939 – Leo VII, Italian Pope (936-39), dies
1621 – Albert VII, Archduke of Austria and cardinal-archbishop of Toledo, dies at 61
1628 – Robert Shirley, English adventurer (b. 1581)
1640 – Henry Casimir I, Dutch count of Nassau-Dietz and Stadholder of Freisland, dies a day after being injured at the Battle of Hulst at 28
1844 – Johann Baptist Gansbacher, Austrian composer, dies at 66
1903 – August Reissmann, Prussian composer, dies at 77
1973 – Willy Fritsch, German actor (Spies, Women in the Moon), dies from a heart attack at 72
1981 – Kirby Stone, American jazz combo leader (Kirby Stone Four – “Baubles Bangles and Beads”), dies at 63
2007 – Zdeněk Lukáš, Czech composer, dies at 78
2013 – Cory Monteith, Canadian actor and singer (Glee; Monte Carlo), dies of heroin and alcohol overdose at 31
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 13th July 2026
1837 – Queen Victoria is the first monarch to live in present-day Buckingham Palace
1923 – The Hollywood Sign is officially dedicated in the hills above Hollywood, Los Angeles. It originally reads “Hollywoodland,” but the last four letters are dropped after renovation in 1949.
1930 – First football World Cup competition begins in Uruguay
1967 – Race riots break out in Newark, New Jersey killing 27
1971 – 42nd MLB All-Star Game, Tiger Stadium, Detroit, MI: AL beats NL, 6-4; MVP: Frank Robinson, Baltimore Orioles, OF
1972 – NFL franchises LA Rams (Irsay) and Baltimore Colts (Rosenbloom) swap owners
1978 – Alexander Ginzburg is sentenced by a Soviet court to eight years in a labor camp
2018 – HBO announces that it has obtained the rights to “The Nevers,” a project by Joss Whedon
Today in History for 13th July 2026
Historical Events
1657 – Oliver Cromwell constrains English army leader John Lambert
1934 – Babe Ruth hits 700th career home run against Detroit
1985 – Doctors at Bethesda Naval hospital remove two small benign polyps from US President Ronald Reagan’s colon
2003 – Senior Players Championship Men’s Golf, TPC of Michigan: Craig Stadler wins his first of two Champions Tour major titles by three strokes over Tom Kite, Jim Thorpe, and Tom Watson
2021 – Violent protests and looting following the jailing of Jacob Zuma leave 337 dead in South Africa, with more than 200 shopping malls set on fire
Famous Birthdays
1770 – Alexander Balashov, Russian general and statesman, born in Moscow (d. 1837)
1946 – Andrew Pryce Jackman, British progressive rock keyboardist, arranger, and composer (The Syn), born in England (d. 2003)
1949 – Helena Fibingerová, Czech athlete (World C’ship gold shot put 1983; Olympic bronze 1976; 3 x WR), born in Víceměřice, Czechoslovakia
1953 – Violeta Dinescu, Romanian pianist, composer (Tabar), and music professor, born in Bucharest, Romania
1994 – Ridge Canipe, American actor (Walk the Line; A Single Man; Music Within), born in Laguna Beach, California
Famous Deaths
1842 – Jesse Bennett, American physician who performed 1st successful US Caesarean (1794), dies at 72
1860 – John Ackersdijk, Dutch state house builder, dies at 69
1863 – John S. Bowen, American Major General (Confederate Army), dies at 32
1955 – Beulah Ecton Woodard, African-American sculptor, dies at 59
1960 – Joy Davidman, American poet, writer and wife of C. S. Lewis, dies at 45
Famous Deaths for 12th July 2026
1892 – Cyrus West Field, American financier noted for success of 1st transatlantic cable, dies at 72
1917 – François Fournier, Swiss-French postage stamp forger, dies at 71
1961 – Mazo de la Roche, Canadian author (b. 1879)
1983 – Chris Wood, British rock saxophone and flute player (Traffic; Ginger Baker’s Air Force, Jimi Hendrix), dies of pneumonia at 39
1988 – Joshua Logan, Broadway producer (South Pacific), dies at 79 of palsy
1994 – James Bysse Joll, British historian, dies at 76
2009 – Donald MacCormick, British broadcaster, dies at 70
2010 – Harvey Pekar, American comic book writer (American Splendor), dies at 70
2022 – Jan Wijn, Dutch classical pianist and pedagogue, dies at 88
2024 – Khalid “Billy” Ibadulla, Pakistani cricket batsman (4 Tests; 1 x 100, HS 166; Warwickshire, Otago) and broadcaster (TVNZ), dies at 88
Historical Events for 12th July 2026
1192 – Minamoto Yoritomo becomes Seii Taishōgun, the first ruling shogun in the history of Japan and de facto ruler
1801 – Second Battle of Algeciras: British fleet beats French and Spanish (six days after losing the 1st Battle of Algeciras)
1901 – Striking Canadian salmon fishermen on the Pacific coast, resentful of the non-union Japanese who continue to fish, maroon and imprison 47
1930 – US Open Men’s Golf, Interlachen CC: Defending champion Bobby Jones wins record-tying 4th US Open title by 2 strokes from Macdonald Smith; third consecutive major title
1958 – Gene De Paul and Johnny Mercer’s musical “Li’l Abner,” adapted from Al Capp’s hillbilly comic strip, closes at St James Theater, NYC, after 693 performances and two Tony Award wins
1960 – XEWT TV Channel 12 in Tijuana-San Diego, CA (IND) begins broadcasting
1990 – Boris Yeltsin resigns from the Soviet Communist Party during its congress, strengthening his role as a leading reform figure in Russian politics
2013 – Malala Yousafzai addresses the United Nations and calls for worldwide access to education
Today in History for 12th July 2026
Historical Events
1192 – Minamoto Yoritomo becomes Seii Taishōgun, the first ruling shogun in the history of Japan and de facto ruler
1862 – Federal troops occupy Helena, Arkansas
1940 – Frederick McKinley Jones receives a patent for an air conditioning unit for trucks, helping to change long-haul carriage of food and blood
1979 – “Disco Demolition Night” at Comiskey Park: fans go wild destroying disco records and cause the White Sox to forfeit the second game of a doubleheader to the Detroit Tigers
2018 – World’s longest fingernails are cut off; Indian man Shridhar Chillal’s left-hand nails measured a combined total of 909.6 cm (358.1 inches) after growing for 66 years
Famous Birthdays
1928 – Barbara Cowsill, American singer and rock band mother (The Cowsills – “Hair”; “We Can Fly”), born in Cranston, Rhode Island (d. 1985)
1933 – Brian Cant, British stage and screen actor and children’s television presenter (Play School, 1964-85), born in Ipswich, Suffolk, England (d. 2017)
1935 – Hans Tilkowski, German soccer goalkeeper (39 caps, West Germany; Westfalia Herne, Borussia Dortmund, Eintracht Frankfurt), born in Husen, Germany (d. 2020)
1956 – Mel Harris [Mary Ellen], American actress (Hope-30 Something), born in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
1978 – (Christopher) “Topher” Grace, American stage and screen actor (That ’70s Show -“Eric”; In Good Company; Home Economics), born in New York City
Famous Deaths
1073 – Johannes Gualbertus, Italian monk/saint, dies
1441 – Ashikaga Yoshinori, 6th Japanese shōgun of the Ashikaga shogunate (1428-41), assassinated during an evening play by the Akamatsu family at 47
1946 – Ray Stannard Baker, American journalist (Puliter Prize 1940), dies at 76
1975 – Carl Snavely, American College Football Hall of Fame coach (Bucknell, North Carolina, Cornell 180–96–16), dies at 80
2020 – Rod Bernard, American “swamp pop” singer (“Allons Danser Colinda”), dies at 79
Famous Deaths for 11th July 2026
937 – King Rudolph II of Burgundy
1874 – Xavier de Mérode, Belgium minister to the Pope in Rome, dies at 54
1889 – Gyula Reviczky, Hungarian author and poet, dies at 34
1921 – Gabriel Lippmann, French physicist and inventor, dies at 75
1966 – Delmore Schwartz, American poet, short story writer and critic (Shenandoah), dies at 52
1967 – Guy Favreau, French Canadian lawyer, politician and judge, dies at 50
2002 – Bernardas Brazdzionis, Lithuanian poet, editor and critic, dies at 95
2006 – John Spencer, English snooker player (b. 1935)
2010 – Bob Sheppard, American public address announcer (MLB: NY Yankees 1951–2007; NFL: NY Giants 1956–2006), dies at 99
2022 – Víctor Benítez, Peruvian soccer centre-back / defensive midfielder (11 caps; AC Milan, Roma, Inter Milan, Boca Juniors), dies at 86
Historical Events for 11th July 2026
1924 – Muslim-Hindu rebellion in Delhi, India
1962 – Fred Baldasare is first to swim English Channel underwater (scuba)
1974 – US House Judiciary Committee releases evidence on Watergate inquiry
2013 – “Orange Is the New Black” starring Taylor Schilling premieres on Netflix, the first series to be nominated for both comedy and drama Emmy awards
2015 – Wimbledon Women’s Tennis: Serena Williams becomes oldest winner in Open era (33) beating Garbiñe Muguruza 6-4, 6-4
2019 – US stock markets reach new records, the Dow tops 27,000 points for the first time, and the SandP 500 hits 3,000 points
2021 – UEFA European Championship Final, Wembley Stadium, London: Italy wins first Euro title since 1968, 3-2 on penalties over England after scores locked at 1-1 AET
2023 – Scientists select Crawford Lake, Ontario, as the reference location for the beginning of a new interval of geologic time, the human-caused Anthropocene Epoch, starting in the 1950s and ending the Holocene; the proposal is later rejected
Today in History for 11th July 2026
Historical Events
1740 – Jews are expelled from Little Russia by order of Tsarina Anne
1982 – US Senior Open Men’s Golf, Portland GC: Miller Barber wins by four strokes from Dan Sykes and Gene Littler, his first of three Senior Open titles
1984 – Lucas Mangope re-elected president of Bophuthatswana
2001 – Iraq resumes oil exports, ending a 5-week halt in protest of a US and British-sponsored UN Security Council resolution
2022 – New study suggests dogs can “see” with their noses, the first documentation of a direct connection between the olfactory bulb and occipital lobe in any species
Famous Birthdays
1836 – Antônio Carlos Gomes, Brazilian opera composer, first from outside of Europe with successful career in Italy, born in Campinas, São Paulo, Empire of Brazil (d. 1896)
1915 – George Ivan Smith, Australian radio correspondent, UN diplomat and spokesman, born in Sydney, Australia (d. 1995)
1925 – Charles Chaynes, French composer (Et l’homme se vit les portes rouvrir; Ode for a Tragic Death), and radio broadcaster, born in Toulouse, France (d. 2016)
1960 – David Baerwald, American singer/songwriter (David + David – “Welcome To The Boomtown”: “Swallowed By The Cracks”), born in Oxford, Ohio
1974 – Hermann Hreiðarsson, Icelandic footballer, born in Reykjavík, Iceland
Famous Deaths
1962 – Owen D. Young, American industrialist (RCA) and diplomat (Young Plan), dies at 87
1983 – Ross Macdonald [Kenneth Millar], American-Canadian detective novelist (Goodbye Look), dies at 67
1993 – Denis Tomlinson, South African cricket leg-spinner, dies
2007 – Rod Lauren, American rocker (“If I Had a Girl”), commits suicide at 66
2014 – Tommy Ramone [Tamás Erdélyi], Hungarian-American rock drummer and bassist (Ramones), dies of bile duct cancer at 65
Famous Deaths for 10th July 2026
1086 – Knut IV, the Saint, king of Denmark (1080-86), murdered
1460 – Humphrey Stafford, 1st Duke of Buckingham, English military leader (b. 1402)
1909 – Flooi Du Toit, South African cricket leg-spinner (Test for South Africa 1892), dies at 40
1910 – Johann Gottfried Galle, German astronomer, discoverer of Neptune by telescope, dies at 98
1937 – Attilio Brugnoli, Italian pianist and composer, dies at 56
1963 – John Sutton, British actor (The Three Musketeers, Tower of London, Return of Fly), dies of a heart attack at 54
1971 – Bhikari Thakur, Indian poet, playwright, and folklorist, known as the “Shakespeare of Bhojpuri”, dies at 83
1991 – Gerome Ragni, American playwright and songwriter (Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical), dies of cancer at 55
2010 – John Coates, British naval architect best known for reconstructing an Ancient Greek trireme, dies from cancer at 88
2015 – Roger Rees, Welsh Tony winning stage and screen actor (Cheers – “Robin Colcord”), dies of brain cancer at 71