Anniversaries

Anniversaries

Births: William Bligh, captain of the Bounty, 1754; Alexander Nasmyth, painter, 1758; Jane Ellen Harrison, scholar and archaeologist, 1850; Ralph Hodgson, poet, 1871; Max Reinhardt (Goldmann), theatre director, 1873; James Evershed Agate, theatre critic, 1877; Arthur Freed, popular lyricist and producer, 1894; James Hilton, novelist, 1900; Cesare Pavese, poet and novelist, 1908; Paul Goodman, novelist, playwright and poet, 1911. Deaths: William I, King (the Conqueror), 1087; James IV, King of Scotland, killed in battle at Flodden, 1513; Sir Humphrey Gilbert, explorer, drowned off the Azores, 1583; Tobias George Smollett, physician and author, 1771; Giambattista Piranesi, architect, painter and engraver, 1778; John Singleton Copley, historical painter, 1815; Stephane Mallarme, poet, 1898; Roger Eliot Fry, artist, 1934; Mao Tse-tung, Chinese leader, 1976; Hugh MacDiarmid (Christopher Murray Grieve), poet and critic, 1978. On this day: San Sebastian, held by the French, surrendered to the Duke of Wellington, 1813; Allied troops landed at Salerno, Italy, 1943; North Korea was proclaimed a separate independent state, 1948; the first hijack of a British aircraft took place near Beirut, 1970. Today is the Feast Day of St Bettelin, St Ciaran or Kieran of Clonmacnois, St Gorgonius, St Isaac or Sahak the Great, St Joseph of Volokolamsk, St Omer or Audomarus and St Peter Claver.