578 – Moon Jaguar, 10th ruler of the Maya city of Copán (in modern Honduras), dies after a reign of 25 years
1440 – Gilles de Rais, French marshal, killer of 140 children, hanged
1923 – Charles Proteus Steinmetz, German-American electrical engineer (development of alternating current), dies at 58
1944 – Princess Beatrice of the United Kingdom, daughter of Queen Victoria (b. 1857)
1978 – George “Jackie” Grant, West Indian cricketer (West Indian captain 1930-35), dies at 71
1993 – H Hardenberg, writer, dies
1999 – Hoyt Axton, American songwriter, singer (“No No Song”; “Joy To The World”; “I’ve Never Been To Spain”), and actor (McCloud; Gremlins; The Rousters), dies of a heart attack at 61
2006 – Tillman Franks, American country music bassist, songwriter and artist manager (Webb Pierce), dies at 86
2011 – Daniel B. Burke, American media executive who helped spearhead the acquisition of ABC by Capital Cities, dies of complications from Type 1 diabetes at 82
2021 – Umberto Colombo, Italian soccer midfielder (3 caps; Juventus, Atalanta), dies at 88
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 26th October 2025
1366 – Comet 55P/1366 U1 (Tempel-Tuttle) approaches within 0.0229 astronomical units of Earth
1912 – Woolwich Foot Tunnel under the Thames river in England opens
1913 – Dictator Victoriano Huerta elected president of Mexico
1957 – USSR fires Defense Minister Marshal Georgy Zhukov
1966 – US aircraft carrier Oriskany catches fire at Gulf on Tonken, 43 die
1969 – WHMA (now WJSU) TV channel 40 in Anniston, AL (CBS) 1st broadcast
2000 – Laurent Gbagbo takes over as president of Côte d’Ivoire following a popular uprising against President Robert Guéï
2015 – “Spectre”, 24th James Bond film, directed by Sam Mendes and starring Daniel Craig premieres in London
Today in History for 26th October 2025
Historical Events
740 – An earthquake strikes Constantinople, causing damage to city walls and buildings
1926 – Belgium stabilizes current value of franc (5 franc becomes 1 “Belga”)
1968 – KMIR TV channel 36 in Palm Springs, CA (NBC) begins broadcasting
1972 – Edwin Land introduces the first truly instant camera the Polaroid SX-70 camera at an event in Miami, Florida
1981 – British rock band Queen and David Bowie release their serendipitous collaborative single “Under Pressure”
Famous Birthdays
1886 – Hermann Unger, German composer, music journalist, pedagogue and administrator (Rheinische Musikschule), born in Kamenz, Germany (d. 1958)
1930 – John Arden, English novelist and playwright (Left Handed Liberty), born in Barnsley, England (d. 2012)
1965 – Kelly Rowan, Canadian actress (Kirsten Cohen in “The O.C.”), born in Ottawa, Ontario
1967 – Shelly Stokes, American softball catcher (Olympic gold 1996), born in Sacramento, California
1981 – Sam Brown, American comedian (The Whitest Kid U’Know), born in Sandwich, Massachusetts
Famous Deaths
1902 – Elizabeth Cady Stanton, American women’s rights activist, abolitionist and writer, dies of heart failure at 86
1975 – Herman van San, Belgian classical and electro-acoustic composer, dies at 46
1990 – Guus Jansen, Dutch pianist, Hammond organist, and popular song composer (“Net als Toen” – Eurovison, 1957), dies at 79
2004 – Bobby Ávila, Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame second baseman (MLB All-Star 1952, 54, 55; AL batting champion 1954; Cleveland Indians), dies of diabetes and lung ailment at 80
2005 – David Townsend, American session and touring RandB guitarist (Isley Brothers; Port Authority; Surface – “Shower Me With Your Love”), and songwriter, dies at 50
Famous Deaths for 25th October 2025
1907 – Edmund Hart Turpin, English composer, dies at 72
1910 – Willie Anderson, Scottish golfer (US Open 1901, 1903-05), dies of epilepsy at 31
1939 – Cornelis JK van Aalst, president Dutch Business Society, dies at 73
1968 – Rudolf Forster, Austrian actor (Threepenny Opera), dies at 83
1972 – Johnny Mantz, American auto racer (Southern 500, 1950, first 500-mile race in NASCAR history), dies in a car accident at 54
1988 – Johnnie Richardson, American RandB musician (Johnnie and Joe), dies at 53
1989 – Mary McCarthy, American novelist (Group), dies, at 77
1989 – Gerard Walschap, Flemish writer (Men of Goods), dies at 91
1992 – Roger Miller, American Grammy and Tony Award-winning country singer-songwriter (“King of the Road”; “Dang Me”), fiddler, and guitarist, dies of cancer at 56
2002 – Rene Thom, French mathematician, 1958 Fields Medal for work in topology, dies at 79
Historical Events for 25th October 2025
1925 – Rightist German ministers disavows Treaty of Locarno
1941 – 16,000 Jews massacred in Odessa, Ukraine
1968 – East German swimmer Roland Matthes wins the 200m backstroke gold medal in Olympic record 2:09.6 at the Mexico City Games; wraps up backstroke double
1984 – “Give My Regards to Broad Street” premieres (Gotham Theater-NYC)
2004 – Fidel Castro, Cuba’s President, announces that transactions using the American Dollar will be banned by November 8
2016 – Paul Beatty becomes the 1st American to win the Man Booker Prize for his novel “The Sellout”
2017 – The first fossil of an ichthyosaur (a marine reptile, 152 million years old) is found in India, according to a report published in the PLOS ONE science journal
2021 – Elon Musk makes a record $25 billion in one day pushing his estimated worth to $255.2 billion, likely making him the richest person ever according to Forbes
Today in History for 25th October 2025
Historical Events
1666 – Brandenburg, Brunswick, Denmark and The Netherlands form anti-French Quadruple Alliance
1930 – Transcontinental and Western Air (TWA) begins 1st scheduled US transcontinental air service between NYC and Los Angeles, California; 30 hour trip includes overnight stop in Kansas City, Missouri
1984 – “Give My Regards to Broad Street” premieres (Gotham Theater-NYC)
1990 – NY Daily News goes on strike (lasts through March, 1991)
2024 – MLB World Series: Los Angeles Dodgers slugger Freddie Freeman hits 1st ‘walk-off’ grand slam in World Series history in 6-3 win over New York Yankees in 10 innings at Dodger Stadium
Famous Birthdays
1884 – Eduardo Barrios, Chilean novelist (The Love-Crazed Boy), born in Valparaíso, Chile (d. 1963)
1912 – Jack Kent Cooke, Canadian entrepreneur, NFL team owner (Washington Redskins), born in Hamilton, Canada (d. 1997)
1973 – Steve White, American football defensive end (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), born in Memphis, Tennessee
1975 – Zadie Smith, British novelist (White Teeth; On Beauty; Swing Time), born in Brent, London, England
1981 – Austin John Winkler, American rock singer (Hinder, 2001-13), and songwriter, born in Oklahoma City
Famous Deaths
1647 – Evangelista Torricelli, Italian physicist (inventor of barometer), dies at 39
1760 – George II [Georg August], King of Great Britain and Ireland (1727-60), Elector of Hanover, dies of thoracic aortic dissection at 76
1806 – Henry Knox, American general (Continental Army and later the United States Army) and 1st US Secretary of War (1785-94), dies at 56 after swallowing a chicken bone which lodged in his throat and caused a fatal infection
1895 – Charles Hallé, Anglo-German pianist, conductor and founder (Halle Orchestra), dies at 76
2022 – Brian Robinson, English cyclist (Tour de France: first Briton to finish 1955; first stage winner 1957), dies at 91
Famous Deaths for 24th October 2025
1667 – Godefroy Wendelin, Flemish astronomer, the crater Vendelinus on the Moon is named after him, dies at 87
1669 – William Prynne, English Puritan leader (b. 1600)
1889 – Loisa Puget, French composer, dies at 79
1942 – Arthur Dolphin, cricketer (1 Test England 1921, 1 run, 1 catch), dies
1971 – Carl Ruggles, American composer (Evocations), dies at 95
1993 – Ben Scholtens, historian (Gaama Duumi), murdered at 39
1998 – Mary Calderone, American physician and founder of Planned Parenthood, dies at 94
2011 – John McCarthy, American computer scientist (coined the term “artificial intelligence,” created the Lisp programming language), dies at 84
2022 – Ashton Carter, American military civilian official (Secretary of Defense, 2015-17), and academic administrator, dies of a heart attack at 68
2023 – Anderl Molterer, Austrian alpine skier (Olympic silver Giant slalom, bronze Downhill 1956; Hahnenkamm Race 1959), dies at 92
Historical Events for 24th October 2025
1856 – Constitution of South Australia is adopted
1885 – “World Championship” Baseball Series, Cincinnati Base Ball Grounds: St. Louis Browns beat Chicago White Stockings 13–4 in Game 7; disputed series tied at 3-3-1
1924 – Christian General Feng Joe Siang occupies Beijing
1954 – Britain’s Mike Hawthorn wins the season-ending Spanish Grand Prix at Pedralbes; Argentine Maserati driver Juan Manuel Fangio wins his second Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship by 17 points from countryman José Froilán González
1956 – The Associated Press names Cincinnati manager Birdie Tebbetts the National League Manager of the Year
1970 – Nancy Walker creates Ida Morgenstein role on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show”
1986 – Great Britain cuts diplomatic relations with Syria
2018 – Indian cricketer Virat Kohli becomes the 12th and the fastest to score 10,000 runs in one day international matches, taking just 205 innings
Today in History for 24th October 2025
Historical Events
1899 – Battle of Rietfontein, South Africa: Boers vs. British army
1913 – Joe Tinker fired as Cincinnati Reds manager
1956 – Margaret Towner becomes the first woman to be ordained into the Presbyterian Church in the US (PCUSA)
1976 – First Toronto International Film Festival opens
2021 – COVID-19 cases in Eastern Europe surpass 20 million, with Russia, Ukraine, and Romania among the top five countries reporting deaths globally
Famous Birthdays
1939 – Uri Sharvit, Israeli composer, born in Jerusalem
1954 – Perry Lee “Tiny” Tavares, American rocker, born in Providence, Rhode Island
1960 – Wolfgang Güllich, German rock climber, born in Ludwigshafen, West Germany (d. 1992)
1962 – Jay Novacek, American NFL tight end (Dallas Cowboys), born in Martin, South Dakota
1984 – Kaela Kimura, Japanese model and singer (Rirura Riruha), born in Adachi, Tokyo
Famous Deaths
1869 – Joseph Jackson Lister, British optician who perfected the optical microscope by designing the achromatic objective lens, dies at 83
1952 – Frederick Jacobi, American composer, dies at 61
1994 – Alexandr Nikolaievich Shelepin, dir of KGB (1958-61), dies
2008 – Ankie Peypers, Dutch author and poet, dies at 80
2020 – Kevin McCarra, Scottish sports journalist (The Guardian, Scotland on Sunday, The Times), dies from Alzheimer’s disease at 62
Famous Deaths for 23rd October 2025
1874 – Abraham Geiger, German theologian and leader of Reform Judaism, dies at 64
1903 – Francis Ellingwood Abbot, American theologian (Scientific Theism), dies at 66
1976 – Leonard Lee, American vocalist (Shirley and Lee – “I’m Gone”), dies at 40
1997 – Luther Simjian, Armenian-American Inventor (teleprompter and first self-posing portrait camera), dies at 92
2003 – Tony Capstick, English actor, comedian, and musician. dies of an aneurysm at 59
2006 – Lebo Mathosa, South African entertainer (b. 1977)
2007 – (Mustaf) “John” Ilhan, Turkish-Australian entrepreneur (Crazy John’s mobile phones), dies of a hereditary heart condition at 42
2009 – Lou Jacobi, Canadian actor and comedian (Irma la Douce, The Dean Martin Show), dies at 95
2013 – Bill Mazer, American sports broadcaster (New York institution in sports reporting; sports trivia expert), dies at 92
2015 – Jimmy Roberts, Canadian ice hockey defenceman (NHL All Star 1965, 69, 70; Stanley Cup 1965, 66, 73, 76, 77; Montreal Canadiens), dies at 75