Anniversaries: 2nd & 3rd February

Anniversaries

TODAY: Births: Horace Greeley, newspaper editor, 1811; Gertrude Stein, author and critic, 1874. Deaths: Richard "Beau" Nash, gambler and dandy, 1762; Boris Karloff (William Henry Pratt), actor, 1969; John Cassavetes, actor, director and screenwriter, 1989. On this day: Greece was declared to be independent under the protection of France, Russia and Britain, 1830; the United States and Germany broke off diplomatic relations, 1917. Today is the Feast Day of St Anskar, St Blaise, St Ia the Virgin, St Laurence of Canterbury, St Laurence of Spoleto, Saint Margaret "of England" and St Werburga.

TOMORROW: Births: Pierre Carlet de Chamblain de Marivaux, playwright and novelist, 1688; Jacques Prevert, poet and novelist, 1900; Charles Augustus Lindbergh, aviator, 1902. Deaths: Karen Carpenter, singer, 1983; Liberace (Wladiziu Valentino), entertainer, 1987. On this day: the command of the German Army was assumed by Adolf Hitler, 1938; Ceylon (later known as Sri Lanka) became an independent state, 1948; sweet rationing ended in Britain, 1953. Tomorrow is the Feast Day of St Andrew Corsini, bishop, St Isidore of Pelusium, St Joan of Valois, St John de Britto, St Joseph of Leonessa, St Modan, St Nicholas Studites, St Phileas, St Rembert and St Theophilus the Penitent.