Anniversaries

Births: Maximilian I, Holy Roman emperor, 1459; Sir Anthony van Dyck, painter, 1599; Robert Andrews Millikan, physicist, 1868.

Deaths: Jean-Baptiste Lully, composer, 1687; Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, author, 1832; Michael Todd, film producer, killed, 1958; Ben Lyon, actor, entertainer and producer, 1979; Sir Richard Sykes, ambassador to the Netherlands, shot dead, 1979.

On this day: the Order of the Templars was abolished by the Pope, 1312; the English were defeated by the Scots at Anjou, 1421; in the American Colonies, the Stamp Act came into force, 1765; Auguste and Louis Lumiere made the first demonstration of motion pictures using celluloid film, Paris, 1895; the Tsar of Russia was interned at Tsarskoye Selo (Dyetskoye Selo), 1917; a land speed record of 272mph was set up by Sir Malcolm Campbell in his car, Blue Bird, at Daytona Beach, Florida, 1933; the Arab League was founded in Cairo, 1945; an attempt was made to abduct Princess Anne in the Mall, London, 1973.

Today is the Feast Day of St Basil of Ancyra, St Benvenuto of Osimo, St Deogratias, St Nicholas Owen, St Nicholas von Flue and St Paul of Narbonne.