BIRTHDAYS

Birthdays

TODAY: Lord Barnett, former MP, 72; Mr Reginald Bottini, former trade union leader, 79; Mr John Boyd, HM Chief Inspector of Constabulary for Scotland, 62; Mr Roland Butcher, cricketer, 42; Mr Steve Cram, athlete, 35; Mr Vivian Davies, Keeper of Egyptian Antiquities, British Museum, 48; Mr John de Courcy Ling, former MEP and diplomat, 62; Mr Thomas Dolby, keyboard player, 37; Mrs Elizabeth Esteve-Coll, Vice-Chancellor, University of East Anglia, 57; Sir Leslie Fletcher, former chairman, The Rank Organisation, 73; Sir Christopher French, High Court judge, 70; Professor John Griffith, former Chancellor of Manchester University, 77; Air Chief Marshal Sir David Harcourt-Smith, 64; Mr Justin Hayward, rock singer, 49; Mr David Hinchliffe MP, 47; Mr James Hodgson, former vice-chairman, British Telecom, 70; Professor Victor Hoffbrand, haematologist, 60; Mr Joe Hyman, former chairman, John Crowther Group, 74; Mr William Jarvis, racehorse trainer, 35; Sir Richard Luce, Vice-Chancellor, University of Buckingham, 59; Mr Roger Moore, actor, 68; Sir Derek Oulton QC, former Permanent Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Office, 68; Mme Francoise Pascal, actress, 46; Mr Thomas Prentice, life president, Harrisons and Crosfield, 76; Mr Cliff Richard, singer, 55; Mr John Roques, senior partner and chief executive, Touche Ross & Co, 57; Mr Roger Taylor, tennis player, 54; Mr Christopher Timothy, actor, 55; Miss Carole Tongue, MEP, 40; Mr Kieran Tunney, playwright, 73; Mr Alan Williams MP, 65; Mr Derek Wood QC, Principal, St Hugh's College, Oxford, 58.

TOMORROW: The Duchess of York, 36; Lord Baden-Powell, vice-president of the Scout Association, 59; Sir George Bishop, former chairman, Booker McConnell, 82; Mr Howard Colvin, architectural historian, 76; Professor John K. Galbraith, economist, 87; The Very Rev Eric Heaton, former Dean of Christ Church, Oxford, 75; Sir Julian Hodge, merchant banker, 91; Mr Tito Jackson, singer, 42; Mr Alan Jones, chairman and chief executive, Westland Group, 56; Miss Catherine Lampert, director, Whitechapel Art Gallery, 49; Dame Anne Mueller, former senior civil servant, 65; Baroness Perry of Southwark, President, Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge, 64; Mr Peter Phillips, founder and musical director, the Tallis Scholars, 42; Mr Mario Puzo, novelist, 75; Professor Charles Rees, organic chemist, 68; Mr George Sava, author and surgeon, 92; Professor Arthur Schlesinger, author and Schweitzer Professor of the Humanities, City University of New York, 78; Baroness Serota, former Ombudsman, 76; Mr David Trimble MP, 51; Sir John Vinelott, High Court judge, 72; Sir Christopher Walford, Lord Mayor of London, 60.

Anniversaries

TODAY: Births: Eamon De Valera, statesman, 1882; Katherine Mansfield, writer, 1888; Lillian Gish (Lillian Diana de Guiche), actress, 1894. Deaths: Harold, King of England, killed in battle 1066; Errol Flynn, actor, 1959; Bing Crosby, singer, 1977; Leonard Bernstein, conductor and composer, 1990. On this day: Mary, Queen of Scots was tried, 1586; the trial of Marie Antoinette took place, 1793; Oxford University degrees were first conferred on women, 1920. Today is the Feast Day of St Angadriama, St Burchard of Wurzburg, St Callixtus I, pope, St Dominic Lauricatus, St Justus of Lyons, St Manaccus and St Manechildis.

TOMORROW: Births: Virgil (Publius Vergilius Maro), poet, 70 BC; Akbar the Great, Mogul Emperor, 1542; Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche, philosopher, 1844; Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, novelist, 1881. Deaths: Mata Hari (Margaretha Geertruida Zelle), executed for espionage 1917; Hermann Goering, Nazi leader, committed suicide 1946; Cole Albert Porter, composer and lyricist, 1964. On this day: the Great Exhibition in Hyde Park was closed, 1851; Cologne Cathedral was solemnly opened, 1880; the Comedy Theatre, London, opened, 1881. Tomorrow is the Feast Day of St Euthymius the Younger, St Leonard of Vandoeuvre, St Teresa of Avila and St Thecla of Kitzingen.