Today In History
Historical Events
1823 – Moroni first appears to Joseph Smith, according to Smith
1971 – AL OKs Washington Senator move to Arlington (Texas Rangers)
1988 – Mike Tyson smashes TV camera outside his Bernardsville, New Jersey home
2001 – Deep Space 1 flies within 2,200 km of Comet Borrelly
2018 – American singer-songwriter Paul Simon closes his “Homeward Bound – The Farewell Tour” at Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, NYC
Famous Birthdays
1809 – Sophia Hawthorne, American writer, painter and illustrator, born in Salem, Massachusetts (d. 1871)
1868 – Olga Knipper, Russian-Soviet stage actress, and wife of Anton Chekhov, born in Glazov, Russian Empire (d. 1959)
1938 – Atli Heimir Sveinsson, Icelandic composer (Time and Water), born in Reykjavik, Iceland (d. 2019)
1970 – Michael O’Shea, Canadian CFL linebacker (Toronto Argonauts), born in North Bay, Ontario
1988 – Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Pakistani politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs, son of PM Benazir Bhutto, born in Karachi, Pakistan
Famous Deaths
1629 – John Pieterszoon Coen, Dutch merchant and Governor-General of the East Indies, dies at 42
1748 – John Balguy, English clergyman and moral philosopher, dies at 62
1974 – Jacqueline Susann, American author (Valley of the Dolls), dies of cancer at 56
2010 – Geoffrey Burgon, British jazz trumpeter, and film, television and concert composer (City Adventures), dies at 69
2017 – Liliane de Bettencourt, French heir to L’Oreal and richest woman in the world from 2016, dies at 94
Historical Events
1746 – French expeditionary army occupies Labourdonnais and Dupleix Madras
1904 – The general strike called by the Socialist Party that spread throughout Italy ends
1955 – USSR performs nuclear test
1964 – The North American XB-70 Valkyrie, the world’s first Mach 3 bomber, makes its maiden flight from Palmdale, California
1972 – Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos declares martial law in the Philippines (not publicly announced until 23rd Sep)
1981 – MLB Philadelphia Phillies lefthander Steve Carlton strikes out NL record 3,118th (Andre Dawson)
1997 – NY Yankee Cecil Fielder hits his 300th HR
2022 – Russian authorities claim 5,397 Russian soldiers have died fighting in Ukraine, Westerns sources put the figure at 25,000 to over 80,000 (NY Times)
Famous Birthdays
1809 – Sophia Hawthorne, American writer, painter and illustrator, born in Salem, Massachusetts (d. 1871)
1820 – Williams Carter Wickham, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Richmond, Virginia (d. 1888)
1853 – Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, Dutch physicist (liquid helium, Nobel 1913), born in Groningen, Netherlands (d. 1926)
1867 – Henry L. Stimson, American statesman (46th United States Secretary of State), born in New York City (d. 1950)
1885 – Thomas de Hartmann, Russian composer, born in Khoruzhivka, Poltava Governorate, Russian Empire (d. 1956)
1930 – John Neel, American jazz and film score composer (Blue Martini; Scream of the Butterfly), born in Mobile, Alabama (d. 1973)
1935 – Anthony Page, British stage and screen director (A Doll’s House; Middlemarch), born in Bangalore, British India (d. 2026)
1943 – Jerry Bruckheimer, American film and television producer (Flashdance; Top Gun; Pirates of the Caribbean; CSI0 and NHL team owner (Seattle Kraken), born in Detroit, Michigan
1951 – Bruce Arena, American soccer coach (Olympic gold 1996), born in Brooklyn, New York
1967 – Andrea Thies, American rower (Olympics 1992, 96), born in Irvington, New York
Famous Deaths
1542 – Juan Boscán Almogáver, Spanish poet (b. c. 1490)
1944 – James E. Ferguson, American Democratic party politician (Governor of Texas, 1915-17; First Gentleman of Texas, 1925-27 and 1933-35), dies at 73
1997 – Eric William Hunter Christie, British lawyer and advocate for the Falkland Islands, dies at 75
1997 – Jennifer Holt, American actress (b. 1920)
2002 – Robert L. Forward, American physicist and writer (b. 1932)
2010 – Don Partridge, British folk-pop singer-songwriter and one-man band (“Blue Eyes”, “Breakfast on Pluto”), dies of a heart attack at 68
2019 – Christopher Rouse, American Grammy Award-winning composer (Trombone Concerto – Pulitzer Prize for Music, 1993), and educator (Eastman School, 1981-2002; Juilliard, 1997-2017), dies of renal cancer at 70
2020 – Bob Nevin, Canadian ice hockey right wing (Stanley Cup 1962, 63; Toronto Maple Leafs; NY Rangers; 1,128 career NHL games), dies at 82
2020 – Tommy Devito, American rock baritone vocalist and guitarist (Four Seasons – “Sherry”), dies of COVID-19 at 93
2020 – Lars-Åke Lagrell, Swedish sports administrator (President Swedish Football Association 1991-2012) and politician (Governor Kronoberg County 2002-06), dies at 80