1527 – First known letter sent from North America by John Rut while at St. John’s, Newfoundland
1914 – Germany invades Belgium and declares war on France, beginning World War I
1939 – Jean Genet’s play “Ondine” premieres in Paris
1959 – 27th All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 5-3 at Memorial Coliseum, LA
1963 – Warner Bros. Records releases single of Allan Sherman’s novelty song “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter from Camp)”, set to music of Amilcare Ponchielli’s “Dance of the Hours” from his 1876 opera “La Gioconda”
1987 – Detroit Tigers ace Jack Morris ties AL record with 5 wild pitches in a 4-2, 10 innings loss v Kansas City Royals
1997 – Oued El-Had and Mezouara massacre in Algeria; 40-76 villagers killed.
2004 – MESSENGER spacecraft launches from Cape Canaveral
2014 – Alex Puccio ascends Jade in Rocky Mountain National Park, becoming the fourth-ever woman to climb V14
2020 – Hurricane Isaias makes landfall in the US as a Category 1 hurricane near Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina
Author: gil7
Today in History for 3rd August 2024
Historical Events
1852 – America’s first intercollegiate sporting event takes place as the Harvard heavyweight rowing crew beats Yale by 2 lengths over 2 miles on Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire
1952 – Italian Ferrari driver Alberto Ascari clinches Formula 1 World Drivers Championship by winning German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring
1962 – 29th Chicago College All-Star Game: Green Bay 42, All-Stars 20, 65,000 at Soldier Field
2001 – The Real IRA detonate a car bomb in Ealing, London, injuring 7 people
2001 – US President George W. Bush signs into law the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) Extension Act of 2001
2004 – St. Louis 1st baseman Albert Pujols becomes first player in MLB history to hit at least 30 HRs in each of his first 4 seasons as Cardinals beat Montreal, 10-6
Famous Birthdays
1692 – John Henley, English clergyman, born in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, England (d. 1759)
1895 – Marguerite Nichols, American actress (An Old Man’s Folly), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 1941)
1924 – Max van der Stoel, Dutch politician and Minister of Foreign Affairs (PvdA), born in Voorschoten, Netherlands (d. 2011)
1972 – John Lilley, American hockey forward (Olympics 1994), born in Wakefield, Massachusetts
1973 – Stephen Graham, English actor (This is England, Boiling Point), born in Kirby, England
1977 – Tómas Lemarquis, Icelandic actor (Nói Albínói), born in Reykjavík, Iceland
Famous Deaths
1779 – Henry Kobell, Dutch painter and cartoonist, dies at 27
1877 – Karl Georg Lickl, Austrian pianist, physharmonica (type of harmonium) player, and composer, dies at 75
1916 – Roger Casement, Irish diplomat, ardent Irish nationalist (Easter uprising 1916) and poet, hanged after conviction for treason by the British at 51
1986 – Paul de Groot, Dutch communist politician (CPN) and editor (The Truth), dies at 87
1998 – Alfred Schnittke, Russian composer and musicologist, dies after a series strokes at 63
2005 – Françoise d’Eaubonne, French feminist (b. 1920)
Famous Deaths for 2nd August 2024
1769 – Daniel Finch, 8th Earl of Winchilsea, English politician, dies at 80
1869 – Alexandrine Tinne, Dutch explorer and photographer, murdered trying to cross the Sahara at 33
1876 – “Wild Bill” Hickok [James Butler Hickok], American cowboy and scout, shot dead from behind at 39 by Jack McCall while playing poker (he held a pair of Aces and a pair of 8’s)
1903 – Edmond Nocard, French veterinarian (Louis Pasteur Institute), dies at 53
1978 – Carlos Chávez, Mexican conductor and composer (Sinfonía India), dies at 79
1982 – Rudolf Maros, Hungarian composer (Sirato/Lament; Euphonies), and pedagogue, dies at 65
1995 – Brian Smith, Canadian sportscaster and NHL player, dies at 54 after being shot the previous day
2003 – Charles Kerruish, Manx politician and President of Tyndwald Isle of Man, dies at 86
2015 – Forrest Bird, American aviator and inventor (1st respirators and ventilators), dies at 94
2022 – Ray Majors, British rock guitarist (Mott the Hoople, 1975-76; British Lions, 1977-78), dies at 73
Historical Events for 2nd August 2024
1858 – 1st mailboxes installed in Boston and NYC streets
1934 – 1st airplane train, plane tows 3 mail gliders behind it
1941 – Jews are expelled from Hungarian Ruthenia
1961 – The Beatles 1st gig as house band of Liverpool’s Cavern Club
1964 – Race riot in Jersey City, New Jersey
1966 – Radio Vila (New Hebrides) begins transmitting
1990 – 23rd San Diego Comic-Con International opens at Holiday Inn
1990 – Yankees rookie 1st baseman Kevin Maas hits his 10th MLB homer in 6-5 loss v Detroit, fastest to reach that mark, just 77 at bats
2012 – American swimmer Rebecca Soni becomes first woman to win the 200m breaststroke twice with a world record 2:19.59 at the London Olympics
2019 – Seven-year-old boy operated on after 526 teeth found inside his mouth in Chennai, India
Today in History for 2nd August 2024
Historical Events
1581 – Leiden University names Rudolph Snellius as math professor
1959 – Milwaukee Braves outfielder Bill Bruton hits 3 triples in 11-5 win v St. Louis Cardinals; 2 of them bases loaded, first time in 20th Century
1987 – Michael Andretti runs fastest Indy car race in history (171.49mph) in winning the Marlboro 500 at the Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan
1991 – Pan Am games open in Havana
2017 – New crypto-currency Bitcoin Cash is created via a hard-fork of Bitcoin’s blockchain technology and brand
2018 – Pope Frances declares the death penalty unacceptable in all cases, reversing church teachings and adding to Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church
Famous Birthdays
1788 – Leopold Gmelin, German chemist (Gmelin’s test), born in Göttingen, Germany (d. 1853)
1886 – John Alexander Douglas McCurdy, Canadian aviator, born in Baddeck, Nova Scotia (d. 1961)
1910 – Roger MacDougall, Scottish playwright and screenwriter (The Man in the White Suit), born in Glasgow (d. 1993)
1923 – Shimon Peres [Szymon Perski], Polish-Israeli Labor Party politician (President. 2007-14; Prime Minister, 1984-86 and 1995-96; Foreign Minister, 1986-88, 1992-95, and 2001-02), and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1994), born in Wiszniewo, Poland (now Vishnyeva, Belarus) (d. 2016)
1944 – Juvenal “Naná’ Vasconcelos, Brazilian jazz and world music percussionist, and berimbau player (Pat Metheny; Björk; Milton Nascimento), born in Recife, Brazil (d. 2016)
1970 – Elijah Alexander, American NFL linebacker (Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos), born in Fort Worth, Texas (d. 2010)
Famous Deaths
1075 – John VIII Xiphilinus, theologian and patriarch of Constantinople, dies
1100 – William II [Rufus], king of England, shot hunting in the New Forest at 44
1788 – Thomas Gainsborough, English leading portrait painter (Blue Boy), dies at 61
1994 – Bhagwatpersad Ausan, commandant Suriname military police, dies at 38
2007 – Kay Dotrice [Katherine Newman], British actress (Cheech and Chong’s The Corsican Brothers), dies of a heart attack at 78
2022 – Hans Bangerter, Swiss football administrator (General Secretary UEFA 1960-89), dies at 98
Famous Deaths for 1st August 2024
371 – St Eusebius of Vercelli, Italian bishop (b. c. 283)
1589 – Jacques Clément, French assassin of Henry III of France (b. 1567)
1857 – Charles Turner, engraver, dies
1911 – Konrad Duden, German linguist (the Duden dictionary), dies at 82
1911 – Edward Austin Abbey, American painter (Quest of the Holy Grail mural at Boston Public Library), dies at 59
1917 – Frank Little, American labor organizer (lynched) (b. 1879)
1922 – Vaclav Juda Novotny, Czech music writer, composer, and libretti translator, dies at 72
1973 – Gian Francesco Malipiero, Italian composer, pedagogue (Venice Liceo Musicale, 1932-52), and musicologist (Claudio Monteverdi, Antonio Vivaldi). s at 91
1993 – Alfred Manessier, French painter (glass-in-lead), dies in car crash at 81
1995 – Loudi Nijhoff, Dutch actress (Alicia, Van Geluk Gesproken), dies
Historical Events for 1st August 2024
1485 – Henry Tudor’s army sails to England (future Henry VII)
1639 – French Ursuline nun Marie de l’Incarnation arrives in Quebec on board the Saint-Joseph – goes on to open first school for girls and play a large part in establishing Catholicism in New France
1842 – Rotherhithe Tunnel under the Thames opens
1890 – Cecil Rhodes’ colonists reach Lundi
1900 – The 1st Michelin Guide is published by the brothers Édouard and André Michelin as a hotel and restaurant reference guide to encourage more road travel and thus boost tire sales (exact date beyond Aug 1900 unknown)
1917 – Frank Little, IWW organizer, lynched in Butte, Montana
1961 – German DR limits traffic to West Berlin
1987 – Nurse Mary R Stout chosen chairperson of Vietnam Veterans of America
1992 – USA/USSR Around World Air Race begins at Santa Monica
2002 – In signing star linebacker Ray Lewis to a 5-year contract extension the Baltimore Ravens give him a $19m signing bonus, then the largest in NFL history
Today in History for 1st August 2024
Historical Events
1914 – British Grand Fleet reaches Scapa Flow
1958 – US 1st class postage up to 4 cents (had been 3 cents for 26 years)
1985 – Emmy 12th Daytime Award presentation – Susan Lucci loses for 6th time
1988 – Deep Rover 1-man research submarine unveiled at Crater Lake, Oregon
2010 – British Open Women’s Golf, Royal Birkdale GC: 21-year-old Yani Tseng of Taiwan becomes youngest-ever winner of 3 major championships, 1 stroke ahead of Katherine Hull of Australia
2021 – Australian swimmer Emma McKeon claims gold in 50m freestyle and 4x100m medley relay for total 7 medals at Tokyo Olympics; equals record set by Russian gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya in 1952
Famous Birthdays
1847 – Guido Papini, Italian violinist and composer, born in Camaiore, Grand Duchy of Tuscany (now Italy) (d. 1912)
1906 – Nathan Perelman, Soviet Russian pianist and pedagogue, born in Zhitomir, Russian Empire (now Ukraine) (d. 2002)
1940 – Mervyn Kitchen, English cricketer and umpire, born in Nailsea, Somerset
1957 – Glen Gorbous, Canadian MLB outfielder (record for longest throw of a regulation baseball [445′ 10″]), born in Drumheller, Alberta (d. 1990)
1962 – Joetta Clark, American 800m runner (Olympic-1992), born in East Orange, New Jersey
2001 – Scottie Barnes, American basketball forward (NBA Rookie of the Year 2022; Toronto Raptors), born in West Palm Beach, Florida
Famous Deaths
1630 – Federico Cesi, Italian naturalist and founder of the first modern scientific society, the Accademia dei Lincei, dies at 45
1743 – Richard Savage, English poet and playwright, dies at about 46
1996 – Mohamed Farrah Aidid, President (ANS-CUS)/Somalia, dies
2001 – Korey Stringer, American NFL football tackle, 1995-2000 (Minnesota Vikings), dies of complications from heat stroke at 27
2010 – Robert F. Boyle, American production designer and art director, dies at 100
2020 – Vitold Kreyer, Russian athlete (Olympic bronze, triple jump 1956, 60) and coach (Soviet athletics team 1967–80; head Russian team 2000 Olympics), dies at 87
Famous Deaths for 31st July 2024
1396 – William Courtenay, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1342)
1693 – Willem Kalf, Dutch ‘Golden Age’ painter (Still life with nautilus beaker and porcelain lidded bowl), dies at 73 or 74 [exact birthday in 1619, unknown]
1750 – John V, King of Portugal (1706-50), dies at 60
1784 – Denis Diderot, French enlightenment philosopher (Encyclopédie), dies at 70
1864 – Louis Christophe François Hachette, French publisher (Librairie Hachette), dies at 64
1871 – Phoebe Cary, American poet (Poems of Alice and Phoebe Cary), dies at 46
1952 – N B F “Tufty” Mann, cricketer (South African slow lefty 1947-51), dies
1967 – Richard Kuhn, Austrian-German biochemist (Nobel 1938-work on carotenoids and vitamins), dies at 66
1978 – Carleton Percy Hobbs, actor (I Claudius, Dark Places), dies at 80
2022 – Fidel V. Ramos, Filipino general and 12th President of the Philippines (1992-98), dies at 94
Historical Events for 31st July 2024
432 – St Sixtus III begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1910 – Pioneering Dutch aviator Clement van Maasdijk gives a flying demonstration
1925 – Unemployment Insurance Act passed in Britain
1943 – Transport #58 departs with French Jews to Nazi Germany
1981 – Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister Mieczyslaw Jagielski is fired
1983 – Brooks Robinson, Juan Marichal, George Kell and Walter Alston are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York
1987 – Battle between Iranian pilgrims and Saudi-Arabian troops, 402 killed
1991 – US Senate votes to allow women to fly combat aircraft
1992 – Thai Airways International Flight 311 crashes into a mountain north of Kathmandu, killing all 113 passengers and crew members on board the Airbus A310
2020 – Eurozone economic activity falls 11.9% for April-June with Spain the worst at -18.5%, its deepest in modern times