Today in History for 14th March 2025

Historical Events

1794 – Eli Whitney patents the cotton gin, revolutionizing the cotton industry in the southern US states
1956 – 50-year-old baseball pitching star Satchel Paige signs a contract to play for and manage the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro National League
1966 – British film “Born Free” based on the book “Born Free” by Joy Adamson released starring Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers
1972 – Two IRA members shot dead by British soldiers in the Bogside area of Derry
1973 – Liam Cosgrave (52) appointed President of Ireland
2022 – PGA Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: Australian Cameron Smith wins $3.6m, biggest individual event purse in golf history; beats Anirban Lahiri of India by 1 stroke

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Famous Birthdays

1623 – Adam-Nicolas Gascon, Dutch-Walloon composer and kapellmeister (Saint Paul Collegiate Church, 1659-68), born in Liège, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1668)
1815 – Josephine Lang, German composer, born in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria (d. 1880)
1831 – Leon Leopold Lewandoski, Polish composer, born in Kalisz, Poland (d. 1896)
1920 – Hank Ketcham, American cartoonist (Dennis the Menace), born in Seattle, Washington (d. 2001)
1921 – Frank Ottersen, Norwegian jazz violinist and saxophonist (Ding, Dong, Dang), born in Oslo, Norway (d. 1971)
1989 – Colby O’Donis [Colón] American singer (Lady Gaga -“Just Dance”), songwriter, and record producer, born in Queens, New York

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Famous Deaths

1490 – Charles I, Duke of Savoy (1482-90), dies at 21
1903 – Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch, Dutch landscape painter, dies at 88
1933 – Balto, Siberian husky dog who led the sled team delivering diphtheria antitoxin from to Nenana, Alaska to Nome, Alaska in 1925, dies at 14
1961 – Akiba Rubinstein, Polish chess player (openings theorist), dies at 80
2003 – Jean-Luc Lagardère, French publisher (b. 1928)
2007 – Lucie Aubrac, French history teacher and member of the French Resistance (b. 1912)

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Famous Deaths for 13th March 2025

1839 – Robert Gallenberg, Austrian composer, dies at 55
1903 – Nicolas Beets [Hildebrand], Dutch writer (Camera Obscura) and theologian, dies at 88
1955 – Tribhuwan Bir Bikram Shah, King of Nepal (1911-55), dies under mysterious circumstances at 48
1965 – Vittorio Jano, Italian automobile designer, dies at 73
1975 – Ivo Andric, Yugoslavian novelist (Bridge on Drina, Nobel 1961), dies at 82
1987 – Bernhard Grzimek, German zoologist (West Germany), dies at 77
1996 – Krzysztof Kieślowski, Polish film director (The Double Life of Veronique), dies of a heart attack at 54
2006 – Peter Tomarken, American game show host (Press Your Luck) (b. 1942)
2012 – Jock Hobbs, New Zealand rugby union flanker and captain (21 Tests; Canterbury RU; Chairman NZRFU 2002-10), dies from leukemia at 52
2024 – Dan Wakefield, American novelist (Going All The Way; New York In The Fifties), journalist (The Atlantic, 1968-81), and screenwriter, dies at 91

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Historical Events for 13th March 2025

1634 – First meeting of what would become the Academie Francaise in Paris at the house of Valentin Conrart
1925 – NHL Championship: Montreal Canadiens sweep Toronto Arenas in 2 games
1945 – Nazi Sicherheitsdienst arrests Dutch resistance fighter Henry Werkman
1965 – British guitarist Eric Clapton quits the Yardbirds due to the band moving away from traditional blues; Jeff Beck becomes his replacement
1972 – 7th Academy of Country Music Awards: Freddie Hart and Loretta Lynn win
1983 – Peter Stone’s musical “Woman of the Year” closes at Palace Theater, NYC, after 770 performances
1984 – Last day of 1st-class cricket for G Chappell, R Marsh, B Laird
1992 – Martina Navratilova and Judy Nelson settle their galamony suit
1995 – Istanbul police shoot dead 16 Alawitische demonstrators
2018 – National Geographic magazine admits its past coverage was racist in issue to mark 50 years since death of Martin Luther King Jr.

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Today in History for 13th March 2025

Historical Events

1875 – English FA Cup Final, Kennington Oval, London: Royal Engineers and Old Etonians draw 1-1; replay won by Engineers, 2-0
1938 – In a process known as Anschluss, Austria is annexed into Nazi Germany
1986 – Microsoft has its Initial public offering.
1992 – An earthquake registering 6.8 on the Richter scale kills over 500 in Erzincan, eastern Turkey.
2005 – 52nd ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament: #3 Duke beats Georgia Tech, 69-64
2019 – Home of civil rights activists Medgar and Myrlie Evers established as a national monument in Jackson, Mississippi, by President Donald Trump

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Famous Birthdays

1955 – John Hackett, British rock, classical, and new age flautist, born in Pimlico, London, England
1959 – Ronnie Rogers, British guitarist (T’Pau-Heart and Soul), born in Shrewsbury, England
1963 – Vance Johnson, American NFL wide receiver (Denver Broncos), born in Trenton, New Jersey
1970 – Tim Story, American film director and producer (The Story Company), born in Los Angeles, California
1972 – Trent Dilfer, American football quarterback (Super Bowl XXXV Baltimore Ravens; Pro Bowl 1997 TB Bucs), born in Santa Cruz, California
1979 – Cedric Van Branteghem, Belgian athlete, born in Ghent, Belgium

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Famous Deaths

1925 – Lucille Ricksen [Ingeborg Ericksen], American silent-film actress, dies of tuberculosis 14
1941 – Elizabeth Madox Roberts, American poet and novelist (The Time of Man), dies at 54
1946 – Abraham Bredius, Dutch art historian (Rembrandt), dies at 90
1992 – Clarence Wright, English actor and singer, dies at 84
1994 – Joop Swart, Dutch journalist, photographer, and publisher (founder of World Press Photo), dies at 69
2001 – John A. Alonzo, American cinematographer (pioneered handheld work, lighting techniques and HD video development), dies at 66

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Famous Deaths for 12th March 2025

1608 – Koriki Kiyonaga, Japanese warlord (b. 1530)
1868 – Ernest Doudart de Lagrée, French naval officer and entomologist (led the Mekong River expedition 1866-68), dies during the Mekong Expedition at 44
1944 – Artur Gavazzi, Croatian geographer, dies at 82
1955 – Theodor Plievier, German writer (Des Kaisers Kulis [The Kaiser’s Coolies]; Stalingrad), dies at 63
1958 – Princess Ingeborg of Sweden, wife of Prince Carl, Duke of Västergötland, dies at 79
1989 – Maurice Evans, British actor (Planet of the Apes; Bewitched), dies at 87
1992 – Salvatore “Salvo” Lima, Italian politician (Mayor of Palermo, 1958-63 and 65-66; Member of European Parliament, 1979-92) assassinated by the Mafia at 64
1993 – Michael Kanin, American director, writer and actor (Woman of the Year, Teacher’s Pet), dies at 83
2010 – Lesley Duncan (Cox), British session singer (Pink Floyd; Jesus Christ Superstar), and singer-songwriter (“Love Song”; “Sing Children Sing”), dies of cerebrovascular disease at 66
2011 – Joe Morello, American jazz drummer (Dave Brubeck Quartet – “Blue Rondo à la Turk”), dies at 82

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Historical Events for 12th March 2025

1849 – 1st gold seekers arrive in Nicaragua en route to California
1903 – New York Highlanders (Yankees) baseball franchise is approved as a member of the American League
1926 – Pope Pius XI names J E van Roey archbishop of Malines Belgium
1951 – Comic strip “Dennis the Menace,” 1st appears in the British comic magazine The Beano’
1989 – 36th ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament: #9 North Carolina beats #7 Duke, 77-74
1993 – 317 killed by bomb attacks in Bombay
2000 – 41st SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament: Arkansas beats Auburn, 75-67
2018 – Plane crash of Bangladeshi carrier at Kathmandu airport kills at least 49 after plane approaches runway from wrong end
2022 – Saudi Arabia executes 81 convicted criminals, the country’s largest known mass execution in modern times
2023 – Cyclone Freddy makes landfall for a second time in central Mozambique, Madagascar and Malawi, killing about 200 people and setting records as the longest-lasting cyclone in the southern hemisphere (formed Feb 6)

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Today in History for 12th March 2025

Historical Events

1976 – South African troops leave Angola
1981 – Stephen Sondheim’s musical revue “Marry Me a Little” premieres in NYC
1985 – Larry Bird scores Boston Celtic record 60 points
1987 – David Robinson scores 50 points in a NCAA basketball game
1995 – 36th SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament: Kentucky beats Arkansas, 95-93 (OT)
2012 – “The Hunger Games” directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Jennifer Lawrence premieres in Los Angeles

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Famous Birthdays

1647 – Victor-Maurice, comte de Broglie, French general (d. 1727)
1911 – Gustavo Diaz Ordaz, Mexican politician (President of Mexico 1964-70), born in San Andrés Chalchicomula, Mexico (d. 1979)
1922 – Jack Kerouac, American novelist and poet of the Beat Generation (On the Road, Mexico Blues), born in Lowell, Massachusetts (d. 1969)
1929 – Francisco Pulgar Vidal, Peruvian musicologist and composer, born in Huánuco, Peru (d. 2012)
1948 – Dana Walden, American RandB keyboardist (Champaign – “How ‘Bout Us”), born in Champaign, Illinois
1952 – Naomi Shihab Nye, Arab-American poet (Yellow Glove; Red Suitcase), novelist (Habibi), and songwriter, born in St. Louis, Missouri

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Famous Deaths

1608 – Koriki Kiyonaga, Japanese warlord (b. 1530)
1721 – Jan Luyts, Dutch physicist and mathematician, dies at 65
1989 – Maurice Evans, British actor (Planet of the Apes; Bewitched), dies at 87
1992 – Barbara Morrison, British actress (Project Moonbase; From Here To Eternity), dies of heart failure at 84
1992 – Salvatore “Salvo” Lima, Italian politician (Mayor of Palermo, 1958-63 and 65-66; Member of European Parliament, 1979-92) assassinated by the Mafia at 64
1992 – Ida Oosterbaan, Dutch founder (Women Action Committee), dies

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Famous Deaths for 9th March 2025

1440 – St Frances of Rome, Italian nun (b. 1384)
1649 – James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton, Scottish statesman, dies at 42
1706 – Johann Pachelbel, German composer and organist (Canon in D), dies at 52
1800 – Dominique Della-Maria, French composer, dies at 30
1825 – Anna Laetitia Barbauld, English poet and writer of hymns (Life! I Know Not What Thou Art), dies at 81
1870 – Theodore Labarre, French composer and harpist, dies at 65
1974 – Earl Wilbur Sutherland Jr, American pharmacologist (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1971 for discovering mechanisms of the action of hormones), dies at 58
1983 – Faye Emerson, American actress (I’ve Got a Secret), dies of cancer at 65
2004 – Rust Epique, former Crazy Town guitarist (b. 1968)
2015 – James Molyneaux [Baron Molyneaux of Killead], MP (Ulster unionist), dies at 94

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Historical Events for 9th March 2025

1276 – Augsburg becomes an Imperial Free City
1822 – Charles Graham of NY granted first US patent for artificial teeth
1839 – Prussian government limits work week for children to 51 hours
1841 – US Supreme Court rules the kidnapped slaves from the Spanish schooner the Amistad are free
1923 – Amsterdam taxi strike ends
1926 – Bertha Landes elected 1st woman mayor of Seattle and 1st female mayor of any major US city
1945 – 334 US B-29 Superfortresses attack Tokyo with 120,000 fire bombs
1948 – Provisionary Indonesian government installed in Batavia
1962 – Egyptian President Nasser declares Gaza belongs to Palestinians
1987 – Chrysler Corp offers to buy American Motors Corp for $1 billion

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Today in History for 8th March 2025

Historical Events

1865 – Battle of Kingston, North Carolina (Wilcox’s ridge, Wise’s Forks)
1904 – Australian cricket spin bowler Hugh Trumble dismisses England batsmen Bernard Bosanquet, Plum Warner and Dick Lilley for his second Test hat-trick in 5th Test victory in Melbourne; Trumble’s final Test
1936 – The first stock car race is held in Daytona Beach, Florida.
1942 – Japanese forces capture Rangoon, Burma
1953 – Census indicates 239,000 farmers gave up farming in last 2 years in US
1987 – Nelli Cooman becomes world champion 60m indoor

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Famous Birthdays

1783 – Gottfied Wilhelm Fink, German Protestant clergyman, composer, music theorist, and poet, born in Sulza, Duchy of Saxe-Eisenach, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1846)
1945 – Bruce Broughton, American Emmy Award-winning television and film score composer (Hawaii Five-0; Dallas), born in Los Angeles, California
1954 – Karl Schnabl, 90m ski jumper (Olympic gold 1976)
1974 – Toran James, linebacker (San Diego Chargers)
1979 – Tom Chaplin, British rock singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist (Keane), born in Hastings, East Sussex, England
1991 – Devon Werkheiser, American actor

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Famous Deaths

1757 – Thomas Blackwell, Scottish classical scholar, dies at 55
1901 – Peter Benoit, Flemish composer (De Leie; Rubens Cantata: Requiem), and conductor, dies at 66
1973 – Gordon Leggat, New Zealand cricket batsman (9 Tests, 2 x 50; Canterbury), dies at 46
2008 – Carol Barnes, British television news journalist (ITN; ITV), dies a few days after suffering a stroke at 63
2020 – Max Von Sydow, Swedish actor (Hawaii, Exorcist, Dune, Game of Thrones), dies at 90
2021 – Julien-François Zbinden, Swiss jazz pianist, and jazz and classical composer (Monophrases), dies at 103

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