Author: gil7

Historical Events

1861 – Battle of Carnifex Ferry in Virginia; 170 casualties
1898 – Empress Elisabeth of Austria is assassinated by anarchist Luigi Lucheni
1969 – NY Mets sweep Montreal Expos putting them in first place for the first time
1984 – First episode of the daily syndicated TV game show “Jeopardy!” with Alex Trebek as host
2012 – 10,000 miners demonstrate at Lonmin Mines in Marikana, South Africa

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Famous Birthdays

1861 – Niels Hansen Jacobsen, Danish sculptor and ceramist (Trold, der vejrer kristenblod), born in Vejen, Denmark (d. 1941)
1912 – William Oliver Everson, American poet, born in Sacramento, California (d. 1994)
1939 – Elisabeth Chojnacka, Polish harpsichordist, with works dedicated to her by over 80 composers, born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 2017)
1960 – Alison Bechdel, American cartoonist (Fun Home), born in Beech Creek, Pennsylvania
1982 – Misty Copeland, American ballerina (1st African American Principal Dancer at American Ballet Theatre), born in Kansas City Missouri

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Famous Deaths

1922 – Arpad Szendy, Hungarian composer, dies at 59
1931 – Dmitri Egorov, Russian mathematician (differential geometry and mathematical analysis), dies at 61
2007 – Ted Stepien, American businessman and basketball team owner, dies at 82
2018 – Peter Donat, Canadian-American actor (Flamingo Road, Different Story), dies of complications of diabetes at 90
2022 – Frank Cignetti Sr., American College Football HOF coach (West Virginia Uni, Indiana University of Pennsylvania; career college record 199–77–1), dies at 84

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Historical Events

1543 – Mary Stuart, at nine months old, is crowned Queen of Scots in the central Scottish town of Stirling
1892 – Edward Emerson Barnard at Lick Observatory discovers Amalthea, Jupiter’s fifth moon
1972 – US Open Women’s Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Billie Jean King retains her title, beating Kerry Melville Reid of Australia 6-3, 7-5
1992 – MLB player Robin Yount is the 17th to reach 3,000 hits
2017 – 74th Venice Film Festival: “The Shape of Water” directed by Guillermo del Toro wins the Golden Lion

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Famous Birthdays

1819 – Martin Luther Smith, American Major General (Confederate Army), born in Danby, New York (d. 1866)
1890 – Colonel Harland Sanders, American founder of Kentucky Fried Chicken, born in Henryville, Indiana (d. 1980)
1939 – Howard “Buck” McKeon, (Rep-R-California 1993-2015), born in Los Angeles, California
1944 – Mike Patrick [Michael Carduff], American sportscaster and voice of ESPN’s Sunday Night Football (1987-2005), born in Clarksburg, West Virginia (d. 2025)
1962 – Aleta Rzepecki Sill, American bowler (1983 WIBC single), born in Detroit, Michigan

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Famous Deaths

1612 – Nakagawa Hidenari, Japanese warlord (b. 1570)
1946 – Mynona [Salomo Friedlaender], German-Jewish philospher and writer (The Creator), dies at 74
1954 – Alfred Gradstein, Polish composer, dies at 49
2020 – Henrietta Boggs, American activist, journalist and First Lady of Costa Rica (1948-49), dies at 102
2025 – Polly Holliday, American actress known for her catchphrase “Kiss my grits!” (Flo Castlebberry in “Alice” and “Flo”), dies at 88

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Historical Events

1504 – Michelangelo’s statue of David is unveiled in Florence
1796 – Battle of Bassano: Napoleon Bonaparte’s French army defeats the Austrian forces during the French Revolutionary Wars
1960 – US 4 x 400 m relay team of Jack Yerman, Earl Young, Glenn Davis, and Otis Davis run a world record 3:02.2 to win the gold medal at the Rome Olympics
1972 – East German Annelie Ehrhardt sets a world record of 12.59 seconds to win the 100 m hurdles gold medal at the Munich Olympics, beating Romanian Valeria Bufanu by 0.25 seconds
2008 – US Open Men’s Tennis: Roger Federer beats Scotsman Andy Murray 6-2, 7-5, 6-2 for his fifth consecutive US title

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Famous Birthdays

1915 – Frank Cady, American actor (The Beverly Hillbillies; Petticoat Junction; Green Acres – all as “Sam Drucker”), born in Susanville, California (d. 2012)
1958 – Michael Lardie, American rock keyboard player, guitarist and producer (Great White; Night Ranger), born in Anchorage, Alaska
1983 – Chris Judd, Australian rules football player, born in Melbourne, Australia
1986 – Matt Grothe, American football player, born in Lakeland, Florida
1991 – Joe Sugg, English Youtuber and actor (Strictly Come Dancing), born in Lacock, England

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Famous Deaths

1675 – Amalia, countess of Solms-Braunfels and wife of Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, dies at 73
1871 – Etienne-Joseph Soubre, Belgian composer, dies at 57
1949 – Richard Strauss, German composer (Also sprach Zarathustra, Don Quixote), dies at 85
1956 – Fred Rich, Polish-American jazz pianist and dance band bandleader (“I’m Tickled Pink with a Blue-Eyed Baby”; The Abbott and Costello Show), dies at 58
1985 – John Franklin Enders, American microbiologist (1954 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for culturing poliovirus, developed measles vaccine), dies at 88

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Historical Events

1954 – Integration begins in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland, public schools
1986 – Desmond Tutu becomes Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa
2008 – 25th MTV Video Music Awards: Britney Spears and Chris Brown win
2013 – Tony Abbott becomes Prime Minister of Australia after the Liberal-National Coalition wins the election
2013 – Fourteen Syrian rebels and two civilians are killed by heavy government shelling in Damascus

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Famous Birthdays

1951 – Morris Albert [Maurício Alberto Kaisermann], Brazilian singer (“Feelings”), born in São Paulo, Brazil
1951 – Chrissie Hynde, American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Pretenders – “Brass In Pocket”), born in Akron, Ohio
1967 – Leslie Jones, American comedian and actress (Saturday Night Live, Ghostbusters), born in Memphis, Tennessee
1976 – Oliver Hudson, American actor (Rules of Engagement), born in Los Angeles, California
1983 – Mehmet Topuz, Turkisher footballer (Kayserispor), born in Caferli Köyü, Yozgat, Turkey

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Famous Deaths

1775 – Johann Georg Holzbogen, German violinist and composer, dies at 48
1920 – Simon-Napoléon Parent, Canadian politician and 12th Premier of Quebec (1900-05), dies at 64
1944 – Eduardo Sanchez de Fuentes, Cuban composer, dies at 70
1994 – Terence Young, British film director (Dr No, Thunderball), dies of at 79
2008 – Miljenko “Dino” Dvornik, Croatian singer known as “the Croatian King of Funk”, dies of an overdose at 44

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