Today In History
Historical Events
1560 – Turkish fleet recaptures Djerba from Spaniards
1751 – First international world title prizefight: Jack Stack of England defeats challenger M. Petit of France in 29 minutes in England
1983 – MLB San Diego Padres first baseman Steve Garvey ends his National League record of 1,207 consecutive games streak
2013 – 44 people are killed in a wave of car bombings in Iraq
2022 – Rebekah Vardy loses her UK libel trial against Coleen Rooney in the so-called Wagatha Christie trial over Rooney accusing Vardy of leaking stories to The Sun newspaper
Famous Birthdays
1933 – Cammie Smith, West Indian cricket batsman (5 Tests, 1 x 50; Barbados), born in Saint Michael, Barbados
1937 – Marian Robinson (née Shields), American ‘First Grandma” of the Obama White House, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2024)
1973 – Wanyá Morris, American RandB and soul singer (Boyz II Men – “I’ll Make Love to You”; “End Of The Road”), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1977 – Danger Mouse [Brian Burton], American alternative rock and electronic hip-hop musician, songwriter and Grammy Award-winning record producer (The Grey Album; Gnarls Barkley; Black Keys), born in White Plains, New York
1984 – Chad Billingsley, American MLB baseball pitcher (Los Angeles Dodgers), born in Defiance, Ohio
Famous Deaths
1573 – John Caius, English physician, dies at 62
1984 – Woodrow Parfey, American actor (Time Express), dies at 61 of a heart attack
1994 – James Herman Barrett Jr, retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel killed by anti-abortion extremist Paul Hill at 74
2001 – Alex Nicol, American actor (The Screaming Skull, Man From Laramie, Air Cadet), dies of natural causes at 85
2005 – Pat McCormick, American comedy writer (Red Skeleton; Get Smart; The Tonight Show; Don Rickles Show), and actor (Smokey and the Bandit), dies at 78
Historical Events
238 – The Roman Senate and Praetorian Guard proclaim 13-year-old Gordian III as Emperor – the youngest-ever emperor of a united Rome
1566 – Great Britain executes Agnes Waterhouse, the first British woman convicted of witchcraft in Chelmsford, England
1773 – First schoolhouse west of the Allegheny Mountains is completed in Schoenbrunn, Ohio
1924 – Paul Runyan wins PGA the golf championship
1942 – Transport #12 departs Drancy, France, with 1001 French Jews sent to Auschwitz concentration camp; five survive until the war’s end
1996 – MLB Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda retires, with a record of 1599-1439, four National League Pennants, and two World Series championships.
2015 – “Sweat” by Lynn Nottage premieres at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Pulitzer Prize for Drama 2017)
2019 – Prison riot kills 58, with 16 decapitated in a battle between rival factions at Altamira prison, Pará state, Brazil
Famous Birthdays
1758 – Antonius van Gils, Dutch Roman Catholic theologist (opposed Enlightenment), born in Tilburg, Netherlands (d. 1834)
1778 – Carl Borromaus Neuner, German composer, born in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria (d. 1830)
1820 – Clement Vallandigham, American politician (Rep-D-Ohio, convicted of opposing civil war, exiled to Confederate States), born in New Lisbon, Ohio (d. 1871)
1869 – Booth Tarkington, American novelist (17, The Magnificent Ambersons), born in Indianapolis, Indiana (d. 1946)
1874 – James Shaver Woodsworth, Canadian politician and pastor, born in Etobicoke, Ontario (d. 1942)
1916 – Rupert Hamer, Australian politician (39th Premier of Victoria, 1972-81; Member of Legislative Council, 1958-71), born in Kew, Australia (d. 2004)
1937 – Daniel McFadden, American economist and Nobel Prize Laureate who developed theory and methods for analyzing discrete choice, born in Raleigh, North Carolina
1945 – Michelle Angelo, American actress (Funny Girl), born in Kingsville, Texas
1959 – Sanjay Dutt, Indian actor (Vaastav), born in Bombay, India
1991 – Drew Baldridge, American country music singer-songwriter (“She’s Somebody’s Daughter”), born in Pakota, Illinois
Famous Deaths
1030 – Olaf II Haraldsson, King of Norway, dies in battle of Stiklestad at 34 or 35
1099 – Urban II [Odo de Lagery], French Pope who began the First Crusade (1088-99), dies at about 64
1936 – Frank Gavan Duffy, Australian barrister and judge (High Court of Australia, 1913-35, and Chief Justice of Australia, 1931-35), dies at 84
1953 – Rosa May Billinghurst, British disabled suffragette and member of the Women’s Social and Political Union, dies at 78
1960 – Richard Simon, American book publisher (co-founder of Simon and Shuster), dies at 61
1973 – Norm Smith, Australian rules footballer and coach (b. 1915)
1976 – Mickey Cohen, American gangster (Cohen crime family), dies at 62
2001 – Edward Gierek, Polish communist politician, dies of lung disease at 88
2004 – Rena Vlahopoulou, Greek actress and singer (b. 1923)
2023 – David W. Potter, Scottish sports writer (published 60+ books, primarily Scottish football and cricket), dies at 74