ON THIS DAY
AD68: Rome’s Emperor Nero killed himself at the age of 32 after the Senate declared him a public enemy. 1549: The Church of England adopted The Book Of Common Prayer compiled by Thomas Cranmer. 1836: Physician Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was born in London. She was the first woman doctor to qualify in Britain, and opened St Mary’s dispensary for women and children in Seymour Place. 1870: Writer Charles Dickens died in Gad’s Hill Place, near Rochester, Kent, after a brain haemorrhage the previous evening. He left only six of the planned 12 parts of his final novel, The Mystery Of Edwin Drood, completed. 1898: Hong Kong was leased to Britain from China for 99 years. 1904: The London Symphony Orchestra was formed by musicians who had left Henry Wood’s orchestra after a disagreement. 1934: Donald Duck was born - in Walt Disney’s cartoon The Wise Little Hen. 1959: America launched the first ballistic missile submarine, the George Washington. 1975: Live radio broadcasting from the House of Commons began. 1991: The £100 million, two-mile, four-lane Dartford Bridge in east London was completed.
ON THIS DAY LAST YEAR
Singer Taylor Swift came under fire for releasing music on Spotify on the same day as her pop nemesis Katy Perry unleashed her album.
WEEKEND BIRTHDAYS
TODAY: Tony Britton, actor, 94; Charles Saatchi, advertising executive, 75; David Troughton, actor, 68; Patricia Cornwell, writer, 62; Michael J Fox, actor, 57; Johnny Depp, actor, 55; Gloria Reuben, actress, 54; Natalie Portman, actress, 37.
TOMORROW: Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, 97; Rich Hall, comedian, 64; Mark-Anthony Turnage, composer, 58; Gina Gershon, actress, 56; Jeanne Tripplehorn, actress, 55; Elizabeth Hurley, actress, 53; David Platt, former footballer and manager, 52; Faith Evans, R&B singer, 45.