Today in History for 18th September 2025

Historical Events

1882 – Pacific Stock Exchange opens as Local Security Board
1905 – Electric tramline opens in Rotterdam
1971 – Ryder Cup Golf, Old Warson CC: US beats Europe, 18½-13½; after leading by 1 match, GB loses all Friday morning 4-ball matches to lose momentum
2004 – Farm Aid 17 held in Auburn, Washington; performers include Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Dave Matthews, Lucinda Williams, Steve Earle, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Marc Broussard
2006 – Right-wing protesters riot at the building of Hungarian Television in Budapest, Hungary, one day after an audio tape is made public in which Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány admits he and his party lied during the 2006 general election

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Famous Birthdays

1916 – Rossano Brazzi, Italian actor (Final Justice, South Pacific, The Barefoot Contessa), born in Bolognia, Italy (d. 1994)
1931 – Anthony Bowles, British music director (Jesus Christ Superstar; Evita), born in England (d. 1993)
1933 – Scotty Bowman, Canadian NHL player and coach (Montreal Canadians/Detroit Red Wings), born in Montreal, Quebec
1956 – Tim McInnerny, British stage, screen, and radio actor (Blackadder; Notting Hill), born in Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire, England
1977 – Li Tie, Chinese footballer and coach (Everton), born in Shenyang, China

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Famous Deaths

1137 – Erik II Eimune [Onvergetelijke], King of Denmark (1134-37), murdered
1611 – Membertou [Mabretou], Micmac chief (1st chief of a First Nations community to be converted by Catholic missionaries), dies
1945 – “Blind” Willie Johnson, American gospel blues singer and guitarist (“Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground”), dies of malarial fever, syphilis at 48
2002 – Ernest Sidey, British air marshal (General of RAF Medical Services, Honorary Surgeon to the Queen), dies at 89
2013 – Ken Norton, American boxer (WBC heavyweight champion 1978; famous Muhammad Ali trilogy; International Boxing HOF), dies at 70

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Famous Deaths for 17th September 2025

1762 – Francesco Geminiani, Italian violinist and composer, dies at 74
1803 – Franz Xaver Sussmayr, Austrian composer and conductor, dies (b. 1766)
1939 – Ethel M. Dell, English author (Storm Drift), dies at 58
1948 – Folke Bernadotte, Swedish diplomat (Red Cross; UN mediator for Palestine), assassinated by a Zionist group at 53
1959 – Bert Leysen, Belgian TV director (Belgian National TV), dies at 39
1979 – Miloslav Kabeláč, Czech composer, dies at 71
1992 – Feodor Chaliapin Jr, Russian actor (The Name of the Rose; The King’s Whore), dies after a brief illness at 87
1994 – Iris Adrian, American actress (Blue Hawaii, Bluebeard), dies at 82
2006 – Patricia Kennedy Lawford, American socialite and sister of President John F. Kennedy, dies at 82
2009 – Leon Kirchner, American contemporary classical composer (Pulitzer Prize for Music 1967), dies of congestive heart failure at 90

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Historical Events for 17th September 2025

1849 – Harriet Tubman is the first to escape slavery in Maryland with two of her brothers
1926 – Hurricane hits Miami and Palm Beach, Florida, killing approximately 450
1934 – RCA Victor releases the first 33 1/3 rpm recording: Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra, led by Leopold Stokowski at the Philadelphia Academy of Music
1966 – “Mission Impossible” premieres on CBS-TV
1984 – USSR performs an underground nuclear test
1986 – US Senate confirms William Rehnquist as 16th Chief Justice
2010 – Documentary film “Who Is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talkin’ About Him)?” is released theatrically
2023 – British comedian Russell Brand is accused of rape, sexual assaults, and emotional abuse by four women in investigation by “The Sunday Times” and Channel 4

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Today in History for 17th September 2025

Historical Events

1176 – At the Battle of Myriokephalon, the Byzantines fail to recover Anatolia from Turkish rule
1737 – Georg-August University opens in Göttingen
1943 – Load of “ammunition in transit” explodes at Norfolk Naval Air Station
1991 – The first version of the Linux kernel (0.01) is released to the Internet
2018 – Flooding in Nigeria kills over 100 people as Benue and Niger Rivers overflow

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Famous Birthdays

1859 – Richard Henry Warren, American organist and composer, born in Albany, New York (d. 1933)
1883 – William Carlos Williams, American physician and poet, born in Rutherford, New Jersey (d. 1963)
1944 – Reinhold Messner, Italian mountain climber (Mount Everest), born in Brixen (Bressanone), Italy
1959 – Will Gregory, British keyboardist, sax player, producer (Goldfrapp), and composer (Piccard in Space), born in Bristol, England
1963 – Rami Saari, Israeli poet and translator, born in Petah Tikva, Israel

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Famous Deaths

1422 – Constantine II, last Tsar of Bulgaria (1397-1422), dies in exile at 52 or 53
1961 – Adnan Menderes, Turkish politician, Prime Minister of Turkey (1950-60), executed by the junta at 62
1991 – John Thomas, American co-inventor of fiberglass, dies at 83
2017 – Laudir de Oliveira, Brazilian percussionist (Sérgio Mendes; Chicago, 1973-81), dies on stage in Rio de Janeiro, of a heart attack at 77
2022 – Joseph P. Hoar, American US Marine Corps general (Commander in Chief of US Central Command, 1991-94), dies at 87

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Famous Deaths for 16th September 2025

1696 – Lambert Pietkin, Flemish composer, dies at 83
1834 – Antoine-Vincent Arnault, French writer (Guillaume the Nassau), dies
1911 – Edward Whymper, English mountaineer 1st to climb Matterhorn (1865), dies at 71
1945 – John McCormack, Irish-American tenor (Irish folksongs), dies at 61
1961 – Percy Chapman, English cricket batsman (26 Tests, captain 1926-31, 1 x 100; Kent CCC), dies after a fall at 61
1965 – Ahn Eak-tai, Korean cellist, composer (Aegukga – national anthem of South Korea), and conductor, dies at 58
1984 – Richard Brautigan, American novelist and poet (Trout Fishing in America), takes his own life at 49 [exact date estimated based on forensic investigation]
1994 – Albert de Courtray, French archbishop of Lyon/cardinal, dies at 71
2016 – Edward Albee, American playwright (Who’s Afraid of Virgina Woolf?), dies at 88
2016 – Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Italian President (1999-2006) and Prime Minister (1993-94), dies at 95

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Historical Events for 16th September 2025

1869 – Golf’s first recorded hole-in-one is scored by Tom Morris at Prestwick’s 8th hole in Scotland
1893 – Cherokee Strip, Oklahoma, opens white settlement homesteaders
1908 – Carriage maker William C. Durant founds General Motors in Flint, Michigan
1926 – Italian-Romanian peace treaty is signed
1945 – Barometric pressure at 856 mb (25.55″) off Okinawa (record low)
1979 – Ryder Cup Golf, The Greenbrier: US wins, 17-11; new Team Europe replaces Great Britain and Ireland as official opposition to the United States
1992 – FCC votes to allow competition for local phone service
1999 – First-ever season of “Big Brother” reality show begins on the Veronica channel in the Netherlands

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Today in History for 16th September 2025

Historical Events

1858 – First overland mail to California
1915 – Tsar Nicholas II of Russia adjourns 4th Duma
1947 – Typhoon Kathleen hits Saitama, Tokyo, and the Tone River area, killing at least 1,930
1951 – US National League umpire Frank Dascoli clears the Dodgers bench, ejecting 15 players
1993 – Minnesota Twins’ Dave Winfield becomes the 19th player to achieve 3,000 hits

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Famous Birthdays

1921 – Ursula Franklin, German-born Canadian physicist, educator and activist (developed archaeometry), born in Munich, Germany (d. 2016)
1946 – Mike Reynolds, Australian politician (Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland 2006-09), born in Manly, New South Wales
1966 – Kevin Curtis Young, American 400m hurdler, born in Los Angeles, California
1969 – Andrew Borodow, Canadian freestyle wrestler (Olympic 5-92, 96), born in Montreal, Quebec
1995 – Aaron Gordon, American NBA player (Denver Nuggets), born in San Jose, California

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Famous Deaths

1542 – Diego de Almagro II, Spanish conquistador known as “El Mozo,” the son of Diego de Almagro, is executed for his role in fatal a coup d’état attempt at about 21 (birthday uncertain, b. 1520)
1672 – Anne Bradstreet, New England’s first published poet, dies (birth date unknown)
1701 – James II of England and James VII of Scotland [Stuart], King of England, Scotland and Ireland (1685-88), dies at 68
2006 – Rob Levin, creator of Freenode (b. 1955)
2019 – Peter Stormonth Darling, Scottish investment banker (Mercury Asset Management Group, largest fund-management in the UK), dies at 86

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Famous Deaths for 15th September 2025

1231 – Louis I, Duke of Bavaria (1183-1231), founded city of Landshut, murdered at 57
1643 – Richard Boyle, Irish politician, 1st Earl of Cork, dies at 76
1701 – Edmé Boursault, French writer (b. 1638)
1747 – Johann Gotthilf Ziegler, German baroque composer and organist, dies at 59
1964 – Robert Dower, South African cricketer (1 Test South Africa v England 1898, scored 0 and 9), dies at 88
1972 – Ásgeir Ásgeirsson, Icelandic politician and the second President of Iceland (1952-68), dies at 78
1987 – Steven Tuomi, murder victim of Jeffery Dahmer (b. 1963)
1991 – Andre Baruch, Radio/TV announcer dies at 83
2007 – Brett Somers [Audrey Johnston], Canadian-American actress (The Odd Couple – “Blanche Madison”), and TV personality (Match Game), dies of cancer at 83
2023 – Fernando Botero, Colombian figurative artist and sculptor known for depicting people in exaggerated large sizes, dies of pneumonia at 91

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Historical Events for 15th September 2025

1830 – First National Negro Convention begins in Philadelphia
1931 – Philadelphia A’s clinch pennant, beating Cleveland
1947 – Typhoon Kathleen hit Tone River, Saitama and Tokyo area, killing at least 1,930 and injuring 1,750
1957 – SF Seals (Pacific Coast League) play their last game
1966 – Dutch political party (D’66) forms
1966 – First British nuclear ballistic missile submarine HMS Resolution launched
1966 – Gemini XI (Conrad/Gordon) returns to Earth
2001 – 26th Toronto International Film Festival: “Amelie” directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet wins the People’s Choice Award

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Today in History for 15th September 2025

Historical Events

1962 – “Bravo, Giovanni” closes at Broadhurst Theater NYC after 76 performances
1973 – Carl XVI Gustaf ascends the throne, becoming King of Sweden (1973-present)
1975 – 1st College Football Holy War: Notre Dame beats Boston College 17-3 in Foxborough
1996 – Bangladesh beat UAE by 104 runs to win the ACC Trophy Final
2013 – 27 people are killed after a coal mine collapses in Afghanistan

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Famous Birthdays

1685 – Gottfried Kirchhoff, German organist and composer, chiefly of sacred music, born in Mühlbeck, Electorate of Saxony, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1746)
1816 – Edward Wolff, Polish pianist and composer, born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 1880)
1889 – Robert Benchley, American humorist (My 10 Years in a Quandary), born in Worcester, Massachusetts (d. 1945)
1907 – Jack Bailey, American TV host (Queen for a Day), born in Hampton, Iowa (d. 1980)
1914 – Creighton Abrams, American general (commander of American forces in the Vietnam War, 1968-72), born in Springfield, Massachusetts (d. 1974)

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Famous Deaths

1932 – Charles H. Gabriel, American gospel composer, dies at 76
1972 – Ulvi Cemal Erkin, Turkish pianist, composer – one of “The Turkish Five” (Köçekçe – Dance Rhapsody for Orchestra), and pedagogue, dies from a stroke at 66
2006 – Raymond Baxter, British television presenter (b. 1922)
2023 – Burhan Sargun, Turkish soccer forward (8 caps, 7 goals; Fenerbahçe SK), dies at 94
2024 – Gheorghe Mulțescu, Romanian soccer midfielder (16 caps; Jiul Petroșani 239 games) and manager (Dinamo București, Samsunspor), dies at 72

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