Today in History for 26th April 2024

Historical Events

1926 – Germany and Russia sign neutrality peace treaty
1931 – Lou Gehrig hits a HR but is called out for passing a runner, mistake costs him AL home run crown; he and Babe Ruth tie for season
1986 – France performs nuclear test
1991 – Soccer star Diego Maradona, suspended for using cocaine, arrested in Argentina for possession and distribution of illegal narcotics
1993 – NBC announces Conan O’Brien to replace David Letterman on “Late Night”
2022 – World Bank warns the war in Ukraine will cause the “largest commodity shock” since the 1970s, with large economic and humanitarian effects

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Famous Birthdays

1538 – Gian Paolo Lomazzo, Italian painter and poet (Trattato), born in Milan (d. 1600)
1917 – Sal Maglie, American baseball pitcher (World Series 1954; MLB All Star 1951, 52; NY Giants; no-hitter 1956 Cleveland Indians), born in Niagara Falls, New York (d. 1992)
1926 – Michael Mathias Prechtl, German illustrator, born in Amberg, Bavaria (d. 2003)
1930 – Roger Moens, Belgian middle distance runner (800m world record 1955), born in Aalst, Belgium
1931 – Bernie Brillstein, American talent agent, manager and producer (The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd), born in Manhattan, New York (d. 2008)
1977 – Kosuke Fukudome, Japanese baseball player (Hanshin Tigers, Chicago Cubs), born in Osaki, Kagoshima, Japan

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Famous Deaths

1476 – Simonetta Vespucci, Italian noblewoman and inspiration of Botticelli, dies at 23
1785 – Karl Siegmund von Seckendorff, German composer, dies at 40
1956 – Edward Arnold, American actor (Mr Smith Goes to Washington), dies at 66
1982 – Celia Johnson, British actress (Jean Brodie), dies of stroke at 73
1994 – Manuel Enríquez, Mexican composer, dies at 67
2017 – Raj Bagri, Indian-British merchant in metal, dies at 86

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Famous Deaths for 25th April 2024

1800 – William Cowper, English pre-romantic poet (Olney Hymns), dies at 68
1905 – Jacob Olie, Dutch photographer, dies at about 70
1915 – Frederick William Seward, United States Assistant Secretary of State (b. 1830)
1925 – George Stephănescu, Romanian composer, dies at 81
1937 – Michał Drzymała, Polish peasant rebel (Drzymała’s wagon), dies at 79
1976 – Alexander Brailowsky, Russian-French pianist (Chopin specialist), dies at 80
1994 – Talaat Yassin Hamman, militant Muslim leader, shot dead at 32
2000 – Neils Viggo Bentzon, Danish pianist and composer (The Tempered Piano), dies at 80
2003 – Samson Kitur, Kenyan athlete (b. 1966)
2019 – Manuel Lujan Jr., American politician (Rep-R-NM, 1969-89), dies at 90

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Historical Events for 25th April 2024

1862 – After the Battle of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, Union forces under Flag Officer David Farragut request the surrender New Orleans, LA, despite being largely defenseless armed mobs reuse
1961 – Unmanned Mercury test explodes on launch pad
1962 – Cleve sends Harry Chiti to Mets for a player to be named later, on June 15 the Mets send Chiti back to Cleveland
1962 – Lion and Tiger Veldt at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is dedicated (Cleveland, Ohio)
1971 – About 200,000 anti-Vietnam War protesters march on Washington, D.C.
1976 – Portugal adopts new constitution
1977 – USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
1988 – American news program “Nightline” goes on location to Jerusalem Israel
1994 – King Azlan Shah of Malaysia resigns
2009 – Elijah Wood is honored with the Midnight Award by the San Francisco International Film Festival

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Today in History for 25th April 2024

Historical Events

1846 – Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican–American War
1926 – Persian cossack officer Reza Chan crowns himself Shah Palawi
1946 – Christopher Fry’s “Phoenix too Frequent” premieres in London
1961 – Belgium government of Gaston Eyskens falls over the Unitary Law
1961 – Robert Noyce patents integrated circuit
1990 – 25th Academy of Country Music Awards: George Strait, Clint Black, and Kathy Mattea win

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Famous Birthdays

1502 – Georg Major, German Protestant theologian, born in Nuremberg, Germany (d. 1574)
1882 – Fred McLeod, Scottish golfer (US Open 1908), born in North Berwick, Scotland (d. 1976)
1901 – Ernst Gernot Klussmann, German composer, born in Hamburg, GermanyGerman Empire (d. 1975)
1906 – Zoltán Gárdonyi, Hungarian composer, born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 1986)
1921 – Jean Mogin, Belgian poet (Pastures of Silence), and playwright, born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1986)
1981 – Anja Pärson, Swedish alpine skier, born in Umeå, Sweden

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Famous Deaths

1264 – Roger de Quincy, 2nd Earl of Winchester, English crusader, dies at about 69 [birthdate uncertain c. 1195]
1605 – Naresuan, King of Siam (b. 1555)
1926 – Ellen Key, Swedish author and feminist (Courageous Woman), dies at 76
1976 – Margaret Bannerman, actress (Great Defender), dies at 79
2019 – Manuel Lujan Jr., American politician (Rep-R-NM, 1969-89), dies at 90
2023 – Harry Belafonte, Jamaican-American Grammy, Tony, and Emmy Award-winning calypso singer (“Banana Boat Song”), actor (Buck and the Preacher), and human rights activist, dies of congestive heart failure at 96

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Famous Deaths for 24th April 2024

1622 – Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Swiss friar, martyr, and saint, dies at 44
1852 – Vasily Zhukovsky, Russian poet (b. 1783)
1924 – George Street, English cricket wicket-keeper (1 Test, 1 dismissal; Surrey CCC, MCC), dies in a road accident at 34
1942 – Leonid Kulik, Russian mineralogist who led the first research expedition to study the Tunguska meteor site, the largest impact event in recorded history, dies of typhus in a Nazi prison camp at 58
1960 – Max von Laue, German physicist who discovered the diffraction of X-rays by crystals, dies at 80
2004 – Winson Hudson, American civil rights activist (rural Mississippi), dies at 87
2004 – Estée Lauder [Josephine Esther Mentzer], American entrepreneur (Estée Lauder cosmetics), dies of cardiopulmonary arrest at 97
2005 – Fei Xiaotong, Chinese sociologist (b. 1910)
2005 – Ezer Weizman, President of Israel (b. 1924)
2009 – Rev. Timothy Wright, American gospel singer (Been There Done That), and pastor, dies from injuries sustained in a car crash at 61

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Historical Events for 24th April 2024

1655 – Piedmontese Easter Massacre: Troops of Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy, slaughter upwards of 4,000 Waldensian civilians for non-compliance with the Edict of 25 January 1655, which called for the expulsion or conversion of non-Catholic householders in Piedmont, Duchy of Savoy
1841 – Inventor and engineer Squire Temple of Utica, New York, granted a patent for an iron truss bridge
1865 – Fire alarm and police telegraph system put into operation in San Francisco
1895 – Canadian-American adventurer Joshua Slocum sets sail from Boston, Massachusetts on a solo around-the-world voyage aboard ‘Spray’, an 11.2-m oyster sloop
1962 – 1st Lockheed A-12 is taxi tested
1969 – US B-52’s drop 3,000 ton bombs at Cambodian boundary
1979 – US State of Georgia designates Ray Charles’ rendition of “Georgia On My Mind” (written by Hoagy Carmichael and Stuart Gorrell) as official state song
1996 – The UN and Iraq end a third round of negotiations over Iraq’s possible sale of $1 billion of oil for 90 days for a 180-day trial period
2018 – US President Donald Trump hosts his first state dinner for visiting French President Emmanuel Macron
2023 – India surpasses China as the worlds most populous country according to UN estimates, with 1,425,775,850 people (estimated to reach 1.7 billion by 2064)

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Today in History for 24th April 2024

Historical Events

1915 – Pittsburgh Rebels’ Frank Allen no-hits St Louis Terriers (Federal League), 2-0
1963 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1969 – Marshall Lin Biao named Mao’s designated successor as the sole Vice Chairman of the Communist Party of China
1975 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1996 – 31st Academy of Country Music Awards: Brooks and Dunn, Alan Jackson, and Patty Loveless win
2023 – Tucker Carlson, Fox News most popular prime-time host, is fired from the cable network

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Famous Birthdays

1822 – Erastus Barnard Tyler, American businessman, merchant, and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in West Bloomfield, New York (d. 1891)
1828 – Robert Brank Vance, American politician, U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina (1873-85), born in Buncombe, North Carolina (d. 1899)
1889 – Lyubov Popova, Russian avant-garde artist and painter, born in Ivanovskoe, Moscow (d. 1924)
1889 – Stafford Cripps, British Labour politician, born in London (d. 1952)
1954 – Thomas Jennefelt, Swedish composer, chiefly of choral works (A Warning To The Rich; Villarosa Sequences), born in Stuvsta, Sweden
1992 – Sean Rademaker, American actor (Kirkland Harrison-Another World), born in Washington, D.C.

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Famous Deaths

1961 – (Joseph) Rosario Bourdon, French Canadian-American cellist, violinist, conductor, arranger and musical director (Victor Talking Machine Company, 1905-31; Symphonique de Montréal, 1935-44), dies at 76
1967 – Frank Overton, American actor (Fail Safe; 12 O’Clock High (TV series, not film)), dies of a heart attack at 49
1983 – Rolf Stommelen, German auto racer (24 Hours of Daytona 1968, 78, 80, 82; 61 x F1 GP), dies in a racing accident at 39
1986 – Wallis Simpson [Duchess of Windsor], American divorcee whom British King Edward VIII abdicated his throne to marry, dies at 89
2011 – Sathya Sai Baba, Indian guru, spiritual figure, dies at 84
2011 – Colin Snedden, New Zealand cricket spin bowler (1 Test; Auckland), dies at 93

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Famous Deaths for 23rd April 2024

990 – Ekkehart II [Palatinus], Swiss monk at the Abbey of Saint Gall known for his poetry, dies
1616 – William Shakespeare, English poet and playwright (Romeo and Juliet; Macbeth: Hamlet), dies at about 52
1762 – Johann Samuel Endler, German composer, musician, and conductor, dies at 67
1774 – Christian Wilhelm Ernst Dietrich, German painter, dies at 61
1827 – Johanna Cornelia Wattier-Ziesenis, Dutch actress (Phaedra, Lady Macbeth), dies at 65
1853 – Auguste Laurent, French chemist who laid the foundations of organic chemistry, dies of tuberculosis at 45
1960 – Toyohiko Kagawa, Japanese Christian social reformer and writer, dies at 71
1985 – Sam Ervin, American politician (U.S. Senator from North Carolina) and Watergate committee chairman, dies at 88
2012 – Tommy Marth, American rock saxophone player (the Killers, 2008-2010), dies of self-inflicted gunshot at 33
2019 – Johan Witteveen, Dutch economist, Minister of Finance (1963–65; 1967–71) and managing director of the IMF (1973-78), dies at 97

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Historical Events for 23rd April 2024

1789 – President-elect George Washington moves into Franklin House, New York, first official resident of a US President
1849 – Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky and members of the Petrashevsky Circle are arrested in St. Petersburg
1860 – Democratic convention in Charleston, South Carolina divided over slavery
1924 – British Empire Exhibition opens at Wembley, London
1931 – US gangster film “The Public Enemy” starring James Cagney and Jean Harlow premieres
1952 – Crude oil pipeline from Kirkuk, Iraq to Banias, Syria completed
1959 – 1st heliport in Britain opens in London
1985 – Brooklyn College soccer team wins Nepal’s invitational
1989 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scores 10 points in his last game as a Laker in a 121-117 win over Seattle SuperSonics at the LA Forum
2015 – Kawhi Leonard is named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year for the first time

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Today in History for 23rd April 2024

Historical Events

1597 – William Shakespeare’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor” is first performed, with Queen Elizabeth I of England in attendance
1867 – Queen Victoria and Napoleon III turn down plans for a channel tunnel
1989 – NFL Draft: #1 pick UCLA quarterback Troy Aikman by Dallas Cowboys
1989 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scores 10 points in his last game as a Laker in a 121-117 win over Seattle SuperSonics at the LA Forum
1991 – Björn Borg loses 6-2, 6-3 to Jordi Arrese after an 8 year lay off without practising or playing any exhibition matches
1993 – Peter Townshend’s musical “Tommy” premieres in NYC

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Famous Birthdays

1141 – King Malcolm IV of Scotland, nicknamed Virgo “the Maiden” King of Scots (1141 April-May), born in Scotland (d. 1165)
1747 – Abbé Alexandre-Auguste Robineau, French composer and painter, born in Paris (d. 1828)
1893 – Frank Borzage, American director (7th Heaven, Strange Cargo), born in Salt Lake City, Utah (d. 1962)
1930 – Michael Bowen, British Roman Catholic Archbishop (Southwark), born in Gibraltar
1936 – John D’Arcy, New Zealand cricketer (NZ Test batsman on 1958 England tour), born in Christchurch New Zealand
1963 – Magnús Ver Magnússon, Icelandic powerlifter (World’s Strongest Man 1991, 94, 95, 96), born in Egilsstaðir, Iceland

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Famous Deaths

1897 – Clement Harris, English composer, killed fighting in the Greco-Turkish war at 25
1971 – William V. S. Tubman, Liberian politician (President of Liberia 1944-71), dies at 76
1986 – Jim Laker, English cricket spin bowler (46 Tests; 193 wickets; world best 19-90 4th Test v Australia 1956), dies from complications of gall bladder surgery at 64
1992 – Satyajit Ray, Indian director (Distant Thunder, Agantuk), dies at 70
2020 – Bernardino Lombao, Spanish handballer (Atlético de Madrid 1967-69), coach (Nat basketball teams) and TV presenter (De Olimpia a Los Ángeles, Objetivo 92), dies at 81
2021 – Bill Whittington, American auto racer (24 Hours of Le Mans 1979), dies in a plane crash at 71

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