Today In History
Historical Events
1864 – Battle of Mobile Bay won by the Union Navy, led by Rear Admiral David Farragut with the cry “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”
1975 – Stevie Wonder signs a 7-year, 7-album contract with a $13 million advance with Motown Records
1994 – British rocker Billy Idol admitted to the hospital after drug overdose in Los Angeles, California
2005 – Discovery of Skull 5, the earliest complete Homo erectus skull aged 1.8 million years, at Dmanisi, Georgia, by archaeologist David Lordkipanidze, site of the first known hominins to leave Africa
2024 – British graffiti artist Banksy begins a series of animal artworks around London with a goat near Kew Bridge
Famous Birthdays
1704 – William Allen, American loyalist, Chief Justice of the Province of Pennsylvania and Mayor of Philadelphia, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1780)
1900 – Bodi Rapp [Johanna Goetmakers], Dutch mezzo-soprano and teacher, born in Almelo, Netherlands (d. 1977)
1914 – Anita Colby, American model, author and actress (Mary of Scotland, Cover Girl, Pepsi Cola Playhouse), born in Washington, D.C. (d. 1992)
1963 – Mark Strong [Marco Salussolia], English stage and screen actor (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy; A View from a Bridge; 1917), born in Islington, London
1997 – Yungblud [Dominic Harrison], English singer-songwriter (Weird!) and actor, born in Doncaster, England
Famous Deaths
1977 – Charles Carson, British actor (Cry the Beloved Country), dies at 91
1991 – Soichiro Honda, Japanese engineer who founded Honda Motor Company, dies of liver cancr at 84
2005 – Raul Roco, Philippine senator (b. 1941)
2022 – Jô Soares, Brazilian comedian, late night television talk show host, author (O Xangô de Baker Street – A Samba for Sherlock), and jazz musician, dies at 84
2022 – Michael Howard, 21st Earl of Suffolk and 14th Earl of Berkshire (House of Lords, 1956-99), dies at 87
Historical Events
1763 – Pontiac’s War: Battle of Bushy Run – British forces led by Henry Bouquet defeat Native American forces at Bushy Run
1861 – President Lincoln signs the first US personal income tax into law, imposing a 3% tax on incomes over $800
1942 – German troops cross the Russian Kuban River in the Western Caucasus
1953 – Operation “Big Switch”; Korean War prisoners exchanged at Panmunjom
1963 – Craig Breedlove sets a world land speed record of 407.45 mph (655.73 km/h) in the Spirit of America at Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah
1984 – American super-hurdler Edwin Moses wins the 400 m hurdles gold medal at the Los Angeles Olympics, his 105th consecutive race victory
1993 – Republican Guard kills 64 civilians at Gninguilim marketplace in Chad
2019 – Brazilian drug dealer Clauvino da Silva tries and fails to escape a Rio de Janeiro jail by dressing up as his teenage daughter in a silicone mask and wig
Famous Birthdays
1461 – Alexander Jagiellon, Grand Duke of Lithuania (1492-1506) and King of Poland (1501-6), born in Kraków, Poland (d. 1506)
1647 – Anne Le Fèvre Dacier, French scholar, classicist, and the first woman to translate Homer’s “Iliad” and “Odyssey”, born in Preuilly-sur-Claise, France (d. 1720)
1877 – Tom Thomson, Canadian painter, born in Claremont, Ontario (d. 1917)
1923 – Ralph Baruch [Rudolph Maximilian Baruch], German-American media executive and the founding president of Viacom (1971-83), born in Frankfurt, Germany (d. 2016)
1934 – Gay Byrne, Irish radio and television host (The Late Late Show 1962-99), born in Dublin, Ireland (d. 2019)
1943 – Rodney Pattison, British yachtsman (Olympic gold Flying Dutchman class 1968, 72; silver 1976), born in Campbeltown, Scotland
1948 – David Hungate, American rock bassist (Toto, 1976-1982 and 2014-15, “Rosanna”, “Africa”), and Nashville session musician, born in Troy, Missouri
1981 – Kō Shibasaki, Japanese singer and actress (47 Ronin), born in Toshima, Japan
1989 – Shanshan Feng, Chinese golfer (Women’s PGA C’ship 2012), born in Guangzhou, China
2184 – Christine Lauren Chapel, (Star Trek), born in Davenport Heights, Vermont
Famous Deaths
1866 – William Burton, American politician, 39th Governor of Delaware (1859-63), dies at 76
1999 – D. W. Brooks, American farmer and businessman, dies at 97
2001 – Otema Allimadi, Prime Minister of Uganda (b. 1929)
2002 – Franco Lucentini, Italian writer (b. 1920)
2002 – Chick Hearn, American basketball broadcaster (called 3,338 LA Lakers games), dies at 85
2005 – Jim O’Hora, American football coach (b. 1915)
2005 – Polina Astakhova, Soviet-Ukrainian gymnast (5 Olympic gold 1956, 60, 64), dies at 68
2014 – Chapman Pincher, British journalist and author (about secret service), dies at 100
2018 – Stanley Glasser, South African composer (Lalela Zulu; Lamentations; Zonkizizwe), academic (Goldsmiths College, 1969-96), and broadcaster, dies at 94
2021 – Terry Davies, Welsh rugby union full back (21 Tests Wales, 2 British and Irish Lions; Swansea RFC, Llanelli RFC), dies at 88