Author: gil7

Historical Events

1876 – Centennial Fair opens in Philadelphia
1945 – Allies capture Rangoon from the Japanese
1983 – Lee Chin Yong performs 170 continuous chin-ups in Seoul
1998 – Viktor Orbán elected Prime Minister of Hungary after his Fidesz party forms a centre-right coalition the Independent Smallholders Party and Hungarian Democratic Forum
2017 – Apple becomes the first company to be worth more than $800 billion

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Famous Birthdays

1697 – Jean-Marie Leclair l’aîné (the elder), French violinist and Baroque composer, born in Lyon, France (d. 1764)
1838 – John Wilkes Booth, American stage actor and assassin of US President Abraham Lincoln, born in Bel Air, Maryland (d. 1865)
1918 – Dr. T Berry Brazelton, American child development paediatrician, author, TV host (What Every Baby Knows), who developed the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS), born in Waco, Texas (d. 2018)
1959 – Cindy Hyde-Smith, American politician (Senator-R-Mississippi 2018-), born in Brookhaven, Mississippi
1970 – Perry Blake, Irish singer-songwriter (The Hunchback of San Francisco), born in Sligo, Ireland

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Famous Deaths

1034 – Mieszko II, King of Poland (1025-34), dies
1641 – Johan Banér, Swedish Field Marshal, led Swedish armies during Thirty Years’ War, dies at 44
1696 – Jean de La Bruyère, French writer (The Characters, or the Manners of the Age, with The Characters of Theophrastus), dies at 50
1770 – Charles Avison, English composer, dies at 61
1820 – Matthäus Stegmayer, Austrian composer, dies at 49

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Historical Events

1914 – US President Woodrow Wilson proclaims Mother’s Day
1956 – War Reparations and Peace Settlement between Philippines and Japan was finally signed at Malacañang Palace under Magsaysay administration
2006 – George Preca is canonized as the first Maltese saint in history
2018 – Nicaraguan anti-government protests involving tens of thousands take place in Managua and Matagalpa y Chinandega
2019 – New Australian $50 bank note misspells responsibility as “responsibilty” on 46 million notes

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Famous Birthdays

1938 – Charles Simic, Serbian-American poet (The World Doesn’t End) and the 15th US poet laureate (2007-08), born in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (d. 2023)
1939 – Jim Dent, American golfer on PGA and Seniors tours, born in Augusta, Georgia (d. 2025)
1940 – Dick Morrissey, British jazz saxophonist, born in Horley, Surrey, England (d. 2000)
1948 – Calvin Murphy, American basketball player
1962 – John Corbett, American actor (Northern Exposure – “Chris Stevens”; Sex and the City – “Aidan”; My Big Fat Greek Wedding), and country music singer, born in Wheeling, West Virginia

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Famous Deaths

1919 – James Reese Europe, American ragtime and early jazz arranger, composer, and bandleader in New York, and with the military in France during WWI, dies of a stab wound (received during an argument with one of his drummers), at 38
1937 – Walter Mittelholzer, Swiss aviation pioneer (Swiss Air) and aerial photographer, dies in a climbing accident on an expedition in Styria at 43
2001 – James E. Myers, American songwriter (Rock Around the Clock) and producer, dies at 81
2018 – Tan Duc Thanh Nguyen, Australian heroin smuggler (Bali Nine), dies of stomach cancer at 34
2023 – Jackie Zeman, American actress (General Hospital – “Bobbie Spencer”), dies of cancer at 70

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Historical Events

1862 – Valley Campaign: Federals repulsed at Battle of McDowell, Virginia
1949 – West German constitution approved
1959 – Three-deck Nile River excursion steamer springs a leak, panicking passengers who capsize the ship; 200 drown just yards from shore
1980 – Sabres take only 15 shots, Islanders 22, in a playoff game
1993 – Lennox Lewis beats Tony Tucker in 12 for heavyweight boxing title

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Famous Birthdays

1750 – Elias Mann, American composer, born in Weymouth, Massachusetts (d. 1825)
1895 – Fulton J. Sheen, America bishop (Life is Worth Living), born in El Paso, Illinois (d. 1979)
1930 – Alex Shigo, American Biologist and Plant Pathologist known for his study of tree decay and contributions to modern arboricultural practices, born in Duquesne, Pennsylvania (d. 2006)
1935 – Lucius Cary, 15th Viscount Falkland, British peer (Lib-Dem), born in UK
1982 – Anthony Roth Costanzo, American operatic countertenor (Akhnaten), actor, and educator, born in Durham, North Carolina

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Famous Deaths

1688 – Pierre de Troyes, French officer and explorer in North America (re-took James Bay forts from the English), dies at Fort Niagara
1818 – Franz Ignaz Kaa, German composer, dies at 78
1842 – Jules Dumont d’Urville, French explorer and naval officer, dies at 51
1984 – Gino Bianco, Brazilian racing driver (b. 1916)
2020 – Roy Horn [Uwe Ludwig Horn], German-American Las Vegas entertainer (Siegfried and Roy), dies of COVID-19 at 75

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Historical Events

1697 – Stockholm’s medieval royal castle is destroyed by fire, the Codex Gigas (world’s largest extant medieval illuminated manuscript) survives by being thrown out a window
1930 – Duleepsinhji scores 333 for Sussex v Northants in 330 mins
1987 – 105°F in Sacramento, California
1989 – Panamanian voters reject dictator Manuel Noriega’s bid for presidency
2019 – Hackers seize control of the computer system of the US city of Baltimore, demanding a ransom in Bitcoins to unlock them

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Famous Birthdays

1868 – Władysław Reymont [Rejment], Polish novelist (Chłopi (The Peasants) – Nobel Prize for Literature, 1924), born in Kobiele Wielkie, Petrokov Governorate, Congress Poland, Russian Empire (now Poland) (d. 1925)
1923 – Anne Baxter, American actress, (The Razor’s Edge; All About Eve), and singer, born in Michigan City, Indiana (d. 1985)
1950 – Tim Russert, American television journalist and host of NBC’s Meet the Press, born in Buffalo, New York (d. 2008)
1953 – Ian McKay, British soldier (VC recipient), born in Wortley, South Yorkshire, England (d. 1982)
1979 – Nikki Hayes [Eimear O’ Keeffe], Irish radio personality, born in Bray, Ireland

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Famous Deaths

685 – Marwan I, 4th Umayyad Caliph (684-85), dies (date disputed)
1868 – Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux, English statesman (Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, 1830-34; Slavery Abolition Act 1833). and carriage designer, dies at 89
1941 – David Wijnkoop, Dutch socialist, and later communist politician, and journalist, dies of a heart attack at 65
1990 – Berta Waterstradt, German writer and actress, dies at 82
1995 – Maria Luisa Bemberg, Argentine filmmaker, dies at 73

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