On this day in 1497 Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope, the point where Bartolomeu Dias had previously turned back to Portugal.

Born on this day in 1770 composer Ludwig van Beethoven

Born on this day in 1775 composer Adrien Boieldieu (the father, not the son)

Born on this day in 1877 conductor Artur Bodanzky

Born on this day in 1882 composer Zoltán Kodály

Born on this day in 1899 composer, playwright and actor Noel Coward

Born on this day in 1926 tenor James McCracken

Born on this day in 1929 tenor Donald Grobe

Happy 82nd birthday composer Rodion Konstantinovich Shchedrin

Born on this day in 1939 tenor Philip Langridge