Vespucci, Gagarin, Vita Sackville-West and Barbie

On March the 9th 1454 the Italian cartographer and explorer Amerigo Vespucci was born. His statue stands outside the Uffizzi in Florence.

Napoleon Bonaparte marries Josephine de Beauharnais on this day in 1796.

Ernest Bevin was born on this day in 1881. He was a Labour politician, appointed Minister for Labour and National Service in Churchill's coalition government of the 1940's  and was one of the founding leaders of the Transport and General Workers Union. He was responsible for directing over 40,000 military conscripts to the coal industry, they would become known as Bevin Boys.

Victoria Mary Sackville-West, known as Vita,  was born on March the 9th 1892. An author, poet and gardener, she would win the Hawthorden Prize twice,  in 1927  The Lane and 1933 for Collected Poems. Her former home Sissinghurst is now owned by the National Trust.

This beautiful picture was painted by William Strang.

On this day in 1934 Yuri Gregarin was born in Klushino, Russia. A Soviet Cosmonaut, on April the 12th 1961 he was launched aboard Vostok 1 and would become the first person in space. He orbited the earth once but was only to make one journey into space.

Barbie, on this day in 1959, made her debut at the American Toy Fair in New York. Designed by Ruth Handler and introduced by Mattel, she was on sale for $3.00. Apparently her full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.

The Saint Day with a feast day today, amongst others, is Constantine.

I couldn't really find a link with food here but I did think of an amazing cherry clafoutis I had on a trip to Sissinghurst which I will try to reproduce. Wish me luck.