Today In History
Historical Events
1620 – Astronomer Johannes Kepler’s mother is arrested for witchcraft
1900 – Diamond workers in Amsterdam strike
1903 – Tommy Corcoran sets an MLB record for shortstops by recording 14 assists in Cincinnati’s 4-2 win against the St. Louis Cardinals
1991 – Courts rules Manuel Noriega may access some secret US documents
1993 – Revival of Lerner and Loewe’s musical “Camelot,” with Robert Goulet as King Arthur, closes at Gershwin Theater, NYC, after 56 performances
Famous Birthdays
1282 – Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, youngest daughter of King Edward I and Queen Eleanor of Castile, born in Rhuddlan Castle, Denbighshire, Wales (d. 1316)
1930 – Veljo Tormis, Estonian composer, specializing in choral music (Curse Upon Iron (Raua needmine)), born in Kuusalu, Estonia (d. 2017)
1961 – Yelena Davydova, Russian gymnast (Olympic gold USSR All-round, Team 1980), coach (Canadian Women’s Artistic Team 2012) and international judge (Rio Olympics 2016), born in Voronezh, Russia
1979 – Abigail Spanberger, American politician, intelligence officer, and first female governor of Virginia (D-2026), born in Red Bank, New Jersey
1998 – Jalen Hurts, American football quarterback (NCAA C’ship 2018 University of Alabama; Super Bowl LIX MVP 2025 Philadelphia Eagles), born in Houston, Texas
Famous Deaths
1799 – John Bacon, English sculptor – most successful public sculptor of his time, dies at 58
1885 – Anthony Modderman, Dutch politician (Minister of Justice, 1879-83), dies at 46
1917 – Squadron Commander E.H. Dunning, first pilot to land his aircraft on a moving ship. (b. 1891)
1944 – Agustín Barrios Mangoré, Paraguayan classical guitarist and composer (La Catedral), dies at 59
2022 – Anatoli Vassilyevich Filipchenko, Russian cosmonaut (Soyuz 7; Soyuz, 16), dies at 94
Historical Events
1760 – Fort Loudoun, Tennessee, surrenders to Cherokee Indians
1864 – Battle of Moorefield, West Virginia: Surprise Union raid kills 400 Confederates and captures 400 horses, badly damaging Confederate cavalry in the Shenandoah Valley
1942 – First American offensive in Pacific in WW2, Guadalcanal, Solomon Island
1954 – Jerome Moross and John Treville Latouche’s “Golden Apple,” adapted from parts of Homer’s “Iliad” and “Odyssey,” closes at Alvin Theatre, NYC, after 125 performances
1970 – British keyboard playing singer-songwriter Christine McVie (née Perfect) joins rock band Fleetwood Mac
1974 – French Philippe Petit walks a tightrope strung between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City at a height of 1,350 feet (411.5 meters)
1977 – Gary Geld and Peter Udell’s musical “Shenandoah,” based on the film of the same name, closes at the Alvin Theatre, NYC, after 1,050 performances and winning two Tony Awards
1984 – Japan beats US, 6-3 in the final of the Los Angeles Olympic baseball demonstration event
Famous Birthdays
317 – Constantius II, Roman Emperor (337-61), born in Sirmium, Pannonia Inferior (d. 361)
1868 – Granville Bantock, British composer and conductor (Hebridean Symphony), born in London (d. 1946)
1919 – John Hogan, American chemist (discovered methods of producing polypropylene), born in Lowes, Kentucky (d. 2012)
1921 – Karel Husa, Czech-American Pulitzer prize winning composer (Trojan Women), born in Prague, Czechoslovakia (d. 2016)
1928 – James Randi, Canadian skeptic magician (Nova), born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 2020)
1928 – Romeo Muller, American screenwriter (Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer; Frosty the Snowman), born in the Bronx, New York City (d. 1992)
1952 – Ian Hobson, English pianist, opera conductor and music professor, born in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England
1961 – Walter Swinburn, English jockey (Epsom Derby 1981, 86, 95; Irish Derby 1983, 86; Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe 1983), born in Oxford, England (d. 2016)
1973 – Danny Graves, American MLB baseball pitcher (Cincinnati Reds and two other teams), born in Saigon, South Vietnam
1978 – Alexandre Aja, French director, born in Paris, France
Famous Deaths
1821 – Caroline of Brunswick, Queen Consort of King George IV (1820-21), dies at 53
1913 – David Popper, Bohemian composer and cellist, dies at 70
1942 – Richard Gott, British general (commandant of 8th Army), dies in battle at 43
1969 – Joseph Kosma [József Kozma], Hungarian-French film composer (Les Enfants du Paradis; The Grand Illusion), dies at 63
1970 – James McClain, American prison inmate on trial for stabbing death of a guard, shot dead during miltant assault of San Rafael, California courthouse
1984 – Esther Phillips, American singer (What a Difference a Day Makes), dies at 48
1990 – Eva Sully Block, American vaudeville actress (Kid Millions), dies of heart failure at 88
1998 – Wallace Coulter, American inventor and entrepreneur (Coulter Principle – made complete blood counts possible), dies at 85
2008 – Andrea Pininfarina, Italian engineer (CEO of Pininfarina S.p.A.), dies in a road accident at 51
2021 – Douglas Applegate, American politician (US Representative from Ohio, 1977-95), dies at 93