Today In History
Historical Events
1956 – Margaret Towner becomes the first woman to be ordained into the Presbyterian Church in the US (PCUSA)
1957 – Cincinnati Redlegs decline to move to Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City
1958 – USSR lends Egypt 400 million rubles to build the Aswan High Dam across the Nile river
1973 – John Lennon sues US government to admit FBI is tapping his phone; they deny doing so
2004 – Manchester United beats Arsenal 2-0 at Old Trafford, ending Arsenal’s English Premier League record 49-game unbeaten streak
Famous Birthdays
1808 – Bernhard von Cotta, German geologist, born in Meiningen, Germany (d. 1879)
1885 – Ernest Claes, Belgian author (De Witte – Whitey), born in Zichem, Belgium (d. 1968)
1920 – Julius Youngner, American scientist, helped develop Salk polio vaccine, born in Manhattan, New York (d. 2017)
1939 – F. Murray Abraham, American actor (All the President’s Men and Amadeus), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1965 – Vernice Smith, American NFL guard (Phoenix Cardinals, Chicago Bears, Washington Redskins, St Louis Rams), born in Orlando, Florida
Famous Deaths
1679 – Barent Avercamp, Dutch landscape painter, dies at about 66
1785 – Jean-Jacques Robson, Flemish composer, dies at 64
1935 – Otto “Aba Daba” Berman, American gangster (accountant for Dutch Schultz), murdered at 44
1955 – Alfred Radcliffe-Brown, British Anthropologist (Structural Functionalism and studies of Andaman Islanders and Australian Aborigines), dies at 74
1993 – Tonino Nardi, Italian cinematographer (Porte Manifest), dies at 54
Historical Events
1911 – Orville Wright remains in the air for 9 minutes and 45 seconds in a glider at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, setting a new world record that stands for 10 years
1957 – Cincinnati Redlegs decline to move to Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City
1971 – A member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA) is shot dead by undercover Royal Ulster Constabulary officers during a bomb attack in Belfast
1976 – New York City Marathon: American Bill Rodgers wins his first title in 2:10:10; Miki Gorman wins the women’s race in 2:39:11
1981 – Pablo Picasso’s 1937 painting Guernica goes on display in Madrid, Spain, to celebrate the centenary of the artist’s birth
2012 – Libyan militias capture Bani Walid, resulting in 130 civilian deaths
2021 – Michael Jordan’s 1984 Nike Air Ships sell for $1.472 million at Sotheby’s, setting a new record for sneakers at auction
2022 – UK’s ruling Conservative party appoints Rishi Sunak as their next leader and Prime Minister, replacing Liz Truss after six weeks; Sunak is the first prime minister of color in the country’s history
Famous Birthdays
1561 – Anthony Babington, English page and conspirator to Mary, Queen of Scots, convicted of plotting the assassination of Elizabeth I, born in Dethick, England (d. 1586)
1632 – Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch microbiologist, microscopist who was the first to observe bacteria and protozoa and naturalist (Philosophical Transactions), born in Delft, Dutch Republic (d. 1723)
1810 – Carl Baermann, German clarinetist and composer, born in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria (d. 1885)
1887 – Octave Lapize, French cyclist (Tour de France 1910), born in Paris, France (d. 1917)
1893 – Merian C. Cooper, American film director and producer (King Kong) and aviator (Kościuszko Squadron, Director-Pan American Airways), born in Jacksonville, Florida (d. 1973)
1947 – Edgar Broughton, British rocker (Edgar Broughton Band – “Out Demons, Out!”), born in Warwick, Warwickshire, England
1959 – Michelle Lujan Grisham, American politician, Governor of New Mexico (2019-), born in Los Alamos, New Mexico
1960 – B.D. Wong, American actor (M. Butterfly), born in San Francisco, California
1983 – Marc Leishman, Australian golfer (British Open 2015 runner-up; PGA Rookie of the Year 2009), born in Warrnambool, Victoria
1987 – Anthony Vanden Borre, Belgian footballer, born in Likasi, Zaire (now Congo)
Famous Deaths
1669 – William Prynne, English Puritan leader (b. 1600)
1972 – Jackie Robinson, American Baseball HOF second baseman (1st African-American MLB player Brooklyn Dodgers; 6 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1955; NL MVP 1949), dies from a heart attack at 53
1985 – Lásló Jósef Bíró, Hungarian inventor (ballpoint pen), dies at 86
1993 – Ben Scholtens, historian (Gaama Duumi), murdered at 39
1998 – Mary Calderone, American physician and founder of Planned Parenthood, dies at 94
2003 – Veikko Hakulinen, Finnish cross country skier (Olympic gold 1952, 56, 60), dies in car accident at 78
2005 – Mokarrameh Ghanbari, Iranian painter (b. 1928)
2024 – Ulf Pilgaard, Danish actor known for “Farligt venskab”, dies at 83
2025 – Benita Valente, American soprano (Metropolitan Opera, 1973-2000), dies at 91
2025 – J. William Middendorf II, American ambassador and secretary of the Navy (1974-77), dies at 101