Feast

Dates are arbitrary (just ask anyone with a sideline in trying to reconcile the Gregorian and Julian calendars!), but they can create a little community of the imagination.  A slice of the humanity spongecake, as it were.

So, here's a smattering of people who have today in common.

Today is the feast of a couple of bishops: Cadoc and Francis de Sales.

Political figures are interesting: Galba and Hadrian were born today.  Caligula was assassinated.  Two members of the Churchill dynasty, Randolph and Winston, died peacefully.

Among the musical and literary figures born today there's a good smattering: Clementi, Farinelli, Beaumarchais, Congreve, Hoffman, Herbst, Wolff, and Neil Diamond were born.  Edwin Fischer died.  Although not a person -- but certainly a literary figure -- today was the final death rattle of The Bulletin, in 2008.

Charles II disbanded the Cavalier Parliament on this day in 1679, and in 1857 the University of Calcutta was incorporated.  In 1918, the Gregorian calendar was imposed in Russia, and in 1924 the city of St Petersburg was renamed Leningrad.

There is one other person who was born today.  True to form, he was a bit late, and arrived in ruffled style.  He's yet to become a major religious, political, musical or literary figure.  But you probably hear quite enough about him here.