Anniversaries

Anniversaries

Births: Henry II, king of England, 1133; Matthew Merian the Younger, engraver and painter, 1621; William Hamilton (of Bangour), poet, 1754; Joachim Murat, "Joachim Napoleon", King of Naples, 1767; Jean-Baptiste Paulin Guerin, painter, 1783; Francois-Joseph Fetis, composer and musicologist, 1784; Giovanni Battista Amici, astronomer and optician, 1786; Alexander Ivanovich Herzen, journalist and author, 1812; John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum, sculptor, 1867; Arturo Toscanini, conductor, 1867; Hermann Abert, musicologist, 1871; Bela Bartk, composer, 1881; Andy Clyde, actor and comedian, 1892; Jean Sablon, singer, actor and composer, 1906; Alan John Percivale Taylor, historian, 1906; Jerry Livingston (Jerome Levinson), composer and lyricist, 1909. Deaths: Nicholas Hawksmoor, architect, 1836; "Novalis" (Friedrich Leopold, Freiherr von Hardenberg), poet, 1801; Anna Seward, poet and novelist, 1809; Caroline Chisholm, social worker, 1877; James Payn, novelist, 1898; Garnet Joseph, Viscount Wolseley, soldier and army reformer, 1913; Frederic Mistral, Provencal poet, 1914; Achille-Claude Debussy, composer, 1918; John Drinkwater, poet and playwright, 1937; King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, assassinated by Prince Museid, his nephew, 1975; Walter Susskind, conductor and pianist, 1980. On this day: the Council of Pisa met, 1409; Robert (I) Bruce was crowned King of Scots at Scone, Perthshire, 1306; Sir Walter Raleigh was granted a patent to exploit Virginia, 1584; Henry Hudson sailed from Amsterdam on behalf of the Dutch East India Company in an effort to find the North West Passage, 1609; Titan, one of Saturn's "moons", was discovered by Christiaan Huygens, 1655; the British parliament abolished the slave trade, 1807; Greece revolted against the Ottoman Empire, 1821; Rotherhithe pedestrian tunnel beneath the Thames was opened, 1843; Gilbert and Sullivan's opera Trial by Jury was first produced, London, 1875; the Italians invaded Abyssinia (Ethiopia), 1895; in Mexico, the president, Porfirio Daz, was overthrown and deposed by Francisco Indalecio Madero, 1911; 350,000 gallons of alcoholic liquor was dumped into the Chicago river by US prohibitionist law agents, 1922; King George of Greece was deposed, and a republic was proclaimed, 1924; the Fascist government in Italy claimed to have received 99 per cent of the votes in the general election, 1929; the Mosquito fighter-bomber made its maiden flight, 1940; Hamlet became the first British film to win an Academy Award for "Best Picture", 1949; the European Community was established when the Treaty of Rome was signed by the "Six" original member countries, 1957; President Ayub Khan of Pakistan resigned, and General Yahya Khan, the Army Commander-in-Chief took over, proclaiming martial law, 1969; the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Khalid ibn Abdul Aziz, succeeded to the throne, 1975. Today is Lady Day (Feast of the Annunciation) and the Feast Day of St Alfwold, St Barontius, St Dismas, the Good Thief, St Hermenland, St Lucy Filippini and St Margaret Clitherow.