Birthdays & Anniversaries

Birthdays

Prince Karim, the Aga Khan, 60; Sir Terence Beckett, former Director General, CBI, 73; Mr Howard Brenton, playwright, 54; General Arnold Brown, former leader, Salvation Army, 83; Lord Bullock, historian, 82; Mr Jim Davidson, comedian, 42; Sir Brian Fall, Principal, Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, 59; Mr John Francombe, broadcaster and former jockey, 44; Mr Walter Girven, Chief Constable, Wiltshire, 58; Miss Anouska Hempel, actress, hotelier and designer, 55; Dr Douglas Latto, surgeon and gynaecologist, 83; Mr Robert Lindsay, actor, 47; Professor Sir William McCrea, astronomer, 92; Mr Alec Monk, former chief executive, Tri-Delta Corporation, 54; Sir Brian Pitman, chief executive, Lloyds Bank, 65; Mr Christopher Plummer, actor, 67; Sir Humphrey Prideaux, former chairman, Morland and Co, 81; Sir Robin Renwick, former Ambassador to the United States, 59; Mr George Shultz, former US Secretary of State, 76; Professor Geoffrey Sims, former Vice-Chancellor, Sheffield University, 70; Maj-Gen Sir David Thorne, Director- General, Commonwealth Trust, 63; Sir Laurens van der Post, writer and explorer, 90; Mr Dick Van Dyke, actor, 71; General Sir Peter Whiteley, former Commander-in-Chief, Allied Forces Northern Europe, 76; Miss Paula Wilcox, actress, 47; Mr Brian Wilson MP, 48.

Anniversaries

Births: Maximilien de Bethune, Duc de Sully, statesman, 1560; Heinrich (Harry) Heine, poet and journalist, 1797; Ernst Werner von Siemens, inventor, 1816. Deaths: Maimonides (Moses ben Maimon), Jewish philosopher, 1204; Donatello (Donato de Betto Bardi), sculptor, 1466; Dr Samuel Johnson, lexicographer, 1784; William Calcraft, shoemaker and hangman, 1879; Wassily Kandinsky, abstract painter, 1944; "Grandma Moses" (Mrs Thomas Salmon Moses), primitive painter, 1961. On this day: Sir Francis Drake left Plymouth on his voyage around the world, 1577; New Zealand was discovered by Abel Janszoon Tasman, 1642; in the United States, Italo Marcioni patented the first ice-cream cone, 1903. Today is the Feast Day of St Aubert of Cambrai, St Eustratius of Sebastea, St Judocus or Josse, St Lucy and St Othilia or Odilia.