Anniversaries

Anniversaries

Births: Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia, 1672; Ignaz Moscheles, pianist and composer, 1794; Johann Christian Lobe, composer, 1797; Samuel Spalding, moral philosopher, 1807; Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin, anarchist, 1814; Alfred Austin, poet, 1835; Peter Carl (Karl Gustavovich) Faberge, goldsmith, 1846; Pierre Marie-Felix Janet, psychologist, 1859; Alexander Porfirevich Archipenko, sculptor and painter, 1887; Howard Winchester Hawks, film director, 1896; Benny (Benjamin David) Goodman, bandleader and clarinettist, 1909. Deaths: St Joan of Arc, burnt at the stake at Rouen 1431; Christopher Marlowe, playwright, killed in a brawl 1593; Sir Peter Paul Rubens, painter, 1640; Pierre Mignard le Romain, painter, 1695; Alexander Pope, poet and satirist, 1744; Francois Boucher, painter, 1770; Voltaire (Francois-Marie Arouet), philosopher and writer, 1778; Thomas Chalmers, minister, philanthropist and author, 1847; Wilbur Wright, pioneer aviator, 1912; Hermann Broch, poet and novelist, 1951; Dooley (Arthur) Wilson, singer, 1953; Boris Leonidovich Pasternak, poet and author, 1960; Claude Rains, actor, 1967; Marcel Dupre, organist and composer, 1971. On this day: Christopher Columbus set sail on his third voyage, 1498; King Henry VIII was married to Jane Seymour, 1536; the Grenadier Guards were formed, 1656; Napoleon annexed Tuscany, 1808; John Francis attempted to assassinate Queen Victoria, 1842; Smetana's opera The Bartered Bride was first performed, 1866; the Balkan War was ended by the Treaty of London, which created the new state of Albania, 1913; Cologne was raided by a large force of RAF aircraft, 1942; the first hovercraft flight took place at Cowes, Isle of Wight, 1959; the first London production of the musical show On the Town was presented, 1963; Eastern Nigeria declared itself independent, being renamed the Republic of Biafra, 1967; the British Trans-Arctic Expedition completed the first surface crossing of the continent, 3,620 miles in 464 days, 1969; the first London production of the musical show Little Me was presented, 1984. Today is the Feast Day of St Exuperantius of Ravenna, St Ferdinand of Castile, St Isaac of Constantinople, St Joan of Arc, St Luke Kirby, St Madelgisilus or Maugeille and St Walstan.