Today In History
Historical Events
1875 – Netherlands joins the gold standard
1960 – South African police kill 11 Pondo’s at Nqusa Hill
1983 – Emmy 10th Daytime Award presentation – Susan Lucci loses for 4th time
1983 – Minnesota Twins select pitcher Tim Belcher #1 in the 1983 MLB Draft
2018 – Iraqi parliament orders manual recount of legislative elections in May after Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi claims evidence of irregularities
Famous Birthdays
1606 – Pierre Corneille, French poet and dramatist (El Cid, Horace), born in Rouen, France (d. 1684)
1878 – Vincent de Moro-Giafferi, French criminal attorney, born in Paris (d. 1956)
1896 – Italo Balbo, Italian pilot and governor of Libya, born in Ferrara, Italy (d. 1940)
1898 – Walter Abel, American actor (Fury, Suspicion, Dream Girl), born in Saint Paul, Minnesota (d. 1987)
1955 – Sandra Bernhard, American stand-up comic and actress (The King of Comedy; Roseanne – “Nancy”), born in Flint, Michigan
Famous Deaths
1964 – Robert Warwick, American actor (Konga; Zorro; Lady Godiva), dies at 85
1968 – Franklin Clark Fry, American minister (World Rad of Church), dies at 67
2002 – Robbin Crosby, American heavy metal rock guitarist and vocalist (Ratt – “Round and Round”), dies at 42
2005 – Anne Bancroft [Anna Italiano], American stage and screen Emmy, Oscar, and Tony Award-winning actress (The Graduate; The Miracle Worker), director, and screenwriter, dies from uterine cancer at 73
2010 – Marvin Isley, American rock bassist, and songwriter (The Isley Brothers, 1969-84 and 1991-97 – “Fight The Power”), dies from complications of diabetes at 56
Historical Events
1875 – Netherlands joins the gold standard
1903 – President Emile Loubet of France and Minister of Foreign Affairs Theophile Declasse visit London, furthering the cause of Entente Cordiale between Britain and France
1942 – First nylon parachute jump is made by American parachute tester Adeline Gray at Brainard Field, an airport near Hartford, Connecticut; DuPont teams with the Pioneer Parachute Company to develop an alternative to silk
1978 – Proposition 13 cuts California property taxes 57%
1983 – Minnesota Twins select pitcher Tim Belcher #1 in the 1983 MLB Draft
1985 – Soyuz T-13 carries 2 cosmonauts to Salyut 7 space station
1993 – 47th Tony Awards: “Angels in America: Millennium Approaches” (play) and “Kiss of the Spider Woman” (musical) win
2021 – US Open Women’s Golf, Olympic GC Lake Course: Yuka Saso of the Philippines sinks 10-foot birdie putt on 3rd playoff hole to edge Japan’s Nasa Hataoka; becomes 2nd teenager to win the event
Famous Birthdays
1894 – Violet Trefusis, English writer and socialite who had a famous affair with writer Vita Sackville-West, born in London England (d. 1972)
1901 – Jan Struther [Joyce Anstruther], British author (Mrs. Miniver), born in Buckinghamshire, England (d. 1953)
1902 – Avraham Daus, Israeli composer, born in Berlin. Germany (d. 1974)
1938 – Prince Luís of Orléans-Braganza, pretender to the Brazilian throne, born in Mandelieu-la-Napoule, France (d. 2022)
1939 – Nganani Enos J Mabuza, South African leader (Inyandza National Movement), born in Barberton, South Africa (d. 1997)
1944 – David Penhaligon, British Liberal Party politician for Truro (1974-86), born in Truro, Cornwall (d. 1986)
1952 – Yukihiro Takahashi, Japanese pop-rock drummer and singer (Yellow Magic Orchestra), born in Meguro, Tokyo, Japan (d. 2023)
1959 – Jimmy Jam [James Harris], American songwriter and record producer (Janet Jackson), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota
1984 – Shannon Stewart, American model and the runner-up on the first season of America’s Next Top Model, born in Franklin, Ohio
1986 – Bhavana Balachandran [Karthika Menon], Indian actress, born in Thrissur district, Kerala
Famous Deaths
1710 – Francoise de la Baume Le Blanc, mistress of King Louis XIV, dies at 65
1840 – Marcellin Champagnat, French priest (b. 1789)
1852 – Tommaso Marchesi, Italian composer, dies at 79
1861 – Giuseppe Concone, Italian singing teacher, dies at 59
1862 – Turner Ashby, American cavalry commander, killed in the Battle of Good’s Farm near Harrisonburg, Virginia, dies at 33
1955 – Max Meldrum, Scottish-Australian painter (founder of Australian Tonalism), dies at 79
1994 – Peter Graves, British actor (Paradise Lagoon, Admirable Crichton), dies at 82
2003 – Ken Grimwood, American writer (b. 1944)
2006 – Hilton Ruiz, Puerto Rican-American bebop and Afro-Cuban jazz pianist, dies from injuries sustained in a fall at 54
2024 – Joseph Hardy, American Tony Award-winning stage and screen director (You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown), and producer, dies at 95