Anniversaries

Anniversaries

Births: Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, 1552; The Rev Gilbert White, naturalist and author, 1720; William Makepeace Thackeray, novelist and poet, 1811; Dr William Gilbert Grace, cricketer, 1848; Clifford Odets, playwright, 1906. Deaths: Francesco Petrarca (Petrarch), poet and scholar, 1374; Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, painter, 1610; Jean-Antoine Watteau, painter, 1721; Peter III, Tsar of Russia, murdered 1762; John Paul Jones, American naval officer, 1792; Jane Austen, novelist, 1817; Marie Alexandra Victoria, Queen of Romania, 1938; Thomas Sturge Moore, poet and engraver, 1944; Vitezslav Novak, pianist and composer, 1949; Jack Hawkins (John Edward Hawkins), actor, 1973; Margaret Laurence (Jean Margaret Wemys), novelist, 1986. On this day: the Ballot Act was passed, after which the secret ballot became law, 1872; the Second Battle of the Marne was fought, 1918; the Matrimonial Causes Bill, which gave women equal divorce rights with men, received Royal Assent, 1923; the Mersey (road) Tunnel was formally opened 1934; the Spanish Civil War began after a revolt under Emilio Mola and Francisco Franco, 1936; in the US, at Chappaquiddick, Massachusetts, a car driven by Senator Edward Kennedy plunged off a narrow bridge, and a passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, was drowned, 1969; Vietnam became a member of the United Nations, 1977; in Beirut, a car-bomb exploded at the US Embassy, killing over 50 people and injuring over 100, 1983. Today is the Feast Day of St Arnoul or Arnulf of Metz, St Bruno of Segni, St Frederick of Utrecht and St Pambo.