Today In History
Historical Events
1863 – Battle of Battle Mountain, Virginia
1927 – The Menin Gate war memorial is unveiled at Ypres
1966 – PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Firestone CC: American Al Geiberger wins his only major title by 4 shots from Dudley Wysong
1973 – 44th MLB All-Star Game: NL wins 7-1 at Royals Stadium, Kansas City; MVP: Bobby Bonds (SF Giants)
2018 – First bison born in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada, in 140 years after being reintroduced
Famous Birthdays
1903 – Robert Mills Delaney, American composer, born in Baltimore, Maryland (d. 1956)
1919 – Peter Zinner, Austrian-American film editor (The Godfather; The Deer Hunter), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 2007)
1961 – Paul Geary, American heavy metal drummer (Extreme – “Nore Than Words”), born in Medford, Massachusetts
1965 – Kadeem Hardison, American actor (A Different World, The Sixth Man), born in Brooklyn, New York
1981 – Nayib Bukele, Salvadoran politician (President of El Salvador 2019-), born in San Salvador, El Salvador
Famous Deaths
1819 – Sophie Gail, French singer and composer, dies at 43
1846 – Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, French King of the Netherlands (1806-10), dies at 67
1936 – Georg Michaelis, German lawyer and politician (Chancellor of German Empire and Prime Minister of Prussia, July-November 1917), dies at 78
2007 – Albert Ellis, American psychologist, dies at 93
2011 – Dan Peek, American rock vocalist and guitarist (America), dies at 60
Historical Events
1902 – In Turkey, the Sultan Abdul-Hamid, under pressure from within the Ottoman Empire, appoints a commission to consider reforms that might pacify Macedonian revolutionaries
1908 – American Johnny Hayes wins the London Olympic marathon in a Games record time of 2:55:18.4 after Dorando Pietri of Italy is disqualified for receiving assistance before the finish line
1946 – US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Atoll
1952 – US President Harry Truman settles 53-day steel strike
1959 – 500,000th Dutch TV set registered
1967 – Race riots in Cambridge, Maryland
2017 – Polish President Andrzej Duda vetoes two laws to put Polish courts under political control
2023 – Wildfires across Algeria kill at least 34 people amid temperatures of 48°C (118°F)
Famous Birthdays
1709 – James Harris, British politician and grammarian, born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England (d. 1780)
1816 – Józef Michał Poniatowski [Giuseppe Michele Luci], Poilsh-Italian-French nobleman, diplomat, operatic tenor, and composer, born in Rome, Papal States (d. 1873)
1917 – John Hillaby, English writer and traveller, born in England (d. 1996)
1920 – Alexander H. Cohen, Broadway producer (Beyond the Fringe), born in New York City (d. 2000)
1925 – Ignacio Aldecoa, Spanish writer (Gran Sol, Caballo the Pica), born in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain (d. 1969)
1933 – John Aniston, American actor (Search for Tomorrow, Days of Our Lives), born in Crete, Greece (d. 2022)
1961 – Paul Geary, American heavy metal drummer (Extreme – “Nore Than Words”), born in Medford, Massachusetts
1968 – John P. Navin Jr, American actor (Joey Elliot-Jennifer Slept Here), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1981 – Nayib Bukele, Salvadoran politician (President of El Salvador 2019-), born in San Salvador, El Salvador
1982 – Thiago Medeiros, Brazilian auto racer (Infiniti Pro Series 2004), born in São Paulo, Brazil
Famous Deaths
1612 – Ottavio Mirto Frangipani, Italian bishop, dies at 68
1910 – Arkhip Kuindzhi, Ukrainian landscape painter, dies at 69
1957 – Sacha Guitry, French actor and playwright (Deburan, The Story of a Cheat), dies at 72
1964 – Erwin Finlay-Freundlich, British astronomer (theory of relativity), dies at 79
1972 – Bobby Ramirez, American drummer (White Trash), killed at 23 in bar brawl
1992 – Sam Berger, Canadian football owner (b. 1900)
1995 – Don Carpenter, American novelist (Hard Rain Falling), dies at 64
1997 – Brian Glover, British actor and wrestler (Alien 3, Kes), dies of a brain tumor at 63
2014 – Ik-Hwan Bae, South Korean-American violinist (Bargemusic, 1982-95) and educator (Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, 1999-2014), dies of cancer at 57
2024 – Hamzah Haz, Indonesian politician, Vice President of Indonesia (2001-04), dies at 84