Today In History
Historical Events
1941 – USS Kearny becomes the first US destroyer torpedoed in World War II while the country is still officially neutral
1964 – US swimmers go 1-2-3 in the women’s 400 m individual medley at the Tokyo Olympics; Donna de Varona wins gold in an Olympic record of 5:18.7 ahead of teammates Sharon Finneran and Martha Randall
1985 – Lou Piniella is named NY Yankees manager
2008 – Iran attempts to create the world’s largest sandwich (1,500 meters) but fails when crowds eat it before it can be measured
2017 – Islamic State headquarters in Raqqa is declared under full control of the US-led alliance by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) spokesperson Talal Sello after four months of fighting
Famous Birthdays
1720 – Maria Teresa Agnesi, Italian harpsichodist, singer, and composer, born in Milan, Habsburg Empire (d. 1795)
1890 – Roy Kilner, English cricket all-rounder (9 Tests, 2 x 50, 24 wickets, BB 4/58; Yorkshire CCC), born in Low Valley, Wombwell, England (d. 1928)
1892 – Theodor Eicke, German Nazi official who developed the concentration camps, born in Hampont, German Empire (d. 1943)
1909 – (William) “Cozy” Cole, American jazz drummer (“Topsy I”; “Topsy II”), and educator, born in East Orange, New Jersey (d. 1981)
1957 – Steve McMichael, American College-Pro Football HOF defensive tackle (University of Texas; Super Bowl XX; First-team All-Pro 1985, 87; Pro Bowl 1986, 87; Chicago Bears), born in Houston, Texas (d. 2025)
Famous Deaths
1174 – Queen Petronila of Aragon (b. 1135)
1836 – Orest Kiprensky, leading Russian portrait painter in the Age of Romanticism, dies from pneumonia at 54
1958 – Charlie Townsend, English cricketer (2 Tests for England 1899), dies at 81
1972 – Walter “Turk” Broda, Canadian ice hockey goaltender, 5x Stanley Cup, 2x Vezina Trophy (Toronto Maple Leafs, 1935-51), dies of a heart attack at 58
2015 – Danièle Delorme [Gabrielle Girard], French actress (Pardon My Affair), dies at 89
Historical Events
1907 – Guglielmo Marconi’s company begins the first commercial transatlantic wireless service between Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada and Clifden, Ireland
1956 – Chess “Game of the Century”: 13-year-old Bobby Fischer defeats 1953 US Champion Donald Byrne in the Rosenwald Memorial Tournament at the Marshall Chess Club in New York City
1962 – First appearance of a Gabor sister on “The Merv Griffin Show,” with Zsa Zsa Gabor
1967 – Pop singer-songwriter duo Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart guest star in the “Jeannie, the Hip Hippie” episode of the American TV sitcom “I Dream of Jeannie” while record producer Phil Spector makes a cameo appearance
1975 – First Space Shuttle main engine test at National Space Technology Laboratories in Pearl River, Mississippi
1978 – Yankees win the 22nd World Championship, capping their great comeback year
1980 – First-class debut of Mike Whitney, NSW vs. Qld (2-52 and 1-39)
1989 – A 6.9 magnitude earthquake in San Francisco kills 67 people and leads to the cancellation of the third game of the World Series
Famous Birthdays
1811 – Albertus van Raalte, Dutch-American Reformed vicar (settled Holland, Michigan), born in Wanneperveen, Netherlands (d. 1876)
1853 – Maria Alexandrovna, Grand Duchess of Russia, who married into the British royal family, born at Alexander Palace, Tsarskoye Selo, Russia (d. 1920)
1893 – Fritz Ascher, German Expressionist artist, and poet, persecuted by the Nazi regime, born in Berlin, German Empire (d. 1970)
1933 – Bill Anders, American USAF Major General, and NASA astronaut (Apollo 8), born in British Hong Kong (d. 2024)
1934 – Barend P Tammeling, Dutch journalist (Trouw, Groninger Gezinsbode), born in Groningen, Netherlands (d. 1993)
1945 – Jimmy Cricket [James Joseph Mulgrew], Northern Irish comedian and philanthropist (And There’s More), born in Cookstown, Northern Ireland (d. 2026)
1957 – Lawrence Bender, American film producer (Reservoir Dogs; Death Proof; Django Unchained; An Inconvenient Truth), born in The Bronx, New York
1966 – Mark Gatiss, English actor and writer, co-creator of “Sherlock” and “A League of Gentlemen”, born in Sedgefield, England
1967 – Mark Johnson, infielder (Pittsburgh Pirates), born in Worcester, Massachusetts
1972 – Eminem [Marshall Bruce Mathers III], American songwriter, rapper (“The Real Slim Shady”, “Lose Yourself”), music producer, and movie star (8 Mile), born in St. Joseph, Missouri
Famous Deaths
1786 – Johann Ludwig Aberli, Swiss artist (b. 1723)
1873 – Robert McClure, Irish explorer who discovered the Northwest passage, dies at 66
1921 – Yaa Asantewaa, Ghanaian queen of Ashanti Empire, led fight against British colonialism, dies at 80 or 81
1947 – Hélène van Zuylen, French pioneering author of the Belle Époque era, first woman to compete in an international motor race, and member of the Rothschild family, dies at 84
1979 – Karel Reiner, Czech pianist, composer, and Theresienstadt concentration camp survivor, dies at 69
1991 – J. G. Devlin, Northern Irish actor (No Surrender), dies at 84
1993 – Helmut Gollwitzer, German anti-Nazi theologian and pacifist, dies at 84
2003 – Janice Rule, American actress (Alvarez Kelly; The Doctor’s Wife), dies at 72
2005 – Ba Jin, Chinese writer and anarchist (The Family), dies at 100
2017 – Julian May, American sci-fi author (Golden Torc, Magnificat), dies at 86