Anniversaries

Births: Richard III, King, 1452; Philip Cipriani Hambley Potter, pianist and composer, 1792; Mikhail Yuryevich Lermontov (Learmonth), poet, 1814; Julius von Sachs, botanist and naturalist, 1832; Sir Edward Burnett Tylor, anthropologist, 1832; Hans Thoma, painter, 1839; Paul Ludwig Hans von Beneckendorf von Hindenburg, German field marshal and president, 1847; Ferdinand Foch, Marshal of France, 1851; Sir William Ramsay, chemist, 1852; Charles de Souzy Ricketts, artist, 1866; Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Indian leader, 1869; Cordell Hull, statesman, 1871; Wallace Stevens, poet, 1879; Julius 'Groucho' Marx, comedian, 1890; Budd Abbot, comedian, 1895; Ignatius Roy Dunnachie Campbell, poet, 1901; Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indian statesman, 1904; Henry Graham Greene, novelist, 1904.

Deaths: Isaac Oliver, miniature painter, 1617; Benoit Audran, artist and engraver, 1721; John Andre, English army officer, executed by George Washington for spying 1780; Admiral August Keppel, first Viscount Keppel, naval commander and politician, 1786; Samuel Adams, statesman, 1803; Daniel Steibelt, composer, 1823; Dr William Ellery Channing, cleric and writer, 1842; Sarah Biffin (or Beffin), limbless miniature painter, 1850; Louis Hersent, painter, 1860; Cornelius Varley, water-colour painter, 1873; Jose Maria de Heredia, poet, 1905; Max Bruch, composer, 1920; Svante August Arrhenius, chemist, 1927; Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton, sportsman and merchant, 1931; OB Clarence, actor, 1955; Marie Stopes, birth control pioneer, 1958; Marcel Duchamp (Henri-Pierre Roche), Surrealist painter, 1968; Katharine Susannah Prichard, novelist, 1969; Paavo Nurmi, athlete, 1973; Rock Hudson (Roy Fitzgerald Scherer), actor, 1985; Sir Peter Brian Medawar, medical scientist, 1987.

On this day: Saladin entered Jerusalem, 1187; the Duke of York captured Alkmaar in the Netherlands, 1799; Rome became the capital city of Italy, 1870; Brigham Young, Mormon leader, was arrested for bigamy, 1871; the first Royal Naval submarine was launched at Barrow, 1901; the first rugby football match was played at Twickenham, 1909; Abyssinia (Ethiopia) was invaded by Italy, 1935; the liner Empress of Britain, bound for Canada with refugees, was sunk, 1940; the British Council received a Royal Charter, 1940; 388 people died when the British cruiser Curacao sank off the coast of Donegal after colliding with the Queen Mary liner, 1942; a new volcanic island appeared off Fayal Island, Azores, 1957; Guinea became an independent republic, 1958; the musical show Valmouth was first produced in London, 1958; the first London performance of the musical show Promises, Promises was presented, 1968.

Today is the Feast Day of St Eleutherius of Nicomedia, The Guardian Angels and St Leger or Leodegarius.