BIRTHDAYS

Richard O’Sullivan, actor, 77; Anne Dudley, musician and composer, 65; Traci Lords, actress, 53; Eagle-Eye Cherry, singer, 53; Breckin Meyer, right, actor, 47; Kate Lawler, left, former Big Brother contestant, now DJ, 41.

1663: The first Theatre Royal, in London’s Drury Lane, opened.

1765: HMS Victory, Nelson’s flagship, was launched at Chatham having cost £363,176 and three shillings.

1812: Robert Browning, Victorian poet, was born in London.

1833: Johannes Brahms, German composer, was born in Hamburg, Germany.

1840: Peter Tchaikovsky, the great Russian composer, was born in Kamsko-Votkinsk.

1915: The Cunard liner Lusitania was torpedoed