Anniversaries

Births: John Calvin, religious reformer, 1509; Aphra Behn, playwright and novelist, baptised 1640; Sir William Blackstone, jurist, 1723; Robert Chambers, publisher and author, 1802; Camille Pissarro, painter, 1830; Marcel Proust, author, 1871.

Deaths: Hadrian (Publius Aelius Hadrianus), Roman emperor, 138; El Cid (Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar), Spanish hero, 1099; Henry II, King of France, killed 1559; William I, the Silent, Prince of Orange, assassinated 1584; George Stubbs, painter, 1806; Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre, photographic pioneer, 1851.

On this day: Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen of England, 1553; Mongolia was proclaimed an independent state, 1921; the Battle of Britain began, 1940; the first parking meters were installed in London, 1958.

Today is the Feast Day of St Amelberga, Saints Rufina and Secunda, The Seven Brothers and St Felicity.