Anniversaries

Anniversaries

TODAY: Births: Roger Martin du Gard, novelist and playwright, 1881; Joan Crawford (Lucille Le Sueur), actress, 1904; Donald Malcolm Campbell, land and water speed record holder, 1921. Deaths: Stendhal (Marie Henri Beyle), novelist, 1842; Raoul Dufy, painter and designer, 1953; Peter Lorre (Laszlo Lowenstein), actor, 1964. On this day: the marriage of Catherine of Aragon to King Henry VIII was declared valid by the Pope, although in 1533 he had married Anne Boleyn, 1534; Adolf Hitler became dictator of Germany, 1933; the Archbishop of Canterbury visited Rome and met the Pope, the first official meeting between the two churches for 400 years, 1966. Today is the Feast Day of St Benedict the Hermit, St Ethelwald the Hermit, St Joseph Oriol, St Turibius of Lima and St Victorian.

TOMORROW: Births: William Morris, socialist, artist, poet and typographer, 1834; Terrence Steven (Steve) McQueen, actor, 1930. Deaths: Queen Elizabeth I, 1603; Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poet, 1882; Jules Verne, novelist, 1905; John Millington Synge, playwright, 1909; Cristbal Balenciaga, couturier, 1972; Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, first Viscount Montgomery of Alamein, 1976; Ernest Howard Shepard, artist and illustrator, 1976. On this day: after King James (James I of England, James VI of Scotland) ascended the throne of England, the English and Scottish crowns were united, 1603; the University Boat Race between Oxford and Cambridge ended in a dead heat, 1877; the national loaf was introduced into Britain, 1942. Today is the Feast Day of St Aldemar, St Catharine of Vadstena, St Irenaeus of Sirmium, St Simon of Trent and St William of Norwich.