Anniversaries

Births: John Keill, philosopher and mathematician, 1671; Madame Marie Tussaud (Grosholz), waxwork exhibitor, 1761; Queen Alexandra, consort of Edward VII, 1844; Henry Williamson, author and novelist, 1895; Helen de Guerry Simpson, novelist, 1897; Mary Martin, actress and singer, 1913.

Deaths: Henry I, King, 1135; St Edmund Campion, St Alexander Briant and St Ralph Sherwin, Jesuit martyrs, executed 1581; Alexander I, Tsar of Russia, 1825; Ebenezer Elliott, poet and 'anti-Corn Law rhymester', 1849; Samuel Courtauld, industrialist, 1947; David Ben Gurion, Israeli statesman, 1973.

On this day: the Royal Academy of Arts was founded, 1768; Nancy Astor became the first woman to take her seat in the House of Commons as an MP, 1919; the Locarno Pact was signed in London, 1925; 'Points' rationing was introduced in Britain, 1941; the Beveridge Report on social security was published, 1942; hurricane force winds swept across Britain and caused widespread damage, 1966; the two pilot tunnels for the Channel Tunnel were joined, thus linking the two coasts for the first time, 1990.

Today is the Feast Day of St Agericus or Airy, St Alexander Briant, St Anasanus, St Edmund Campion, St Eligius or Eloy, St Ralph Sherwin and St Tudwal.