1545; the Spanish Armada was sighted off the coast of England, 1588; William III of England was defeated at Landen (Neerwinden) by the French Marshal Luxembourg, 1693; Queen Caroline was forcibly prevented from appearing at the Coronation of King George IV, 1821; the Great Western steamship was launched at Bristol, 1837; the first Wimbledon Men's Singles Tennis final was played, 1877; the Metro in Paris was opened, 1900; the building of Liverpool's Anglican cathedral was started, 1904; Liverpool Cathedral was consecrated, 1924; Laos became independent, 1949; the XVth Olympic Games opened in Helsinki, 1952; Brunel's iron ship the SS Great Britain was brought back to England from the Falkland Islands, 1970; the Sandinista forces of Nicaragua entered Managua, 1979; the western half of England, Wales and Ireland was hit by the most severe earthquake to have occurred in the country for over 100 years, 1984.

Today is the Feast Day of St Ambrose Autpert, St Arsenius the Great, St James of Nisibia, St John Plesington, Saints Justa and Rufina, St Macrina the Younger, St Symmachus, Pope.