Anniversaries

TODAY

Births: Jean-Baptiste Lully (Giovanni Battista Lulli), composer, 1632; William Blake, poet and painter, 1757; Friedrich Engels, socialist, 1820; Anton Grigoryevich Rubinstein, pianist and composer, 1829; John Wesley Hyatt, inventor of celluloid, 1837; Nancy Mitford, writer, 1904; Alberto (Pincherle) Moravia, writer, 1907.

Deaths: Edward Plantagenet, 18th Earl of Warwick, beheaded 1499; Matsuo Basho, poet, 1694; Washington Irving, writer, 1859; Mary Fairfax Somerville, mathematician, 1872; "Lord" George Sanger, circus proprietor, murdered 1911; Dwight Filley Davis, sponsor of the Davis cup for tennis, 1945; Enid Mary Blyton, childen's writer, 1968.

On this day: the Royal

Society was founded, 1660; London University was granted its charter, 1836; Sinn Fein was founded in Dublin by Arthur Griffith, 1905; the first air raid on London occurred, 1916; the Battle of Britain Museum at Hendon was opened, 1978; the West German chancellor, Helmut Kohl, proposed a plan for the confederation of East and West Germany, 1989.

Today is the Feast Day of St Catherine Laboure, St James of the March, St Joseph Pignatelli, St Simeon Metaphrastes and St Stephen the Younger.

TOMORROW

Births: Margaret, Queen of Scotland, 1489; John Harvard, founder of Harvard University, baptised 1607; Louisa May Alcott, writer, 1832; Gertrude Jekyll, landscape architect, 1843; Busby Berkeley (William Berkeley Enos), film director and choreographer, 1895.

Deaths: Giovanni Bellini (Giambellini), painter, 1516; Thomas Wolsey, Cardinal and Lord Chancellor, 1530; Hans Holbein the Younger, painter, 1543; Sir George Edward Robey (Wade), actor and comedian, 1954; Graham Hill, racing driver, killed in an air crash 1975; Natalie Wood (Natasha Gurdin), actress, 1981; Irene Handl, actress, 1987; Ralph Rex Bellamy, actor, 1991.

On this day: the massacre of Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians occurred at Sand Creek, Colorado, by troops under Colonel Chivington, 1864; Nicholas, King of Montenegro was deposed and the kingdom united with Serbia under King Peter, 1918; Admiral Richard Byrd made the first flight over the South Pole, 1929; Yugoslavia was proclaimed a Federal People's Republic, 1945; the United Nations proposed a plan for the partition of Palestine, 1947; Parliament passed a Bill making the IRA an illegal organisation, 1974.

Tomorrow is the Feast Day of St Brendan of Birr, St Radbod, St Saturninus or Sernin of Toulouse and St Saturninus, martyr.

Lectures

National Gallery: Mari Griffith, "Mythical Beasts (iv): Titian, An Allegory of Prudence", 12 noon.

Victoria and Albert Museum: Matthew Cock, "Some 19th-century Photographs", 2pm.

Tate Gallery: Laurence Bradbury, "The Darkened World: mysterious night- pieces", 1pm; Turner Prize Artists' Talks - Sam Taylor-Wood talks about her work, 4pm (telephone 0171-887 8604 for tickets).

British Museum: Delia Pemberton, "Mahayana and the Bodhisattva Ideal", 11.30am; Delia Pemberton, "Images of Buddhism:

Avalokiteshvara, Tara, Guanyin", 1.30pm.

National Portrait Gallery: Readings directed by Valerie Doulton, "Songs of Innocence; The Book of Thel; Songs of Experience", 1pm.

TOMORROW

Victoria and Albert Museum: Valerie Holman, "Rodin", 2pm.

Tate Gallery: Turner Prize Artists' Talks - Tacita Dean talks about her work, 4pm (telephone 0171-887 8604 for tickets).

National Portrait Gallery: Readings directed by Valerie Doulton, "Songs of Innocence; Visions of the Daughters of Albion; Songs of Experience", 3pm.