1817 – Etienne-Nicolas Méhul, French opera composer, dies at 54
1864 – David Bell Birney, American businessman, lawyer, and Major General (Union Army), dies at 39
1959 – Boughera El Ouafi, Algerian athlete (Olympic gold marathon 1928), dies of gun wounds at 61
1973 – Frank Knight, TV announcer (Chronoscope), dies at 79
1982 – Bess Truman (née Elizabeth Wallace), US First Lady (1945-52), dies of congestive heart failure at 97
1991 – Gunnar Sønstevold, Norwegian jazz pianist, and orchestral and film score composer (Litany In Atlanta; The Dorian Cage), dies at 78
1991 – Jan Christiaanse, Dutch university professor, and politician (Senate, 1973-77, 1979-91; resident of Dutch political party CDA), dies at 59
1993 – Lois Kibbee, American actress (Edge of Night), dies of a brain tumor at 71
2007 – Kumiko Ida, Japanese classical pianist, dies of meningitis at 38
2010 – Marion Brown, American jazz alto saxophonist, (Marion Brown Quartet; John Coltrane -“Ascension”; Artie Schepp), avant garde composer, writer, and ethnomusicologist, dies at 79
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 18th October 2025
1016 – Danes led by Cnut defeat the Saxon forces of Edmund Ironside at the Battle of Assandun (Ashingdon), completing their conquest of England
1767 – Boundary between Maryland and Pennsylvania, the Mason–Dixon line, is agreed upon
1918 – NHL’s Quebec Bulldogs are sold to Toronto businessman P. J. Quinn
1946 – First performance of Aaron Copland’s Third Symphony by the Boston Symphony Orchestra led by Serge Koussevitzky, often called the “Great American Symphony”
1953 – WTVK TV channel 26 in Knoxville, TN (NBC) begins broadcasting
1954 – Hurricane Hazel becomes the most severe to ever hit the US, killing 195 in the US and Canada
1979 – Stage musical “Beatlemania” opens in London
2023 – Climate activist Greta Thunberg is arrested at a demonstration outside an oil conference in London
Today in History for 18th October 2025
Historical Events
1240 – Ukrainian city of Chernihiv surrenders, but despite this, it is still sacked and pillaged by the Mongolian army of Batu
1912 – The Treaty of Lausanne ends the Italo-Turkish War; Italy annexes Libya
1921 – Charles Strite is granted US patent #1,394,450 for his invention, the automatic pop-up toaster
1931 – Gangster Al Capone is convicted on five of the 23 counts of tax evasion against him, later fined $50,000 and sentenced to 11 years in prison
1979 – USSR performs a nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeastern Kazakhstan
Famous Birthdays
1844 – Harvey W. Wiley, American chemist known for leadership in the passage of the landmark Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, born in Kent, Indiana (d. 1930)
1870 – D. T. Suzuki, Japanese-American Zen Buddhist scholar, born in Kanazawa, Japan (d. 1966)
1947 – (John) “JJ” Johnson, American NBA basketball player, 1970-82 (Cleveland Cavaliers, Seattle SuperSonics, and 2 other teams), born in Carthage, Mississippi (d. 2016)
1948 – Isabel Elaine Allen, American biostatistician known for her work on distance education, born in the United States
1960 – Jean-Claude Van Damme, Belgian actor (Double Impact, Kickboxer, No Retreat), born in Brussels, Belgium
Famous Deaths
1570 – Manoel da Nóbrega, Portuguese missionary, founder of the Jesuit mission in Brazil, dies at 53
1788 – Jean-Guillain Cardon, French harpist, composer, and teacher, dies at 56
1845 – Jean-Dominique, comte de Cassini, French astronomer, dies at 97
1997 – Bill Rotsler, cartoonist/writer, dies of cancer at 62
2000 – Julie London, American singer (“Cry Me A River”) and actress (Emergency – “Nurse McCall”), dies at 74
Famous Deaths for 17th October 2025
1174 – Queen Petronila of Aragon (b. 1135)
1897 – Isidor Dannström, Swedish composer, dies at 84
1901 – George Godfrey, Canadian boxer (“Old Chocolate” – World Colored Heavyweight Champion 1883-88), dies of tuberculosis at 48
1921 – Katherine Griffith [Kiernan], American actress (Pollyanna, Fast Company), dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at 45
1958 – Paul Outerbridge, American photographer, dies at 63
1979 – John Stuart, Scottish actor (Kittie, Superman, Number Seventeen), dies at 81
1981 – David Guion, American pianist, composer, and cowboy, dies at 88
1994 – Barbara Grigor, Scottish filmmaker and art entrepreneur, dies at 50
2007 – Joey Bishop [Gottlieb], American TV talk show host (Joey Bishop Show) and member of the “Rat Pack” group of entertainers, dies at 89
2024 – Mitzi Gaynor [Francesca von Gerber], American actress, singer, and dancer (Anything Goes; South Pacific), dies at 93
Historical Events for 17th October 2025
415 – Jewish autonomy in Palestine ended by the Romans and Raban Gamliel forced from office
1933 – Albert Einstein arrives in the US as a refugee from Nazi Germany
1960 – “Tenderloin” opens at the 46th Street Theatre in New York City and runs for 216 performances
1964 – Australian athlete Betty Cuthbert wins her fourth career Olympic gold medal as she triumphs in the women’s 400 m at the Tokyo Games with an Olympic record of 52.0
1983 – STS-9 vehicle moves to the Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida due to an SRB nozzle problem
1988 – Lyndon LaRouche pleads not guilty to fraud and conspiracy indictment
1990 – Green Day singer Billie Joe Armstrong drops out of school to pursue a career in music
2010 – Brother André is the first Canadian to be canonized post-Federation by Pope Benedict XVI
Today in History for 17th October 2025
Historical Events
1888 – Thomas Edison writes a letter to the US Patent Office describing his idea for “a device that would do for the eye what the phonograph does for the ear”
1968 – Soviet athlete Viktor Saneev sets a world record of 17.39m to win the triple jump at the Mexico City Olympics; the world record is improved five times by three different athletes during the competition
1970 – Anwar Sadat is sworn in as the third President of Egypt
2008 – Sachin Tendulkar becomes the highest run-scorer ever in Test cricket, surpassing Brian Lara’s record and passing 12,000 runs against Australia in Mohali
2015 – Amy Schumer’s comedy special “Amy Schumer: Live at the Apollo” premieres on HBO
Famous Birthdays
1878 – Henri Mulet, French organist, cellist, and composer (Carillon-Sortie; Esquisses Byzantines), born in Paris, France (d. 1967)
1886 – Spring Byington, American actress (December Bride), born in Colorado Springs (d. 1971)
1926 – Julie Adams [Betty May Adams], American actress (Creature from the Black Lagoon; Code Red), born in Waterloo, Iowa (d. 2019)
1957 – Steve McMichael, American College-Pro Football HOF defensive tackle (University of Texas; Super Bowl XX; First-team All-Pro 1985, 87; Pro Bowl 1986, 87; Chicago Bears), born in Houston, Texas (d. 2025)
1957 – (Giuseppe) “Pino” Palladino, Italian-Welsh session and touring rock bassist (Paul Young; The Who; John Mayer Trio), born in Cardiff, Wales
Famous Deaths
1985 – Joseph Rosenstock, American conductor (NY City Opera), dies at 90
1999 – Ralph Grey, Baron Grey of Naunton, Governor of Northern Ireland (1968-73), dies at 89
2001 – Micheline Ostermeyer, French athlete (Olympic gold shot put, discus; bronze high jump 1948), dies at 78
2009 – Vic Mizzy, American composer (“Green Acres” and “The Addams Family” themes), and bandleader, dies at 93
2017 – Ingvar Lidholm, Swedish composer (Toccata e Canto), dies at 95
Famous Deaths for 16th October 2025
1594 – William Allen, English cardinal/founder seminary of Douai, dies at 62
1877 – Theodore Barrière, French dramatist (b. 1823)
1972 – Leo G. Carroll, British actor (Topper; Strangers On A Train; The Man From U.N.C.L.E.), dies at 85
1983 – Øivin Fjeldstad, Norwegian conductor and composer, dies at 80
1984 – Peggy Ann Garner, American actress (Little Women, Daisy Kenyon), dies of cancer at 53
1987 – Dana Suesse, American musician and songwriter (“You Ought To Be In Pictures”), dies at 77
2005 – John Baines Johnston, British diplomat (British High Commissioner to Rhodesia just before independence, High Commissioner of Malaysia), dies at 87
2012 – Eddie Yost, American MLB player, dies from cardiovascular disease at 86
2013 – Ed Lauter, American actor (The Artist, The Number 23), dies from mesothelioma at 74
2024 – Patti McGee, American skateboarder (first female pro skateboarder; first Women’s US C’ship 1964; first woman inducted IASC Skateboarding HOF), dies of a stroke at 79
Historical Events for 16th October 2025
1848 – First US homeopathic medical college opens in Pennsylvania
1875 – Brigham Young University is founded in Provo, Utah
1982 – Mt. Palomar Observatory is the first to detect Halley’s Comet on its 13th return
1985 – Intel introduces the 32-bit 80386 microprocessor chip
1988 – Orel Hirsheiser becomes the first player to pitch shutout in playoff and World Series
1991 – Jharkhand Chhatra Yuva Morcha is founded at a conference in Ranchi, India
1993 – General Omar al-Bashir is appointed President of Sudan
1993 – IRA bomb attack on fish and chips restaurant in Belfast kills 10 people
Today in History for 16th October 2025
Historical Events
1710 – British troops occupy Port Royal, Nova Scotia
1964 – New York Yankees fire manager Yogi Berra, one day after losing the World Series
1973 – The Gulf Six (Iran, Iraq, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar) unilaterally raise the posted price of Saudi Light marker crude oil by 17 percent
1994 – “Addams Family” actor Raul Julia suffers a stroke
2017 – Storm formed from Hurricane Ophelia lashes Ireland, killing three people
Famous Birthdays
1714 – Giovanni Arduino, Italian geologist who established 1st system of stratigraphic chronology, born in Caprino Veronese, Republic of Venice (d. 1795)
1906 – Dino Buzzati, Italian writer (The Tartar Steppe), born in San Pellegrino, Belluno, (d. 1972)
1944 – Paul Durcan, Irish poet (The Beckett at the Gate, Six Nuns Die in Convent Inferno), born in Dublin, Ireland (d. 2025)
1945 – Paul Monette, American writer and LBT activist, born in Lawrence, Massachusetts (d. 1995)
1980 – Sue Bird, American basketball guard (record 508 WNBA games, Seattle Storm; Olympic gold 2004, 08, 12, 16, 20), born in Syosset, New York
Famous Deaths
1883 – Samuel Jameson Gholson, American jurist and Brigadier General in the Confederate Army, dies at 75
1946 – Joachim von Ribbentrop, Nazi foreign minister and war criminal, hanged at 53
1958 – Michalis Souyioul [Michail Sougioultzoglou], Greek composer and songwriter, chiefly for theater and film, dies of a stroke at 52
1981 – Moshe Dayan, Israeli military leader and politician (Minister of Defense 1967-74), dies of a heart attack at 66
1990 – Jorge Bolet, Cuban-born American pianist known for his performances of the work of Franz Liszt, dies at 75
Famous Deaths for 15th October 2025
892 – al-Mu’tamid, Abbasid caliph (870-92), dies at about 50
1595 – Abu al-Faiz ibn Mubarak Faizi, Persian-Dutch East iIndies poet, dies at 48
1789 – John Morgan, American physician-in-chief of Continental Army and co-founder of the Medical College at the University of Pennsylvania, the first medical school in Colonial America, dies at 54
1900 – Zdeněk Fibich, Czech classical composer (Šárka; Hippodamia; Moods, Impressions, and Reminiscences), dies at 49
1930 – Herbert Henry Dow, American chemical industrialist (Dow Chemical), dies from cirrhosis of the liver at 64
1965 – Buster Moten [Ira Smith], American jazz accordionist (Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra – “South”, “Moten Swing”), dies at 61
1994 – Hannes Wustinger, Austrian race car driver, dies in a crash during a race at 29
2012 – Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia (1941-55 and 1993-2004), Chief of State (1960-70), independence campaigner and film producer, dies from a heart attack at 89
2018 – Cicely Berry, British theatre director (Royal Shakespeare Company) and voice coach, dies at 92
2019 – Hossein Dehlavi, Persian composer, conductor and teacher (Sarbaz; Plectrum Orchestra), dies of Alzheimer complications at 92