Birthdays
Today: Prof Sir John Rowlinson, chemist, is 92; Mr Burt Bacharach, pianist and composer, 90; Mr Robert Dickinson, Chairman, Northern Rock plc, 1992-99, 84; Dr Miriam Stoppard, writer and broadcaster, 81; Miss Susan Hampshire, actress, 81; Sir Terry Farrell, architect, 80; Prof Paul Huxley, painter, 80; Prof Sir Cyril Chantler, Chairman, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust, 2000-08, 79; Sir Dominic Cadbury, Chairman, The Wellcome Trust, 2000-2006; Chairman, Cadbury Schweppes, 1993-2000, 78; Lord Sawyer, former trades unionist, 75; Lord Patten of Barnes, Chancellor of Oxford University; Chairman, BBC Trust, 2011-14; 74; Mr Daniel Libeskind, architect, 72; Mr Steve Winwood, singer and songwriter, 70; Mrs Justice Slade 69; Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, QC, Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford, 68; Dame Jenni Murray, broadcaster, 68; Dame Rosalind Savill, Director, The Wallace Collection, 1992-2011, now Curator Emeritus, 67; Lord Justice Underhill 66; Mr Justice Goss, Presiding Judge, North Eastern Circuit, 65; Miss Deborah Warner, theatre and opera director, 59; Ms Jane Gandee, Headmistress, St Swithun’s School, Winchester, 50; Mr Mark Lancaster, MP, Minister of State for the Armed Forces, 48; Mr Graeme Dott, snooker player; World Champion 2006, 41; and Ms Sophie Bray, Great Britain field hockey player; Olympic gold medallist, women’s tournament, Rio 2016, 28.
Tomorrow: Sir Conrad Swan, Garter Principal King of Arms, 1992-95, will be 94; Sir Sydney Lipworth, QC, Chairman, Zeneca Group, 1995-99, 87; Sir William Utting, Chairman, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2005-06, 87; Miss Eileen Diss, film, theatre and television designer, 87; Mr Colin Ford, Director, National Museums and Galleries of Wales, 1993-98, 84; Lord Cope of Berkeley, former Conservative Government Minister, 81; Mr Harvey Keitel, actor, 79; Lord Clarke of Stone-cum-ebony,a former Justice of The Supreme Court, 75; Sir Crispin Agnew of Lochnaw, QC, explorer, 74; Sir Timothy Walker, a former High Court Judge, 72; Ald Lord Mountevans, Lord Mayor, 2015-16, 70; Prof Jane Glover, conductor, 69; Miss Zoë Wanamaker, actress, 69; Mr Stevie Wonder, singer, songwriter and record producer, 68; Miss Selina Scott, broadcaster, 67; Ms Rosie Boycott, Editor, Daily Express, 1998-2001, 67; Mr Richard Madeley, broadcaster, 62; Dr David Hill, conductor; Chief Conductor, BBC Singers, 2007-17, 61; the Hon Nick Hurd, MP, Minister of State, Home Office, 56; Prof Paul Burstow, former Liberal Democrat MP, 56; Mrs Andrea Leadsom, MP, Leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council, 55; Mrs Penny Lumley, former Real Tennis World Singles Champion, 55; and Dr Tasmin Little, violinist, 53.
Today is the anniversary of the birth of Dante Gabriel Rossetti in 1828. It is also the anniversary of the collapse of the General Strike in 1926.
Tomorrow will be the anniversary of the first English settlement at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607.