1526 – Emperor Go-Kashiwabara, 104th Emperor of Japan (1500-26), dies at 63
1567 – Juan Bautista de Toledo, Spanish architect (El Escorial), dies (b. c. 1515)
1845 – Maria EJ Versfelt, mistress of general Moreau/marshal Ney, dies at 68
1895 – Jose Marti y Perez, Cuban poet (Versos sencillos) essayist and politician (fought for independence from Spain), dies fighting the Battle of Dos Rios at 42
1912 – Bolesław Prus, Polish writer (The Outpost), dies at 64
1943 – Kristjan Raud, Estonian painter and one of the founders of the Estonian National Museum, dies at 77
1969 – Coleman Hawkins, American jazz musician who virtually created tenor saxophone for jazz, dies at 64
1970 – Tadeusz Breza, Polish writer (The Bronze Gate), dies at 64
2004 – Mary Dresselhuys, Dutch actress (b. 1907)
2014 – Sante Kimes ‘Dragon Lady’, American convicted con artist and murderess, dies at 79
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 19th May 2024
1585 – Spain confiscates English ships in Spanish harbors – beginning of the The Anglo-Spanish War
1930 – White women win voting rights in South Africa
1944 – German defense line in Italy collapses
1959 – The USS Triton, the first submarine with two nuclear reactors, is completed
1972 – 25th Cannes Film Festival: “The Working Class Goes to Heaven” directed by Elio Petri and “The Mattei Affair” directed by Francesco Rosi jointly awarded the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film
1981 – Pirate Jim Bibby gives up a leadoff single to Brave Terry Harper, then retires next 27 batters
1982 – Sophia Loren jailed in Naples, Italy for tax evasion
1990 – “Elvis” TV Drama about early life of Elvis Presley last airs on ABC
2012 – UEFA Champions League Final, Munich: Chelsea beats Bayern Munich, 4-3 on penalties after a 1–1 draw at the end of extra time; Blues’ first title
2021 – New York Yankees pitcher Cory Kluber no-hits Texas Rangers, 2-0 at Globe Life Field, Arlington, Texas
Today in History for 19th May 2024
Historical Events
1892 – National Society of Colonial Dames of America founded
1911 – Maurice Ravel’s opera “L’heure espagnole” premieres at the Opéra-Comique in Paris
1987 – 1st American Comedy Award: Johnny Carson and Betty White
1992 – Englishman Dave Gauder, 224 lbs, pulls 196 ton jumbo jet, 3 inches
1992 – 27th Amendment ratified, prohibits Congress from raising its salary
2019 – PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Bethpage State Park: Defending champion Brooks Koepka leads wire-to-wire; wins despite 5 bogeys on last 8 holes by 2 strokes from world #1 Dustin Johnson
Famous Birthdays
1908 – Percy Williams, Canadian athlete (Olympic gold 100m / 200m 1928), born in Vancouver, British Columbia (d. 1982)
1939 – Tomasz Sikorski, Polish minimalist composer (Solitude of Sounds), born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 1988)
1946 – Michele Placido, Foggia Italy, actor (La Lupa, Poliziotti)
1970 – K. J. Choi, South Korean golfer (Players C’ship 2011; 8 PGA Tour titles), born in Wando, South Korea
1971 – Psicosis [Dionicio Castellanos Torres], Mexican professional wrestler, born in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
1972 – Aleksandr Golubev, Russian speed skater (Olympic gold 500m 1994), born in Karavaievo, Russia
Famous Deaths
1303 – Ivo of Kermartin, Catholic saint and patron of Brittany, dies at 49
1526 – Emperor Go-Kashiwabara, 104th Emperor of Japan (1500-26), dies at 63
1795 – Josiah Bartlett, American physician and statesman (signed US Declaration of Independence), dies at 65
1971 – Ogden Nash, American humorous poet (I’m a Stranger Here Myself, Masquerade Party), dies at 68
1998 – Sōsuke Uno, Japanese prime minister (b. 1922)
2007 – Dean Eyre, New Zealand politician (b. 1914)
Famous Deaths for 18th May 2024
1692 – Elias Ashmole, English antiquarian and collector (Ashmolean Museum), dies at 74
1697 – Guillaume Dumanoir, French composer, dies at 81
1930 – João Marcelino Arroio, Portuguese composer (Amor de Perdiçâo), dies at 68
1981 – Arthur O’Connell, American actor (Mr Peepers, Second Hundred Years), dies at 73
1995 – Robert Harris, British actor (Big Caper, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, Laughing Anne), dies at 95
1999 – Betty Robinson, American runner, dies at 87
2013 – Steve Forrest, American actor (SWAT), dies at 87
2017 – Jacque Fresco, American industrial designer and founder of the Venus Project, dies at 101
2018 – Jacques Guyonnet, Swiss composer, dies at 85
2021 – Charles Grodin, American stage and screen actor (Heartbreak Kid; Midnight Run; Ishtar: Beethoven series), writer, and talk show host, dies of bone marrow cancer at 86
Historical Events for 18th May 2024
1848 – Opening of the first German National Assembly (Nationalversammlung) in Frankfurt, Germany
1863 – US General Ulysses S. Grant begins siege on Vicksburg, Mississippi; after 47 days of battle siege, Confederate Lt. General John C. Pemberton’s troops surrender
1922 – Dutch 2nd Chamber agrees to 48 hour work week (was 45 hrs)
1933 – Tennessee Valley Act (TVA) Act signed by FDR, to build dams
1943 – Allied bombers attack Pantelleria, an Italian island 100 km southwest of Sicily
1953 – American Jacqueline Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier
1955 – Queen Juliana opens E55 fair in Amsterdam, Netherlands
1964 – US Supreme Court rules it unconstitutional to deprive naturalized citizens of citizenship if they return to home country for more than 3 years
1971 – US President Richard Nixon rejects 60 demands of Congressional Black Caucus
1991 – France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
Today in History for 18th May 2024
Historical Events
1765 – Fire destroys a large part of Montreal, Quebec
1812 – John Bellingham, a Liverpool merchant who assassinated British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval on May 11, is hung for the crime at the Old Bailey in London
1869 – Robert Tanner Freeman is 1st African American to graduate from Harvard Dental School
1956 – Queen Juliana opens Rembrandt fairs in Amsterdam, Netherlands
1967 – Tennessee Governor Ellington approves repeal of the Butler Act (or “Monkey Law”) – prohibiting the teaching of evolution, upheld in 1925 Scopes Trial
1990 – TV movie “Return To Green Acres” airs
Famous Birthdays
1885 – Eurico Gaspar Dutra, Brazilian leader, President of Brazil (1945-50), born in Cuiabá, Brazil (d. 1974)
1892 – Ezio Pinza, Italian American operatic bass (NY Metropolitan Opera, 1926-48), and Tony Award-winning singer (South Pacific), born in Rome, Italy (d. 1957)
1922 – George Kitson, British principal of the Central School of Speech and Drama, born in Magherafelt, Northern Ireland (d. 2010)
1943 – Jimmy ‘Superfly’ Snuka, Fijian-born American professional wrestler, born in Suva, British Fiji (d. 2017)
1944 – Peter Ryan, British national director (Police Training)
1947 – John Bruton, Irish politician, Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland (1994-97), born in Dunboyle, Ireland
Famous Deaths
1848 – William Leidesdorff, Mixed-race early Californian businessman, dies at 37
1922 – Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, French physician (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1907), dies at 76
2000 – Gideon William Waldrop, American composer and educator (Julliard School, 1961-85), dies at 80
2007 – Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, French physicist and Nobel Prize laureate (1991), dies at 74
2009 – Wayne Allwine, American voice actor (3rd Mickey Mouse, 1977-2009), dies at 62
2021 – Franco Battiato, Italian pop, rock, and new wave singer, songwriter (“La Voce del Padrone” (“The Master’s Voice”), and filmmaker (“Lost Love”), dies at 76
Famous Deaths for 17th May 2024
1796 – Jacob Wilhelm Lustig, German composer, dies at 89
1797 – Michel-Jean Sedaine, French dramatist (Le Philosophe sans le savoir), dies at 77
1838 – Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, French statesman, dies at 84
1896 – Sophus Tromholt, Norwegian astrophysicist and photographer (photographed Sami people), dies at 45
1916 – Gervais Salvayre, French composer (Calypso; La Résurrection), and music critic dies at 68
1920 – Maitland Hathorn, South African cricketer (325 runs in 12 Tests South African 1901-11), dies at 42
1969 – Clarence “Pants” Rowland, American baseball manager (World Series 1917; Chicago White Sox 1915-18) and MLB umpire (American League 1923-27), dies at 91
1985 – Abe Burrows [Borowitz], American Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning songwriter, composer and writer (Guys and Dolls), dies from Alzheimer’s disease at 74
2010 – Walasse Ting, Chinese-American painter (b. 1929)
2020 – (Judge) “Lucky” Peterson, American contemporary blues, soul, and RandB musician (“The Son of A Bluesman”), dies from ahead injury after a fall at 55
Historical Events for 17th May 2024
1750 – -18] Tax revolt in Gorinchem
1881 – Frederick Douglass appointed recorder of deeds for the District of Columbia
1894 – 19th Preakness: Fred Taral aboard Assignee wins in 1:49.25
1957 – Prayer Pilgrimage, biggest civil rights demonstration to date (DC)
1973 – Five British Army soldiers are killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army booby-trap bomb in Omagh, County Tyrone
1976 – Earthquake in Uzbekistan: thousands killed
1981 – Islanders score 5 power play goals against Flyers in a playoff
1987 – Musical revue “Stardust – The Mitchell Parish Musical”, featuring songs of the Lithuanian-American lyricist, closes at Biltmore Theater, NYC, after 101 performances
1989 – Nelson Mandela receives a BA from University of South Africa
2023 – Nepali Sherpa Kami Rita Sherpa (53) climbs of Mt. Everest for a record 27th time
Today in History for 17th May 2024
Historical Events
1863 – Battle of Big Black River Bridge, Mississippi
1865 – The International Telegraph Union (later the International Telecommunication Union) is established
1899 – Victoria and Albert Museum foundation laid, London, England
1900 – “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” is first published by L. Frank Baum with illustrations by William Wallace Denslow in Chicago
1980 – Major race riot in Miami, Florida – 16 killed, 300 injured
1990 – European court rules on pension rights for men and women
Famous Birthdays
1846 – Edmund Bishop, English Roman Catholic historian and Secretary of Thomas Carlyle, born in Totnes, England (d. 1917)
1912 – Archibald Cox, American lawyer and special prosecutor (Watergate), born in Plainfield, New Jersey (d. 2004)
1945 – George Miller, American politician (Rep-D-CA, 1975-2015), born in Richmond, California
1953 – Nicholas Bacon, premier baronet of England
1960 – Fiona Hutchison, actress (One Life to Live, Guiding Light), born in Miami, Florida
1973 – Jenny Scheinman, American jazz and session violinist (Bill Frisell; Allison Miller), and singer, born in San Francisco, California
Famous Deaths
1606 – Forges Dimitri #1, Tsar of Russia (1605-06), murdered
1797 – Michel-Jean Sedaine, French dramatist (Le Philosophe sans le savoir), dies at 77
1889 – William Roxby Beverly, artist, dies
1944 – Félix Éboué, French colonial administrator, dies at 60
1999 – Henry Jones, American actor (Vertigo, Phyllis, Falcon Crest, Gun Shy), dies from complications from a fall at 86
2022 – Vangelis [Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou], Greek composer, keyboardist, and Academy Award winner (Chariots of Fire), dies at 79
Famous Deaths for 16th May 2024
1762 – Ernst Christian Hesse, German composer, dies at 86
1830 – Joseph Fourier, French mathematician (mathematical theory of heat conduction) and Egyptologist, dies at 62
1984 – Irwin Shaw, American writer (Rich Man, Poor Man), dies at 71
1984 – Andy Kaufman, American comedian and actor (Taxi -“Latka”), dies of cancer at 35
1985 – Margaret Hamilton, American character actress (The Wizard of Oz), dies of a heart attack at 82
1988 – Louise Wood, American director of Girl Scouts of USA (1961-72), dies at 78
1988 – Kay Baxter, American bodybuilder (NPC Gold’s Classic 1981), dies in car crash at 42
1989 – Hassan Khaled, sheik of Lebanon, murdered
1990 – Dag Drollet, Cheyenne Brando’s boyfriend killed by her brother Christian
2023 – Uwe Kitzinger, German-British political scientist, educator and administrator (President of Templeton College Oxford), dies of a heart attack at 95