Today In History
Historical Events
1654 – Prince William of Orange appointed viceroy of Overijssel
1904 – The Russians are driven back by the Japanese in the Battle of Shaho; both sides suffer heavy casualties: Japanese (16,000) and Russians (60,000)
1956 – William J. Brennan, Jr. is appointed to the US Supreme Court
1979 – Military coup in El Salvador: President Carlos Romero flees
2024 – Google signs a deal with Kairos Power to use small nuclear reactors to generate power to supply its artificial intelligence data centres
Famous Birthdays
1926 – Ed McBain [Evan Hunter], American writer (Blackboard Jungle), born in New York City (d. 2005)
1937 – Linda Lavin, American Tony Award-winning stage and screen actress (Alice; Barney Miller, 1975-76; Broadway Bound), born in Portland, Maine (d. 2024)
1953 – Joe Klecko, American Pro Football HOF defensive lineman (NFL Defensive Player of the Year 1981; First-team All-Pro 1981, 85; 4 × Pro Bowl; New York Jets), born in Chester, Pennsylvania
1971 – Annbjørg Lien, Norwegian folk fiddler and nyckelharpa player, born in Ålesund, Norway
1975 – Glen Little, English footballer, born in London, England
Famous Deaths
912 – Abdullah ibn Muhammad, 7th Emir of Córdoba (888-912), dies at 68
1715 – Humphry Ditton, English mathematician, dies at 40
1891 – William Henry Fitzhugh Lee, American Major General (Confederate Army), dies at 54
1980 – Apostolos Nikolaidis, Greek footballer and volleyball player (b. 1896)
1987 – Thomas Sankara, Burkinabé revolutionary and politician, President of Burkina Faso (1983-87), assassinated in a coup at 37
Historical Events
1815 – Napoleon Bonaparte arrives on the island of Saint Helena to begin his exile
1923 – Baseball World Series: NY Yankees beat NY Giants 6-4 in Game 6 at the Polo Grounds for a 4-2 series win; the Yankees’ first World Series victory
1965 – WEMT (now WVII) TV channel 7 in Bangor, ME (ABC) begins broadcasting
1986 – MLB American League Championship: Boston Red Sox beat California Angels, 4-3
1992 – Howard Stern Radio Show begins broadcasting on WLUP-AM in Chicago, Illinois
2001 – NASA’s Galileo spacecraft passes within 112 miles of Jupiter’s moon Io
2007 – Fox Business Network (FBN), an American financial cable network, is launched
2008 – MLB National League Championship: Philadelphia Phillies beat Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1
Famous Birthdays
1608 – Evangelista Torricelli, Italian physicist (inventor of barometer), born in Rome, Papal States (d. 1647)
1711 – Elisabeth Therese of Lorraine, Queen consort of Sardinia (1737-41), born in Château de Lunéville, Lorraine (d. 1741)
1836 – James Tissot, French artist, born in Nantes, France (d. 1902)
1875 – Charley O’Leary, American baseball shortstop, 1904-13 and 1934 (Detroit Tiger, St. Louis Cardinals; oldest MLB player to collect a hit and score a run at 58 for St. Louis Browns 1934), and coach, 1913-37 (Cardinals, NY Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Browns), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1941)
1902 – William Edmonson, American bass harmony and gospel vocalist (Southernaires), radio, stage and screen actor (Thirty Years Later), born in Spokane, Washington (d. 1979)
1922 – Lorraine Gordon [Stein], American jazz music advocate and owner of Village Vanguard jazz club, born in Newark, New Jersey (d. 2018)
1932 – Jaan Rääts, Estonian pianist, orchestral and film score composer, born in Tartu, Estonia (d. 2020)
1945 – Jim Palmer, American Baseball HOF pitcher (6 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1966, 70, 83; AL Cy Young Award 1973, 75, 76; no-hitter 1969; Baltimore Orioles), born in New York City
1958 – Jayne Modean, American actress (Nurse Hooter-Trauma Center), born in Hartford, Connecticut
1968 – Jyrki 69 [Jyrki Pekka Emil Linnankivi], Finnish musician (The 69 Eyes), born in Helsinki, Finland
Famous Deaths
1512 – Antoon Keldermans, Brabant builder (Middelburg town hall), dies at 72
1715 – Humphry Ditton, English mathematician, dies at 40
1817 – Johann Ludwig Burckhardt, Swiss traveller and orientalist, 1st European to discover Petra and Abu Simbel, dies at 32
1819 – Sergey Vyazmitinov, Russian general and statesman, dies at 75
1833 – Michał Ogiński, Polish diplomat, violinist, balalaika player, and composer (Farewell to My Homeland), dies at 68
1900 – Zdeněk Fibich, Czech classical composer (Šárka; Hippodamia; Moods, Impressions, and Reminiscences), dies at 49
1955 – Fumio Hayasaka, Japanese film score composer (Rashomon; Seven Samurai), dies of tuberculosis at 41
1993 – Ken E. Jones, musician (New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra), dies of AIDS at 34
2008 – Jack Narz, American TV game show host (Dotto, Video Village), dies at 85
2018 – Shelley Hamlin, American golfer (US Open runner-up 1973), dies of breast cancer at 69