Anniversaries

Births: William III, King, 1650; The Rev Augustus Montague Toplady, writer of hymns and author of 'Rock of Ages', 1740; George Long, scholar and editor of the Penny Cyclopaedia, 1800; Auguste Bonheur, painter, 1824; Will (William Penn Adair) Rogers, humorist and actor, 1879.

Deaths: Erasmus Bartholin, physicist, 1698; Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, composer, 1847; Hippolyte-Paul Delaroche, painter, 1856; Joseph Rowntree, cocoa manufacturer and Quaker educationalist, 1859; George Peabody, industrialist and philanthropist, 1869; Philip Gilbert Hamerton, artist and author, 1894; Wilfred Owen, poet, killed in action 1918; Gabriel Faure, organist and composer, 1924.

On this day: Guy Fawkes was arrested in the cellars of Parliament, 1605; in Trafalgar Square, London, Nelson's column was completed, 1843; Richard Jordan Gatling patented his machine- gun, 1862; the tomb of Tutankhamen was discovered by Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter, 1922; Unesco was established, 1946; Dwight David Eisenhower was elected as 34th US President 1952; Ronald Reagan was elected as 40th US President, 1980.

Today is the Feast Day of St Birstan or Brynstan of Winchester, St Charles Borromeo, St Clarus, St Joannicus, St John Zedazneli, St Pierius and Saints Vitalis and Agricola.