Today In History
Historical Events
1688 – Prince William of Orange’s invasion fleet sails to England
1946 – New York Knicks play their first Basketball Association of America (BAA) home game at Madison Square Garden, losing 78-68 to the Chicago Stags in overtime
1966 – NASA Gemini 12 launches on a four-day flight with Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin
2000 – 12th College Football Holy War: Notre Dame beats Boston College, 28-16 in South Bend
2023 – Icelandic town of Grindavík on Reykjanes peninsula evacuated after thousands of earthquakes and rising magna point to an imminent eruption
Famous Birthdays
1907 – Joseph G. Hamilton, American physician who was a pioneer of using radioactive isotopes in disease treatment and diagnosis, born in Waverley, Massachusetts (d. 1957)
1962 – Demi Moore [Guynes], American actress (Ghost, Striptease, GI Jane), born in Roswell, New Mexico
1970 – Lee Parkin Starkey, English fashion designer, and daughter of Ringo Starr and his first wife Maureen, born in London
1976 – Lisa Gleave, American actress and model (The Price is Right), born in Queensland, Australia
1978 – Lou Vincent, New Zealand cricketer, born in Warkworth, New Zealand
Famous Deaths
1150 – Hartbert, bishop of Utrecht (1140-50), dies
1973 – Artturi Ilmari Virtanen, Finnish Chemist, 1945 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for inventing AIV silage and a preservation method for butter, dies at 78
1982 – Gösta Törner, Swedish hot jazz and session trumpeter and bandleader, dies at 70
2007 – Delbert Mann, American television and film director (Marty, Separate Tables, A Gathering of Eagles), dies from pneumonia at 87
2010 – William Edwin Self, American actor and television producer (b. 1921)
Historical Events
1940 – Thousands of Paris students lay a wreath at the Grave of the Unknown Soldier
1957 – Sun Record’s release single “Great Balls of Fire” by Jerry Lee Lewis; sells a million copies in first ten day
1961 – City of Stalingrad renamed Volgograd
1986 – Suriname government proclaims gold purification
1997 – NHL’s new Columbus franchise (scheduled to begin play in 2000) announce team’s name would be “Blue Jackets” after soldiers in the Union army during the American Civil War
2012 – 12 people are killed by a magnitude 6.8 earthquake in Burma
2018 – Federation Cup Women’s Tennis, Prague, Czech Republic: in a final denuded of both countries’ top players Kateřina Siniaková beats American Sofia Kenin 7-5, 5-7, 7-5 to clinch a 3-0 win for the home side
2023 – Kimba, an escaped circus lion, roams the streets of the Italian seaside town of Ladispoli for five hours before being recaptured
Famous Birthdays
1904 – Alger Hiss, American government official and accused spy for the Soviet Union, born in Baltimore, Maryland (d. 1996)
1910 – Israel Eldad, Israeli Revisionist Zionist philosopher and member of the pre-state underground group Lehi, born in Pidvolochysk, Galicia (d. 1996)
1914 – Hansje Toussaint [Hermina A Schenk], Dutch singer (Sing of the Cross), born in Den Helder, Netherlands (d. 1984)
1926 – Maria Teresa de Filippis, Italian racing car driver (first woman to complete in Formula One), born in Naples, Italy (d. 2016)
1945 – Niaz Ahmed, Pakistani cricket fast bowler (2 Tests, 3 wickets; Dacca, Public Works Dep’t, East Pakistan, Railways; only East Pakistani to play Test cricket), born in Varanasi, India (d. 2000)
1947 – Brad Lee Sexton, American bass guitarist (Little Charlie and the Night Cats), born in North Carolina (d. 1995)
1951 – Kim Peek, American megasavant (inspired Rain Man film character), born in Salt Lake City, Utah (d. 2009)
1955 – Jigme Singye Wangchuk, King of Bhutan (1972-2006), born in Thimphu, Bhutan
1969 – Dave Moore, NFL tight end/fullback (Tampa Bay Bucs), born in Morristown, New Jersey
1972 – Jack Jackson, NFL/CFL wide receiver (Chicago Bears, Toronto Argonauts), born in Moss Point, Mississippi
Famous Deaths
1880 – Ned Kelly, Australian outlaw and bushranger, executed at 25
1907 – Henry Gadsby, English musician and composer, dies at 64
1917 – Liliuokalani [Lydia Kamakaʻeha], last queen of Hawaii (1891-93), dies from a stroke at 79
1945 – Jerome Kern, American composer (Sally; Leave It To Jane), dies at 60
1947 – Martin Dibelius, German theologist (That Drawer Jahwes), dies at 64
1974 – Jane Ace, American comedian (Easy Aces), dies at 74
1994 – Pedro Zamora, Cuban American AIDS activist, dies at 22
2014 – James Erb, American composer, arranger, and musicologist (Shenendoah), dies at 88
2016 – Suzy [Aileen Mehle], American gossip columnist (The Daily News; The New York Post), dies at 98
2022 – John Aniston, American actor (Search for Tomorrow, Days of Our Lives), dies at 89