Today In History
Historical Events
1892 – US shoemaker Homer A. Plessy refuses to go to in a segregated RR car (US Supreme Court Plessy v Ferguson)
1944 – Deportation of 70,000 Jews from Łódź, Poland, to Auschwitz and other extermination camp begins
1949 – Siam changes name to Thailand
1991 – 123rd Belmont Stakes: Jerry Bailey aboard Hansel wins in 2:28
2020 – Lockdowns for COVID-19 in Europe saved 3 million lives according to study by Imperial College London
Famous Birthdays
1926 – Cranley Onslow, British politician (C), born in Bexhill (d. 2001)
1928 – Kate Wilhelm, American fiction author (Hugo Award: Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang), born in Toledo, Ohio (d. 2018)
1929 – Earl Ferrers, 13th Earl Ferrers, British minister of state (Department of Environment), born in England (d. 2012)
1952 – Lindka Cierach, British couturier and fashion designer for European royals, born in British Crown colony of Basutoland
1960 – Mick Hucknall, English singer-songwriter (Simply Red – “Hodling Back the Years”, “If You Don’t Know Me by Now”), born in Manchester, England
Famous Deaths
1768 – Johann Winckelmann, German archaeologist (History of Ancient Art), dies at 50
1803 – Jean Noel Paquot, Belgian theologian and historian, dies at 80
1998 – Maria Reiche, German-Peruvian mathematician and archaeologist specializing in Nazca lines, dies of cancer at 95
2021 – John Angus, English soccer defender (1 cap; Burnley 439 games), dies at 82
2023 – Rale Rasic, Australian soccer coach (Australia 1969-74; Marconi Stallions FC) and broadcaster (SBS), dies at 87
Historical Events
68 – Roman Senate accepts Emperor Galba
979 – Louis V is crowned King of West Francia, co-reigning with his father Lothair until 986
1191 – King Richard I of England arrives at Acre in modern-day Israel to join the Siege of Acre during the Third Crusade
1493 – Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III’s left leg is amputated at his court in Linz, the most famous record of surgery in the Middle Ages – he survives until August 19
1959 – 1st official “missile mail” lands (Jacksonville, Florida)
1981 – 15th Music City News Country Awards: Mandrell Sisters win
2014 – 68th Tony Awards: “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” (musical) and “All The Way” (play) win
2023 – US Supreme Court upholds Voting Rights Act ruling 5-4 that Republican-drawn congressional districts in Alabama had weakened Black voting by creating just one district where they were a majority
Famous Birthdays
1724 – John Smeaton, British civil engineer, born in Austhorpe, Leeds, England (d. 1792)
1821 – John Dunlap Stevenson, American attorney, politician, and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Staunton, Virginia (d. 1897)
1824 – James Loudon, Dutch politician, Governor-General of Dutch East Indies (1872-75), born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 1900)
1856 – Natalia Janotha, Polish pianist and composer, born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 1932)
1888 – Poul Schierbeck, Danish organist and composer, born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 1949)
1903 – Gerrit Cornelis Berkouwer, Dutch theologist (Dogmatic Studies), born in Amsterdam (d. 1996)
1921 – Suharto, Indonesian army officer and 2nd President of Indonesia (1967-98), born in Yogyakarta, Java (d. 2008)
1941 – Clarence “Fuzzy” Haskins, American pop, RandB, and funk singer-songwriter (Parliament-Funkadelic – “Knee Deep”), born in Elkins, West Virginia (d. 2023)
1975 – Levente Gyöngyösi Hungarian contemporary classical composer (“Birth” Symphony), born in Cluj-Napoca, Romania
1983 – Lee Harding, Australian punk-rock singer, born in Frankston, Australia
Famous Deaths
1630 – Giovanni Francesco Anerio, Italian composer, choirmaster, and oratorio pioneer, dies at 60
1796 – Felice Giardini, Italian composer, dies at 80
1902 – Charles Ingalls, father of American author Laura Ingalls Wilder (Little House on the Prairie), dies at 66
2013 – John Boyd [Boyd Bradfield Upchurch], American sci-fi author (The Last Starship from Earth), dies at 93
2016 – Pierre Aubert, Swiss lawyer and politician (Member of the Swiss Federal Council, 1978-87), dies at 89
2018 – Maria Bueno, Brazilian tennis player (7 Grand Slam singles titles), dies of mouth cancer at 78
2018 – Eunice Gayson, British actress and 1st Bond Girl (Sylvia Trench- “Dr. No” and “From Russia With Love”), dies at 90
2025 – P. Adams Sitney, American avant-garde film scholar (Visionary Film: The American Avant-Garde), dies of cancer at 80
2025 – Nick Hedges, British photographer known for documenting the lives of poor people, dies at 81
2025 – Nina Kuscsik, American long-distance runner and officially the first woman to win the Boston Marathon, dies of respiratory failure at 86