762 – City of Baghdad founded by Abbasid Caliph Al-Mansur, just north of ancient Baghdad
1864 – Battle of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania: Confederate forces under McCausland burn the town of Chambersburg
1905 – Dutch Covenant of Worker’s Union, NVV, forms
1937 – Soviet Politburo issues NKVD Order No. 00447 during the Great Purge to repress property-owning kulaks and anti-Soviets; 269,100 are arrested, with 76,000 executed
1978 – Expos crush Braves 19-0, collecting 28 hits and tying the National League record with eight home runs
1991 – Red Sox player Carlos Quintana becomes the 11th player to achieve six RBIs in an inning (3rd)
2013 – Wikileaks discloser Bradley (later Chelsea) Manning is convicted of 17 espionage charges
2020 – Former president Barack Obama gives the eulogy at the funeral of Georgia congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis; former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton also speak at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta
Author: gil7
Today in History for 30th July 2025
Historical Events
1988 – Jordanian King Hussein renounces sovereignty over West Bank to the PLO hours after dissolving Jordan’s House of Representatives
1991 – Red Sox player Carlos Quintana becomes the 11th player to achieve six RBIs in an inning (3rd)
1992 – Yael Arad becomes Israel’s first Olympic medalist when she wins silver in the women’s 61 kg judo in Barcelona; 20th anniversary of the Munich massacre and 500th anniversary of the Alhambra Decree
2000 – British Senior Open Men’s Golf, Royal County Down: Irishman Christy O’Connor Jr. successfully defends his title by 2 shots from John Bland of South Africa
2017 – Russian President Vladimir Putin announces American diplomats in Russia cut by 755 in response to American sanctions
Famous Birthdays
1859 – Henry Louis Smith, American physicist who made the first X-ray photograph, born in Greensboro, North Carolina (d. 1951)
1916 – Robert van Spaendonck, Dutch resistance fighter, born in Tilburg, Netherlands (d. 1944)
1927 – Victor Wong [Yee Keung Victor Wong], American actor (Big Trouble in Little China), born in San Francisco, California (d. 2001)
1936 – (George) “Buddy” Guy, American blues guitarist (Stone Crazy), born in Lettsworth, Louisiana
1947 – William Atherton, American actor (Real Genius, Ghostbusters, Class of 44), born in Orange, Connecticut
Famous Deaths
578 – Jacob Baradaeus, Bishop of Edessa and saint, established Syriac Orthodox Church, dies of an illness at 77 or 78
1985 – Peter Knight, English musical arranger, conductor, and composer, dies at 68
2005 – John Garang, Sudanese vice-president and revolutionary, led the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, dies in a helicopter crash at 60
2008 – Anne Armstrong U.S. ambassador to Britain and first female counsel to the President, dies at 80
2022 – [Grace] Nichelle Nichols, American actress (Star Trek – “Lt. Uhura”) and singer (Down To Earth; “Fly Me To The Moon”), dies at 89
Famous Deaths for 29th July 2025
1573 – Ruy Gómez de Silva, Spanish prince of Eboli (advisor to Spanish King Philip II), dies at 56
1786 – Franz Asplmayr, Austrian composer and violinist, dies at 58
1936 – Frank Gavan Duffy, Australian barrister and judge (High Court of Australia, 1913-35, and Chief Justice of Australia, 1931-35), dies at 84
1964 – Vean Gregg, American baseball player, dies at 79
1970 – Jonel Perlea, Romanian opera conductor, dies at 69
1991 – Christian Castries, French general (Dien Bien Phu), dies at 88
1997 – Chuck Wayne [Jagelka], America session and bebop jazz guitarist (Woody Herman’s First Herd; George Shearing Quintet; Gil Evans; Tony Bennett), dies of emphysema at 74
2007 – Jim David, American NFL defensive back (Pro Bowl 1954-59; NFL Champion 1952-53, 57; Detroit Lions), dies at 79
2010 – Roy Caton, American trumpet player and session musician, dies at 83
2024 – Robert Banas, American choreographer (The Judy Garland Show; Jonathan Winters Show), dies of pneumonia at 90
Historical Events for 29th July 2025
1221 – Emperor Go-Horikawa, aged only 10 years old, ascends to the Chrysanthemum Throne of Japan
1566 – Great Britain executes Agnes Waterhouse, the first British woman convicted of witchcraft in Chelmsford, England
1923 – Albert Einstein speaks about pacifism in Berlin
1940 – SV Urk Dutch soccer team forms
1973 – Led Zeppelin has more than $200,000 in cash stolen from a safe deposit box at the New York Hilton hotel
1990 – South Africa Communist Party begins first legal conference
1994 – Jesse Timmendequas rapes and murders Megan Kanka, 7, resulting in Megan’s Law
2018 – Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party claims to have won all 125 seats in the country’s general election amid widespread criticism of a sham vote
Today in History for 29th July 2025
Historical Events
1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Macon, Georgia (Stoneman’s Raid)
1913 – Independence of the Principality of Albania recognized by the Conference of London
1961 – Bob Dylan is not seriously injured in car accident in New York City
1989 – Philadelphia Phillies retire #32 in honor of pitcher Steve Carlton
2021 – Following Simone Biles’ withdrawal, teammate Sunisa Lee becomes first Hmong-American Olympic champion in any sport, winning women’s artistic individual all-around gymnastics gold in Tokyo
Famous Birthdays
1870 – George Dixon, Canadian boxer (World Bantamweight title, 1892; World Featherweight champion, 1891-97 and 1898-1901; 1st Black athlete to win a World C’ship in any sport), born in Halifax, Nova Scotia (d. 1908)
1938 – Don Wert, American baseball third baseman (MLB All Star and World Series 1968 Detroit Tigers), born in Strasburg, Pennsylvania (d. 2024)
1956 – Ronnie Musgrove, American politician (Governor of Mississippi 2000-04), born in Tocowa, Mississippi
1971 – Monica Calhoun, American actress (The Best Man), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1990 – Shin Se-kyung, South Korean actress (Deep Rooted Tree), born in Yangcheon, South Korea
Famous Deaths
1886 – Solomon Gazfried, Ukrainian rabbi and author (Kitzur Shulchan Aruch), dies (b. 1804)
1900 – Umberto I of Italy, King of Italy (1878-1900), shot four times and assassinated by Italian-American anarchist Gaetano Bresci at 56
1976 – Mickey Cohen, American gangster (Cohen crime family), dies at 62
1982 – Cor Kieboom, Dutch president of Feyenoord football club, dies at 81
1996 – Aruna Asaf Ali, Indian independence activist and politician (first Mayor of Delhi), dies at 88
Famous Deaths for 28th July 2025
1641 – John Amner, English composer, dies at 61
1793 – Hayashi Shihei, Japanese military scholar, dies at 54
1847 – John Walter II, English newspaper owner (who made The Times into an important newspaper, 1812-47), dies at 71
1865 – William Henry Smith, English bookseller (W H Smith), dies at 73
1937 – Muslim Magomayev, Azerbaijani-Soviet composer, dies at 51
1982 – Nick Lucas [Dominic Lucanese], American jazz guitarist and singer (“Tiptoe Through the Tulips”; “Painting the Clouds With Sunshine”), dies of double pneumonia at 84
1999 – Trygve Haavelmo, Norwegian economist and 1989 Nobel laureate for his contributions to econometrics, dies at 87
2009 – Jim Johnson, American NFL Assistant Coach, Eagles Defensive Coordinator from 1999-2009 (b.1941)
2010 – Ivy Bean, English internet celebrity (b. 1905)
2014 – Jon Erikson, American swimmer 1st to triple cross English Channel in 1981, dies at 58
Historical Events for 28th July 2025
1893 – Vizcaya Bridge, the largest transporter bridge in the world designed by Basque architect Alberto de Palacio, opens over the River Ibaizabal
1904 – Rafael Reyes becomes dictator of Colombia after losing Panama
1942 – The Zionist partisans in Poland form the Żydowska Organizacja Bojowa (ZOB) or Jewish Fighting Organization
1980 – Peru adopts a constitution, and Fernando Belaúnde Terry becomes president
1984 – 23rd modern Olympic Games open in Los Angeles
1988 – Israeli diplomats arrive in Moscow for first visit in 21 years
1989 – NASA’s Lewis Research Center in Cleveland announces new high-temperature superconductors able to operate at 33 to 37 gigahertz
2008 – Historic Weston-super-Mare Grand Pier burns down for a second time in 80 years
Today in History for 28th July 2025
Historical Events
1849 – Memnon is the first clipper to reach San Francisco from New York during the Gold Rush, arriving after a voyage of 120 days
1864 – Second day of the Battle of Deep Bottom Run, Virginia
1898 – Spanish American War: U.S. Army occupies Ponce and declares victory in Puerto Rico over Spanish forces
1917 – Silent Parade organized by James Weldon Johnson, 10,000 African Americans march on Fifth Avenue in NYC to protest against lynching
2019 – Evian Championship Women’s Golf, Evian Resort GC: South Korean Ko Jin-young wins her second major title of the season by two strokes from Shanshan Feng, Jennifer Kupcho and Kim Hyo-joo
Famous Birthdays
1165 – Ibn al-‘Arabi, Muslim mystic and philosopher (The Meccan Revelations), born in Murcia, Spain (d. 1240)
1930 – David “Junior” Kimbrough, American bluesman, born in Hudsonville, Mississippi (d. 1998)
1939 – Barry Ashbee, Canadian NHL ice hockey defenseman, 1965, 1969-74 (Stanley Cup – Philadelphia Flyers), and coach, 1974-77 (Flyers), born in Weston. Ontario
1974 – Hannah Waddingham, British actress (Ted Lasso; Game of Thrones, 2015-16), and musical theater singer, born in London, England
1990 – Soulja Boy [DeAndre Cortez Way], American rapper (Crank That (Soulja Boy)), born in Chicago, Illinois
Famous Deaths
1837 – John Ross, British composer and organist, dies at 73
1863 – James Deshler, American Confederate general, dies after ammunition explodes at 30
1869 – Jan Evangelista Purkyně, Czech anatomist (b. 1787)
1965 – Minor Watson, American actor (Woman of the Year, Viva Cisco Kid), dies at 75
2015 – Clive Rice, South African cricket all-rounder (WSC 1978-79, ODI 1991; Nottinghamshire), dies from a brain tumour at 66
Famous Deaths for 27th July 2025
916 – Clemens van Ohrid, first bishop of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church and saint, dies
1965 – Henri Daniel-Rops, French writer and historian (b. 1901)
1990 – Salim Ali, Indian Ornithologist (Birdman of India), dies at 90
1994 – Kevin Carter, South African photojournalist and Pulitzer Prize winner (member of the Bang-Bang Club), commits suicide at 33
2001 – Harold Beeley, British diplomat to the Arab world, dies at 92
2003 – Vance Hartke, American politician (b. 1919)
2011 – Ágota Kristóf, Hungarian writer (The Notebook), dies at 75
2012 – R G Armstrong [Robert Golden], American actor (Predator, Dick Tracey, T.H.E. Cat), dies of natural causes at 95
2021 – Pete George, American weightlifter (Olympic gold middle-heavyweight 1952, silver 1948, 56), dies at 92
2022 – Mary Alice [Smith], American stage and screen actress (Fences – Tony Award, 1987; I’ll Fly Away – Emmy Award, 1993; A Different World – “Lettie”), dies at 85 or 80 [year of birth disputed]
Historical Events for 27th July 2025
1900 – German Kaiser Wilhelm II delivers his “Hun” speech at Bremerhaven, addressing German troops departing to suppress the Boxer Rebellion in China, later used as propaganda in World War I
1914 – Roda JC soccer team forms in Kerkrade
1954 – PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Keller GC: Chick Herbert scores a 4 and 3 win over defending champion Walter Burkemo in the Tuesday final
1955 – Israeli passenger plane shot down above Bulgaria, killing 58
1988 – Baseball star Tommy John commits a record three errors on one play as the Yankees rout the Brewers 16-3
1995 – 28th San Diego Comic-Con International opens at San Diego Convention Center
2015 – Fiat Chrysler fined record $105 million by US regulators over their number of car recalls
2017 – Reince Priebus resigns as Chief of Staff to US President Donald Trump after just over 6 months, making it the shortest non-interim tenure