Today In History
Historical Events
1942 – US Navy 1st permitted black recruits to serve
1969 – US troop capture Hill 937/Hamburger Hill in Vietnam
1972 – “Hard Job Being God” closes at Edison Theater NYC after 6 performances
1984 – Boston’s Roger Clemens beats Twins, 5-4, for his 1st victory
1988 – Howard Stern fans disrupt rival radio station WMMR’s morning DJ John DeBella’s “Louie Louie” parade in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Famous Birthdays
1843 – Pedro Miguel Marques y Garcia, Spanish violinist and composer, born in Palma, Majorca, Spain (d. 1918)
1902 – Hans Sahl, German American anti-Nazi Jewish writer, born in Dresden, Germany (d. 1993)
1937 – Maria Teresa Horta, Portuguese writer and poet (New Portuguese Letters, My Lady of Me), born in Lisbon, Portugal (d. 2025)
1942 – Lynn Davies, Welsh athlete (Olympic gold long jump 1964), born in Nantymoel, Wales
1976 – Ramón Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player
Famous Deaths
1597 – Dutch commander Matthijs Heldt, dies in battle
1782 – Carlo Giovanni Testori, Italian violinist, composer, pedagogue, and musicologist (La musica raggionata), dies at 68
1996 – Jack Wyngaard, South African dancer (London City Ballet, 1986-96), dies of a heart attack at 37
2020 – Stephen A. DiMauro, American thoroughbred racing jockey, trainer, breeder and owner (Eclipse Award 1975; Lady Pitt, Dearly Precious, Nassipour, Wajima), dies from cancer at 87
2025 – Barry Fantoni, British novelist, artist and illustrator for Private Eye magazine, dies of a heart attack at 85
Historical Events
1867 – Royal Albert Hall of Arts and Sciences foundation laid by Queen Victoria in London
1882 – Gotthard rail tunnel between Switzerland and Italy opens
1920 – Mexican President Venustiano Carranza, under attack by American petroleum companies, faces an armed rebellion by right-wing Sonoro triumvirate after nationalizing subsoil rights
1926 – Railway Labor Act became law in USA
1943 – French, British and US victory parade in Tunis, Tunisia
1958 – US performs nuclear test at Enewetak Atoll (atmospheric tests)
1992 – India launches its 1st satellite independently
1996 – UN and Iraq agree to Resolution 986, which provides Iraq with the opportunity to sell $1 billion of oil for 90 days for a 180-day trial period; proceeds from the sale would be used for humanitarian purposes
Famous Birthdays
1537 – Hieronymus Fabricius Ab Aquapende Italian physician (De Formato Foetu), born in Aquapende, Italy (d. 1619)
1894 – Chandrashekarendra Saraswat [Swaminathan Shasthri], Indian Hindu sage and Jivanmukta, born in Villupuram, British India (d. 1994)
1899 – Estelle Taylor, American actress (The Ten Commandments), born in Wilmington, Delaware (d. 1958)
1902 – Hans Sahl, German American anti-Nazi Jewish writer, born in Dresden, Germany (d. 1993)
1904 – Margery Allingham, English detective writer (one of ‘four ‘Queens of Crime’), born in London, England (d. 1966)
1929 – André Carolus Cirino, Surinamese indigenous writer, born in Goede Hoop, Saramacca, Dutch Guiana (d. 2023)
1937 – Maria Teresa Horta, Portuguese writer and poet (New Portuguese Letters, My Lady of Me), born in Lisbon, Portugal (d. 2025)
1939 – María Luisa Ozaita, Spanish pianist, harpsichordist, musicologist, conductor, and composer (Pelleas y Melisanda), born in Baracaldo, Spain (d. 2017)
1954 – Robert Van de Walle, Belgian judoka (Olympic gold 1980, Olympic silver 1988), born in Ostend, Belgium
1981 – Iker Casillas, Spanish footballer
Famous Deaths
1597 – Dutch commander Matthijs Heldt, dies in battle
1622 – Osman II, Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1618-22), dies at 17
1925 – Elias Ammons, American politician (Governor of Colorado, 1913-15), who sent the National Guard to settle coalminer strikes, precipitating the Ludlow Massacre, die at 64
1932 – Bipin Chandra Pal, Indian nationalist and freedom fighter, dies at 73
1985 – George Memmoli, American actor (Earl-Hello Larry), dies at 46
1996 – Jack Wyngaard, South African dancer (London City Ballet, 1986-96), dies of a heart attack at 37
2007 – Stanley Miller, American chemist (created ‘primordial soup’ experiment to show how life might have originated on earth), dies at 77
2012 – Robin Gibb, English rock-pop-disco singer-songwriter and producer (Bee Gees – Saturday Night Fever), dies from colon and liver cancer at 62
2020 – Emma Amos, American activist and artist (Tightrope, Will You Forget Me), dies of complications of Alzheimer’s disease at 83
2021 – Freddy Marks, English actor, singer and entertainer (Rod, Jane and Freddy), dies of cancer at 71