Today In History
Historical Events
1809 – Spencer Perceval becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after William Cavendish-Bentinck, Duke of Portland retires due to ill health
1921 – Riccardo Zanella becomes first elected President of Free State of Fiume
1962 – US Air Force Major Robert A. Rushworth flies an X-15 to an altitude of 105,971 ft (32,300 m)
1991 – San Jose Sharks play first NHL game in franchise history, a 4-3 loss in Vancouver; native Californian Craig Coxe scores club’s first goal while Jeff Hackett makes an impressive 48 saves
1992 – “Real Inspector Hound” closes at Criterion Theater in NYC after 61 performances
Famous Birthdays
1945 – Clifton Davis, American actor (That’s My Mama; Amen) and singer-songwriter (“Never Can Say Goodbye”), born in Chicago, Illinois
1952 – Nina Carter, vocalist (Blonde on Blonde), born in London, England
1960 – Jennifer Anglin, American actress (Cheryl Stansbury in “General Hospital”), born in Adrian, Michigan
1961 – Kazuki Takahashi, Japanese creator of manga and trading card game Yu-Gi-Oh, born in Tokyo, Japan (d. 2022)
1980 – Morgan Spector, American actor (The Gilded Age, The Plot Against America), born in Santa Rosa, California
Famous Deaths
1893 – Pieter Elout van Soeterwoude, Dutch judge and politician (AR), dies at 88
1948 – Georg Kulenkampff, German concert violinist, dies of encephalitis at 50
1970 – Janis Joplin, American rock and blues singer-songwriter (“Piece of My Heart”; “Me and Bobby McGee”; “Mercedes Benz”), dies of a heroin overdose at 27
1975 – Joan Whitney Payson, American heiress, businesswoman and philanthropist (co-founder and majority owner of MLB’s New York Mets), dies at 72
2010 – Norman Wisdom, British comedian (Kraft Music Hall; Trouble In Store), dies at 95
Historical Events
1830 – Provisional Government of Belgium declares independence and succession from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
1901 – Charlie Barr skippered Columbia (US) beats Shamrock II (UK), 3-0 on New York City Harbour in 11th America’s Cup yachting challenge series
1922 – Protocol for the Reconstruction of Austria, between the government of Austria and the governments of Great Britain, France, Italy, and Czechoslovakia, for reconstructing the Austrian economy, signed in Geneva, Switzerland
1938 – Baseball World Series: NY Yankees win third straight championship; beat Chicago Cubs, 8-3 at Yankee Stadium for 4-0 sweep
1957 – Soviet Union launches Sputnik I, the first artificial Earth satellite, into an elliptical low Earth orbit
1985 – Free Software Foundation is founded in Massachusetts, USA
1992 – Solheim Cup Women’s Golf, Dalmahoy CC: Europe beats US, 11½-6½; Laura Davies of England wins all her 3 matches
2001 – Siberia Airlines Flight 1812: a Sibir Airlines Tupolev TU-154 crashes into the Black Sea after being struck by an errant Ukrainian S-200 missile, killing 78 people
Famous Birthdays
1657 – Francesco Solimena, Italian painter, born in Canale di Serino, Avellino, Italy (d. 1747)
1891 – Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, French artist and sculptor, born near Orléans, France (d. 1915)
1892 – Luis Trenker, South Tyrolean film producer, director and actor (Berge in Flammen), born in Urtijëi, Tyrol (d. 1990)
1900 – Robert Shayne [Shaen Dawe], American stage and screen character actor (Invaders from Mars; The Adventures of Superman; Tora! Tora! Tora!), born in Yonkers, New York (d. 1992)
1904 – Rene Cloke, British illustrator, born in Plymouth, England (d. 1995)
1975 – Cristiano Lucarelli, Italian soccer striker and manager (6 caps; AS Liverno), born in Livorno, Italy
1976 – Mauro Camoranesi, Italian soccer winger and manager (55 caps; Juventus), born in Tandil, Argentina
1976 – Cabral Ibacka, Romanian actor (Catacombs) and television presenter (I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here! Romania), born in Bucharest, Romania
1978 – Go Soo, South Korean television and movie actor known for “Some” and “Empire of Gold”, born in Nonsan, South Korea
1979 – Caitríona Balfe, Irish actress and model (Claire in “Outlander”; Money Monster, Belfast), born in Dublin, Ireland
Famous Deaths
1754 – Tanacharison, Catawba Indian chief
1863 – Gerrit Schimmelpenninck, Dutch politician (1st Dutch PM as Chairman of the Council of Ministers 1848), dies at 69
1946 – Barney Oldfield, American auto racer (International Motorsports Hall of Fame; first to drive at 60mph on circular track), dies of a heart attack at 67
1991 – Leonard C. Odell, American entrepreneur who wrote 7,000 Burma Shave poems, dies at 83
1994 – Scoville “Toby” Browne, American jazz saxophone and clarinet player, dies at 84
1996 – Masaki Kobayashi, Japanese film director and screenwriter (Joi-uchi), dies at 80
2018 – Will Vinton, American Emmy Award-winning animator and filmmaker (Claymation Christmas Celebration, Adventures in Wonderland, The PJs), dies from multiple myeloma at 70
2018 – Audrey Wells, American screenwriter and director (Under the Tuscan Sun, Guinevere), dies of cancer at 58
2019 – Diahann Carroll [Carol Diann Johnson] American Tony Award-winning stage and screen actress (No Strings; Julia; Claudine; Dynasty – “Dominique”), dies of cancer at 84
2022 – Günter Lamprecht, German actor (Berlin Alexanderplatz, The World on a Wire), dies at 92