Anniversaries

Anniversaries

TODAY: Births: Sir Adrian Boult, conductor, 1889; Mary Pickford (Gladys Smith), actress, 1893; Sonja Henie, skater and actress, 1912. Deaths: Elisha Graves Otis, inventor of the safety lift, 1861; Vaslav Fomich Nijinsky, dancer and choreographer, 1950; Pablo Ruiz y Picasso, painter and sculptor, 1973. On this day: Herbert Henry Asquith became prime minister, 1908; a treaty was signed between Colombia and the United States agreeing control of the Panama Canal Zone, 1914; the final assembly of the League of Nations was held, 1946. Today is the Feast Day of St Dionysius of Corinth, St Julia Billiart, St Perpetuus of Tours and St Walter of Pontoise.

TOMORROW: Births: Isambard Kingdom Brunel, engineer, 1806; Charles-Pierre Baudelaire, poet, 1821; Paul Bustill Robeson, actor and singer, 1898; Hugh Todd Naylor Gaitskell, statesman, 1906. Deaths: Franois Rabelais, author, 1553; Francis Bacon, Viscount St Albans, statesman, 1626; Dante Gabriel Rossetti, poet and painter, 1882; Frank Lloyd Wright, architect, 1959. On this day: Botany Bay, Australia, was discovered by Captain James Cook, 1770; the National Gallery, London, was opened, 1838; the Suez Canal was cleared for all shipping, 1957. Tomorrow is Palm Sunday and the Feast Day of St Gaucherius, St Hugh of Rouen, St Mary Cleophas, St Uramar and St Waldetrudis or Waudru.