Because I’m busy, I thought I’d belatedly pick up on that Wikipedia birthday meme a bunch of people have been doing. Apparently it’s three events, two births and one death, as such:

Events:

41 AD – Claudius – the guy who conquered Britain, thus laying the foundations of our language, civilisation, and shared culture with Europe – becomes Emperor of Rome
1327 – Edward III – the chap who started the Hundred Years War – takes over his father’s throne (well, his mother deposes his father, at least) to begin his 50-year reign
1919 – The League of Nations – the half-arsed predecessor of the United Nations – founded

Births:

1640 – William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire – womaniser, revolutionary, builder of Chatsworth House and all-round top Whig
1882 – Virginia Woolfe – writer and manic depressive who, coincidentally, committed suicide not too many miles from where I was born…

Death:

1640 – Robert Burton – author of The Anatomy of Melancholy, one of the finest books ever written (and available online here and, to download, here)