Anniversaries

Births: Henry III, King, 1207; Giacomo da Vignola (Giacomo Barozzi), architect, 1507; Giovanni Matteo Asola, priest and composer, 1609; Alessandro Stradella, singer and composer, 1644; Paul I, Tsar of Russia, 1754; William Thomas Beckford, writer and millionaire, 1759; Pierre-Marie Francois de Sales Baillot, violinist, 1771; Sir Robert Smirke, architect, 1781; Karl von Piloty, painter, 1826; Adam Adolf Oberlander, painter and caricaturist, 1845; Annie Besant, social reformer and theosophist, 1847; Jose Benlliure y Gil, painter, 1855; Paul Dukas, composer, 1865; Stanley Holloway, actor and entertainer, 1890; Laurence Harvey (Laruska Mischa Skikne), actor, 1928; Louis Untermeyer, writer and editor, 1885.

Deaths: Marsilio Ficino, scholar and philosopher, 1499; Pierre Corneille, playwright, 1684; Frans Floris (Frans de Vriendt), painter, 1570; Maarten Jacobsz Heemskerk (Van Veen), painter, 1574; Don John of Austria, soldier, 1578; John Blow, organist and composer, 1708; Sir Edwin Henry Landseer, painter, 1873; Anthony Ashley Cooper, seventh Earl of Shaftesbury, social reformer, 1885; Benjamin Jowett, classical scholar, 1893; Wilhelm Dilthey, philosopher, 1911; Conway Tearle (Frederick Levy), actor, 1938; Gregorio Martinez Sierra, poet and playwright, 1947; Albert Von Tilzer, composer and publisher, 1956; Ludwig Bemelmans, writer and illustrator for children, 1962; Ernst Toch, composer, 1964; Louis Seymour Bazett Leakey, anthropologist, 1972; Roy Harris, composer, 1979; Don Banks, composer, 1980.

On this day: the Colloquy of Marburg between religious reformers began, 1529; money orders were first issued in Britain, 1792; Belgium became part of the French Republic, 1795; Louisiana was ceded to France by Spain, 1800; the Peace of Amiens, 1802; the News of the World was first published, 1843; Garibaldi defeated the Neapolitans at the river Volturno, 1860; the Midland Railway opened St Pancras Station, 1868; Austria issued the first postcards, 1869; halfpenny postage was introduced in Britain, 1870; stamped postcards were first issued in Britain, 1870; Chicago University was inaugurated and opened to students, 1892; the Model T was introduced by Henry Ford, 1908; German forces entered the Sudetenland, 1938; the People's Republic of China was proclaimed, 1949; Nigeria became independent, 1960; in the USA, the Watergate trial started, 1974; the first London performance of the musical show They're Playing Our Song was presented, 1980; Pakistan rejoined the Commonwealth after an absence of 17 years, 1989.

Today is the Feast Day of St Bavo or Allowin, St Melorus or Mylor, St Remigius or Remi, St Romanus the Melodist and St Therese of Lisieux.