1540 – Emperor Charles declares all privileges of Ghent ended
1670 – Clemens X [Emilio Bonaventura Altieri] elected Pope
1864 – -30] Skirmish at Jenkins’ Ferry, Arkansas
1903 – Limestone slide at Turtle Mountain drops 30 million cubic metres (82 million tons) on to town of Frank, Alberta, Canada, kills 70-90 residents
1953 – The first U.S. experimental 3D-TV broadcast showed an episode of Space Patrol on Los Angeles ABC affiliate KECA-TV
1982 – 17th Academy of Country Music Awards: Alabama, Merle Haggard, and Barbara Mandrell win
1985 – 17th NASA Space Shuttle Mission (51-B): Challenger 7 launches
1995 – Longest sausage ever, at 28.77 miles, made in Kitchener, Ontario
2015 – German Measles is declared eradicated from North and South America – 1st world region to do so
2016 – Iranian run-off elections give moderates and reforms a majority in parliament
Author: gil7
Today in History for 29th April 2024
Historical Events
1956 – WLUC TV channel 6 in Marquette, MI (CBS/NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting
1982 – Alfredo Magana elected President of El Salvador
1986 – Boston Red Sox Roger Clemens strikes out 20 Seattle Mariners
1991 – Earthquake in Georgia, kills 100
2006 – NFL Draft: North Carolina State defensive end Mario Williams first pick from Houston Texans
2007 – 2nd Republic protest in support of state secularism held in Istanbul, Turkey
Famous Birthdays
1863 – Mary Theresa Ledóchowska, Polish-Austrian Catholic nun (founded the Missionary Sisters of St. Peter Claver), born in Loosdorf, Lower Austria, Austrian Empire (d. 1922)
1899 – (Karl) Yngve Sköld, Swedish organist, pianist, and composer, born in Vallby, Södermanland County, Sweden (d. 1992)
1935 – Otto Zykan, Austrian composer, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 2006)
1940 – Brian Taber, Australian cricket wicket-keeper (16 Tests, 60 dismissals; NSW), born in Wagga Wagga, Australia (d. 2023)
1957 – Timothy Treadwell, American bear enthusiast (d. 2003)
1960 – Joseph Guzaldo, American actor (Stir Crazy), born in Chicago, Illinois
Famous Deaths
1380 – Catherine of Siena, Italian Dominican saint and Doctor of the Church (The Dialogue of Divine Providence), dies at 33
1798 – Nikolaus Poda von Neuhaus, Austrian entomologist, dies at 74
1990 – Floyd Butler, American soul singer (Friends of Distinction – “Grazin’ in the Grass”), dies of a heart attack at 52
2007 – Ivica Račan, former Prime Minister of Croatia (b. 1944)
2021 – Johnny Crawford, American actor (The Mickey Mouse Club; The Rifleman – “Mark”), singer (“Sandy”), and bandleader (JCO), dies at 75
2023 – Yuri Korolyov, Russian artistic gymnast (World All-Around Champion 1981, 85; World Cup All-Around Co-Champion 1986), dies at 60
Famous Deaths for 28th April 2024
1498 – Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland, English politician, dies at 40
1865 – Samuel Cunard, Canadian-British shipping magnate and founder (1st regular Atlantic steamship line), dies at 77
1964 – Rolf de Maré, Swedish art collector and museum director, dies at 75
1983 – Ron James, Australian cricketer (NSW’s Sheffield Shield captain 1949-50), dies at 62
1984 – Glen H. Taylor, American senator, dies at 80
2002 – Alexander Lebed, Russian general, dies at 52
2002 – Lou Thesz, American professional wrestler, dies at 86
2016 – Conrad Burns, American politician (Senate-R-Montana 1989-2007), dies at 81
2021 – Michael Collins, American Major General USAF and astronaut (Gemini 10, Apollo 11), dies of cancer at 90
2023 – Taini Jamison (née Royal), New Zealand netball coach (New Zealand 1967-71; World C’ship 1967), dies at 95
Historical Events for 28th April 2024
1901 – Cleveland’s Bock Baker gives up a record 23 singles as White Sox beat Blues (Cleveland Blues!) 13-1
1919 – American stuntman and parachute developer Leslie Irvin (23) makes first premeditated free-fall parachute jump from a plane above US the Army Air Service’s McCook Field near Dayton, Ohio
1955 – WBIQ TV channel 10 in Birmingham, Alabama (PBS) begins broadcasting
1960 – WIPM TV channel 3 in Mayaguez, PR (PBS) begins broadcasting
1965 – Richard Helms replaces Marshall S. Carter as deputy director of CIA
1991 – Space Shuttle STS 39 (Discovery 12) launched
1993 – Carlo Ciampi forms Italian government with ex-communists
1997 – Ringo Starr’s fourth All-Starr Band debuts in concert; members include: Peter Frampton, Jack Bruce, Gary Brooker, Simon Kirke, and Mark Rivera
2007 – ICC Men’s Cricket ODI World Cup, Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados: Australia 3-peat with 53 run win over Sri Lanka; Player of the Match: Adam Gilchrist (AUS) 149 (104) and 2 catches
2018 – Shaquem Griffin is the first one-handed person to be drafted into the NFL; selected by Seattle Seahawks
Today in History for 28th April 2024
Historical Events
1829 – Dutch parliament accepts new press laws
1848 – Slavery abolished in French colonies
1922 – WOI (Ames, Iowa) country’s 1st licensed educational radio station
1940 – Glenn Miller records “Pennsylvania 6-5000”
1952 – Dwight D. Eisenhower resigns as Supreme Commander of NATO
1969 – Charles de Gaulle resigns as president of France
Famous Birthdays
1825 – James Winning McMillan, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Clark County, Kentucky (d. 1903)
1897 – Ye Jianying, Chinese communist general and politician (Head of State of the People’s Republic of China 1978-83), born in Jiaying, Guangdong, Qing Empire (d. 1986)
1900 – Maurice Thorez, French politician and secretary-general (French Communist Party), born in Noyelles-Godault, Pas-de-Calais, France (d. 1964)
1906 – Bart [Bartholomeus Jan] Bok, Dutch-American astronomer (Milky Way), born in Hoorn, Netherlands (d. 1983)
1930 – James Baker, American Secretary of the Treasury (1985-88), Secretary of State (1989-92), born in Houston, Texas
1961 – Futoshi Matsunaga, Japanese serial killer, born in Kitakyūshū, Japan
Famous Deaths
1918 – Gavrilo Princip, Bosnian-Serb assassin of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, dies of tuberculosis at 23
1945 – Benito Mussolini [Il Duce], Fascist Italian dictator (1922-43), shot by communist partisans at 61
1982 – Nobby Clark, English cricketer (32 wickets in 8 Tests 1929-34), dies at 81
1996 – William Colby, American intelligence officer (CIA Director, 1973-76), dies at 76
1997 – Susan Seddon Boulet, American artist, dies of cancer at 45
2021 – Michael Collins, American Major General USAF and astronaut (Gemini 10, Apollo 11), dies of cancer at 90
Famous Deaths for 27th April 2024
630 – King Ardashir III of Persia, Sasanian shah of Iran, dies at 9
1813 – Zebulon Pike, American brigadier general and explorer (Pike’s Peak), dies in battle at 34
1927 – Albert J. Beveridge, American politician and historian (Progressive leader, Senator Indiana 1899-1911), dies at 64
1975 – Nicholas Soussanin, Russian-American actor (Last Command, Captain Fury), dies at 86
1979 – Alfred Kantorowicz, German-Jewish historian and journalist (Spanish Diary), dies at 79
1990 – Bella Spewack, Hungarian-American playwright (Kiss Me Kate), dies at 91
1992 – Sol K. Bright, Hawaiian steel-guitar player, singer (Hollywaiians), and songwriter (“Hawaiian Cowboy”), dies at 72
2005 – Red Horner, Canadian Hockey HOF defenceman (Stanley Cup 1932 Toronto Maple Leafs), dies at 95
2012 – Bill “Moose” Skowron, American baseball first baseman (8 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1956, 58, 61, 62 NY Yankees, 1963 LA Dodgers), dies from lung cancer at 81
2015 – Suzanne Crough, American child actress (The Partridge Family), dies at 52
Historical Events for 27th April 2024
1509 – Pope Julius II excommunicates Italian state of Venice
1861 – US President Abraham Lincoln suspends writ of habeas corpus (US Civil War)
1875 – The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NYSPCC), the world’s 1st such agency is incorporated
1905 – World Exposition opens in Liège
1945 – 2nd Republic of Austria forms
1953 – 1st general elections in British Guiana, won by the People’s Progressive Party with Cheddi Jagan first person of Indian descent to be elected head of government outside South Asia
1956 – Burma Premier U Nu’s Volksliga voor Vrijheid loses election
1999 – Nevada State Museum discovers the oldest mummy in North America – on the shelves of their own museum, after the Spirit Cave Mummy radiocarbon dates to over 9,400 years old
2005 – The superjumbo jet aircraft Airbus A380 makes its first flight from Toulouse, France
2018 – Mass protests across Spain after 5 men convicted of sexual abuse but not rape of teenage girl during Running of the Bulls festival in Pamplona
Today in History for 27th April 2024
Historical Events
1841 – Imakita Kosen, 1st Zen teacher of D.T. Suzuki, found the awakening
1877 – Rutherford B. Hayes removes Federal troops from Louisiana, Reconstruction ends
1990 – Villanova’s women set a 6,000 m relay world record of 17:18:10
1990 – 50th annual barbershop quartet singing convention held (Mich)
1994 – Graeme Obree bicycles world record time (52,713 km)
1995 – “Indiscretions” opens at Ethel Barrymore Theatre NYC for 221 performances
Famous Birthdays
1903 – Frank Belknap Long, American writer (Rim of the Unknown), born in New York City (d. 1994)
1929 – Nina Ponomaryova, Russian athlete (Olympic gold USSR discus 1952, 60; bronze 1956), born in Smychka, Russia (d. 2016)
1938 – Earl Anthony, American professional bowler (PBA money champ 1974-6, 1981-3), born in Tacoma, Washington (d. 2001)
1939 – Jerry Mercer, Canadian rock drummer (April Wine), born in Montreal, Quebec
1969 – Tyrone Rodgers, American football defensive linebacker (Winnipeg Blue Bombers), born in Longview, Texas
1970 – Mikiko Hagiwara, Japanese basketball player, born in Fukushima, Japan
Famous Deaths
1695 – John Trenchard, English radical Whig politician and statesman, dies at 46
1876 – George Aiken, American playwright and actor famous for writing the most popular stage adaptation of “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, dies at 45
1902 – Julius Sterling Morton, American politician (3rd U.S. Secretary of Agriculture) and founder of Arbor Day, dies at 70
1977 – Stanley Adams, American character actor (Star Trek – “Cyrano Jones”; Breakfast at Tiffany’s; Lilies of the Field), commits suicide at 62
1991 – Marcus Heeresma, Dutch author (Anna, Son of a Whore), dies at 55
2015 – Gene Fullmer, American boxer (World Middleweight title 1957; NBA [WBA] World Middleweight title 1959-62), dies at 83
Famous Deaths for 26th April 2024
1784 – (Honora) “Nano” Nagle, Irish Catholic educator and religious order founder (Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, aka Presentation Sisters), dies of tuberculosis at about 66.
1827 – Bernardo Ottani, Italian composer, dies at 90
1951 – Arnold Sommerfeld, German physicist, dies at 82
1970 – Paul Celan, Romanian-born writer, dies at 49
1976 – Neil McCallum, British-Canadian actor (Pete-Saber of London), dies at 45
1976 – Sid James [Solomon Joel Cohen], South African-born British character and comedy actor (Hancock’s Half Hour, Carry On), dies from a heart attack at 62
1980 – Cicely Courtneidge, Australian-born British actress (Double Exposure), dies at 87
1981 – Jim Davis, American actor (Dallas – “Jack Ewing”), dies at 65
1997 – John Beal [James Andrew Bliedung], American actor (10 Who Dare, I Am the Law, Les Misérables), dies at 87
1997 – Gene Ames, American singer (Ames Brothers), dies of cancer at 73
Historical Events for 26th April 2024
1912 – 1st homerun hit at Fenway Park (Hugh Bradley, Red Sox)
1928 – Madame Tussaud’s waxwork exhibition reopens in London after a fire
1935 – Frank Boucher is given NHL’s Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship permanently for winning it 7 of 11 years
1956 – First modern container ship, the Ideal X, leaves Port Newark, New Jersey for Houston, Texas
1966 – International Olympic Committee votes to award German city of Munich the right to host the 1972 Summer Olympic Games
1971 – San Francisco lightship replaced by automatic buoy
1992 – Revival of Henrik Ibsen’s stage drama “The Master Builder”, directed by Tony Randall, closes at Belasco Theater, NYC, after 45 performances
1995 – Baseball season begins after lengthy strike
2018 – Serial killer “Golden State Killer” identified after 40 years as a former police officer, responsible for 12 killings, 50 rapes in California
2021 – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announces Turkey will go into full lockdown till May 17 to a curb COVID-19 surge and world’s 4th highest caseload