Today In History
Historical Events
1934 – Jean Piccard and Jeanette Ridlon attain a record balloon height of 10.9 miles (17.5 km) over Lake Erie
1973 – Arab oil embargo extended to the Netherlands
2006 – “Irreplaceable” single released by Beyonce (Soul Train Music Awards Best RandB/Soul Single 2007, Billboard Song of the Year 2007)
2018 – Freddie Mercury bio film “Bohemian Rhapsody” directed by Bryan Singer, starring Rami Malek (Best Actor Academy Awards 2019) premieres in London
2019 – All Star point guard Kyrie Irving pours in 50 points, setting a new NBA record for points on debut with a new team as his Brooklyn Nets go down 127-126 at home to the Minnesota Timberwolves
Famous Birthdays
1869 – John Heisman, American football coach (legalised forward pass, originated the center-snap; Heisman Trophy named after him), born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 1936)
1921 – Betty Bennett, American jazz and big band singer (Claude Thornhill, Charlie Ventura, Benny Goodman), born in Lincoln, Nebraska (d. 2020)
1928 – June Bacon-Bercey, American weatherwoman credited as the first trained African-American female meteorologist to appear on television (WGR-TV), born in Wichita, Kansas (d. 2019)
1933 – Hans Weilbächer, German soccer midfielder (1 cap West Germany; Eintracht Frankfurt e.V 241 games), born in Hattersheim am Main, Germany (d. 2022)
1949 – Nick Tosches, American writer (bio of Jerry Lee Lewis), born in Newark, New Jersey (d. 2019)
Famous Deaths
1782 – Joseph Riepel, Austrian-born German composer, dies at 73
1928 – François Victor Alphonse Aulard, French historian, dies at 79
1949 – Bill Traylor, African-American artist of folk and modern art, dies at 95
1997 – Bert Haanstra, Dutch filmmaker and director (Fanfare; Glass), dies at 81
2002 – Elizabeth Pakenham, Countess of Longford, British historian, dies at 96
Historical Events
1951 – English chemist Rosalind Franklin first identifies the two types of carbon produced by temperature, in paper published by the Royal Society
1956 – Thousands of Hungarians protest against the government and Soviet occupation (The Hungarian Revolution is crushed on November 4)
1972 – Access credit cards introduced in Great Britain
1978 – CBS raises LP prices to $8.98
1989 – US 62nd manned space mission STS 34 (Atlantis 5) returns from space
2021 – Capture of Colombia’s most-wanted drug lord, Dairo Antonio Usuga ‘Otoniel’, in Colombia’s Uraba region, announced live on TV
2022 – Brock Purdy plays against the Kansas City Chiefs, throwing for 66 yards and an interception
2024 – Tropical storm Trami / Kristine makes landfall in Divilacan, Philippines, creating severe flooding that kills at least 130 people
Famous Birthdays
1771 – Jean-Andoche Junot, French general under Napoleon, born in Bussy-le-Grand, France (d. 1813)
1797 – Jan Jacob Rochussen, Dutch Governor-General of Dutch East Indies (1845-51), born in Etten, Batavian Republic (d. 1871)
1805 – Adalbert Stifter, Austrian author and painter (Nachsommer), born in Oberplan, Bohemia (d. 1868)
1914 – Frank “Bruiser” Kinard, American College-Pro Football HOF tackle (Ole Miss; 6 × First-team All-Pro; 5 × NFL All-Star; Brooklyn Dodgers/Tigers, Fleet City, NY Yankees), born in Pelahatchie, Mississippi (d. 1980)
1921 – Betty Bennett, American jazz and big band singer (Claude Thornhill, Charlie Ventura, Benny Goodman), born in Lincoln, Nebraska (d. 2020)
1925 – Fred Shero, Canadian Hockey HOF coach (Stanley Cup 1974, 75 Philadelphia Flyers; NY Rangers), born in Winnipeg, Manitoba (d. 1990)
1929 – Merv Adelson, American real estate developer, media mogul and co-founder of Lorimar, born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2015)
1935 – Jimmy Dale, British-Canadian pianist and orchestra leader (The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour), born in London, England (d. 2017)
1959 – “Weird” Al Yankovic, American accordionist and parody singer-songwriter (“Eat It”; “Another One Rides The Bus”), and actor (UHF; Naked Gun), born in Downey, California
1967 – Dale Crover, American rock drummer and guitarist (Melvins; The Men of Porn; Altamont), born in Aberdeen, Washington
Famous Deaths
1688 – Charles du Fresne, du Cange, French philologist and scholar, dies at 77
1753 – Columban Praelisauer, German music director and composer, dies at 50
1872 – Théophile Gautier, French writer, historian and poet (Albertus, La Chanson de Roland, Émaux et camées), dies at 61
1910 – Rama V [Chulalongkorn], King of Thailand (1868-1910), dies at 57
1983 – Jessica Savitch, American broadcast journalist and pioneering female news anchor (NBC Weekend), drowns in a car accident at 36
1997 – Luther Simjian, Armenian-American Inventor (teleprompter and first self-posing portrait camera), dies at 92
2014 – Tullio Regge, Italian physicist (Regge theory), dies at 83
2016 – Jack Chick, American religious cartoonist (Chick tracts), dies at 92
2018 – Tony Hoagland, American poet (Romantic Moment, Priest Turned Therapist Treats Fear of God), dies of cancer at 64
2020 – W. C. Gorden, American College Football Hall of Fame coach (Jackson State University, 1976-91, record 119–48–5), dies at 90