Anniversaries

Anniversaries

Births: Virginia Dare, first child of English parents to be born in America, 1587; Antonio Salieri, composer, 1750; Franz Josef I, Emperor of Austria- Hungary, 1830; Henry Cornelius, film director, 1913. Deaths: Genghis Khan, 1227; Pope Paul IV, 1559; Sir William Fairbairn, engineer and inventor, 1874; Anita Loos, screenwriter, novelist and playwright, 1981. On this day: the Russians were defeated by Napoleon at Smolensk, 1812; the National Fire Service in Britain was established, 1941; the Tay Road Bridge was opened, 1966; in the Soviet Union, President Mikhail Gorbachev, while on holiday in the Crimea, was seized and held prisoner, 1991. Today is the Feast Day of St Agapitus, St Alipius, St Beatrice or Brites da Silva, Saints Florus and Laurus and St Helena.