1844 – Christian Gobrecht, 4th US chief engraver (1840-44), dies in office
1932 – Frank Rankin, Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame rover (Toronto Eatons, Toronto St. Michael’s Majors) and coach (Toronto Granites-Canada Olympic gold 1924), dies at 41
1976 – Martin Wickramasinghe, Sri Lankan author (Gamperaliya – The Uprooted/Changing Village), dies at 85
1977 – René de Vos, Dutch actor and composer (Jij Bent Mijn Leven), dies at 79
1980 – Keith Godchaux, American pianist, and singer (Grateful Dead, 1971-79 – “Let Me Sing Your Blues Away”), dies in a car accident at 32
1985 – Mickey Shaughnessy, American actor and comedian (Chicago Teddy Bears, Jailhouse Rock, The Boatniks), dies at 64
2004 – Serge Reggiani, Italian-French actor (Paris Blues), chanson singer (“Les loups sont entrés dans Paris”; “Sarah”), and painter, dies of a heart attack at 82
2016 – Thorbjorn Falldin, Swedish politician, Prime Minister (1976-78, 79-82) and sheep farmer, dies at 90
2018 – Mai Skaf, Syrian activist and actress (Echoes of Slides, The Last Days of Al Yamama), dies at 49
2020 – Benjamin Mkapa, Tanzanian politician, President of Tanzania (1995-2005), dies at 81
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 23rd July 2026
1794 – Alexandre de Beauharnais, the first husband of Joséphine de Beauharnais, is executed for treason during the Reign of Terror
1877 – First telephone and telegraph line in Hawaii is completed
1925 – NY Yankee Lou Gehrig hits his first of 23 career grand slams
1934 – Australian cricket batting legend Don Bradman completes 304 in drawn 4th Test vs England at Leeds; 430 minutes, 43 x fours, 2 x sixes
1948 – Progressive party convention nominates Henry Wallace for US President
1958 – First four women named to peerage in House of Lords (UK)
1969 – 40th MLB All-Star Game, RFK Memorial Stadium, Washington, D.C.: NL defeats AL, 9-3; MVP: Willie McCovey, SF Giants, 1B
1975 – LA Dodgers W. Crawford and Lee Lacy are 5th to hit consecutive pinch HRs
Today in History for 23rd July 2026
Historical Events
1955 – NY Yankees Bob Cerv and E Howard are first to hit consecutive pinch home runs
1968 – PLO’s first hijacking of an El Al plane
1994 – Don Mattingly becomes the sixth New York Yankee to get 2,000 hits
1995 – Tour de France: Miguel Induráin of Spain wins fifth consecutive Tour, 4 minutes and 35 seconds ahead of Alex Zülle; Laurent Jalabert points winner
1999 – Crown Prince Mohammed Ben Al-Hassan is crowned King Mohammed VI of Morocco on the death of his father
Famous Birthdays
1886 – Arthur Whitten Brown, British aviator (first nonstop airplane crossing of the Atlantic with John W. Alcock), born in Glasgow, Scotland (d. 1948)
1898 – Jacob Marschak, Ukrainian-American economist (econometrics), born in Kiev, Russia (d. 1977)
1925 – Pierre Baugniet, Belgian pairs ice skater (Olympic gold 1948), born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1981)
1958 – Ken Green, American golfer (5 PGA Tour titles), born in Danburry, Connecticut
1961 – André Ducharme, Canadian (Québécois) humorist (Rock et Belles Oreilles) and author, born in Montreal, Quebec
Famous Deaths
1859 – Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, French poet (Bouquets et prières), dies at 73
1980 – Keith Godchaux, American pianist, and singer (Grateful Dead, 1971-79 – “Let Me Sing Your Blues Away”), dies in a car accident at 32
1995 – Bob Rundick, American poet and DJ, dies at 52
1998 – Vladimir Dudintsev, Ukrainian Soviet writer (Not by Bread Alone), dies at 79
2006 – Jean-Paul Desbiens, Quebec writer and journalist, dies at 79
Famous Deaths for 22nd July 2026
1789 – Joseph-François Foulon, French politician, dies at 74
1852 – Auguste Marmont, French marshal, dies at 77
1908 – William Randal Cremer, British politician and pacifist (International Arbitration League, 1903 Nobel Peace Prize), dies at 80
1972 – Hugo Kauder, Austrian composer, dies at 84
1979 – Mikhail Soschtschenko, Soviet Russian writer (The Regained Youth; Before the Dawn), dies at 83
1995 – Percy Humphrey, American jazz trumpet player and bandleader in New Orleans, Louisiana, dies at 90
2001 – Indro Montanelli, Italian journalist and historian (History of the Greeks), dies at 92
2016 – Thomas Sutherland, American hostage (Lebanon) and academic, dies at 85
2023 – Hassan Amcharrat, Moroccan soccer forward (39 caps; Africa Cup of Nations gold 1976; SC Chabab Mohammédia, Raja Casablanca), dies at 75
2025 – Lawrence A. Bossidy, American businessman and chief executive of Allied Signal (1991-99), dies of a heart attack at 90
Historical Events for 22nd July 2026
1901 – Serbia reactivates diplomatic relations with Montenegro
1944 – Soviets set up Polish Committee of National Liberation
1958 – US performs atmospheric nuclear Test at Bikini Island
1962 – PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Aronimink GC: Gary Player of South Africa wins by 1 stroke from Bob Goalby
1969 – Spanish dictator Francisco Franco’s choice of Prince Juan Carlos as his successor is ratified by the Spanish Parliament
1992 – Soyuz TM-15 launches
1997 – “One Piece,” world’s best-selling manga and comic series, written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, first appears serialized in “Weekly Shōnen Jump” in Japan
2003 – Members of US 101st Airborne, aided by Special Forces, attack a compound in Mosul, Iraq, killing Uday Hussein and Qusay Hussein, sons of Saddam Hussein, along with Mustapha Hussein, Qusay’s 14-year old son, and a bodyguard
Today in History for 22nd July 2026
Historical Events
1443 – Battle of St. Jakob an der Sihl: Army of the Old Swiss Confederacy defeats an allied force of Zurich and Habsburg troops at the gates of Zurich; without means to lay siege to the city, they withdraw
1951 – General Francisco Craveiro Lopes appointed President of Portugal
1955 – Richard Nixon becomes the first US Vice President to preside over a cabinet meeting
1972 – 2 Catholics are abducted, beaten, and shot dead in a Loyalist area of Belfast
2024 – Mudslides from heavy rains kills at least 229 people in Kencho Shacha Gozdi district, southern Ethiopia
Famous Birthdays
1535 – Katarina Stenbock, Swedish third wife of Gustav I of Sweden, born in Torpa Castle, Sweden (d. 1621)
1831 – Kōmei [Osahito], 121st Emperor of Japan (1846-67) during the final years of the Edo period, born in Kyōto, Japan (d. 1867)
1848 – Adolf Friedrich V, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, born in Neustrelitz, Duchy of Mecklenburg-Strelitz(d. 1914)
1977 – Gustavo Nery, Brazilian footballer, 1995-2012 (Santos, São Paulo, Corinthians) , born in Nova Friburgo, Brazil
1992 – Selena Gomez, American actress (Wizards of Waverly Place; Hotel Transylvania), and singer (“Wolves”; “Lose You To Love Me”), born in Grand Prairie, Texas
Famous Deaths
1387 – French Ackerman, Ghent rebel/leader of Reisers, murdered at about 57
1869 – John Roebling, German-American civil engineer (Brooklyn Bridge), dies of tetanus as the result of an accident at 63
1996 – Robert Collins, keyboard player, dies at 33
2003 – Uday Hussein, Iraqi politician, administrator, murderer, and eldest son of Saddam Hussein, killed by US military during Iraq War at 39
2004 – (Jean-Baptiste) Illinois Jacquet, American jazz saxophonist (“Flying Home”), dies of a heart attack at 81
Famous Deaths for 21st July 2026
1891 – Franco Faccio, Italian composer and conductor, dies at 51
1928 – Ellen Alice Terry, British Shakespearean actress and director (Imperial Theatre), dies at 81
1952 – Silvio Cator, Haitian athlete and long jumper (Olympic silver 1928), dies at 51
1957 – Bernard Spooner, American businessman, head of the Spooner Armor Company (armored vests manufacturer), dies at 67
1962 – G. M. Trevelyan [George Macaulay Trevelyan], British historian and academic, dies at 86
1968 – Ruth St. Denis, American modern dance pioneer and teacher (Dances of the 5 Senses), dies at 91
1973 – Russell Hardie, American actor (Sequoia, In Old Kentucky), dies after long illness at 69
1990 – Sacha Piteoff, Swiss-French actor and stage director, dies of heart failure at 70
2015 – Theodore Bikel, Austrian-American stage and screen singer and actor (The Sound of Music; Fiddler On The Roof; The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming; 200 Motels), folk singer (co-founder Newport Folk Festival), and political activist, dies at 91
2022 – Uwe Seeler, German soccer striker (72 caps West Germany; Hamburger SV 476 games, 404 goals), dies at 85
Historical Events for 21st July 2026
1930 – US Veterans Administration forms
1948 – WSPD TV channel 13 in Toledo, OH (NBC) begins broadcasting
1972 – In New York 57 murders occur in 24 hours
1980 – Jean-Claude Droyer climbs Eiffel Tower in 2 hrs 18 mins
1983 – World’s lowest-ever natural temperature is recorded: -89.2°C (-128.6°F; 184.0 K) at the Soviet Vostok Station in Antarctica, surpassing record at same location set in 1960
1995 – Brian Lara completes a pair for West Indians vs. Kent
1995 – KC Royals set club record of 22 singles in 15 innings
2024 – Copa America: Argentina defeats Columba 1-0 to win record 16th title in a delayed match in Miami
Today in History for 21st July 2026
Historical Events
1960 – Sirimavo Bandaranaike becomes the world’s first female elected head of government, as Prime Minister of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka)
1972 – Bloody Friday: within the space of 75 minutes, the Provisional Irish Republican Army explode twenty-two bombs in Belfast; six civilians, two British Army soldiers and one UDA volunteer were killed, 130 injured
1976 – 9th San Diego Comic-Con International opens at El Cortez Hotel
1976 – Christopher Ewart-Biggs, British Ambassador to the Republic of Ireland, and his secretary Judith Cook are assassinated by a bomb planted by the Provisional IRA in his car in Dublin
1977 – Sanjiva Reddy is elected sixth President of India unopposed
Famous Birthdays
1895 – H G “Nummy” Deane, South African cricket batsman (17 Tests [12 as captain], 3 x 50; Natal, Transvaal), born in Eshowe, South Africa (d. 1939)
1926 – Queenie Watts [Mary Spenton], British singer and actress (Up the Junction, Holiday on the Buses), born in London, England (d. 1980)
1935 – Julian Pettifer, English TV journalist, born in Malmesbury, Wiltshire
1947 – Jimmy Duncan, American politician (Rep-R-Tennessee 1988-2019), born in Lebanon, Tennessee
1963 – Giant Silva [Paulo Silva], Brazilian mixed martial artist and 7ft 2in professional wrestler, born in São Paulo, Brazil
Famous Deaths
1880 – Hiram Walden, American politician, dies at 79
1979 – Ludwig Renn, German writer, dies at 90
1986 – Virginia Hewitt, American actress (Carol-Space Patrol), dies of cancer at 60
1995 – Edwin “Russell” House, American saxophonist, dies at 65
2010 – Luis Corvalán, Chilean communist leader (b. 1916)
Famous Deaths for 20th July 2026
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