Today In History
Historical Events
1904 – The Japanese Army capture the City of Dairen after landing troops along the south coast of Manchuria
1946 – United flight 521 crashes on takeoff at LaGuardia Airport (NY) 42 die
1959 – Indianapolis 500: Rodger Ward earns first of 2 career Indy 500 victories as a record 16 cars complete full 500 miles; for the first time all cars required to have roll bars
1972 – 3 Japanese PFL terrorists kills 24, wound 72 at Tel Aviv’s Lod Intl airport
2010 – Indianapolis 500: Scotsman Dario Franchitti driving for Target Chip Ganassi Racing wins his 2nd Indy title ahead of Dan Wheldon and Marco Andretti
Famous Birthdays
1812 – John Alexander McClernand, American politician and Major General (Union Army), born in Breckinridge County, Kentucky (d. 1900)
1938 – Lone Koppel, Danish operatic soprano (Danish Royal Theatre, 1962-93) and avant garde rock singer (Savage Garden), born in Copenhagen, Denmark
1949 – P.J. Carlesimo, American basketball coach (Seton Hall University; Portland TBs, GS Warriors, OKC), born in Scranton, Pennsylvania
1950 – Paresh Rawal, Indian Bollywood actor (Woh Chokri, Woh Chokri), born in Bombay, India
1984 – Matt Maguire, Australian rules footballer (St Kilda Football Club, Brisbane Lions), born in Victoria, Australia
Famous Deaths
1770 – François Boucher, French painter (b. 1703)
1923 – Camille Chevillard, French composer, dies at 63
1978 – Jean Deslauriers, Canadian violin prodigy, conductor (CBC, 1935-78), and composer, dies at 68
1989 – Claude Pepper, American politician (Rep-D-FL, 1963-89), dies at 88
2006 – David Lloyd, New Zealand botanist, dies from apparent poisoning by acrylamide, a common laboratory chemical, at 68
Historical Events
1832 – Evariste Galois give his theory on free assembly (dies in duel May 31)
1923 – Howard Hanson’s 1st Symphony “Nordic” premieres
1963 – Indianapolis 500: Parnelli Jones takes his only Indy 500 win despite his car spewing oil from a cracked overflow tank for many laps
1967 – King Hussein of Jordan visits Cairo
1997 – Former Montreal Canadiens goaltender Ken Dryden becomes president of NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs
2005 – Gordon Ramsay first appears on US television in cooking competition show “Hell’s Kitchen” on Fox
2009 – Super Rugby Final, Pretoria: Morné Steyn kicks 5 conversions and 2 penalties as the Bulls thump the Chiefs (Waikato, NZ), 61-17
2015 – English FA Cup Final, Wembley Stadium, London (89,283): Arsenal beats Aston Villa, 4-0; Gunners’ 12th title
Famous Birthdays
1896 – Howard Hawks, American director and producer (Rio Bravo, Scarface), born in Goshen, Indiana (d. 1977)
1902 – Stepin Fetchit [Lincoln Perry], American actor (Miracle in Harlem) 1st African American film star, born in Key West, Florida (d. 1985)
1915 – Jerome Bert Weisner, American engineer (science advisor to John. F Kennedy, President of MIT 1971-80), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 1994)
1924 – Norbert Schemansky, American weightlifter (Olympic gold heavyweight 1952, silver 1948, bronze 1960, 64), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 2016)
1936 – Keir Dullea, actor (2001, 2010, David and Lisa), born in Cleveland, Ohio
1939 – Michael J Pollard [Pollack], American character actor (Bonnie and Clyde; Roxanne), born in Passaic, New Jersey (d. 2019)
1947 – Jocelyne Bourassa, Canadian golfer (LPGA Rookie of the Year 1972; Canadian Open 1973), born in Shawinigan, Quebec (d. 2021)
1968 – Kelley Armstrong, Canadian novelist (Women of the Otherworld), born in Sudbury, Ontario
1972 – Manny Ramirez, Dominican-American baseball outfielder (12 × MLB All-Star; World Series 2004 [MVP], 07; 9 × Silver Slugger Award; Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox), born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
1999 – Guanyu Zhou, Chinese racing driver (first Chinese F1 driver), born in Shanghai, China
Famous Deaths
1744 – Alexander Pope, English poet (The Rape of the Lock, translation of Homer), dies at 56
1770 – François Boucher, French painter (b. 1703)
1975 – Michel Simon, Swiss actor (Panic, Plague, Two of Us), dies at 80
1978 – Jean Deslauriers, Canadian violin prodigy, conductor (CBC, 1935-78), and composer, dies at 68
1980 – Carl Radle, American bass guitarist (Derek and the Dominoes), dies of a kidney infection at 37
1988 – Ella Raines, American actress (Uncle Harry, Runaround, Impact, Brute Force), dies of throat cancer at 67
2000 – Tex Beneke, American bandleader and musician (b. 1914)
2003 – Mickie Most [Michael Hayes], British record producer (Herman’s Hermits; The Nashville Teens; Donovan; Lulu), dies of stomach cancer at 64
2015 – Azmat Rana, Pakistan cricket batsman (1 Test, top score 49; 2 ODIs), dies at 63
2019 – Frank Lucas, American drug kingpin (fictionalised in 2007 film “American Gangster”), dies at 88