Anniversaries

Births: Gilbert Sheldon, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1598; Samuel Colt, inventor of the revolver, 1814; Hilaire Germaine Edgar Degas, painter, 1834; Lizzie Andrew Borden, alleged axe murderess, 1860; Charles Horace Mayo, surgeon and co-founder of the Mayo Clinic, 1865; John Bratby, painter and author, 1928.

Deaths: Dr John Caius (Keys), physician, founder of the Cambridge college, 1573; Thomas Cook, travel agent, 1892; Edward Knoblock, playwright, 1945; Syngman Rhee, Korean president, 1965; Georges Auric, composer, 1983.

On this day: 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; the first Wimbledon Men's Singles Tennis final was played, 1877; the Metro in Paris was opened, 1900; the building of Anglican Cathedral in Liverpool was started, 1904; Liverpool Cathedral was consecrated, 1924; the Sandinista forces of Nicaragua entered Managua, 1979; Ireland and the western half of England and Wales were hit by the most severe earthquake to have occurred in the British Isles 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.