BIRTHDAYS
Holly Aird, British actress, 49; Rodger Davis, Australian golfer, 67; John Higgins MBE, Scottish snooker champion, 43; Professor Malcolm Longair CBE, Professor of Natural Philosophy, Cambridge, Astronomer Royal for Scotland 1980- 90, 77; Miriam Margolyes OBE, British actress, 77; Martika, singer and actress, 49; Norbert ( Nobby) Stiles MBE, English footballer, 76; Rick Wakeman, British rock musician ( Yes) and composer, 69; Chow Yun- Fat, actor, 63
ANNIVERSARIES
Births: 1868 Nicholas II, last Tsar of Russia; 1872 Bertrand Russell, 3rd Earl, philosopher and mathematician; 1883 Walter Gropius, architect; 1897 Frank Capra, writer and film director; 1909 Fred Perry, Wimbledon tennis champion; 1919 Dame Margot Fonteyn, prima ballerina; 1920 Pope John Paul II.
Deaths: 1807 John Douglas, Scottish scholar and bishop of Salisbury; 1817 Sir Oswald Brierly, marine painter; 1909 George Meredith, novelist; 1911 Gustav Mahler, composer, conductor; 1949 James Adams, historian; 1981 William Saroyan, author; 1990 Jill Ireland, actress; 2012 Dietrich Fischer- Dieskau, German baritone.