Today In History
Historical Events
1745 – Jacobite Rising 1745: Bonnie Prince Charlie raises his standard at Glenfinnan, Scotland, igniting the second Jacobite rebellion
1897 – First electric taxis drive in London
1931 – Lefty Grove wins an AL record-tying 16th consecutive game
1962 – Homer Blancos plays his finest round in golf, shooting a 55
2018 – Two more earthquakes hit Lombok in Indonesia, killing 14 people two weeks after previous earthquakes
Famous Birthdays
1824 – Georg Goltermann, German cellist and composer, born in Hanover, Kingdom of Hanover, German Confederation (d. 1898)
1963 – John Stamos, American actor (General Hospital; Full House; ER) and musician, born in Cypress, California
1972 – Elizabeth Wolfgramm, American singer (The Jets), born in Salt Lake City, Utah
1977 – Callum Blue, English actor (Dead Like Me, The Tudors), born in London, England
1982 – Melissa Fumero [Gallo], American actress (Brooklyn Nine-Nine), born in Lyndhurst, New Jersey
Famous Deaths
1900 – Jean-Baptiste Accolay, Belgian composer, dies at 67
1967 – Isaac Deutscher, Polish-English historian (Stalin/Trotsky biography), dies at 60
1987 – Hayden Rorke, American actor (I Dream of Jeannie, When Worlds Collide), dies from multiple myeloma at 76
1992 – Norvel Lee, American boxer (Olympic gold 1952), dies at 67
2016 – Jack Riley, American actor (The Bob Newhart Show – “Mr. Carlin”; Rugrats -“Stu Pickles”), dies of pneumonia at 80
Historical Events
1768 – Empress Catherine II commissions a new version of Saint Isaac’s Cathedral in St. Petersburg, Russia
1911 – MLB New York Giants pitcher Christy Mathewson loses against the Cincinnati Reds after 22 consecutive wins against the team
1939 – 37.6 cm of rainfall in Tuckerton, NJ (state record)
1969 – Film adaptation of Arlo Guthrie’s song “Alice’s Restaurant,” directed by Arthur Penn and starring Guthrie, premieres
1979 – Soviet Cosmonauts Vladimir Lyakhov and Valery Ryumin return to Earth aboard Soyuz 34 after a record 175 days in space
2001 – German Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher wins the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring to clinch his fourth F1 World Drivers’ Championship and equal Alain Prost’s record of 51 Grand Prix victories
2013 – 37 pilgrims are killed in a train accident in India
2020 – Golfing dinner termed #GolfGate, appearing to flout COVID-19 restrictions and attended by Irish political figures, prompts two politicians to later resign
Famous Birthdays
1873 – Fred Stone, renowned American circus performer and broadway actor (Alice Adams), born in Longmont, Colorado (d. 1959)
1899 – Franz C. Schmelkes, Czech-born Chemist who discovered azochloramid (chlorazodin), widely used as a disinfectant to sterilize wounds and burns, born in Prague, Czechoslovakia (d. 1942)
1938 – Nelly Vuksic (née Perez), Argentinian singer, choral conductor (America Vocal Ensemble), and educator (Columbia University; Brooklyn Conservatory), born in Totoras, Argentina
1943 – Edwin Hawkins, American gospel musician, choir master and composer (“Oh Happy Day”), born in Oakland, California (d. 2018)
1943 – Billy J. Kramer [Ashton], British pop rock vocalist (The Dakotas – “Bad To Me”), born in Bootle, Lancashire, England
1946 – Dawn Steel, American filmmaker, 1st woman to head Hollywood studio, born in The Bronx, New York (d. 1997)
1950 – Dan Yochum, American football offensive lineman (CFL All-Star 1975, 76, 77, 78; Grey Cup 1974, 77; Montreal Alouettes; CFHOF), born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (d. 2020)
1951 – John Deacon, British rock bassist (Queen – “Another One Bites The Dust”), born in Leicester, England
1969 – Nate Dogg [Nathaniel Dwayne Hale], American rapper (“Regulate”; “21 Questions”), born in Clarksdale, Mississippi (d. 2011)
1975 – Chynna Clugston Flores, American comic book creator (Blue Monday), born in Fresno, California
Famous Deaths
1506 – Alexander Jagiellon, Grand Duke of Lithuania (1492-1506) and King of Poland (1501-6), dies at 45
1680 – Jean Eudes, French catholic priest, founder of the Eudists, dies at 78
1795 – Friedrich Hartmann Graf, German composer, dies at 67
1889 – Auguste Villiers de l’Isle-Adam, French writer (Contes cruels), dies at 60
1959 – Claude Grahame-White, English aviation pioneer who was the 1st to make a night flight, dies at 79
1962 – Kerstin Hesselgren, Swedish politician, 1st woman in Swedish parliament, dies at 90
1963 – Kathleen Parlow, Canadian violinist, and educator, dies at 72
1970 – Paweł Jasienica, Polish historian, dies at 60
2008 – Marguerite Empey [Diane Webber], American model and Playboy playmate (May 1955, Feb 1956), dies at 76
2017 – Janusz Glowacki, Polish novelist (Give Us This Day), playwright (Cinders) and screenwriter (Hunting Flies), dies at 78