Today In History
Historical Events
1848 – The railroad between Barcelona and Mataró, the first in Spain, opens
1974 – Luna 23 is launched and lands on the Moon
2019 – EU agrees to another Brexit extension to January 31, 2020
2021 – Researchers announce the name of a new human ancestor, Homo bodoensis, from Africa, dating to the Middle Pleistocene about half a million years ago, as a direct ancestor of modern humans
2024 – UK records its lowest-ever fertility rate of 1.44 children per woman in 2023, with 591,072 births in England and Wales, the lowest in 172 years
Famous Birthdays
1897 – Hans Speidel, German army officer (WWI, WWII), involved in the 20 July Plot to kill Adolf Hitler (19440, and NATO-supreme commander (1957-64), born in Metzingen, Kingdom of Württemberg, German Empire (d. 1984)
1930 – John Mayer, Indian violinist and composer (Indo-Jazz Fusions), born in Calcutta, Bengal, British India (d. 2004)
1946 – Wim Jansen, Dutch soccer utility (65 caps; Feyenoord 415 games) and manager (SC Lokeren, Feyenoord, Celtic), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 2022)
1959 – Neville Henry, British rock saxophonist (Blow Monkeys – “Wicked Ways”), born in England
1965 – Luigi Miraglia, Italian Latinist, born in Naples, Italy
Famous Deaths
1568 – Ashikaga Yoshihide, 14th Japanese shōgun of the Ashikaga shogunate (1564-8), dies at 30 (b. 1538)
1852 – Gerhard Moritz Roentgen, Dutch industrialist (founder of Fijenoord dockyard), dies at 57
1986 – John Braine, English novelist (Life at the Top), dies at 64
1991 – Sylvia Fine (Kaye), American lyricist (“Knock on Wood”, “The Five Pennies”), composer, Peabody Award and Emmy Award television producer (Musical Comedy Tonight), and wife of Danny Kaye, dies of emphysema at 78
2012 – Jack Dellal, British property investor and multi-millionaire (Allied Commercial Holdings), dies from natural causes at 83
Historical Events
1908 – The English Newspaper the Daily Telegraph prints an interview with Germany’s Emperor Wilhelm II, who characterises himself as personally friendly to Britain but suggests the German people are hostile, causing uproar in both countries
1914 – Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, founded at Howard University, incorporates
1924 – White Sox beat New York Giants 8-4 in Dublin, with fewer than 20 fans in attendance
1939 – Warner Bros releases the gangster film “The Roaring Twenties,” directed by Raoul Walsh and starring James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart
1940 – Meeting between Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini in Florence, Italy
1986 – Stanley E. Hubbard’s KOB sells the company’s Albuquerque, New Mexico, radio stations KOB-AM and KOB-FM; the stations change their call signs to KKOB
1995 – Breeders’ Cup Horse Racing, Belmont Park, winners are Cigar, Desert Stormer, Inside Information, My Flag, Northern Spur, Ridgewood Pearl, Unbridled’s Song
2018 – Political crisis in Sri Lanka after President Sirisena sacks Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe and the cabinet, and suspends parliament for two weeks with one man killed in protests
Famous Birthdays
1795 – Leonardus Antonius Lightenvelt, Dutch politician, born in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands (d. 1873)
1895 – John Boles, American singer and actor (Babes in Baghdad), born in Greenville, Texas (d. 1969)
1914 – Richard Laurence Millington Synge, British biochemist (Nobel 1952), born in Liverpool, England (d. 1994)
1922 – Butch van Breda Kolff, American basketball coach (Princeton, LA Lakers, Detroit Pistons, Phoenix Suns, Memphis Tams, New Orleans Jazz), born in Glen Ridge, New Jersey (d. 2007)
1930 – Bernie Ecclestone, British business magnate and motorsports impresario (founder Formula One Group; commericial rights controller 1987-2017), born in St Peter, South Elmham, England
1943 – Conny Froboess, German actress (Rheinsberg), born in Wriezen, Germany
1956 – Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Iranian politician (President of Iran, 2005-13), born in Aradan, Iran
1968 – Juan Orlando Hernandez, Honduran politician and convicted drug trafficker, President of Honduras (2014-2022), born in Gracias, Honduras
1976 – Karl Tremblay, Canadian folk-rock singer (Les Cowboys Fringants), born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 2023)
1987 – Choi Na-yeon, South Korean golfer (US Open 2012), born in Seoul, South Korea
Famous Deaths
1716 – Stephen Fox, English politician, dies at 89
1755 – Joseph Bodin de Boismortier, composer, dies at 65
1841 – Johan August Arfwedson, Swedish chemist who discovered the element lithium, dies at 49
1877 – Robert Swinhoe, British naturalist (b. 1835)
1984 – Giuseppe Savagnone, Italian composer, dies at 81
1991 – George Treweeke, Australian Rugby League second rower (7 Tests, South Sydney), dies at 86
1992 – Joan Maloney Rio, dancer, dies of cancer at 57
1995 – Allan Leslie Merson, historian, dies at 79
2011 – Beryl Davis, British-American cabaret and big band singer (Quintette du Hot Club de France, Glenn Miller’s US Army Air Force Orchestra), dies of complications from Alzheimer’s disease at 87
2020 – Miguel Ángel Castellini, Argentine boxer (WBA, lineal light middleweight titles 1976-77), dies from COVID-19 at 73