Anniversaries

Anniversaries

TODAY: Births: William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, military commander, 1721; Pierre-Etienne Thodore Rousseau, painter, 1812; Benjamin Jowett, classical scholar, 1817; Henry James, novelist, 1843; Bessie Smith, blues singer, 1894. Deaths: Domenichino or Domenico Zampieri, painter, 1641; Lorenzo Lippi, poet and painter, 1664; Abraham Lincoln, 16th US President, from a shot wound 1865; Matthew Arnold, educationalist and poet, 1888; John Singer Sargent, painter, 1925; Jean-Paul Sartre, philosopher and writer, 1980. On this day: Dr Samuel Johnson published his Dictionary, 1755; the Bank of England issued the first five-pound note, 1793; the White Star liner Titanic sank on her maiden voyage with the loss of 1,513 lives, 1912; US aircraft bombed Libya, 1986; 95 Liverpool football fans were crushed to death at Hillsborough Stadium, Sheffield, 1989. Today is Easter Eve and the Feast Day of Saints Anastasia and Basilissa, St Hunna or Huva, St Patern or Padarn of Wales and St Ruadhan. Today is also the First Day of Passover.

TOMORROW: Births: Sir Hans Sloane, physician and naturalist, 1660; Ford Madox Brown, painter, 1821; John Millington Synge, poet and playwright, 1871; Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin, comedian, 1889. Deaths: Filippo Brunelleschi, architect, 1446; Aphra Behn, playwright and novelist, the first woman professional writer, 1689; Francisco Jos de Goya y Lucientes, painter, 1828; Marie (Gresholtz) Tussaud, wax modeller, 1850; Alexis Charles Henri Maurice Clerel de Tocqueville, politician and writer, 1859; Bernadette Soubirous, St Bernadette of Lourdes, 1879; Bertram Wagstaff Mills, circus proprietor, 1938. On this day: Charles Edward Stuart, the Young Pretender, was defeated at the Battle of Culloden, 1746; George VI awarded the island of Malta the George Cross, 1942. Tomorrow is Easter Day and the Feast Day of St Bernadette, St Contardo, St Drogo or Druon, St Encratis, St Fructuosus Braga, St Joseph Benedict Labre, St Magnus of Orkney, St Optatus and the Martyrs of Saragossa, St Paternus or Pair of Avranches and St Turibius of Astorga.