Today In History
Historical Events
1883 – John Gordon Cashman publishes the first edition of the “Vicksburg Evening Post” in Mississippi
1942 – Battle of Coral Sea begins (1st naval battle fought solely in air) between Japanese, US and Australian navies and air forces
1959 – First Grammy Awards: Perry Como and Ella Fitzgerald win major awards
1966 – The Soviet government signs an agreement with Fiat to build an automobile factory in the Soviet Union
2019 – 145th Kentucky Derby: stewards disqualify first-across-the-line Maximum Security for interference; longshot Country House declared winner; first DQ in race history for race infraction
Famous Birthdays
1938 – Gillian Tindall, British historian and novelist (The Fields Beneath, Fly Away Home), born in London (d. 2025)
1949 – Zal Cleminson, Scottish guitarist (The Sensational Alex Harvey Band), born in Glasgow, Scotland
1956 – Barrie Masters, British pub-rock singer (Eddie and the Hot Rods), born in Rochford, Essex, England (d. 2019)
1977 – Mariano Pernía, Argentine soccer left back (11 caps Spain; Independiente, Recreativo, Getafe, Atlético Madrid), born in Buenos Aires, Argentina
1984 – Manjural Islam Rana, Bangladeshi cricket all-rounder (6 Tests, 1 x 50, 5 wickets, BB 3/84; Khulna Division), born in Khulna, Bangladesh (d. 2007)
Famous Deaths
1566 – Luca Ghini, Italian physician and botanist (b. 1490)
1855 – Camille Pleyel, Austrian pianist, piano manufacturer, and music publisher, dies at 66
1953 – T. Tertius Noble, English composer, dies at 85
1984 – Bob Clampett, American cartoonist (b. 1913)
1994 – Karl Francis Hettinger, American police officer (Onion Field survivor), dies at 59
Historical Events
1493 – Spanish Pope Alexander VI decrees in the papal bull “Inter caetera” that all lands west of a line 100 leagues west of any of the islands of the Azores or the Cape Verde Islands belong to Castile, ultimately dividing the Americas between Spain and Portugal
1861 – At Gretna, Louisiana, one of the first guns for the Confederate Navy is cast
1910 – Wilfrid Laurier passes the Naval Service Act, which creates the Royal Canadian Navy
1927 – Nicaragua agrees to a US supervised presidential election in 1928
1957 – Anne Frank Foundation forms in Amsterdam
1975 – Italian film “Seven Beauties” directed by Lina Wertmüller, starring Giancarlo Giannini, and Shirley Stoler released – first film directed by a women to be nominated for an Academy Award
1988 – USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
2018 – LA Angels first baseman Albert Pujols collects his 3,000th MLB hit in a 5-0 win v Mariners in Seattle
Famous Birthdays
1810 – Alexander Walewski, French earl and Foreign Minister, born in Walewice, Warsaw, Poland (d. 1868)
1826 – Frederick Edwin Church, American romantic landscape painter (Hudson River Sch), born in Hartford, Connecticut (d. 1900)
1909 – Howard Da Silva [Silverblatt], American actor (1776, The Lost Weekend, The Blue Dahlia), born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 1986)
1915 – Curt Conway, American stage and screen actor (A Touch of the Poet; Casbah; Raw Deal; The Twilight Zone), and acting teacher, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1974)
1932 – Fausto Razzi, Italian composer, choral director, and educator, born in Rome (d. 2022)
1948 – George Tupou V, King of Tonga (2006-2012), born in Tongatapu, Tonga (d. 2012)
1970 – Giovanni Mirabassi, Italian-French jazz pianist (Avanti!), born in Perugia, Italy
1978 – Shaenon K. Garrity, American webcomics writer and artist (creator of Narbonic), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1979 – Lesley Vainikolo, Tongan rugby union winger (5 Tests England; Gloucester Rugby, La Rochelle) and rugby league winger (12 Tests NZ; Canberra Raiders, Bradford Bulls), born in Nukuʻalofa, Tonga
1985 – Anthony Fedorov, Ukranian-American singer (7th Heaven), born in Yalta, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Famous Deaths
1471 – Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales, dies in Battle of Tewkesbury at 17, becoming the only heir apparent to the English throne to ever die in battle
1811 – Nikolay Kamensky, Russian army general, dies at 34
1879 – William Froude, English engineer and naval architect, dies at 68
1938 – Kanō Jigorō, Japanese educator and the founder of Judo, dies at 77
1987 – Cathryn Damon, American actress (Mary-Soap, She’s Having a Baby), dies of cancer at 56
2005 – David Hackworth, U.S. Army officer and military journalist (b. 1930)
2018 – Barnet Fain, American businessman and artist, dies at 86
2021 – Bertil Johansson, Swedish soccer striker (5 caps; IFK Göteborg 267 games) and manager (IFK Göteborg), dies at 86
2022 – Gerhard Mans, Namibian rugby union utility back (27 Tests; Orange Free State RFU, South West Africa RFU), dies at 60
2025 – Peter McParland, Irish soccer forward (34 caps Northern Ireland; Aston Villa 293 games), dies at 91