CROW ANNIVERSARIES - MARCH 7-13 Friday March 7 1946 The British Medical Association (BMA) set up a £1 million fund to oppose the establishment of the National Health Service. 1969 The Victoria Line opened on the London Underground. Today s birthdays: L

CROW ANNIVERSARIES - MARCH 7-13

Friday March 7

1946 The British Medical Association (BMA) set up a £1 million fund to oppose the establishment of the National Health Service.

1969 The Victoria Line opened on the London Underground.

Today's birthdays: Lord Snowdon, 77; Viv Richards, West Indies Test batsman, 55; Rik Mayall, comedian, 49; Rachel Weisz, actress, 36; Ronan O'Gara, Ireland Rugby Union international, 30.

Deaths: Stanley Kubrick, director of A Clockwork Orange, 1999

Saturday March 8

1950 The USSR announced it had developed an atom bomb.

1995 Keith Fletcher was sacked as manager of the England cricket team and replaced by Ray Illingworth.

1999 Last broadcast of ITN's News at Ten.

Births: Kenneth Grahame, author of The Wind in the Willows, 1859.

Today's birthdays: Douglas Hurd, ex-Foreign Secretary, 78; Michael Grade, executive chairman of ITV, 65; Lynn Redgrave, actress, 65; Mickey Dolenz, of The Monkees, 63.

Deaths: William Howard Taft, US President, 1930; Harold Lloyd, Hollywood silent movie comedian, 1971; Joe Di Maggio, New York Yankees legend, 1999; Adam Faith, singer-songwriter, 2003; John Inman, from Are You Being Served, 2007.

Sunday March 9

1831 The French Foreign Legion was set up in Algeria.

1946 More than 30 supporters died when a barrier collapsed at Bolton Wanderers' ground.

1994 Ray Illingworth became chairman of the England cricket selectors, succeeding Ted Dexter.

Births: Ernest Bevin, Labour government minister, 1881; Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin, first man in space, 1934; Bobby Fischer, chess champion, 1943.

Today's birthdays: Bill Beaumont, ex-England Rugby Union captain, 56; Juilette Binoche, actress, 44; Martin Johnson, England World Cup Rugby Union captain, 38.

Deaths: George Burns, comedian, 1996

Monday March 10

1906 The Bakerloo Line opened on the London Underground.

1969 James Earl Ray admitted murdering civil rights leader Martin Luther King and was jailed for 99 years.

Births: Bix Beiderbecke, jazz musician and composer, 1903.

Today's birthdays: Sharon Stone, actress, 50; Prince Edward (Earl of Wessex), 44; Eva Herzigova, model, 35.

Deaths: Konstantin Chernenko, Soviet leader, 1985; Lloyd Bridges, actor, 1998; Barry Sheene, world motorcycling champion, 2003; Dave Allen, comedian, 2005; John Profumo, ex-Conservative minister, 2006.

Tuesday March 11

1921 Queen Mary received an honourary degree from Oxford University.

1985 Mikhail Gorbachev became leader of the USSR.

2004 Nearly 200 people were killed in a bomb attack on trains in Madrid.

Births: Henry Tate, of the Tate Gallery, 1819; Malcolm Campbell, world speed record holder, 1885; Harold Wilson, Labour Prime Minister, 1916; Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 1952.

Today's birthdays: Rupert Murdoch, media mogul, 77; Nigel Lawson, ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer, 76; John Barrowman, from Torchwood, 41.

Deaths: Slobodan Milosevic, ex-Yugoslavia president, 2006.

Wednesday March 12

1913 Canberra became the capital of Australia.

1984 Miners began a year-long strike in a protest over proposals to shut 100 pits.

1993 The BBC announced it was scrapping the soap Eldorado.

1994 First women priests were sworn into the Church of England.

Births: Thomas Arne, composer of Rule Britannia, 1710; Vaslav Nijinsky, Russian ballet dancer, 1890; Max Wall, comedian, 1908; Jack Kerouac, author of On the Road, 1922.

Today's birthdays: Liza Minnelli, singer and actress, 62; James Taylor, singer-songwriter, 60; David Mellor, ex-Conservative MP, 59.

Deaths: Charlie Parker, jazz saxophonist, 1955; Yehudi Menuhin, violinist and conductor, 1999; Robert Ludlum, spy novelist, 2001.

Thursday March 13

1881 Tsar Alexander II of Russia died after a bomb was thrown at him in St Petersburg.

1930 American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh discovered the planet Pluto.

1947 The government banned mid-week sport in a bid to improve productivity.

Births: Joseph Priestley, scientist, 1733.

Today's birthdays: Mike Stoller, songwriter, 75; Neil Sedka, singer-songwriter, 69; Joe Bugner, ex-heavyweight boxer, 58.

Deaths: Richard Burbage, creator of the original Globe Theatre, 1619; Johnny Johnstone, Celtic soccer legend, 2006.