Anniversaries

Births: John Brown, abolitionist, 1800; Sir James Matthew Barrie, novelist and playwright, 1860; Howard Carter, painter and Egyptologist, 1873; Jose Ortega y Gasset, philosopher and writer, 1883

Deaths: Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller, poet and playwright, 1805; Joseph Mallaby Dent, publisher, 1926; Louis II, Prince of Monaco, 1949; Edmond O'Brien, actor, 1985.

On this day: Colonel Thomas Blood, adventurer, attempted to steal the Crown Jewels, 1671; Victoria Embankment, London, was opened, 1874; Piccadilly Circus was first lit by electricity, 1932; Britain's first launderette opened in Queensway, London, 1949; West Germany became a member of Nato, 1955; impeachment proceedings against President Nixon were opened in the United States, 1974.

Today is the Feast Day of St Beatus of Lungern, St Beatus of Vendome, St Gerontius of Cervia and St Pachomius.