Anniversaries

Births: William Habington, poet, 1605; William III, King, 1650; The Rev Augustus Montague Toplady, writer of hymns (author of "Rock of Ages"), 1740; James Montgomery, poet and journalist, 1771; George Long, scholar and editor of the Penny Cyclopaedia, 1800; Sir Frank (Francis Robert) Benson, actor-manager, 1858; Eden Phillpotts, novelist and playwright, 1862; George Edward Moore, philosopher, 1873; Will (William Penn Adair) Rogers, humorist and actor, 1879; Miroslav Krejci, composer, 1891.

Deaths: Erasmus Bartholin, physicist, 1698; Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn- Bartholdy, composer, 1847; Hippolyte-Paul Delaroche, painter, 1856; Joseph Rowntree, cocoa manufacturer and Quaker educationist, 1859; George Peabody, industrialist and philanthropist, 1869; Philip Gilbert Hamerton, artist and writer, 1894; Wilfred Owen, poet, killed in action 1918; Takashi Hara, Japanese prime minister, assassinated 1921; Gabriel Faure, organist and composer, 1924; Manuel Azana y Diaz, President of Spain, 1940; Gilbert Frankau, novelist, 1952.

On this day: Antwerp was sacked by mutinous Spaniards, who killed over 8,000 citizens, 1576; Guy Fawkes was arrested in the cellars of Parliament, 1605; in Trafalgar Square, London, Nelson's column was completed, 1843; Richard Jordan Gatling patented his machine-gun, 1862; the tomb of Tutankhamen was discovered by Lord Carnarvon and Howard Carter, 1922; Unesco was established, 1946; Dwight David Eisenhower was elected as 34th US President, 1952; Soviet troops attacked Budapest, 1956; Iranian students stormed the US embassy in Teheran, taking 60 hostages, 1979; Ronald Reagan was elected as 40th US President.

Today is the Feast Day of St Birstan or Brynstan of Winchester, St Charles Borromeo, St Clarus, St Joannicus, St John Zedazneli, St Pierius and Saints Vitalis and Agricola.