April
All Fools' Day. Feast day of St Agilbert, St Gilbert of Caithness, St Tewdric, St Walaric, St Catharine of Palma, St Melito, St Valery, St Hugh of Bonnevaux, and St Hugh of Grenoble.
Events
1908 The British Territorial Army was founded. 1918 The Royal Air Force was formed when the Royal Naval Air Service and the Royal Flying Corps were merged. 1947 Britain's school-leaving age was raised to 15. 1948 The USSR began its blockade of Berlin. 1960 The USA launched the world's first weather satellite, Tiros I. 1973 In Britain, Value Added Tax (VAT) replaced Purchase Tax and Selective Employment Tax.
Births
William Harvey, English physician who explained the circulation of the blood, 1578; Otto von Bismarck, first chancellor of the German Empire, 1815; Edmond Rostand, French playwright, author of Cyrano de Bergerac, 1868; Lon Chaney, US silent-film actor, 1883; Ali McGraw, US film actress, 1938; David Gower, English cricketer, 1957.
Deaths
Eleanor of Aquitaine, queen of England and France, 1204; King Robert III of Scotland, 1406; Scott Joplin, US composer, 1917; Karl Franz Josef, emperor of Austria, 1922; Max Ernst, German Surrealist painter, 1976; Marvin Gaye, US singer, 1984.
Feast day of St Francis of Paola, St Mary of Egypt, St John Payne, St Zosimus, St Nicetius of Lyons, and Saints Apphian and Theodosia.
Events
1792 The first mint was established in the USA. 1801 The British and Danish fleets met in the Battle of Copenhagen, during which Nelson put his telescope to his blind eye and ignored Admiral Parker's signal to stop fighting; the British fleet won. 1849 Britain annexed the Punjab. 1860 The first parliament of the united Italy met at Turin. 1946 The Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst, Berkshire, was founded. 1979 Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin became the first Israeli leader to visit Cairo when he met Egyptian President Sadat. 1982 Argentina invaded the Falkland Islands.
Births
Charlemagne, king of the Franks, 742; Hans Christian Andersen, Danish author, 1805; Emile Zola, French novelist, 1840; Alec Guinness, English actor, 1914; Jack Brabham, Australian racing driver, 1926; Penelope Keith, English actress, 1939.
Deaths
Honoré Mirabeau, French politician and writer, 1791; Richard Cobden, British politician, 1865; Samuel Morse, US inventor, 1872; C S Forester, English novelist, 1966; Georges Pompidou, president of France, 1974.
Feast day of Saints Agape, Chionia, and Irene, St Pancras of Taormina, St Richard of Chichester, St Nicetas, St Burgundofara, and St Sixtus I, pope.
Events
1721 Robert Walpole became the first prime minister of Britain. 1860 In the USA, the Pony Express came into operation, with despatch riders regularly making the 3,000-km /2,000-mi trip from St Joseph, Missouri to San Francisco, California. 1922 In the USSR, Stalin was appointed as general secretary of the Communist Party. 1930 Haile Selassie became emperor of Ethiopia. 1987 At an auction in Geneva, jewellery belonging to the late Duchess of Windsor raised over £31 million.
Births
King Henry IV, first Lancastrian king of England, 1367; Washington Irving, US historian and short-story writer, 1783; Doris Day, US film actress and singer, 1924; Marlon Brando, US actor, 1924; Helmut Kohl, German politician, 1930; Eddie Murphy, US film actor, 1961.
Deaths
Bartolomé Murillo, Spanish painter, 1682; James Clark Ross, English explorer, 1862; Johannes Brahms, German composer, 1897; Jesse James, US outlaw, 1882; Graham Greene, English novelist, 1991; Martha Graham, US dancer and choreographer, 1991; Dieter Plage, German wildlife photographer, 1993.
National Day of Hungary. Feast day of St Ambrose, St Isidore, St Plato, St Tigernach, St Benedict the Black, and Saints Agathopus and Theodulus.
Events
1541 Spanish Jesuit Ignatius de Loyola became the order's first superior-general. 1581 English navigator Francis Drake returned home after sailing around the world, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth I. 1933 In the USA, 73 people died when the helium-filled airship Akron crashed into the sea off the New Jersey coast. 1934 `Cat's-eye' reflective studs were first used on roads near Bradford, Yorkshire. 1949 The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was formed in Washington DC, USA; 11 countries signed the treaty. 1958 Members of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) held the first Aldermaston March, walking from Hyde Park Corner, London, to the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston, Berkshire.
Births
Grinling Gibbons, Dutch-born woodcarver and sculptor, 1648; William Siemens, German-born British metallurgist and inventor, 1823; Marguerite Duras, French author, 1914; Muddy Waters, US blues singer, 1915; Maya Angelou, US author, 1928; Anthony Perkins, US actor, 1932.
Deaths
John Napier, Scottish mathematician who invented logarithms, 1617; Oliver Goldsmith, Irish playwright, 1774; Karl Benz, German motor-car engineer, 1929; André Michelin, French tyre manufacturer, 1931; Martin Luther King, US civil-rights leader, assassinated, 1968; Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Pakistani prime minister, executed, 1979.
Feast day of St Derfel, St Vincent Ferrer, St Ethelburga of Lyminge, St Albert of Montecorvino, and St Gerald of Sauve-Majeure.
Events
1614 In England, the Addled Parliament began sitting, so called because it passed no Bills. 1874 Johann Strauss's opera Die Fledermaus was first performed, in Vienna. 1955 British prime minister Winston Churchill resigned. 1964 Automatic, driverless trains began operating on the London Underground. 1976 Harold Wilson resigned as prime minister of Britain, and was succeeded by James Callaghan.
Births
Thomas Hobbes, English philosopher, 1588; Elihu Yale, American merchant and founder of the college named after him, 1649; Spencer Tracey, US film actor, 1900; Bette Davis, US film actress, 1908; Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor, 1908; Gregory Peck, US film actor, 1916.
Deaths
Georges Danton, French revolutionary leader, guillotined, 1794; John Wisden, English cricketer who compiled the almanacs named after him, 1884; Douglas MacArthur, US general, 1964; Chiang Kai-shek, Chinese soldier and politician, 1975; Howard Hughes, US industrialist and multi-millionaire, 1976; George Herbert, earl of Carnarvon, British Egyptologist, 1923.
Feast day of St Elstan, St Irenaeus of Sirmium, St Celestine I, pope, St Marcellinus of Carthage, St Prudentius of Troyes, St Eutychius of Constantinople, and St William of Eskilsoè.
Events
1580 An earth tremor damaged several London churches, including the old St Paul's Cathedral. 1830 Joseph Smith founded the Mormon Church in New York State. 1896 The first modern Olympic Games began in Athens. 1909 US explorer Robert Peary became the first person to reach the North Pole. 1917 The USA declared war on Germany. 1965 Early Bird, the first commercial communications satellite, was launched by the USA.
Births
Gustave Moreau, French painter, 1826; Harry Houdini, US escapologist, 1874; John Betjeman, English poet, 1906; James Watson, US biologist, 1928; André Previn, US conductor, 1929; Paul Daniels, English magician and entertainer, 1938.
Deaths
King Richard I, `the Lion-Heart', 1199; Albrecht Dürer, German painter, 1528; Francis Walsingham, English politician, 1590; Jules Bordet, Belgian bacteriologist, 1961; Igor Stravinsky, Russian composer, 1971; Isaac Asimov, US scientist, 1992.
Feast day of St Celsus, St Goran, St Finan Cam, St George the Younger, St Hegesippus, St Aphraates, St Henry Walpole, St Herman Joseph, and St John Baptist de la Salle.
Events
1827 The first matches were sold in Stockton, England, by their inventor, chemist John Walker. 1853 Chloroform was used as an anaesthetic on Queen Victoria, during the birth of her eighth child, Prince Leopold. 1906 A major eruption of the Italian volcano, Vesuvius, took place. 1939 Italy invaded Albania. 1948 The World Health Organization (WHO) was established.
Births
St Francis Xavier, Spanish Jesuit missionary, 1506; William Wordsworth, English poet, 1770; Billie Holiday, US jazz singer, 1915; Ravi Shankar, Indian sitar player, 1920; David Frost, English TV presenter and interviewer, 1939; Francis Ford Coppola, US film director, 1939.
Deaths
El Greco, Greek-born Spanish painter, 1614; Dick Turpin, English highwayman, 1739; Phineas T Barnum, US showman, 1891; Henry Ford, US car manufacturer, 1947; Theda Bara, US silent-film actress, 1955; Jim Clark, English racing driver, killed in a crash, 1968.
Feast day of St Walter of Pontoise, St Julia Billart, St Perpetuus of Tours, and St Dionysus of Corinth.
Events
1513 Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon arrived in Florida and claimed it for Spain. 1838 Isambard Brunel's steamship Great Western set off on its first voyage, from Bristol to New York; the journey took 15 days. 1898 Lord Kitchener defeated Sudanese leader the Mahdi, at the Battle of Atbara. 1908 Herbert Asquith became prime minister of Britain. 1939 In Albania, King Zog abdicated after Italy occupied the country. 1946 The League of Nations met for the last time. 1953 British colonial authorities in Kenya sentenced Jomo Kenyatta to seven years' imprisonment for allegedly organising the Mau Mau guerrillas.
Births
Adrian Boult, English conductor, 1889; Mary Pickford, US film actress, 1893; Ian Smith, Rhodesian prime minister, 1919; Eric Porter, English actor, 1928; Dorothy Tutin, English actress, 1931; Hywel Bennett, Welsh actor, 1944.
Deaths
Caracalla, Roman emperor, assassinated, ad 217; Domenico Donizetti, Italian composer, 1848; Elisha Graves Otis, US inventor of the safety lift, 1861; Pablo Picasso, Spanish painter, 1973; Marian Anderson, US contralto, 1993.
Feast day of St Madrun, St Uramar, St Hugh of Rouen, St Gaucherius, St Mary Cleophas, and St Waldetrudis.
Events
1747 The Scottish Jacobite Lord Lovat was beheaded on Tower Hill, London, for high treason; he was the last man to be executed in this way in Britain. 1770 English navigator James Cook arrived in Botany Bay, Australia, the first European to do so. 1865 The American Civil War came to an end when Confederate General Robert E Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S Grant, at Appomatox, Virginia. 1869 The Hudson Bay Company agreed to transfer its territory to Canada. 1917 In France, during World War I, Canadian forces began the assault on Vimy Ridge, and the Battle of Arras began. 1969 The British supersonic aircraft Concorde made its first test flight, from Bristol to Fairford, Gloucestershire.
Births
Isambard Kingdom Brunel, English engineer, 1806; Charles Baudelaire, French poet, 1821; Paul Robeson, US actor and singer, 1898; Hugh Gaitskell, British politician, 1906; Jean-Paul Belmondo, French film actor, 1933; Severiano Ballesteros, Spanish golfer, 1957.
Deaths
Edward IV of England, 1483; Lorenzo de' Medici, Florentine ruler, 1492; Francis Bacon, English philosopher and politician, 1626; Dante Gabriel Rossetti, English painter and poet, 1882; Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German theologian, 1945; Frank Lloyd Wright, US architect, 1959.
Feast day of St Hedda of Peterborough, Saints Beocca and Hethor, St Bademus, St Macarius of Ghent, St Paternus of Abdinghhof, St Michael de Sanctis, St Fulbert of Chartres, and the Martyrs under the Danes.
Events
1633 Bananas, never seen before in England, were on sale in a London shop. 1820 The first British settlers landed at Algoa Bay, South Africa. 1841 The US newspaper New York Tribune was first published. 1849 The safety pin was patented in the USA; unaware of this, a British inventor patented his own safety pin later the same year. 1864 Austrian Archduke Maximilian was made Emperor of Mexico. 1972 Earthquakes in Iran killed over 3,000 people.
Births
King James V of Scotland, 1512; William Hazlitt, English essayist and critic, 1778; William Booth, English founder of the Salvation Army, 1829; Joseph Pulitzer, US newspaper proprietor who founded the Pulitzer Prize for literature and journalism, 1847; Max von Sydow, Swedish actor, 1929; Omar Sharif, Egyptian film actor, 1932.
Deaths
Joseph-Louis Lagrange, French mathematician, 1813; Algernon Charles Swinburne, English poet, 1909; Emiliano Zapata, Mexican revolutionary leader, shot by government troops, 1919; Auguste Lumière, French cinema pioneer, 1954; Evelyn Waugh, English novelist, 1966; Chris Hani, South African ANC leader, asssassinated, 1993.
Feast day of St Guthlac, St Stanislas, St Godeberta, St Barsanuphius, St Gemma Galgani, St Isaac of Spoleto, and St Stanislaus of Cracow.
Events
1689 The coronation of William III and Mary II took place in London. 1713 The War of the Spanish Succession was ended by the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht; France ceded Newfoundland and Gibraltar to Britain. 1814 Napoleon abdicated and was exiled to the island of Elba; Louis XVIII became king of France. 1855 Britain's first pillar boxes were put up in London; there were just six of them, and they were painted green. 1945 Allied troops liberated the Nazi concentration camp at Buchenwald. 1951 US General Douglas MacArthur was relieved of his command in Korea, after a disagreement with President Truman. 1961 Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann went on trial in Jerusalem after being kidnapped from Argentina, where he had fled after World War II.
Births
James Parkinson, English physician who discovered Parkinson's disease, 1755; George Canning, British prime minister, 1770; Charles Hallé, German-born British pianist and conductor, 1819; Dean Acheson, US politician, 1893; Dan Maskell, British tennis player, coach, and commentator, 1908; Joel Grey, US actor and singer, 1933.
Deaths
Donato Bramante, Italian architect who began St Peter's, Rome, 1514; Thomas Wyatt, English soldier and conspirator, 1554; Luther Burbank, US botanist, 1926; Archibald McIndoe, New Zealand-born plastic surgeon, 1960; John O'Hara, US novelist, 1970; Erskine Caldwell, US novelist, 1987.
Feast day of St Zeno of Verona, St Julius I, pope, St Sabas the Goth and Others, and St Alferius.
Events
1204 Soldiers taking part in the Fourth Crusade under the direction of the Doge of Venice, captured the Byzantine city of Constantinople. 1606 The Union Jack was adopted as the official flag of England. 1782 The British fleet under Admiral Rodney defeated the French fleet in the Battle of the Saints in the West Indies. 1861 The American Civil War began when Confederate troops fired on the Federal garrison at Fort Sumter. 1961 Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first person to orbit the Earth. 1981 The US space shuttle Columbia was launched from Cape Canaveral.
Births
Henry Clay, American politician, 1777; Lionel Hampton, US bandleader, 1913; Raymond Barre, French politician, 1924; Alan Ayckbourn, English playwright, 1939; Bobby Moore, English footballer, 1941.
Deaths
William Kent, English architect and landscape gardener, 1748; Fyodor Chaliapin, Russian operatic bass, 1938; Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd president of the USA, 1945; Josephine Baker, US-born French singer and dancer, 1975; Alan Paton, South African novelist and politician, 1988.
Feast day of St Guinoch, St Martin I, pope, Saints Carpus, Papylus, and Agathonice, St Hermenegild, and St Martius.
Events
1598 Henry IV of France issued the Edict of Nantes, giving religious freedom to the Huguenots. 1668 English poet John Dryden became the first Poet Laureate. 1829 The British Parliament passed the Catholic Emancipation Act, lifting restrictions imposed on Catholics at the time of Henry VIII. 1919 The Amritsar Massacre took place in the Punjab, India; British troops fired into a crowd of 10,000 which had gathered to protest at the arrest of two Indian Congress Party leaders, 379 people were killed and 1,200 wounded. 1936 Luton Town footballer Joe Payne set a goal-scoring record when he scored ten goals in one match against Bristol Rovers. 1980 Spanish golfer Severiano Ballesteros became the youngest-ever winner of the US Masters Tournament.
Births
Thomas Jefferson, 3rd president of the USA, 1743; Richard Trevithick, English engineer, 1771; F W Woolworth, US founder of chain stores, 1852; John Braine, English novelist, 1922; Seamus Heaney, Irish poet, 1939; Gary Kasparov, Russian chess player, 1963.
Deaths
Boris Godunov, Russian tsar, 1605; Jean de La Fontaine, French writer of fables, 1695; William Orchardson, Scottish painter, 1910; Abdul Salam Arif, president of Iraq, 1966; Christmas Humphreys, English judge, 1983.
Feast day of St Tiburtius and Companions, St Caradoc, St Lambert of Lyons, St Ardalion, Saints Anthony, John, and Eustace, St Benezet, St John of Vilna, St Bernard of Tiron or Abbeville, and the Martyrs of Lithuania.
Events
1471 The Battle of Barnet took place in the Wars of the Roses, in which Yorkist forces defeated the Lancastrians, leading to the restoration of Edward IV. 1828 US lexicographer Noah Webster published his American Dictionary of the English Language. 1929 The first Monaco Grand Prix was held in Monte Carlo. 1931 Spanish King Alfonso XIII fled the country after Republican successes in elections. 1931 The British Ministry of Transport published the first Highway Code. 1983 The first cordless telephone went on sale in Britain.
Births
Christiaan Huygens, Dutch astronomer and physicist, 1629; Peter Behrens, German architect and designer, 1868; John Gielgud, English actor, 1904; François Duvalier, Haitian dictator, 1907; Rod Steiger, US film actor, 1925; John Roberts, English historian, 1928.
Deaths
Richard Neville, `the Kingmaker', killed at the Battle of Barnet, 1471; Thomas Otway, English playwright, 1685; George Frederick Handel, English composer, 1759; Lazarus Zamenhof, Polish linguist who devised Esperanto, 1917; Ernest Bevin, British politician and trade-union leader, 1951; Simone de Beauvoir, French feminist writer, 1986.
Feast day of St Ruadhan, St Paternus of Wales, St Hunna, and Saints Anastasia and Basilissa.
Events
1755 English lexicographer Dr Samuel Johnson published his Dictionary; he had taken eight years to compile it. 1797 Sailors at Spithead, near Portsmouth, mutinied, demanding better conditions; the British government met their demands. 1891 US inventor Thomas Edison gave a public demonstration of his kinetoscope, a moving-picture machine. 1912 Over 1,500 people died when the passenger liner Titanic sank after colliding with an iceberg on its first voyage. 1922 Insulin was discovered by Canadian physiologist Frederick Banting and J J R Macleod. 1942 The George Cross was awarded to the island of Malta, for bravery under heavy attack by German and Italian forces during World War II.
Births
Guru Nanak, founder of Sikhism, 1469; Henry James, US-born British novelist, 1843; Joe Davis, English snooker player, 1901; Neville Marriner, British conductor, 1924; Jeffrey Archer, English politician and novelist, 1940; Emma Thompson, English actress, 1959.
Deaths
Mme de Pompadour, mistress of French King Louis XV, 1764; Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of the USA, assassinated 1865; Matthew Arnold, English poet and educationalist, 1888; Father Damien, Belgian missionary, 1889; Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and writer, 1980; Arthur Lowe, English actor, 1982.
Feast day of St Bernadette, St Magnus, St Paternus of Avranches, St Encratis, St Fructuosus Braga, St Turibius of Astorga, St Drogo, St Joseph Benedict Labre, and St Optatus and the Martyrs of Saragossa.
Events
1746 Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie) was defeated at the Battle of Culloden. 1883 Paul Kruger became president of South Africa. 1912 US pilot Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel. 1951 Seventy-five people died when the British submarine Affray sank in the English Channel. 1954 The first stock-car race meeting was held in Britain, at the Old Kent Road stadium, London. 1972 The US spacecraft Apollo 16 was launched.
Births
John Franklin, English Arctic explorer who discovered the Northwest Passage, 1786; Wilbur Wright, US aviator, 1867; Charlie Chaplin, English-born film actor and director, 1889; Spike Milligan, English comedian and writer, 1918; Peter Ustinov, English actor and novelist, 1921; Kingsley Amis, English novelist, 1922.
Deaths
Aphra Behn, English playwright, 1689; Francisco de Goya, Spanish painter, 1828; Marie Tussaud, French wax-modeller, 1850; St Bernadette of Lourdes, French saint, 1879; Samuel Smiles, Scottish social reformer and author of Self-Help, 1904; David Lean, English film director, 1991.
National Day of Syria. Feast day of St Donnan, St Aybert, St Stephen Harding, St Innocent of Tortona, St Mappalicus and Others, and St Robert of Chaise-Dieu.
Events
1521 The Diet of Worms excommunicated German church reformer Martin Luther. 1961 US troops and Cuban exiles failed in their attempt to invade Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. 1956 The first Premium Bonds were issued in Britain. 1957 Archbishop Makarios returned to Greece after over a year in exile in the Seychelles. 1969 The age at which a person is eligible to vote in Britain was lowered from 21 to 18. 1975 The Cambodian communist Khmer Rouge captured the capital, Pnomh Penh. 1980 Southern Rhodesia became Zimbabwe.
Births
John Ford, English playwright, 1586; Leonard Woolley, English archaeologist, 1880; Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet leader, 1894; Thornton Wilder, US novelist, 1897; Sirimavo Bandaranaike, first woman prime minister of Sri Lanka, 1916; Lindsay Anderson, British film and stage director, 1923.
Deaths
Mme de Sévigné, French writer, 1696; Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor, 1711; Benjamin Franklin, American scientist and politician, 1790; Kawabata Yasunari, Japanese novelist, 1972; Scott Brady, US actor, 1985; Turgut Ozal, Turkish politician, 1993.
Feast day of St Laserian, St Galdinus, St Idesbald, St Apollonius, and Saints Eleutherius and Anthia.
Events
1775 At the outbreak of the War of American Independence, US patriot Paul Revere rode from Charleston to Lexington, warning people as he went that British troops were on their way. 1881 The Natural History Museum in South Kensington, London, was opened. 1906 An earthquake and the fire that followed it destroyed most of the city of San Francisco, and killed over 450 people. 1934 The first launderette, called a `washeteria', was opened in Fort Worth, Texas. 1949 Eire proclaimed itself the Republic of Ireland. 1968 The old London Bridge was sold to a US company, who shipped it, stone by stone, to Arizona, where it was re-erected.
Births
Lucrezia Borgia, duchess of Ferrara, 1480; Leopold Stokowski, US conductor and composer, 1882; Clarence Darrow, US lawyer, 1857; Barbara Hayle, US film actress, 1922; Hayley Mills, English actress, 1946; Malcolm Marshall, West Indian cricketer, 1958.
Deaths
Albert Einstein, German-born US physicist, 1955; George Jeffreys, the `hanging judge', 1689; Erasmus Darwin, English physician and writer, 1802; Ottorino Respighi, Italian composer, 1936; Will Hay, English comedian, 1949; Benny Hill, English comedian, 1992; Elisabeth Frink, English sculptor, 1993.
Feast day of St Leo IX, pope, St Alphege, St Geroldus, and St Expeditus.
Events
1587 In the incident known as `singeing the King of Spain's beard', English navigator Francis Drake sank the Spanish fleet in Cadiz harbour. 1775 The first battle in the War of American Independence took place at Lexington, Massachusetts. 1951 The first `Miss World' contest was held in London; it was won by a Swedish contestant. 1958 Footballer Bobby Charlton played his first international match for England. 1956 US film actress Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier III of Monaco. 1972 Bangladesh joined the Commonwealth.
Births
David Ricardo, English economist, 1772; Richard Hughes, English novelist, 1900; Jayne Mansfield, US film actress, 1933; Dudley Moore, English-born comedy film actor, 1935; Murray Perahia, US pianist and conductor, 1947; Trevor Francis, English footballer, 1954.
Deaths
Paolo Veronese, Italian painter, 1588; George Gordon Byron, English poet, died of malaria on his way to fight for Greek independence, 1824; Benjamin Disraeli, British politician and novelist, 1881; Charles Darwin, English biologist who developed the theory of evolution, 1882; Pierre Curie, French chemist and physicist, 1906; Konrad Adenauer, German politician, 1967.
Feast day of St Caedwalla, St Agnes of Montepulciano, St Marcellinus of Embrun, St Marcian of Auxerre, St Hildegund, and St Peter of Verona.
Events
1526 A Mogul army led by Babur defeated an Afghan army at the Battle of Panipat, taking the cities of Delhi and Agra. 1534 French explorer Jacques Cartier arrived on the coast of Labrador, North America. 1657 English Admiral Robert Blake defeated the Spanish fleet in Santa Cruz Bay, off the Canary Islands. 1770 English navigator James Cook reached New South Wales, Australia. 1949 The Badminton Horse Trials were held for the first time, at Badminton, Gloucestershire. 1969 Pierre Trudeau became prime minister of Canada.
Births
Adolf Hitler, German fascist dictator, 1889; Joan Miró, Spanish painter, 1893; Harold Lloyd, US silent-film comedian, 1893; Donald Wolfit, English actor, 1902; Ray Brooks, English actor, 1939; Ryan O'Neal, US film actor, 1941.
Deaths
Jean Louis Petit, French surgeon, 1750; Canaletto, Italian landscape painter, 1768; Pontiac, American Indian leader, 1769; Bram Stoker, Irish author of Dracula, 1912; Christian X, king of Denmark, 1947.
Feast day of St Anselm, St Beuno, St Maelrubba, St Ethilwald, St Anastasius of Antioch, St Conrad of Prazham, and St Simeon Barsabas and Others.
Events
753 BC Traditionally, the date on which the city of Rome was founded. 1509 Henry VIII became king of England. 1960 The new city of Brasilia was declared the capital of Brazil, replacing Rio de Janeiro. 1964 BBC 2 began broadcasting. 1967 King Constantine II of Greece was removed in an army coup, and martial law was imposed. 1983 One-pound coins replaced notes in England and Wales. 1989 Over 100,000 Chinese students gathered in Tiananmen Square, ignoring government warnings of severe punishment.
Births
Friedrich Froebel, German educationalist, 1782; Henri de Montherlant, French novelist and playwright, 1896; Richard Beeching, British Rail chairman, 1913; Anthony Quinn, US film actor, 1915; John Mortimer, English author and playwright, 1923; Queen Elizabeth II, 1926.
Deaths
Henry VII, king of England, 1509; Jean-Baptiste Racine, French playwright, 1699; Mark Twain, US novelist, 1910; Manfred von Richtofen, `the Red Baron', German fighter pilot, 1918; John Maynard Keynes, English economist, 1946; Richard Stafford Cripps, English lawyer and politician, 1952.
Feast day of St Theodore of Sykeon, St Opportuna, St Agipatus I, pope, St Leonides of Alexandria, and Saints Epipodius and Alexander.
Events
1500 Portuguese explorer Pedro Cabral claimed Brazil for Portugal. 1662 King Charles II granted a charter to the Royal Society of London, which became an important centre of scientific activity in England. 1834 The South Atlantic island of St Helena was declared a British Crown Colony. 1838 The first steamship to cross the Atlantic, the British ship Sirius, arrived at New York; it made the crossing in 18 days. 1969 Sailor Robin Knox Johnston returned to Falmouth after a 312-day solo voyage around the world. 1972 The first people to row across the Pacific Ocean, Sylvia Cook and John Fairfax, arrived in Australia; they had been at sea for 362 days.
Births
Henry Fielding, English novelist, 1707; Immanuel Kant, German philosopher, 1724; Mme de Staël, French writer, 1766; Robert Oppenheimer, US physicist who invented the atom bomb, 1904; Kathleen Ferrier, English contralto, 1912; Yehudi Menuhin, US-born British violinist, 1916; George Cole, English actor, 1925; Jack Nicholson, US film actor, 1937.
Deaths
John Tradescant, English naturalist, 1662; James Hargreaves, English inventor of the spinning jenny, 1778; John Crome, English landscape painter, 1821; Thomas Rowlandson, English caricaturist, 1827; Henry Campbell-Bannerman, British politician, 1908.
National Day of England. Feast day of St George, St Gerard of Toul, St Ibar, St Adalbert of Prague, and Saints Felix, Fortunatus, and Achilleus.
Events
1349 English King Edward III founded the Order of the Garter. 1661 Charles II was crowned king of Great Britain and Ireland. 1662 Connecticut was declared a British colony. 1879 The Shakespeare Memorial Theatre was opened at Stratford-upon-Avon. 1924 The British Empire Exhibition opened at Wembley. 1932 The New Shakespeare Memorial Theatre opened at Stratford-upon-Avon. 1968 Britain's first decimal coins, the 5p and 10p, were issued in preparation for decimalisation
Births
William Shakespeare, English playwright and poet, 1564; J M W Turner, English painter, 1775; Max Planck, German physicist, 1858; Ngaio Marsh, New Zealand novelist, 1899; James Donleavy, Irish novelist, 1926; Roy Orbison, US singer, 1936.
Deaths
William Shakespeare, 1616; Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, Spanish author of Don Quixote, 1616; William Wordsworth, English poet, 1850; Rupert Brooke, English poet, 1915; Otto Preminger, US film director, 1986; Satyajit Ray, Indian film director, 1992.
Feast day of St Mellitus, St Egbert, St Wilfrid, St Ives, St Fidelis, St Mary Euphrasia Pelletier, and St William Firmatus.
Events
1558 Mary, Queen of Scots married the French Dauphin. 1800 The US Library of Congress was founded in Washington DC. 1895 US sailor Joshua Slocum set off from Boston, USA, to sail single-handed around the world; the voyage took just over three years. 1916 The Easter Rising a Republican protest against British rule took place in Dublin. 1949 Sweet-rationing in Britain came to an end. 1970 The Gambia was declared a republic within the Commonwealth.
Births
Anthony Trollope, English novelist, 1815; Henri-Philippe Pétain, French politician and soldier, 1856; William Joyce, `Lord Haw-Haw', British traitor, 1906; Bridget Riley, English painter, 1931; Shirley MacLaine, US actress, 1934; John Williams, Australian guitarist, 1941; Barbra Streisand, US film actress and singer, 1942.
Deaths
Daniel Defoe, English author, 1731; Willa Cather, US novelist, 1947; Bud Abbott, US comedian, 1974; the Duchess of Windsor, 1986; Bill Edrich, English cricketer, 1986.
Anzac Day in Australia. Feast day of St Mark the Evangelist, St Heribald, and St Anianus of Alexandria.
Events
1792 The guillotine was first used in Paris. 1859 Work began on the Suez Canal, supervised by the French engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps, who designed it. 1915 In World War I, Australian and New Zealand troops landed at Gallipoli. 1925 Paul von Hindenburg was elected President of Germany. 1959 The St Lawrence Seaway was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II and President Eisenhower, linking the Atlantic with ports on the Great Lakes. 1975 The first free elections for 50 years were held in Portugal, resulting in a precarious Socialist government.
Births
Oliver Cromwell, Puritan leader in the English Civil War, 1599; Mark Isambard Brunel, French-born British engineer, 1769; Walter de la Mare, English poet and novelist, 1873; Guglielmo Marconi, Italian inventor and pioneer in the development of radio, 1874; Ella Fitzgerald, US jazz singer, 1918; Al Pacino, US film actor, 1940; Johann Cruyff, Dutch footballer, 1947.
Deaths
Torquato Tasso, Italian poet, 1595; Anders Celsius, Swedish astronomer who invented the centigrade thermometer, 1744; William Cowper, English poet, 1800; Carol Reed, English film director, 1976; Celia Johnson, English actress, 1982.
Feast day of St Cletus, St Riquier, St Stephen of Perm, St Peter of Braga, St Franca of Piacenza, and St Paschasius Radbertus.
Events
1923 The Duke of York and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, later King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, were married in Westminster Abbey. 1937 The Spanish town of Guernica was almost destroyed by German bombers acting in support of the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War. 1957 English astronomer Patrick Moore presented the first broadcast of The Sky at Night. 1964 Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to become the Republic of Tanzania. 1968 The largest underground nuclear device ever to be tested in the USA exploded in Nevada. 1986 Radioactive material was leaked from a damaged nuclear reactor at Chernobyl, Ukraine; the effects could be measured thousands of miles away.
Births
Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor, ad 121; John James Audubon, US naturalist and painter, 1785; Eugène Delacroix, French painter, 1798; Michel Fokine, Russian ballet dancer and choreographer, 1880; Ludwig Wittgenstein, Austrian philosopher, 1889; Rudolf Hess, German Nazi leader, 1894.
Deaths
Karl Bosch, German metallurgist and chemist, 1940; Gypsy Rose Lee, US dancer and striptease artist, 1970; Cicely Courtneidge, British actress, 1980; Count Basie, US bandleader, 1984; Broderick Crawford, US film actor, 1986.
Feast day of St Zita, St Machalus, St Floribert of Liège, St Asicus, St Anthimus of Nicomedia, and Saints Castor and Stephen.
Events
1296 An English army, led by Edward I, defeated the Scots at the Battle of Dunbar. 1749 The first official performance of Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks finished early due to the outbreak of fire. 1937 King George VI performed the official opening of the National Maritime Museum at Greenwich. 1939 Conscription for men aged 20 21 was announced in Britain. 1947 Norwegian anthropologist Thor Heyerdahl set off from Callao, Peru, heading for Polynesia to prove his theory that the original Polynesian islanders could have come from Peru. 1960 French Togoland became independent as the Republic of Togo. 1961 Sierra Leone became an independent republic within the Commonwealth.
Births
Edward Gibbon, English historian who wrote The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 1737; Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, English feminist author, 1759; Samuel Morse, US inventor of Morse Code, 1791; Ulysses Simpson Grant, US general and 18th president, 1822; Cecil Day Lewis, English poet, 1904; Anouk Aimée, French film actress, 1932; Sandy Dennis, US film actress, 1937.
Deaths
Ferdinand Magellan, Portuguese navigator, murdered by islanders in the Philippines, 1521; Ralph Waldo Emerson, US poet and essayist, 1882; Alexander Skryabin, Russian composer, 1915; Harold Hart Crane, US poet, 1932; Kwame Nkrumah, president of Ghana, 1972.
Feast day of St Louis de Montfort, St Vitalis, St Peter Mary Chanel, St Cyril of Turov, St Valeria, St Pollio, Saints Theodora and Didymus, St Pamphilus of Sulmona, and St Cronan Roscrea.
Events
1603 Queen Elizabeth I's funeral took place at Westminster Abbey. 1770 English navigator Captain James Cook and his crew, including the botanist Joseph Banks, landed in Australia, at the place which was later named Botany Bay. 1789 The crew of the ship Bounty, led by Fletcher Christian, mutinied against their captain, William Bligh. 1919 The League of Nations was founded. 1923 The first FA Cup Final was held at Wembley Stadium. 1965 US marines intervened in an attempted communist coup in the Dominican Republic. 1969 French president General de Gaulle resigned.
Births
King Edward IV of England, 1442; James Monroe, 5th president of the USA, 1758; Charles Sturt, British explorer of Australia, 1795; Lionel Barrymore, US actor, 1878; Kenneth Kaunda, president of Zambia, 1924; Ann-Margret, Swedish actress, 1941; Mike Brearley, English cricketer, 1942.
Deaths
Gavrilo Princip, Bosnian revolutionary assassin who caused World War I by killing Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, 1918; King Fuad I of Egypt, 1936; Benito Mussolini, 1945; Francis Bacon, Irish-born painter, 1992; Olivier Messiaen, French composer, 1992.
National Day of Japan. Feast day of St Catherine of Siena, St Wilfrid the Younger, St Hugh of Cluny, St Endellion, St Joseph Cottolengo, St Robert of Molesme, and St Peter the Martyr.
Events
1429 The Siege of Orléans was lifted by a French army under the leadership of Joan of Arc. 1884 Oxford University agreed to admit female students to examinations. 1913 Swedish-born US inventor Gideon Sundback patented the zip fastener in its modern form earlier versions had not been successful. 1916 Republican rebels destroyed the Post Office in Dublin. 1945 The German army in Italy surrendered to the Allies under the British General Alexander.
Births
Thomas Beecham, English conductor, 1879; `Duke' Ellington, US composer and bandleader, 1899; Emperor Hirohito of Japan, 1901; Fred Zinneman, US film director, 1907; Peter de la Bilière, British commander in the Gulf War, 1934; Zubin Mehta, Indian conductor, 1936; Saddam Hussein, president of Iraq, 1937.
Deaths
George Farquhar, Irish playwright, 1707; Constantinos Cavafy, Greek poet, 1933; Wallace Carothers, US chemist who patented nylon, 1937; Alfred Hitchcock, English film director, 1980; Andrew Cruikshank, English actor, 1988.
National Day of the Netherlands. Feast day of St Erkenwald, St Pius V, pope, St Forannan, St Wolfhard, St Maximus of Ephesus, St Eutropius of Saintes, and Saints Marianus, James, and Others.
Events
1789 George Washington became the first president of the USA. 1803 France sold Louisiana to the USA. 1902 Debussy's opera Pelléas et Mélisande had its first performance, in Paris. 1975 The Vietnam War ended, with the South surrendering unconditionally to the North. 1979 The Jubilee Line on the London Underground was officially opened. 1980 Queen Juliana of the Netherlands abdicated and was succeeded by her daughter, Beatrix.
Births
David Thompson, English explorer, 1770; Karl Gauss, German mathematician and astronomer, 1777; Franz Lehár, Hungarian composer, 1870; Jaroslav Hasek, Czech novelist, 1883; Queen Juliana of the Netherlands, 1909; Cloris Leachman, US film actress, 1926; King Carl XVI Gustav of Sweden, 1946.
Deaths
Robert Fitzroy, English admiral and meteorologist, 1865; Edouard Manet, French painter, 1883; Otto Jespersen, Danish philologist, 1943; Adolf Hitler, German fascist dictator, 1945; Eva Braun, German mistress and later wife of Adolf Hitler, 1945; Muddy Waters, US blues singer, 1983; George Balanchine, Russian choreographer, 1983.