Anniversaries

Births: John Philips, poet, 1676; Heinrich Karl Ebell, jurist, musician and composer, 1775; Heinrich Germer, pianoforte teacher and theorist, 1837; Joseph Rudyard Kipling, author and poet, 1865; Simon Guggenheim, senator and philanthropist, 1867; Stephen Butler Leacock, humorous author and economist, 1869;

Leslie Poles Hartley, novelist, 1895; Sir Carol Reed, film director, 1906. Deaths: Richard, Duke of York, killed, 1460; Pope Innocent IX, 1591; John Turberville Needham, priest and scientist, 1781; Amelia Jenks Bloomer, social reformer, 1894; Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin, peasant and mystic, murdered 1916; Romain Rolland, author, 1944; Maurice Denton Welch, novelist and artist, 1948; Trygve Halvdan Lie, first secretary-general of the United Nations, 1968; Richard Charles Rodgers, composer, 1979. On this day: the Yorkists suffered a defeat at the Battle of Wakefield, 1460; Scindhiah, Maharajah of Gwalior, submitted to the British, 1803; Gilbert and Sullivan's opera The Pirates of Penzance had its first performance at Paignton, Devon, 1879; Paul Kruger declared the Transvaal to be a republic, and became the first president, 1880; Zululand was annexed to Natal, 1897; France transferred sovereignty to Vietnam, 1949. Today is the Feast Day of St Anysia, St Anysius, St Egwin and St Sabinus of Spoleto.