Author: gil7

Historical Events

1741 – Charles Albert of Bavaria invades Upper Austria and Bohemia.
1809 – First practical US railroad track is laid in Philadelphia. It is made of wood and designed for horse-drawn cars.
1852 – Hottest July in Netherlands since at least 1783 (68.4°F (20.2°C) avg)
1978 – Gunman shoots his way into Iraqi Embassy in Paris
1988 – Oakland DH Jose Canseco smacks 2 home runs off Scott Bankhead in A’s 6-2 win over Seattle Mariners; becomes first MLB player to hit 30 HRs in first 3 years
1992 – Three world record swims on final night session at the Barcelona Olympics; Australian Kieren Perkins 1,500m (14:43.4); Tamás Darnyi of Hungary 200m backstroke (1:59.36); China’s Yang Wenyi women’s 50m freestyle (24.79)

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Famous Birthdays

1916 – Billy Hitchcock, American baseball infielder, manager, official (Detroit Tigers; president Double-A Southern League 1971–80), born in Inverness, Alabama (d. 2006)
1919 – Hemu Adhikari, Indian cricket batsman (21 Tests; HS 114 1st Test v WI 1948), born in Pune, Maharashtra (d. 2003)
1922 – Lucy Killea, American Californian politician who supported pro-choice, born in San Antonio, Texas (d. 2017)
1944 – Sherry Lansing, American actress (China Syndrome, Black Rain), born in Chicago, Illinois
1967 – Tony Massenburg, American NBA forward who played for 12 different teams, born in Sussex, Virginia
1976 – Marty Booker, American NFL wide receiver (Pro Bowl 2002, Chicago Bears), born in Jonesboro, Louisiana

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Famous Deaths

1508 – Na’od, Emperor of Ethiopia (b. 1494)
1566 – Bartholome de Casas, Spanish historian/bishop of Chiapa, dies at 92
1940 – Whitey Krakow [or Krakower], American gangster and hitman (Murder Inc), murdered by “Bugsy” Siegel
1994 – G de Ru, chairman of Dutch Reformed Synode, dies
1998 – Barbara Giuranna, Italian pianist and composer, dies at 98
2003 – John Aston Sr., English soccer striker (17 caps; Manchester United 253 games), dies at 81

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Historical Events

1946 – 1st rocket attains 100 mi (167 km) altitude, White Sands, New Mexico
1955 – 42nd Tour de France: French cyclist Louison Bobet claims last of his 3 straight general classification victories
1971 – US Apollo 15 (Scott and Irwin) lands on Mare Imbrium on the Moon
1984 – Alvenus tanker at Cameron Louisiana, spills 2.8 million gallons of oil
1988 – Harry Drake shoots arrow record 1873m
2017 – Russian President Vladimir Putin announces American diplomats in Russia cut by 755 in response to American sanctions

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Famous Birthdays

1875 – James W. Tate, English composer, born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire, England (d. 1922)
1931 – Joan Vohs, American model and actress (Fort Ti, Vice Squad, Sabrina), born in St Albans, New York (d. 2001)
1964 – Alek Keshishian, Lebanese-American film director (Madonna: Truth or Dare), born in Beirut, Lebanon
1970 – Joe Montford, American CFL linebacker (Hamilton Tiger Cats), born in Beaufort, North Carolina
1973 – Sonu Nigam, Indian playback singer, born in Haryana, India
1981 – Nicky Hayden, American motorcycle racer (MotoGP Champion 2006), born in Owensboro, Kentucky (d. 2017)

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Famous Deaths

1889 – Charles Absolom, English cricketer (Test for England), dies in a port accident at 43
1957 – Sem Dresden, Dutch composer and conductor, dies at 76
1979 – Beppie Nooij, Dutch actress and director (Red Sien, Zeemansvrouwen), dies at 60
1995 – Harry Shorto, British philologist and linguist (A Dictionary of the Mon Inscriptions), dies at 75
2005 – (Eli) “Lucky” Thompson, American jazz tenor and soprano saxophonist (Stan Kenton – Cuban Fire!; Milt Jackson; Miles Davis – Walkin’), dies of Alzheimer’s disease at 81
2007 – Ingmar Bergman, Swedish stage and film director (Cries and Whispers), dies at 89

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Historical Events

1967 – The Doors’ single “Light My Fire” hits #1 in the US
1969 – Mariner 6 begins transmitting far-encounter photos of Mars
1990 – LPGA Championship Women’s Golf, Bethesda CC: Beth Daniel wins her only major title by 1 stroke from fellow American Rosie Jones
1990 – Boston Red Sox set major league record with 12 doubles in a game
1995 – Monica Seles beats Martina Navratilova in her return to tennis after she was stabbed in an on-court attack in 1993
2021 – Russian backstroke swimmer Evgeny Rylov wraps up the 100/200m double with OR 1:53.27 in the longer event at the Tokyo Olympic Games

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Famous Birthdays

1907 – Melvin Belli, American lawyer known as “The King of Torts” and “Melvin Bellicose”, born in Sonora, California (d. 1996)
1933 – Robert Fuller, American actor (Laramie, Wagon Train), born in Troy, New York
1943 – Roz Kelly, American actress (Owl and Pussycat, Happy Days), born in Mt Vernon, New York
1957 – Fumio Kishida, Japanese politician (Prime Minister of Japan 2021-), born in Tokyo, Japan
1969 – Alison Dunlap, American cyclist (UCI Mountain Bike Cross Country World C’ship gold 2001), born in Denver, Colorado
1970 – John Rennie, Zimbabwean cricketer (pace bowler 1993)

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Famous Deaths

1886 – Adolf Muller Sr., Austrian composer of operettas, dies at 84
1958 – Charles O’Malley, American actor in silent westerns (Iron Horse), dies at 61
1982 – Vladimir Zworykin, Russian-American inventor who developed the cathode ray tube for television, dies at 94
1983 – Luis Buñuel, Spanish surrealist film director (Monk), dies of cirrhosis of liver at 83
2000 – Edgar Beck, English civil engineer (led firm Mowlem that reconstructed Downing St, built new London Bridge and NatWest Tower), dies at 89
2013 – Christian Benítez, Ecuadorian soccer striker (58 caps; El Nacional, Santos Laguna, América), dies from heart failure at 27

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Historical Events

1828 – First theatrical performance of Mary Shelley’s novel “Frankenstein” as “Presumption; or, the Fate of Frankenstein” by Richard Brinsley Peake, starring Thomas Potter Cooke at Covent Garden
1957 – Rock and roll piano player-singer Jerry Lee Lewis makes his 1st TV appearance with a raucous rendition of “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” on the “Steve Allen Show”
1978 – Price of gold tops $200-an-oz level for 1st time
1991 – Buffalo Bills beat Philadelphia Eagles, 17-13 in American Bowl in Wembley
1994 – Texas Rangers pitcher Kenny Rogers throws the only perfect game in franchise history, against the California Angels
2022 – Final episodes of TV soap “Neighbours”, after 37 years, screens in Australia

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Famous Birthdays

1165 – Ibn al-‘Arabi, Muslim mystic and philosopher (The Meccan Revelations), born in Murcia, Spain (d. 1240)
1925 – Bruce Matthews, Australian newspaper executive who worked for Rupert Murdoch, born in Sydney, New South Wales (d. 1996)
1937 – Francis Veber, French film director and screenwriter, born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
1947 – Barbara Ferrell, American runnerr (Olympic gold 1968), born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi
1949 – Vida Blue, American baseball pitcher (6 x MLB All-Star; Cy Young Award and AL MVP 1971; World Series 1972, 73, 74 Oakland A’s; SF Giants, KC Royals), born in Mansfield, Louisiana (d. 2023)
1995 – Anna Lapwood, British classical organist, music director (Pembroke College, Cambridge), and radio presenter (BBC), born in England

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Famous Deaths

1101 – Su Tung-p’o, Chinese poet, essayist, painter and calligrapher, dies at 64
1128 – William Clito, Count of Flanders (1127-28), dies at 25
1230 – Duke Leopold VI of Austria (b. 1176)
1983 – Alec Marks, Australian cricketer (good NSW batsman 1928-37), dies at 72
2009 – Peter Richard Tahourdin, English-Australian composer, dies at 80
2021 – Ron Popeil, American inventor and TV personality who popularized the phrase “But wait, there’s more!”, dies at 86

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