1678 – English troops land in Flanders
1939 – Tour de France: Sylvère Maes of Belgium wins his 3rd title from Frenchman René Vietto
1942 – German occupiers set a night curfew on Jews in the Netherlands
1968 – Washington shortstop Ron Hansen makes the eighth unassisted triple play in MLB history and the first in 41 years as the Senators lose 10-1 to the Cleveland Indians
1969 – KAEC TV channel 19 in Lufkin, Texas (ABC) begins broadcasting
1982 – Atlanta Braves remove Chief Noc-A-Homa to make room for more seating
1982 – USSR performs an underground nuclear test
2003 – Toronto Rocks – SARSStock benefit with performers including The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Rush, The Guess Who, Justin Timberlake, The Flaming Lips, and The Isley Brothers, at Downsview Park; largest concert in Canadian history attracts 450,000 spectators
Author: gil7
Today in History for 30th July 2026
Historical Events
1653 – Johan de Witt is sworn in as the Grand Pensionary of Holland
1864 – Battle of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania: Confederate forces under McCausland burn the town of Chambersburg
1870 – Staten Island Ferry “Westfield” burns, killing 100
1907 – Filipinos elect their first legislature, which will meet on 16 October
1984 – Hollie Roffey, aged 10 days, is the youngest person to ever receive a heart transplant and survives 28 days
Famous Birthdays
1824 – Eugenio Terziani, Italian composer, born in Rome, Papal States (d. 1889)
1837 – Elon John Farnsworth, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Green Oak, Michigan (d. 1863)
1906 – Ľudovít Rajter, Slovak composer and conductor, born in Pezinok, Kingdom of Hungary (d. 2000)
1927 – Victor Wong, American actor (Big Trouble in Little China), born in San Francisco, California (d. 2001)
1974 – Jason Robinson, English dual-code rugby player, born in Leeds, United Kingdom
Famous Deaths
1566 – Guillaume Rondelet, French naturalist famous for his study of marine animals, dies at 58
1966 – Edward Gordon Craig, British modernist actor, director and theorist (On the art of theatre), dies at 94
1976 – Emil Solomon “Solly” Sachs, South African socialist, dies in London
1983 – Lynn Fontanne, British Emmy Award-winning stage, screen, and radio actress, dies of pneumonia at 95
1993 – Frank L. Howley, American general (Commander of American sector of Berlin after WWII), dies at 90
Famous Deaths for 29th July 2026
1030 – Olaf II Haraldsson, King of Norway, dies in battle of Stiklestad at 34 or 35
1099 – Urban II [Odo de Lagery], French Pope who began the First Crusade (1088-99), dies at about 64
1936 – Frank Gavan Duffy, Australian barrister and judge (High Court of Australia, 1913-35, and Chief Justice of Australia, 1931-35), dies at 84
1953 – Rosa May Billinghurst, British disabled suffragette and member of the Women’s Social and Political Union, dies at 78
1960 – Richard Simon, American book publisher (co-founder of Simon and Shuster), dies at 61
1973 – Norm Smith, Australian rules footballer and coach (b. 1915)
1976 – Mickey Cohen, American gangster (Cohen crime family), dies at 62
2001 – Edward Gierek, Polish communist politician, dies of lung disease at 88
2004 – Rena Vlahopoulou, Greek actress and singer (b. 1923)
2023 – David W. Potter, Scottish sports writer (published 60+ books, primarily Scottish football and cricket), dies at 74
Historical Events for 29th July 2026
238 – The Roman Senate and Praetorian Guard proclaim 13-year-old Gordian III as Emperor – the youngest-ever emperor of a united Rome
1566 – Great Britain executes Agnes Waterhouse, the first British woman convicted of witchcraft in Chelmsford, England
1773 – First schoolhouse west of the Allegheny Mountains is completed in Schoenbrunn, Ohio
1924 – Paul Runyan wins PGA the golf championship
1942 – Transport #12 departs Drancy, France, with 1001 French Jews sent to Auschwitz concentration camp; five survive until the war’s end
1996 – MLB Los Angeles Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda retires, with a record of 1599-1439, four National League Pennants, and two World Series championships.
2015 – “Sweat” by Lynn Nottage premieres at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (Pulitzer Prize for Drama 2017)
2019 – Prison riot kills 58, with 16 decapitated in a battle between rival factions at Altamira prison, Pará state, Brazil
Today in History for 29th July 2026
Historical Events
1560 – Turkish fleet recaptures Djerba from Spaniards
1751 – First international world title prizefight: Jack Stack of England defeats challenger M. Petit of France in 29 minutes in England
1983 – MLB San Diego Padres first baseman Steve Garvey ends his National League record of 1,207 consecutive games streak
2013 – 44 people are killed in a wave of car bombings in Iraq
2022 – Rebekah Vardy loses her UK libel trial against Coleen Rooney in the so-called Wagatha Christie trial over Rooney accusing Vardy of leaking stories to The Sun newspaper
Famous Birthdays
1933 – Cammie Smith, West Indian cricket batsman (5 Tests, 1 x 50; Barbados), born in Saint Michael, Barbados
1937 – Marian Robinson (née Shields), American ‘First Grandma” of the Obama White House, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2024)
1973 – Wanyá Morris, American RandB and soul singer (Boyz II Men – “I’ll Make Love to You”; “End Of The Road”), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1977 – Danger Mouse [Brian Burton], American alternative rock and electronic hip-hop musician, songwriter and Grammy Award-winning record producer (The Grey Album; Gnarls Barkley; Black Keys), born in White Plains, New York
1984 – Chad Billingsley, American MLB baseball pitcher (Los Angeles Dodgers), born in Defiance, Ohio
Famous Deaths
1573 – John Caius, English physician, dies at 62
1984 – Woodrow Parfey, American actor (Time Express), dies at 61 of a heart attack
1994 – James Herman Barrett Jr, retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel killed by anti-abortion extremist Paul Hill at 74
2001 – Alex Nicol, American actor (The Screaming Skull, Man From Laramie, Air Cadet), dies of natural causes at 85
2005 – Pat McCormick, American comedy writer (Red Skeleton; Get Smart; The Tonight Show; Don Rickles Show), and actor (Smokey and the Bandit), dies at 78
Famous Deaths for 28th July 2026
1741 – Antonio Vivaldi, Italian Baroque composer (The Four Seasons), dies at 63
1967 – Karl W. Richter, American air force pilot during the Vietnam War (youngest to shoot down a MiG), shot down at 24
1976 – Lucie Mannheim, German singer and actress (39 Steps), dies at 77
1990 – Jill Esmond, English actress (13 Women, My Pal Wolfe, FP 1), dies at 82
1994 – Ralph Herman, American Emmy Award-winning composer (From the Scriptures; Circus Time), orchestra leader, and music director (ABC-TV, 1952-71), dies after a stroke at 80
1997 – Rosalie Crutchley, British actress (Armchair Theatre: Black Limelight, Four Weddings and a Funeral), dies at 77
1999 – Rudolf Halaczinsky, German composer, dies at 78
2015 – James Jude, American thoracic surgeon (developed CPR), dies at 87
2024 – Martin Phillipps, New Zealand new wave singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Chills – “Heavenly Pop Hit”, “Pink Frost”), dies of liver failure at 61
2025 – Ryne Sandberg, American Baseball HOF infielder (10 × MLB All-Star; NL MVP 1984; 9 × Gold Glove Award; Chicago Cubs) and manager (Philadelphia Phillies, 2013-15), dies of prostate cancer at 65
Historical Events for 28th July 2026
1330 – Battle of Velbuzd: Serbian forces defeat Bulgarian army
1563 – French army recaptures Le Havre after the English garrison surrenders after a siege
1794 – French Revolutionary figure Maximilien Robespierre and 22 other leaders of “the Terror” are guillotined to thunderous cheers in Paris
1794 – Joséphine de Beauharnais, future Empress of the French and first wife of Napoleon Bonaparte, is released from prison five days after the execution of her first husband, Alexandre de Beauharnais
1967 – Pirate radio station 390 (Radio Invicta) in England closes down
2013 – 39 people are killed after a bus veers off a bridge in Avellino Province, Italy
2018 – Carr Fire reaches Redding, California, with the death toll at 5, having burned 80,000 acres
2019 – Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, is revealed as the first guest editor for UK Vogue in 103 years for its September 2019 issue
Today in History for 28th July 2026
Historical Events
1635 – Spanish marshal Piccolomini conquers Schenkenschans
1939 – Fifth Dutch government of Prime Minister Hendrikus Colijn falls
1943 – US President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces the end of coffee rationing in the US
1983 – NASA launches Telstar-3A
1988 – Jordan cancels $1.3 billion development plan in West Bank
Famous Birthdays
1456 – Jacopo Sannazaro, Italian poet (Arcadia), born in Naples, Kingdom of Naples (now Italy) (d. 1530)
1745 – Peter Ludwig von der Pahlen, Baltic German courtier, general and military governor of St Petersburg, born in Palmse, Estonia (d. 1826)
1900 – Maurice Johnstone, British brass band composer, born in Manchester, England (d. 1976)
1942 – Marty Brennaman, American sportscaster, born in Portsmouth, Virginia
1954 – Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela (1998-2013), born in Sabaneta, Barinas State, Venezuela (d. 2013)
Famous Deaths
1960 – Enrique Amorim, Uruguayan author (La victoria no viene sola), dies at 60
1990 – Jill Esmond, English actress (13 Women, My Pal Wolfe, FP 1), dies at 82
1994 – Bernard Delfont, Russian-British impresario (Thorn EMI), dies at 84
2007 – Karl Gotch, Belgian professional wrestler (b. 1924)
2013 – William Scranton, American Republican Party politician and diplomat, dies from a cerebral hemorrhage at 96
Famous Deaths for 27th July 2026
1365 – Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria (1358-65), dies at 25
1777 – William Hayes, English composer and organist, dies at 69
1931 – Auguste-Henri Forel, Swiss neuroanatomist and entomologist, investigated structure of the brain, dies at 58
1963 – Garrett Morgan, American inventor (gas mask and traffic signal), dies at 86
1972 – Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi, Austrian-Japanese politician, dies at 77
1995 – Rick Ferrell, American Baseball Hall of Fame catcher (8 x MLB All Star; Boston Red Sox, Washington Senators), dies of arrhythmia at 89
1996 – Jane Beverly Drew, English modernist architect, dies at 85
1999 – Aleksandr Danilovich Aleksandrov, Russian mathematician, physicist, philosopher, and mountaineer, dies at 86
2021 – Mike Hendrick, English cricket fast bowler (30 Tests, 87 wickets; 22 ODIs; Derbyshire CCC), dies from bowel cancer at 72
2022 – Tony Dow, American actor (Leave it to Beaver – “Wally”), director, and sculptor, dies of cancer at 77
Historical Events for 27th July 2026
1377 – First example of quarantine in Ragusa (now Dubrovnik); city council passes a law stating newcomers from plague areas must isolate for 30 days (later 40 days, quaranta in Italian)
1816 – US troops destroy Fort Apalachicola, a Seminole fort, to punish Indians for harboring runaway slaves
1897 – Dutch government of Pierson and Goeman Borgesius resigns
1927 – Mel Ott, 18, hits his first league home run (inside the park)
1988 – Baseball star Tommy John commits a record three errors on one play as the Yankees rout the Brewers 16-3
1992 – Astros begins 26-game road trip to make room for Republican National Convention
2003 – British Senior Open Men’s Golf, Turnberry: American Tom Watson wins in a playoff against Carl Mason of England
2021 – Triathlete Flora Duffy wins first Olympic gold medal for Bermuda in the women’s event at the Tokyo Games