Today In History
Historical Events
1944 – Operation Market Garden ends in Allied failure as the last British and Polish paratroopers are evacuated from Oosterbeek near the city of Arnhem
1956 – Transatlantic telephone cable goes into operation from Newfoundland to Oban
1966 – 413 spectators, the smallest Yankee Stadium crowd, watch the White Sox win 4-1
1981 – The Rolling Stones begin their sixth US tour at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia
2000 – American basketball player Vince Carter steals the ball and jumps over 7 foot 2 inch Frédéric Weis at the 2000 Summer Olympics, known in France as “le dunk de la mort” (the dunk of death)
Famous Birthdays
1881 – Lu Xun, Chinese writer of modern Chinese literature, born in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, Qing dynasty China (d. 1936)
1905 – Red Smith, American sportscaster and columnist (Pulitzer 1976, Fight Talk), born in Green Bay, Wisconsin (d. 1982)
1920 – Sergei Bondarchuk, Soviet director (Destiny of a Man, War and Peace), born in Belozerka, Ukraine (d. 1994)
1921 – Remy C. van de Kerckhove, Flemish poet, born in Mechelen, Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1958)
1984 – Matt Carle, American ice hockey player, born in Anchorage, Alaska
Famous Deaths
1630 – Ambrogio Spinola, Spanish marquis of Balbases, dies at about 61
1918 – Mikhail Alekseev, Russian general (Tsar Nicholas II’s Chief of Staff), dies of a heart attack at 60
1918 – John Ireland, Irish-American archbishop of St Paul (1888-1918), dies at 80
1959 – Helen Broderick, American comedienne and actress (Swing Time; Top Hat), dies at 68
2012 – Andy Williams, American pop singer (“Moon River”; “Days of Wine and Roses”; “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”), dies from bladder cancer at 84
Historical Events
1919 – US President Woodrow Wilson suffers a breakdown in Pueblo, Colorado; his health never recovers
1922 – Giants beat St. Louis to clinch John McGraw’s eighth pennant
1943 – Soviet troops liberate Smolensk
1955 – The Royal Jordanian Air Force is founded
1961 – KTPS TV channel 62 in Tacoma, WA (PBS) begins broadcasting
1981 – Sandra Day O’Connor is sworn in as the first female US Supreme Court Justice
1997 – WNBA announces it will add Detroit and Washington, D.C. franchises
2024 – Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau survives a no-confidence vote in Parliament aimed at bringing down his minority government
Famous Birthdays
1663 – Johann Nikolaus Hanff, German organist and composer, born in Wechmar, Electorate of Saxony (d. 1711)
1694 – Henry Pelham, British Prime Minister (Whig: 1743-54) who introduced the Gin Acts, born in Laughton, England (d. 1754)
1829 – William Michael Rossetti, English writer and civil servant, born in London, England (d. 1919)
1905 – Nahman Avigad, Israeli archaeologist (Discovering Jerusalem), born in Zavaliv, Ukraine (d. 1992)
1911 – Lilian Ngoyi, South African machinist, anti-apartheid activist, and first woman elected to the executive committee of the African National Congress, born in Pretoria, Union of South Africa (d. 1980)
1914 – Frederick Wilhelm Sternfeld, Austrian musicologist, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1994)
1969 – Hansie Cronje, South African cricket batsman and captain (68 Tests, 3,714 runs, 43 wickets; 188 ODIs; life ban for match-fixing 2000), born in Bloemfontein, South Africa (d. 2002)
1975 – Matt Hasselbeck, American football player, born in Boulder, Colorado
1975 – Mariusz Duda, Polish rock bassist and singer (Riverside), born in Wegorzewo, Poland
2003 – Bella Ramsey, English actress (Games of Thrones, The Last of Us), born in Nottingham, England
Famous Deaths
1086 – William VIII, Duke of Aquitaine (b. 1025)
1791 – William Bradford, American printer (b. 1719)
1870 – Robert Cooper Grier, American jurist, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1846-70), dies at 76
1944 – Leo Justinus Kauffmann, Alsatian composer, dies at 43
1979 – Tapio Rautavaara, Finnish athlete, actor, and singer (Me tulemme taas, Rion yö), dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at 64
1980 – Lewis Milestone [Leib Milstein], Moldovan-American Academy Award-winning film director (All Quiet on the Western Front; Of Mice and Men; Ocean’s 11), dies at 84
1987 – Mary Astor, American Academy Award-winning actress (The Great Lie; Meet Me In St Louis; The Maltese Falcon), dies of emphysema at 81
1998 – Russell Smith, American composer, dies at 71
2022 – Rafael Chimishkyan, Georgian weightlifter (Olympic gold USSR 60kg 1952; World C’ship gold 60kg 1954, 55), dies at 93
2023 – David McCallum, Scottish-American actor (The Man from U.N.C.L.E. – “Ilyla Kuryakin”; NCIS), dies at 90