Anniversaries

Anniversaries

Births: Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia, 1672; Mikhail Alexandrovich Bakunin, anarchist, 1814; Peter Carl (Karl Gustavovich) Faberge, goldsmith, 1846; Benny (Benjamin David) Goodman, bandleader and clarinettist, 1909. Deaths: Joan of Arc, burnt at the stake at Rouen 1431; Christopher Marlowe, playwright, killed in a brawl 1593; Sir Peter Paul Rubens, painter, 1640; Alexander Pope, poet and satirist, 1744; Voltaire (Francois-Marie Arouet), philosopher and writer, 1778; Boris Leonidovich Pasternak, poet and author, 1960. On this day: King Henry VIII was married to Jane Seymour, 1536; the Grenadier Guards were formed, 1656; Napoleon annexed Tuscany, 1808; John Francis attempted to assassinate Queen Victoria, 1842; the Balkan War was ended by the Treaty of London, which created the new state of Albania, 1913; the first hovercraft flight took place at Cowes, Isle of Wight, 1959; Eastern Nigeria declared itself independent, being renamed the Republic of Biafra, 1967. Today is the Feast Day of St Exuperantius of Ravenna, St Ferdinand of Castile, St Isaac of Constantinople, St Joan of Arc, St Luke Kirby, St Madelgisilus or Maugeille and St Walstan.