This Day In European History

18th December

Events
1792: Thomas Paine is tried in England, in absentia, for sedition over his work Rights of Man.
1940: Planning begins in Germany for Operation Barbarossa, the invasion of Soviet Russia.
1970: Italy legalises divorce.

Births
1610: Charles du Fresne, French scholar.
1707: Charles Wesley, founder of the Methodists.
1856: Joseph Thomson, English physicist.
1863: Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria.
1870: Hector Munro, 'Saki', Scottish author.
1879: Paul Klee, Swiss painter.
1913: Willy Brandt, West German Chancellor.

Deaths
1638: Francois-Joseph le Clerc du Tremblay, 'Father Joseph' and 'the Grey Eminince', French religious reformer.
1737: Antonio Stradivari, Italian violin maker.
1803: Johann von Herder, German poet.
1829: Jean-Baptiste de Monet, French biologist.
1892: Richard Owen, British palaeontologist.

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