Anniversaries

TODAY

Births: Ovid, poet, 43 BC; Jean-Antoine Houdon, sculptor, 1741; Johann Friedrich Holderlin, poet, 1770; Henrik Ibsen, playwright, 1828; Sir Edward John Poynter, painter, 1836; Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave, actor, 1908; Wendell Corey, actor, 1914.

Deaths: Henry IV, King of England, 1413; Sir Thomas Elyot, diplomat, doctor and writer, 1546; Sir Isaac Newton, scientist, 1727; Ferdinand Foch, Marshal of France, 1929; Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas, editor and poet, 1945; Henry Handel Richardson (Ethel Florence Richardson), novelist, 1946; Charles Kay Ogden, linguist and originator of Basic English, 1957; Brendan Behan, writer, 1964.

On this day: the foundation stone of Dartmoor Prison was laid, 1806; Napoleon arrived at Fontainebleau and the 'Hundred Days' began, 1815; Marble Arch, formerly at Buckingham Palace, was unveiled at its present site in London, 1851; Harriet Becher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin was first published in book form, 1852; the Nazis opened their first concentration camp at Dachau, near Munich, 1933; Mandalay was recaptured from the Japanese by the British, 1945; France recognised the independence of Tunisia, 1956; Isabel Peron, former president of Argentina, was jailed for eight years for corruption, 1981.

Today is the Feast Day of St Cuthbert, St Herbert, St Martin of Braga, St Photina and her Companions, St Wulfram and The Martyrs of Mar Saba.

TOMORROW

Births: Johann Sebastian Bach, composer, 1685; Thomas John Dibdin, songwriter, 1771; Dorothea Beale, educationalist, 1831; Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky, composer, 1839; Herbert Albert Laurens Fisher, historian, 1865; Florenz Ziegfeld, stage producer, 1869; Nikolaos Skalkottas, composer, 1904.

Deaths: Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, burned at the stake 1556; Robert Southey, poet, 1843; The Rev William Scoresby, Arctic explorer, 1857; Jean-Hippolyte Flandrin, painter, 1864; Harry H. Corbett, actor, 1982; Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave, actor, 1985; Robert Preston (Meservey), actor, 1987.

On this day: the coronation of King Henry V of England took place, 1413; the Scottish National Gallery in Edinburgh was opened, 1859; the Tsar and Tsarina of Russia were arrested by the revolutionary forces, 1917; the last offensive by the Germans began on the Western front, the second Battle of the Somme 1918; Waterloo Station, London, was opened, 1922; Dr Kwame Nkrumah became the first African prime minister south of the Sahara, 1952; many demonstrators at Sharpeville in South Africa were shot, 1960; Martin Luther King led a civil rights march, starting at Selma, Alabama, 1965; John Stonehouse, a former government minister, was arrested in Australia on an extradition warrant after allegations of fraud and theft, 1975; the Government decided to scrap the Poll Tax by 1993 and return to some kind of property tax, 1991.

Tomorrow is the Feast Day of St Enda, St Fanchea and St Serapion of Thmuis.