Anniversaries

Anniversaries

TODAY

Births: Torquato Tasso, poet and playwright, 1544; Sir Malcolm Campbell, speed record holder, 1885; Dorothy Gish (le Guiche), actress, 1898. Deaths: Hannah Cowley (Parkhouse), playwright and poet, 1809; Sir Alexander Fleming, bacteriologist, 1955; Erle Stanley Gardner, creator of "Perry Mason", 1970. On this day: Chelsea Hospital for old soldiers was founded, 1682; Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call, 1876; Mount Etna erupted, 1974. Today is the Feast Day of St Aurea, St Benedict of Milan, St Constantine of Cornwall, St Eulogius of Cordova, St Oengus or Aengus the Culdee, St Sophronius of Jerusalem, St Teresa Margaret Redi and St Vindician.

TOMORROW

Births: John Aubrey, antiquary, 1626; Kemal Atatrk (Mustapha Kemal), soldier and statesman, 1881; Vaslav Fomich Nijinsky, dancer, 1890; Jack (Jean-Louis) Kerouac, novelist, 1922. Deaths: Cesare Borgia, cardinal, soldier and politician, killed 1507; Anne Frank, diarist, at Bergen-Belsen 1945. On this day: the Bermudas became an English colony, 1609; a 30mph speed limit was imposed in Britain for cars in built-up areas, 1935. Today is the Feast Day of St Alphege of Winchester, St Bernard of Capua, St Maximilian of Theveste, St Paul Aurelian or of Leon, Saints Peter, Gorgonius and Dorotheus, St Seraphina or Fina and St Theophanes the Chronicler.