ALAN BENNETT was born on this date. The English author, actor, and Tony Award-winning playwright is best known for his plays, both made into movies, “The Madness of King George” and “The History Boys.” In 1998 Bennett refused an honorary doctorate from Oxford University, in protest at its accepting funding for a named chair in honor of press baron Rupert Murdoch. He also declined a CBE in 1988 and a knighthood in 1996. Bennett has lived in Camden Town in London for thirty years, and shares his home with Rupert Thomas, his partner for the last fourteen years.