Today In History
Historical Events
1333 – Flood of the Arno River, causing massive damage in Florence as recorded by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani
1910 – Start of South Africa’s 1st F-C game in Aust (v S Aust). It rained
1968 – WTOG TV channel 44 in St Petersburg-Tampa, FL (IND) 1st broadcast
2003 – “Shock’n Y’all” 8th studio album by Toby Keith is released (Billboard Album of the Year 2004)
2021 – WHO says Europe is again the Epicenter for COVID-19 after cases rise 50% in a month
Famous Birthdays
1765 – Pierre-Simon Girard, French mathematician and engineer (fluid mechanics), born in Caen, France (d. 1836)
1818 – Alexander Lawton, Brigadier General in the Confederate Army, born in Beaufort District, South Carolina (d. 1896)
1904 – Walter Bauer, German Canadian writer, born in Merseburg (d. 1976)
1950 – Markie Post, American actress (Night Court, 1984-92 – “Christine”; There’s Something About Mary), born in Palo Alto, California (d. 2021)
1978 – John Grabow, American baseball player, born in Arcadia, California
Famous Deaths
1411 – Khalil Sultan, ruler of Transoxonia (b. 1384)
1847 – (Jacob Ludwig) Felix Mendelssohn [Bartholdy], German composer and pianist (Italian Symphony; Songs Without Words), dies after a series of strokes at 38
1869 – George Peabody, American-British entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the Peabody Trust and the Peabody Institute, dies at 74
1987 – Raphael Soyer, Russian-born American artist (Depression scenes in NYC), dies at 87
2022 – Dow Finsterwald, American golfer (PGA Championship 1958; PGA Player of the Year 1958), dies at 93
Historical Events
1876 – Johannes Brahms’ 1st Symphony in C premieres in Karlsruhe, Grand Duchy of Baden
1914 – Vogue holds its first model show, “Fashion Fete,” in New York City
1948 – American-born British poet T. S. Eliot wins Nobel Prize for literature
1979 – 500 Iranian students loyal to Ayatollah Khomeini seize the US Embassy in Tehran, taking 90 hostages for 444 days
1987 – NBA announces four new franchises: Charlotte and Miami for 1988, and Minneapolis and Orlando for 1989
1994 – San Francisco: First conference that focuses exclusively on the subject of the commercial potential of the World Wide Web.
2016 – British TV series “The Crown” premieres with Claire Foy playing Queen Elizabeth II and Matt Smith as Prince Philip
2018 – New York City Marathon: Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia runs 2:05:59, 2nd fastest men’s time in history; Kenya’s Mary Keitany captures her 4th women’s NYC crown in 2:22:48
Famous Birthdays
1661 – Charles III Philip, Elector Palatine (1716-42), born in Neuburg an der Donau, Germany (d. 1742)
1816 – Stephen Johnson Field, American jurist, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, born in Haddam, Connecticut (d. 1899)
1820 – Robert Vinkler Richardson, American Brigadier-General (Confederate Army), born in Granville County, North Carolina (d. 1870)
1879 – Will Rogers, American humorist and actor (Judge Priest), born in Oologah, Oklahoma (d. 1935)
1901 – Spyridon Marinatos, Greek archaeologist who rediscovered the site of an ancient port city on the island of Thera, in the southern Aegean Sea, born in Lixoúrion, Cephalonia, Greece (d. 1974)
1943 – Clark Graebner, American tennis player (US Davis Cup 1968; French Open doubles 1966; US Open runner-up 1967), born in Cleveland, Ohio
1944 – Scherrie Payne, American singer (The Supremes), born in Detroit, Michigan
1957 – Tony Abbott, Australian Prime Minister (2013-15), born in London, England
1979 – Trishelle Cannatella, American reality TV castmember and model, born in Cut Off, Louisiana
1988 – Dez Bryant, American football wide receiver (Dallas Cowboys), born in Galveston County, Texas
Famous Deaths
1841 – Adriaan van der Hoop Jr, Dutch poet and literary critic (Hugo and Elvire, The journey to Tervuren), dies at 39
1924 – Richard Conner, American Civil War Medal of Honor Recipient, dies at 79
1965 – Krsto Odak, Croatian composer, dies at 77
1968 – Paul JM Lindemans, Flemish agricultural engineer and author, dies at 78
1982 – Dominique Dunne, American actress (Diary of a Teenage Hitchhiker; Poltergeist), murdered by boyfriend at 22
1995 – Gilles Deleuze, French philosopher (Difference and Repetition), dies at 70
1999 – Charles Wintour, English editor (The Evening Standard), dies at 82
2011 – Norman Ramsey, American physicist who worked on the atomic bomb and Nobel Prize recipient (1989), dies at 96
2012 – Ted Curson, American jazz trumpeter, dies from a heart attack at 77
2020 – Ken Hensley, British rock songwriter, keyboardist, and singer (Uriah Heep, 1970-80 – “Easy Livin'”; Blackfoot, 1982-84), dies at 75