1825 – Joseph-Denis Doche, French organist, composer, and conductor, dies at 58
1866 – Emilio Faà di Bruno, Italian naval captain, goes down with his ship (Re d’italia) in the Battle of Lissa at 46
1945 – Paul Valéry [Ambroise Paul Toussaint Jules Valéry], French author, philosopher and poet (La Jeune Parque), dies at 73
1962 – George MacAulay Trevelyan, English royal historian, dies at 86
1966 – Julien Carette, French actor (Sylvia and the Phantom), dies of burns at 68
1968 – Joseph Keilberth, German conductor (Bayreuther Festival), dies at 60
1998 – June Byers, American professional wrestler (b. 1922)
2009 – Ria Brieffies, Dutch pop singer (Dolly Dots – “Love Me Just a Little Bit More (Totally Hooked on You)”, “P.S.”), dies of lung cancer at 52
2012 – Sir Alastair Burnet [James William Alexander Burnet], British journalist and broadcaster (News at Ten), dies at 84
2015 – Elio Fiorucci, Italian fashion designer, dies at 80
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 20th July 2026
1773 – Scottish settlers arrive at Pictou, Nova Scotia (Canada)
1864 – Battle at Stephenson’s Depot, Virginia: 200 killed or injured
1890 – Snow and hail in Calais, Maine
1944 – British and Canadian troops occupy Hill 67/Ifs/Bras/Frenouville, Normandy
1953 – USSR/Israel recover diplomatic relations
1973 – MLB Chicago White Sox pitcher Wilbur Wood starts and loses both games of a doubleheader against the New York Yankees, 12-2 and 7-0
1975 – Murray Schisgal’s stage comedy “All Over Town”, directed by Dustin Hoffman, closes at the Boothe Theatre, NYC, after 233 performances
1975 – India expels three correspondents for The Times, The Daily Telegraph, and Newsweek after they refuse to sign a pledge to comply with government censorship
Today in History for 20th July 2026
Historical Events
1304 – Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Stirling Castle – King Edward I of England takes the last rebel stronghold of the war
1925 – Treaty of Nettuno between Italy and the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia) is signed but is only ratified in 1928
1942 – Legion of Merit Medal authorized by US congress
1948 – Lou Thesz beats Bill Longson, to become NWA wrestling champion
2015 – Hacker group Impact Team announces they have hacked the married dating site Ashley Madison
Famous Birthdays
1803 – Jakob Zeugheer, Swiss composer, born in Zürich, Switzerland (d. 1865)
1933 – José Vicente Asuar, Chilean electronic music composer, born in Santiago, Chile (d. 2017)
1934 – M. Stanton Evans, American cultural commentator, chairman of the American Conservative Union (1971-77) and writer (The Sharon Statement), born in Kingsville, Texas (d. 2015)
1945 – Jake Scott, American College Football Hall of Fame safety (Uni of Georgia; 5×Pro Bowl; 2×First-team All-Pro; Super Bowl 1972 [MVP], 73; Miami Dolphins), born in Greenwood, South Carolina (d. 2020)
1973 – Haakon Magnus, Crown Prince of Norway, born in Oslo, Norway
Famous Deaths
1156 – Toba, 74th Emperor of Japan (1107-23), dies at 53
1927 – Ferdinand I [Meinrad], King of Romania (1914-27), dies of cancer at 61
2005 – James Doohan, Canadian actor (Star Trek), dies from Pulmonary fibrosis at 85
2007 – Bill Flemming, American journalist and sportscaster (ABC’s Wide World of Sports), dies at 80
2019 – Sheila Dikshit (née Kapoor), Punjabi politician (Chief Minister of Delhi, 1998-2013), dies of multiple cardiac arrests at 81
Famous Deaths for 19th July 2026
1543 – Lady Mary Boleyn, mistress of King Henry VIII of England
1852 – Anne François Mellinet, French-Belgian general (Antwerp), dies at 83
1918 – Joost van Vollenhoven, Dutch-French colonial administrator (French West Africa) and solider, dies in the Second Battle of the Marne at 40
1951 – Max Ettinger, Jewish-German composer (Jiddische Requiem), dies at 77
1954 – Jean Roger-Ducasse, French composer, dies at 81
1990 – Lluís Maria Millet, Catalan composer, and musical director (Catalan Orfeón, 1945-77), dies at 84
1992 – Allen Newell, American computer scientist (Logic Theory Machine, General Problem Solver, Turing Award), dies at 65
1995 – Michael Andrews, British painter, dies at 66
2003 – Pierre Graber, Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council (1970–1978), dies at 94
2014 – Peter Marquardt, American actor (El Mariachi), dies at 50
Historical Events for 19th July 2026
1870 – France declares war on Prussia; Franco-Prussian war begins
1884 – Wimbledon Women’s Tennis: Maud Watson becomes inaugural female champion by beating her sister Lillian Watson 6–8, 6–3, 6–3
1908 – Dutch football club Feyenoord is established in Rotterdam as Wilhelmina; reverts to SC Feijenoord 1912; updated to SC Feyenoord 1974 and to Feyenoord Rotterdam 1978
1951 – “2 in the Aisle” opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 276 performances
1967 – First air-conditioned NYC subway car (R-38 on the F line)
1977 – 48th MLB All-Star Game, Yankee Stadium, NYC, NY: NL wins, 7-5; MVP: Don Sutton, LA Dodgers, P
1979 – Patricia Harris becomes sect of HEW
1992 – “Price” closes at Criterion Theater NYC after 47 performances
Today in History for 19th July 2026
Historical Events
1914 – Boston Braves begin drive from last to the NL pennant with a 3-2 win against the 2nd placed Cincinnati Reds
1942 – Transport #7 departs Drancy, France with 999 French Jews sent to Auschwitz Concentration camp; 17 survive until the war’s end
1980 – XXII Summer Olympic Games open in Moscow, Russia; led by United States, 66 nations boycott event because of Soviet-Afghan war
1998 – British Open Men’s Golf, Royal Birkdale GC: Mark O’Meara wins his 2nd major championship of the year (Masters) and first Open title by 2 in a 4-hole aggregate playoff with fellow American Brian Watts
2001 – Michael Brunet discovers the skull of Sahelanthropus tchadensis in the Djurab Desert, Chad, one of the oldest known species in the human family tree and 6-7 million years old
Famous Birthdays
1742 – Jean-Baptiste Davaux, French classical composer, born in La Côte-Saint-André, France (d. 1822)
1877 – Arthur Fielder, English cricket fast bowler (6 Tests 1903-08), born in Plaxtol, Tonbridge, Kent (d. 1949)
1894 – Joris van Severen, Flemish politician and founder of the Alliance of Dietsche National Solidarists, born in Wakken, Belgium (d. 1940)
1929 – Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie, French historian (Carnival in Romans; Montaillou: The Promised Land of Error), born in Les Moutiers-en-Cinglais, France (d. 2023)
1961 – Maria Filatova, Soviet gymnast (Olympic 1976, 80 Gold), born in Leninsk-Kuznetsky, Kemerovo Oblast, Russia
Famous Deaths
1545 – George Carew, English admiral, drowns
1625 – Samuel Besler, German-Polish composer, dies at 50
1939 – Rose Hartwick Thorpe, American poet (Curfew Must Not Ring) and writer, dies at 89
1989 – Kazimierz Sabbat, President of the Republic of Poland in Exile (1986-89), dies at 76
2013 – Poncie Ponce, American actor (Hawaiian Eye), dies of heart failure at 80
Famous Deaths for 18th July 2026
1944 – George A Hartland, British politician (MP, Norwich, 1931-35), dies at 60
1968 – Corneille Heymans, Belgian physiologist (Nobel 1938), dies at 76
1970 – Lucien d’Azambuja, French astronomer (studied the solar chromosphere), dies at 86
1990 – Georges Dargaud, French publisher (Astérix, Tintin), dies at 79
1990 – Yoon Boseon, President of South Korea (b. 1897)
1991 – André Cools, Belgian Minister of Budget, murdered at 63
1994 – Gottfried Reinhardt [Goldmann], German/American director, dies at 83
2002 – Louis Laberge, Quebec labour union leader, dies at 78
2020 – [James] Keith Sonnier, American performance artist and sculptor (Palm Saw Tooth Blatt; Ba-O-Ba), dies at 78
2024 – Lou Dobbs, American broadcast journalist and conservative political pundit (CNN, 1980-99 and 2001-09; Fox Business, 2011-21), dies at 78
Historical Events for 18th July 2026
1743 – First half-page newspaper ad is published, in the NY Weekly Journal
1915 – WWI: Second Battle of Isonzo begins with Kingdom of Italy offensive against Austria-Hungary, ends 2-1/2 weeks later with over 91,000 combined casualties
1935 – Amsterdam city council accept city growth plan through the year 2000
1965 – Zond 3 launches to fly by the Moon and enters solar orbit
1970 – WJCL TV channel 22 in Savannah, GA (ABC) begins broadcasting
1995 – “Dreams from My Father,” a memoir by Barack Obama, is published by Times Books
2014 – The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) call 18,000 additional reserves soldiers in campaign against Gaza
2018 – Lava from Kilauea volcano eruption has now destroyed 700 homes and added 700 acres to Big Island confirms Hawaii National Guard
Today in History for 18th July 2026
Historical Events
1882 – MLB Louisville Eclipse pitcher Tony Mullane is first to pitch right-handed and then left-handed
1944 – Hideki Tojo resigns the position of Prime Minister of Imperial Japan, after losing the support of Emperor Hirohito
1972 – 200,000 attend Mt Pocono rock festival in Penns
2018 – Kawhi Leonard is traded to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Pöltl, and a protected 2019 first-round draft pick
2023 – City of Phoenix, Arizona breaks a five decade heat record recording 19 consecutive days of temperature at or above 110°F (43.3°C); overnight low of 97°F (36.1°C) highest since 1989
Famous Birthdays
1850 – Rose Hartwick Thorpe, American poet (Curfew Must Not Ring) and writer, born in Mishawaka, Indiana, Kansas (d. 1939)
1884 – Alberto di Jorio, Italian Cardinal and former head of the Vatican Bank, born in Rome (d. 1979)
1903 – Victor Gruen [Viktor Grünbaum], Austrian-American architect known for his pioneering work designing shopping centers (Northland Shopping Center in Michigan), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1980)
1912 – Harry Levin, American literary scholar, born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (d. 1994)
1946 – Leo Madder, Belgian actor (Spoed), born in Lier, Flanders, Belgium
Famous Deaths
1817 – Jane Austen, English novelist (Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility), dies at 41
1948 – Herman Gummerus, Finnish historian and politician (b. 1877)
1992 – Jan Pelleboer, Dutch meteorologist, and first television weatherman in the Netherlands, dies at 64
2009 – Henry Allingham, oldest male British supercentenarian (born 1896) and World War I veteran, dies at 113 years, 42 days
2018 – Wolfgang Hufschmidt, German church musician, academic, and composer, dies at 84
Famous Deaths for 17th July 2026
521 – Magnus Felix Ennodius, bishop and Latin poet (b. 474)
1763 – Wenzel Raimund Birck, Austrian organist and composer at the court of Marie Theresa, dies at 45
1859 – Stephanie of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, German-born Queen of Portugal (1858-59), dies of diphtheria at 22
1918 – Alexei Trupp, Russian footman and assistant of Tsar Nicholas II, executed at 62
1970 – Juano Hernandez, Puerto Rican stage and film actor (St Louis Blues; Stars In My Crown), dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at 73
1994 – Sutan Takdir Alishahbana, Indonesian linguist and writer (Poedjangga Baroe), dies at 86
2011 – David Ngoombujarra, Australian actor (b. 1967)
2016 – Gary S. Paxton [Larry Wayne Stevens], American musician and songwriter (“Monster Mash”; “Alley Oop”), dies at 77
2023 – Nicholas Goodison, British businessman (CEO of TSB Group; Chairman of London Stock Exchange, 1976-86), and arts supporter (Chairman of the Courtauld Institute of Art, 1982-2002; Chair and of the National Art Collections Fund, 1986 -2002), dies at 97
2025 – Claude Teisseire, French rugby league centre (17 Tests; AS Carcassonne, FC Lézignan), dies at 94