Today In History
Historical Events
1991 – Space Shuttle STS 40 (Columbia 12) launched
1995 – 29th Music City News Country Awards: Alan Jackson and Reba killedwin
2013 – The first article based on NSA leaked documents by Edward Snowden are published by the Guardian Newspaper in the UK
2018 – Film producer Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to rape and sexual assault charges in court in New York City
2019 – On average, people ingest 50,000 pieces of microplastic a year and breathe in similar amount, according to first-ever such study published in journal “Environmental Science and Technology”
Famous Birthdays
1884 – Claude Jennings, Australian cricket batsman (6 Tests, HS 32; South Australia, Queensland), born in Melbourne, Australia (d. 1950)
1919 – Richard Scarry, American children’s author and illustrator (What Do People Do All Day?), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1994)
1942 – Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, President of Equatorial Guinea (1979- ), born in Acoacán, Spanish Guinea
1970 – Martin Gelinas, Canadian NHL left wing (Vancouver Canucks), born in Shawinigan, Quebec
1974 – Russ Ortiz, American baseball player, born in Van Nuys, California
Famous Deaths
1855 – Rosine Lebrun, German opera singer, and actress, dies at 72
1885 – Julius Benedict, German opera composer (Protoghesi), dies at 80
1894 – Immanuel Faisst, German composer, dies at 70
1913 – Chris von der Ahe, German entrepreneur and owner of St. Louis Brown Stockings, dies at 61
1998 – Sam Yorty, American politician, Mayor of Los Angeles (1961-73), dies at 88
Historical Events
1848 – Statue of prince William the Silent, Prince of Orange by Lodewyk Royer unveiled in The Hague’s Het Plein
1976 – 108th Belmont Stakes: Puerto Rican jockey Ángel Cordero Jr., riding Bold Forbes wins his only Belmont classic
1988 – Longest champagne cork flight is 177 feet 9 inches in New York
1993 – Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah murders 23 UN peacekeepers from Pakistan
2000 – Armed conflict between Rwanda and Uganda erupts in Kinsangani, a city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
2001 – Tropical Storm Allison makes landfall on the upper Texas coastline as a strong tropical storm and dumps large amounts of rain over Houston, causing $5.5 billion in damages, the then costliest tropical storm in US history
2003 – A severe heat wave across Pakistan and India reaches its peak, as temperatures exceed 50°C (122°F) in the region
2024 – World’s only surviving wild horse, the Przewalski’s Horse, is returned to the Golden Steppe of Kazakhstan for the first time in over 200 years
Famous Birthdays
1898 – Federico Garcia Lorca, Spanish poet and dramatist (Blood Wedding), born in Fuente Vaqueros, Granada, Andalucía, Spain (d. 1936)
1938 – Karin Balzer, German athlete (Olympic gold 80m hurdles 1964; bronze 100m hurdles 1972), born in Magdeburg, Germany (d. 2019)
1943 – Bill Hopkins, British composer, born in Prestbury, England (d. 1981)
1952 – Carole Fredericks, American singer (Fredericks Goldman Jones), born in Springfield, Massachusetts (d. 2001)
1957 – John Fumo, American session and touring trumpet and flugelhorn player, composer, and educator, born in Kenosha, Wisconsin
1970 – Martin Gelinas, Canadian NHL left wing (Vancouver Canucks), born in Shawinigan, Quebec
1971 – Mark Wahlberg, American singer (Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch) and actor (Boogie Nights, The Departed), born in Boston, Massachusetts
1973 – Daniel Gildenlöw, Swedish progressive rock songwriter, vocalist, and guitarist (Pain of Salvation; The Flower Kings), born in Eskilstuna, Sweden
1975 – Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Lithuanian American NBA center (Cleveland Cavaliers), born in Kaunas, Lithuania SSR, Soviet Union
1980 – Sutee Suksomkit, Thai football player, born in Trat, Thailand
Famous Deaths
1443 – Ferdinand, the Holy Prince, Portuguese prince, dies serving as a hostage in Moorish Fez, at 40
1825 – Odysseas Androutsos, hero in the Greek War of Independence (Chani of Gravia,), executed for supposedly collaborating with the Ottomans at 37
1826 – Carl Maria von Weber, German pianist, romantic composer (Der Freischutz; Oberon), and lithographer, dies of tuberculosis at 39
1871 – Isodore-Joseph Tolbecque, Belgian-French composer and conductor, dies at 77
1905 – William Claflin, American politician, 27th Governor of Massachusetts (1869-72), dies at 86
1931 – John Lawson Stoddard, American lecturer, photographer, and author, considered the father of travelogue, dies at 81
1946 – Maud Watson, British tennis player (first Wimbledon female champion 1884-85), dies at 81
2020 – Shigeru Yokota, Japanese activist whose daughter was kidnapped by North Korea, dies at 87
2022 – Alec John Such [Szűcs], American rock bassist (Bon Jovi, 1983-94 – “Wanted Dead or Alive”), dies at 70
2025 – John Shulock, American baseball umpire (World Series 1985, 92, MLB All-Star Games 1983, 94; American League 1979-99), dies at 76