Today In History
Historical Events
1810 – Chile declares independence from Spain, celebrated today as Chile’s National Day
1990 – A 500-pound, 6-foot Hershey’s Kiss is displayed at 1 Times Square, New York City
1993 – 18th Toronto International Film Festival: “The Snapper,” directed by Stephen Frears, wins the People’s Choice Award
2014 – Eight people (including two children) are shot dead in Bell, Florida
2022 – Hurricane Fiona makes landfall near Punta Tocón on Puerto Rico’s southwest coast as a Category 1 storm with 85 km/h winds, causing catastrophic flooding
Famous Birthdays
1912 – Sarah Palfrey Cooke, American tennis player (US Nat C’ship 1941, 45), born in Sharon, Massachusetts (d. 1996)
1932 – Nikolay Rukavishnikov, Soviet cosmonaut (Soyuz 10, 16, 33), born in Tomsk, Russia (d. 2002)
1949 – Kerry Livgren, American progressive rock guitarist and songwriter (Kansas – “Carry On Wayward Son”; “Dust in the Wind”), born in Topeka, Kansas
1953 – Betsy Boze, American academic (9th president of The College of The Bahamas), born in Shreveport, Louisiana
1956 – Chris Hedges, American journalist and author (War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning), born in St. Johnsbury, Vermont
Famous Deaths
1783 – Benjamin Kennicott, English churchman and Hebrew scholar, dies at 65
1904 – Herbert von Bismarck, German politician, son of Otto, dies at 54
1997 – Harry Boyne, British parliamentary journalist, dies at 87
2017 – Zurab Sotkilava, Soviet Georgian operatic tenor (the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theatre, 1965-74), and pedagogue (Moscow Conservatory), dies of pancreatic cancer at 80
2024 – Rolf Wolfshohl, German road cyclist (Vuelta a España 1965; World Cyclo-cross C’ship 1960, 61, 63), dies at 85
Historical Events
1919 – Hurricane tides reach 16 feet above normal drowning 280 people along US Gulf Coast
1930 – Philadelphia A’s win AL Championship for the second year in a row
1948 – Communist Madiun Uprising in Dutch Indies (Muso/Sjarifudin)
1954 – Cleveland Indians clinch AL pennant, beating Tigers (3-2)
1962 – Charlie Finley is denied permission to move the A’s to Dallas-Fort Worth
1976 – Chinese Communist Party Chairman Mao Zedong’s funeral takes place in Beijing, China
1979 – Briitish rock band “The Who” plays first of five concerts at Madison Square Garden, New York City
2024 – Tupperware Brands, maker of plastic kitchenware since 1948, files for bankruptcy in Florida
Famous Birthdays
1636 – Pietro Sanmartini, Italian composer, born in Florence, Grand Duchy of Tuscany (d. 1701)
1884 – Ludomir Różycki, Polish composer and conductor (Eros i Psyche; Pan Twardowski), born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 1953)
1905 – Greta Garbo, Swedish actress and Hollywood silent film star (Anna Karenina, Grand Hotel, Camille), born in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 1990)
1906 – Jean Dieudonné, French mathematician (abstract algebra), born in Lille, France (d. 1992)
1910 – Leon Stein, American composer, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2002)
1929 – Louis Myers, American blues guitarist and harmonica player, born in Byhalia, Mississippi (d. 1994)
1947 – Giancarlo Minardi, Italian founder and Managing Director of Minardi Formula One team, born in Faenza, Italy
1961 – Martin “Frosty” Beedle, British session and touring drummer (Cutting Crew – “(I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight”), born in North Ferriby, East Yorkshire, England
1973 – Paul Brousseau, Canadian ice hockey player, born in Pierrefonds, Quebec, Canada
1978 – Pilar López de Ayala, Spanish actress (Juana la Loca), born in Madrid, Spain
Famous Deaths
1891 – William Ferrel, American mathematician (b. 1817)
1951 – Pamela Colman Smith, British suffragist, writer and artist known for designing the Rider-Waite deck of tarot cards, dies at 73
1953 – Charles de Tornaco, Belgian racing driver, dies at 26
1967 – John Cockcroft, English physicist (development of Radar, Nobel Prize 1951 for 1st particle accelerator, Director of Atomic Energy Research Establishment), dies at 70
1975 – Fairfield Porter, American painter, dies at 68
1992 – Earl Van Dyke, American jazz and session piano, Hammond B-3, and harpsichord player (Motown Records’ Funk Brothers, 1964-72), dies of prostate cancer at 62
1995 – Donald Davie, English Movement poet and literary critic, dies at 73
2002 – Ernest Sidey, British air marshal (General of RAF Medical Services, Honorary Surgeon to the Queen), dies at 89
2012 – Jack Kralick, American MLB baseball pitcher (All-Star 1964; no hitter 1962; Washington Senators/Minnesota Twins, Cleveland Indians), dies from complications of strokes at 77
2025 – Diane Martel, American music video director (Beyoncé; Mariah Carey; Miley Cyrus), dies of cancer at 63