Anniversaries

Births: Il Parmigianino (Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola), painter, 1503; Adam Frans van der Meulen, painter, 1632; Ezra Cornell, founder of Cornell University, New York, 1807; Fred Archer, jockey, 1857; Henry Gordon Selfridge, founder of the London store, 1864; Manfred Bennington Lee (Lepovsky), author, of the 'Ellery Queen' partnership, 1905; Pierre Mendes-France, politician, 1907.

Deaths: Domenico (de Tommaso Bigordi) Ghirlandaio, Florentine painter, 1494; Sir Hans Sloane, physician and naturalist, 1753; Baron Georges-Eugene Haussmann, rebuilder of Paris, 1891; Thomas Gordon Hake, physician and poet, 1895; Thomas Hardy, poet and novelist, 1928; Alberto Giacometti, sculptor and painter, 1966; Lal Bahadur Shastri, prime minister of India, 1966; Richmal Crompton, author and creator of 'William', 1969; Barbara Mary Pym, novelist, 1980; Jack LaRue, actor, 1984.

On this day: Charing Cross station, London, was formally opened, 1864; Major Esterhazy, on trial for forgery in the Dreyfus case, was acquitted, 1898; the Representation of the People Bill was passed, giving votes to women, 1918; the first women jurors were sworn in at the Old Bailey, 1921; the Ruhr was occupied by French and Belgian troops, following the failure of Germany to pay reparations, 1923; the Open University awarded its first degrees, 1973; following the journey of Captain Scott in 1912, three Britons made a 883-mile walk to the South Pole, 1986.

Today is the Feast Day of St Theodosius the Cenobiarch and St Salvius or Sauve of Amiens.