Anniversaries

Births: Louis X ('The Stubborn'), King of France, 1289; Lucas Cranach the Elder (Lucas Muller), painter, 1472; Lucas Cranach the Younger, painter, 1515; Richard Cromwell, Lord Protector, 1626; Giambattista Piranesi, engraver, 1720; Edmond Malone, Shakespearean scholar, 1741; Jean-Francois Millet, painter, 1814; Jacob Blumenthal, pianist and composer, 1829; Alfred Damon Runyon, writer and journalist, 1884; Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, sculptor, 1891; Engelbert Dollfuss, statesman, 1892; Buster Keaton (Joseph Francis Keaton), comedian, 1895; Richard Sorge, German spy for the Soviet Union, 1895.

Deaths: Benozzo Gozzoli (Benozzo di Lese), painter, 1497; St Teresa of Avila (Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada), Carmelite nun, 1582; Francesco Albani or Albano, painter, 1660; Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn, painter, 1669; Sir Arthur Whitten Brown, pioneer aviator, 1948; 'Patsy' Elias H. Hendren, cricketer, 1962; Janis Joplin, rock singer, 1970.

On this day: Peterborough Cathedral was consecrated, 1238; Miles Coverdale's translation of the Bible was published, 1535; George Washington was defeated at Germanstown, 1777; the Federal Republic of Mexico was proclaimed, 1823; the independence of Belgium was proclaimed, 1830; the Boys Brigade was founded in Glasgow by Sir William Smith, 1883; King Manoel II of Portugal fled to England, 1910; the first public escalator was opened at Earls Court underground station, 1911; 600 French soldiers lost their lives when the French cruiser Callia was torpedoed in the Mediterranean, 1916; King Ferdinand of Bulgaria abdicated in favour of his son Boris, 1918; Mrs Rebecca Ann Latimer Felton became the first woman in the US Senate, 1922; Hitler and Mussolini met at the Brenner Pass, 1940; the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik I, was launched by the Soviet Union, 1957; the first transatlantic passenger jet service started operating, 1958; the first close-up pictures of the moon were made from the Soviet Lunik III, 1959; Pope Paul VI became the first pope to visit the United States when he landed at New York, 1965; Lesotho, formerly Basutoland, became independent, 1966.

Today is the Feast Day of St Ammon, St Francis of Assisi and St Petronius of Bologna.