Anniversaries

Births: Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, 1527; John Canton, physicist, 1718; Amelie-Julie Candeille, actress, singer and composer, 1767; Friedrich Wohler, chemist, 1800; John Ericsson, naval engineer, 1803; Oskar Begas, painter, 1828; Leon Adolphe Willette, painter, 1857; Theobald Smith, pathologist, 1859.

Deaths: St Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, 1556; Jacobus Gallus (Jakob Handl), composer, 1591; Juste-Aurele Meissonier, goldsmith, painter and sculptor, 1750; Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, Mexican revolutionary and priest, killed 1811; Johann Nepomuk Maelzel, musician and inventor, 1838; Sandor Petofi (Alexander Petrovics), poet, killed in battle 1849; Louis-Christophe- Francois Hachette, publisher and bookseller, 1864; Benoit Fourneyron, inventor of the water turbine, 1867; Andrew Johnson, 17th US President, 1875; Franz Liszt, composer, 1886; Frank Holl, painter, 1888; Richard Morris Hunt, architect, 1895; Jean-Joseph-Auguste- Marie Jaures, statesman, assassinated 1914; Sir Harry Hamilton Johnston, explorer, 1927; Scoresby Routledge, anthropologist and explorer, 1939; Sir Francis Younghusband, soldier, diplomat and explorer, 1942; Owen Ramsay Nares, actor-manager, 1943; Captain Hedley Verity, cricketer, on active service 1943; Guilhermina Suggia, cellist, 1950; Jim Reeves, country singer, killed 1964; Margaret Kennedy, novelist, 1967; Gian Francesco Malipiero, composer, 1973.

On this day: William Caxton published Le Morte D'Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory, 1485; Trinidad was discovered by Christopher Columbus on his third voyage, 1498; the US yacht America, first winner of the America's Cup, reached Cowes, Isle of Wight, 1851; the London Echo newspaper was last issued, 1905; the Boy Scout movement was inaugurated by Sir Robert Baden-Powell, 1908; Dr Crippen was arrested on board the SS Montrose for the murder of his wife, 1910; the third Battle of Ypres began, 1917; Germany adopted the Weimar constitution, 1925; Mount Godwin-Austen (K2) was climbed by an Italian expedition, 1954; the cross-Channel Hovercraft service was inaugurated, 1968; Pope Paul VI visited Uganda - the first time that a pope had visited Africa, 1969.

Today is the Feast Day of St Helen of Skovde, St Ignatius of Loyola, St Justin de Jacobis and St Neot.