Author: gil7

Historical Events

1796 – Spain and France sign anti-British alliance
1839 – Louis Daguerre’s daguerreotype photographic process with complete working instructions is published “free to the world” in Paris as a gift to the world from the French government
1913 – Frenchman Adolphe Célestin Pégoud makes 1st parachute jump in Europe
1936 – Trial against Ljev Kamenev and Grigori Zinovjev because of “Trotskyism” opens in Moscow
1965 – The Yardbirds launch their first US tour
1970 – The Chinese Community in South Africa is granted ‘White’ status

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1875 – Stjepan Seljan, Croatian explorer (Ethiopia, South America), born in Karlovac, Croatia (d. 1936)
1916 – Marie Wilson, American actress (The Story of Mankind, My Friend Irma), born in Anaheim, California (d. 1972)
1944 – Eddy Raven [Futch], American country singer (“Right Hand Man”), born in Lafayette, Louisiana
1946 – Charles F. Bolden Jr, American astronaut (STS 61C, 31, 45, 60), born in Columbia, South Carolina
1947 – Dave Dutton, English actor (Coronation Street), born in Atherton, England
1967 – Tabitha Soren, American MTV reporter (This Week in Rock), born in San Antonio, Texas

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1954 – Alcide de Gasperi, 30th Prime Minister of Italy (1945-53), dies at 73
1975 – Ima Hogg, American society leader, Texas arts patron, and founder of Houston Symphony, dies at 93
1991 – Richard Maltby Sr., American musician and orchestra leader (“(Themes from) The Man with the Golden Arm”; Vaughn Monroe Show), dies at 77
1992 – Norvel Lee, American boxer (Olympic gold 1952), dies at 67
1994 – Linus Pauling, American chemist, engineer and peace activist (1954 Nobel prize for Chemistry, 1962 Nobel Peace Prize), dies at 93
1995 – Danny Arnold, British TV producer, dies at 70

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1943 – Otto Skorzeny’s Heinkel-111 shot down at Sardinia
1944 – Chartres freed by US 3rd Army forces during WWII led by General George S. Patton
1983 – Hurricane Alicia battered Houston and Galveston, Texas
1989 – Leading presidential hopeful Luis Carlos Galán is assassinated near Bogotá in Colombia.
2016 – Jamaica’s Usain Bolt wins the gold medal in the men’s 200m for the 3rd successive Summer Olympics, recording a time of 19.78 in Rio de Janeiro
2020 – Mali’s President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta resigns amid a military coup condemned by the UN Security Council

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1745 – Vaclav Josef Bartolomej Praupner, Bohemian composer, born in Litoměřice (d. 1807)
1805 – Josef Danhauser, Austrian painter (Mutterliebe), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1845)
1930 – Gene Bartow, American College Basketball Hall of Fame coach (US National Team 1974; Valparaiso, Memphis State, Illinois, UCLA), born in Browning, Missouri (d. 2012)
1958 – Reginald “Reg” E. Cathey, American actor (The Wire, Oz, House of Cards), born in Huntsville, Alabama (d. 2018)
1970 – Robert Higginson, American baseball outfielder (Detroit Tigers), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1981 – Jon Schneck, American rock guitarist (Relient K, 2005-present), born in Eustis, Florida

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1276 – Adrian V [Ottobono Fieschi], Italian Pope (7/11-8/18/1276), dies
1994 – Judy Ann Scott-Fox, literary agent, dies at 56
2001 – David Peakall, British scientist (b. 1931)
2018 – Kofi Annan, Ghanaian diplomat and 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations (1997-2006), dies at 80
2018 – Peter Tapsell, British Conservative Party politician (Member of Parliament, 1959-64 and 1966-2015), dies at 88
2020 – Glenn Bassett, American tennis coach (UCLA 1967-93; 7 x NCAA C’ships), dies at 93

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

682 – Leo II begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1858 – 1st bank in Hawaii opens
1959 – 7.1 quake strikes Yellowstone National Park
1988 – US Republicans nominate George H. W. Bush for President
2008 – Jamaica dominates the 100m at the Beijing Olympics with Shelly-Ann Fraser taking the gold medal in 10.78; her teammates Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart dead-heat for silver in 10.98
2015 – Bomb blast in Bangkok at Erawan Shrine kills at least 19, injures over 100

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1913 – Rudy York, American baseball player (Detroit Tigers), born in Ragland, Alabama (d. 1970)
1932 – V. S. Naipaul, Trinidadian-British writer (In a Free State, Middle Passage), born in Chaguanas, Trinidad and Tobago (d. 2018)
1938 – Abu Bakar Bashir, Indonesian Muslim cleric, born in Jombang, Dutch East Indies
1947 – Francine Hughes Wilson, American domestic abuse victim “The Burning Bed” who changed pubic perceptions, born in Stockbridge, Michigan (d. 2017)
1984 – Dee Brown, American basketball player (2005 Sporting News National Player of the Year), born in Jackson, Mississippi
2003 – The Kid Laroi [Charlton Howard], Australian singer-songwriter (Without You), born in Waterloo, Australia

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1153 – Eustace IV of Boulogne, son of Stephen of England (b. 1130)
1838 – Lorenzo Da Ponte [Emanuele Conegliano], Italian-American librettist (Don Giovanni; Cosi Fan Tutti), poet, and libertine priest, dies at 89
1976 – Murvyn Vye [Marvin], American actor (Road to Bali, Bob Cummings Show), dies of natural causes at 63
2004 – Gérard Souzay, French baritone, dies at 85
2007 – Bill Deedes, British journalist and politician (b. 1913)
2023 – Gary Young, American rock drummer (Pavement), dies at 70

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1864 – Federal assault on 4th day of battle at Deep Bottom Run, Virginia
1890 – Alexander Clark, journalist and lawyer, named minister to Liberia
1921 – Members of the Dail (parliament) swear allegiance to the Irish Republic at their first meeting, held at Dublin House
1993 – The Debian distribution first announced by Ian Murdock, a student at Purdue University (Murdock initially called his system the “Debian Linux Release”)
2017 – Philippine police kill 32 in raids near Manilia, most deadly night in President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs
2023 – The Northwest Territories in Canada declare a state of emergency due to wildfires and order an evacuation of the city of Yellowknife, affecting 22,000 people

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1860 – Lord Hawke [Martin Hawke], English cricket batsman (5 Tests; Yorkshire CCC, Cambridge Uni CC, MCC), born in Willingham by Stow, England (d. 1938)
1862 – Amos Alonzo Stagg, American athlete and American football pioneer, born in West Orange, New Jersey (d. 1965)
1937 – David Behrman, American composer (On The Other Ocean), born in Salzburg, Austria
1946 – Lesley Ann Warren, American actress (Cinderella, Mission Impossible), born in New York City
1952 – Mahes Goonatillake, cricketer (Sri Lankan keeper in their 1st 5 Tests)
1985 – Agnes Bruckner, American actress, born in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1445 – Margaret of Scotland (Dauphine of France), wife of the future King Louis XI (b. 1424)
1938 – Andrej Hlinka, Slovak politician and Catholic priest, dies at 1938
1952 – Lydia Field Emmet, American painter (b. 1866)
1991 – Stuart Karl, CEO (Karl Home Video), dies at 38 of skin cancer
2015 – Jacob Bekenstein, American-Israeli theoretical physicist (Bekenstein-Hawking radiation), dies of a heart attack at 68
2017 – David Somerset, 11th Duke of Beaufort, British aristocrat, art dealer, and peer, dies at 89

More Famous Deaths »