Anniversaries

TODAY: Births: Charles Lamb, essayist and poet, 1775; Maurice Harold Macmillan, first Earl of Stockton, statesman and publisher, 1894; Bertolt Brecht (Eugen Berthold Friedrich), playwright and poet, 1898; Joyce Irene Grenfell, actress, writer and entertainer, 1910. Deaths: Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, consort of Mary, Queen of Scots, murdered 1567; Joseph, first Baron Lister, surgeon, 1912. On this day: Queen Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, 1840; New Delhi was inaugurated as capital of India, 1931; ``Pay As You Earn'' income tax was introduced, 1944. Today is the Feast Day of St Austreberta, St Scholastica, St Soteris, St Trumwin and St William of Maleval.

TOMORROW: Births: William Henry Fox Talbot, photographic pioneer, 1800; Joseph Leo Mankiewicz, film director, producer and screenwriter, 1909. Deaths: Jean-Bernard Leon Foucault, physicist, 1868; John Buchan, first Baron Tweedsmuir, governor-general and novelist, 1940; David Garnett, novelist, 1981. On this day: the Miracle of Lourdes occurred, when St Bernadette had her vision of the Virgin, 1858; London University received its deed of settlement, 1826; the first weekly weather report was issued by the Meteorological Office, 1878; the Welsh Guards (fifth regiment of Guards) was founded, 1915; a treaty signed by 63 countries prohibited the installation of nuclear weapons in the sea-bed beyond a 12-mile coastal strip, 1971; Mrs Margaret Thatcher became the first woman leader of a British political party, 1975; Nelson Mandela was released from prison after 27 years, 1990; the Queen agreed to pay tax on her private income, 1993. Tomorrow is the Feast Day of St Benedict of Aniane, St Caedmon, St Gregory II, Pope, St Lazarus of Milan, St Lucius of Adrianople, St Pascal I, Pope, Saints Saturninus, Dativus, and Others and St Severinus of Agaunum.