1564 – Cardinal Granvelle flees Brussels
1915 – Brooklyn Robins manager Wilbert Robinson tries to catch a baseball dropped from an airplane, but the pilot substitutes a grapefruit
1970 – Digital Equipment Corp introduces PDP-11 minicomputer
1975 – Bernard Slade’s stage comedy “Same Time, Next Year”, starring Ellen Burstyn and Charles Grodin, opens at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, NYC; later transfers to the Ambassador Theatre, and runs for a total of 1,453 performances
1980 – Ford Motor Co found innocent in death of 3 women in a fiery Pinto
1982 – ABC TV crime drama “T.J. Hooker” premieres, starring William Shatner
1988 – 29th SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament: Kentucky beats Georgia, 62-57
1988 – 35th ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament: Duke beats North Carolina, 65-61
1994 – Oil tank/airship crash at Bosporus (huge fire/15+ killed)
2005 – Terry Ratzmann shoots and kills six members of the Living Church of God and the minister at Sheraton Inn in Brookfield, Wisconsin before killing himself.
Author: gil7
Today in History for 13th March 2024
Historical Events
483 – St Felix III begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1878 – Oxford University defeats Cambridge University in their 1st golf match
1964 – Turkey threatens Cyprus with armed attack
2012 – 28 people, including 22 children, are killed in a motorway bus crash near Sierre, Switzerland
2013 – Argentine Catholic Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (76) is elected the new pope, taking the papal name Pope Francis
2022 – 75th BAFTA awards: Best Film “The Power of the Dog”, Best Director Jane Campion, acting awards Joanna Scanlan, Will Smith
Famous Birthdays
1870 – Albert Meyer, Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council (1929-38), born in Fällanden, Switzerland (d. 1953)
1906 – Frank Teschemacher, American jazz clarinetist and alto-saxophonist, born in Kansas City, Missouri (d. 1932)
1914 – Bob Haggart, American dixieland, swing jazz, and session double bass player, and composer (“What’s New?”), born in New York City (d. 1998)
1929 – Bill Cunningham, American fashion photographer (New York Times), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2016)
1937 – Terence “Terry” Cox, British drummer (Pentangle; Duffy’s Nucleus; Humblebums; Charles Aznavour), born in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England
1940 – Candi [Canzetta Maria] Staton, American gospel singer (“Young Hearts Run Free”), born in Hanceville, Alabama
Famous Deaths
1271 – Henry of Almain, English crusader (b. 1235)
1911 – John J. Toffey, American Civil War Medal of Honor Recipient (b. 1844)
1973 – Stacy Harris, Canadian born actor (NOPD, Doorway to Danger), dies at 54
1987 – Gerald Moore, English pianist (Am I Too Loud), dies at 87
2001 – John A. Alonzo, American cinematographer (pioneered handheld work, lighting techniques and HD video development), dies at 66
2016 – Hilary Putnam, American philosopher, dies at 89
Famous Deaths for 12th March 2024
1570 – Jacob van den Eynden, Grand Pensionary of Holland, dies
1681 – Frans van Mieris the Elder, Dutch painter, dies at 45
1894 – Illarion Pryanishnikov, Russian painter (b. 1840)
1942 – Robert Bosch, German engineer, inventor (automotive ignition device), and industrialist, dies at 80
1943 – Gustav Vigeland, Norwegian sculptor, dies at 73
1955 – Charlie “Bird” Parker, American jazz saxophonist (Ornithology) and composer, dies of pneumonia and a bleeding ulcer at 34 in NYC
1973 – Frankie Frisch, American Baseball HOF infielder (3 x MLB All-Star; 4 x World Series; NL MVP 1931; NY Giants, St.L Cardinals) and manager (St.L Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago Cubs), dies at 74
1983 – Yevsei Liberman, Ukraine Soviet economist (Plan, profit, bonus), dies at 85
1998 – Beatrice Wood, American artist, ceramist and editor (The Blind Man, inspiration for Titanic film character Rose), dies at 105
2008 – Lazare Ponticelli, the last “poilu”, French foot soldier of World War One, dies at 110 (b. 1897)
Historical Events for 12th March 2024
1857 – Desjardins Canal Train Disaster: Canadian Great Western passenger train crashes through rotting timber bridge over Desjardins Canal, near Hamilton, Ontario, killing 59 people
1939 – Pope Pius XII crowned 260th Supreme Pontiff in a ceremony at the Vatican
1940 – Finland signs the Moscow Peace Treaty in Moscow, surrendering to Russia and ceding 11% of their pre-WWII territory, ending the “Winter War”
1954 – 1st performance of Arnold Schoenberg’s opera “Moses und Aaron”, in a concert setting in Hamburg, Germany
1989 – 10th Big East Men’s Basketball Tournament: Georgetown beats Syracuse, 88-79
1995 – Letitia Vriesde runs South American indoor record 800m (2:00.35)
2005 – 26th Big East Men’s Basketball Tournament: Syracuse beats West Virginia, 68-59
2006 – 47th SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament: Florida beats South Carolina, 49-47
2013 – The 2013 Papal conclave begins with no new Pope elected on the first day
2018 – British Prime Minister Theresa May says Russia was “highly likely” to have poisoned a Russian spy and his daughter on March 4 with nerve agent
Today in History for 12th March 2024
Historical Events
1799 – Austria declares war on France
1857 – Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “Simon Boccanegra” premieres in Venice
1896 – 1st movie in Netherlands (Kalverstr 220)
2002 – Animated film “Ice Age” directed by Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha, with voices by Denis Leary and John Leguizamo premieres
2017 – Irene Sankoff and David Hein’s musical drama “Come From Away” opens at Schoenfeld Theatre, NYC
2019 – Dozens charged in US college admission scandal by US federal prosecutors, including actresses Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman
Famous Birthdays
1837 – Alexandre Guilmant, French organist (La Trinitié, 1871-901), composer and pedagogue (Schola Cantorum, 1894-1911), born in Meudon, France (d. 1911)
1921 – Max de Metz, Dutch publisher and translator (d. 1993)
1931 – William “Billie” Thomas, American child actor (Buckwheat- Our Gang), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 1980)
1938 – Tona Scherchen-Hsiao, German-Chinese composer (Yi; Lo; Shen), born in Neuchâtel, Switzerland
1957 – Jerry Levine, American actor (“Born on the Fourth of July”), born in New Brunswick, New Jersey
1960 – Eldine Baptiste, cricketer (WI all-rounder early 80’s)
Famous Deaths
1902 – John Peter Altgeld, German-American politician (Governor of Illinois, 1893-97), known for pardoning of Haymarket anarchists, dies of a cerebral hemorrhage, while delivering a speech, at 54
1916 – Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach, Austrian writer (The Child of the Parish), dies at 39
1929 – Asa Griggs Candler, American businessman (developed Coca-Cola into a company), dies at 77
1949 – Maria “Beppie” Bakker, Dutch actress abd wife of Piet Vink Sr, dies at 95
1950 – L Heinrich Mann, German/American writer (Between the Races), dies at 78
1993 – Michael Kanin, American director, writer and actor (Woman of the Year, Teacher’s Pet), dies at 83
Famous Deaths for 11th March 2024
1913 – John Shaw Billings, American librarian and surgeon, dies at 74
1937 – Paul Scheinpflug, composer, dies at 61
1956 – Sergey Nikiforovich Vasilenko, Russian opera composer, dies at 83
1959 – Lester Dent, American writer (Doc Savage), dies at 54
1959 – Haydn Wood, English violinist, and composer of light classical music (Roses of Picardy), dies at 76
1975 – Sammy Spear, American big band trumpet player and orchestra leader (The Jackie Gleason Show), dies of a heart attack at 65
1977 – Alberto Rodriguez Larreta, Argentine racing driver (b. 1934)
1990 – Dean Horrix, English footballer (b. 1961)
2019 – Hal Blaine [Harold Belsky], American pop and rock session drummer (The Wrecking Crew), dies at 90
2023 – Harry “Bud” Grant, American Pro Football HOF coach (NFL Coach of the Year 1969 Minnesota Vikings; 4 x Grey Cup C’ship Winnipeg Blue Bombers) and basketball forward (NBA C’ship 1950 Minnesota Lakers), dies at 95
Historical Events for 11th March 2024
1502 – Ismail I, founder of the Safavid dynasty, crowned Shah of Persia (rules till 1524)
1829 – Johann Sebastian Bach’s “St Matthew Passion” is revived by Felix Mendelssohn, aged 20, conducting in Berlin, Germany
1848 – Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine and Robert Baldwin become the first Prime Ministers of the Province of Canada to be democratically elected under a system of responsible government
1924 – NHL Championship: Montreal Canadiens sweeps Ottawa Senators in 2 games
1978 – USF-led Bill Cartwright scores 23 points as the Dons oust NC
1982 – Harrison Williams (Sen-D-NJ) resigns rather than face expulsion
1996 – Mark Waugh scores 110 v NZ for his third century of the World Cup
2004 – Terrorists explode simultaneous bombs on Madrid’s rail network ripping through a commuter train and rocking three stations, killing 190
2007 – 48th SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament: Florida beats Arkansas, 77-56
2017 – At least 65 killed in landslide at rubbish dump near Addis Ababa, Ethopia
Today in History for 11th March 2024
Historical Events
843 – Icon veneration officially re-instated in Hagia Sophia Cathedral in Constantinople
1665 – NY approves new code guaranteeing Protestants religious rights
1835 – HMS Beagle anchors off Valparaiso, Chile
1892 – 1st public basketball game (Springfield, Massachusetts)
2003 – Nicholas Winton (93), former British stockbroker who helped 669 young Jews flee Czechoslovakia on the eve of the Nazi invasion in 1939, receives knighthood from Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace
2007 – 48th SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament: Florida beats Arkansas, 77-56
Famous Birthdays
1731 – Robert Treat Paine, American judge and Founding Father (signed US Declaration of Independence), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1814)
1902 – Josef Martin Bauer, German writer and director (As Far as My Feet Will Carry Me), born in Taufkirchen, Germany (d. 1970)
1930 – David Gentleman, designer/painter
1933 – Sandra Milo [Salvatrice Greco], Italian actress (8½; Juliet of the Spirits), and television personality, born in Tunis, French Tunisia (d. 2024)
1966 – Pavel Petrovich Mukhortov, Russian cosmonaut
1971 – Johnny Knoxville [Philip Clapp], American stunt performer and actor (Jackass franchise), born in Knoxville, Tennessee
Famous Deaths
1925 – Andreas Hallen, composer, dies at 78
1955 – Alexander Fleming, Scottish bacteriologist (invented penicillin; Nobel Prize 1945), dies of a heart attack at 73
1982 – Edmund Cooper, British sci-fi writer (Tomorrow Came), dies at 55
1989 – Johan Fleerackers, Flemish linguist, dies at 57
1993 – Dino Bravo, wrestler (WWF), shot to death at 44
2012 – Sid Couchey, American comic book artist, dies at 92
Famous Deaths for 10th March 2024
1670 – Johann Rudolf Glauber, German chemist (b. 1604)
1897 – Teodulo Mabellini, Italian composer, dies at 79
1906 – Eugen Richter, German politician (Liberal), dies at 67
1951 – Kijūrō Shidehara, Japanese politician and diplomat, Prime minister of Japan (1945-46), dies at 78
1973 – Richard Sharples, British politician, Governor of Bermuda (1972-73), assassinated in office at 56
1986 – Ray Milland, Welsh actor (The Lost Weekend-Academy Award 1945), dies at 81
1988 – William Brocklesby Wordsworth, English composer, dies at 79
1994 – Robert Shea, American author (Illuminatus!), dies of cancer at 61
2005 – Mindy Jostyn, American session and touring vocalist, violinist, guitarist, accordionist, and harmonica player (New York Rock and Soul Revue; Billy Joel; Andreas Vollenweider; Carly Simon; Cyndi Lauper), and singer-songwriter (“Five Miles From Hope”; “Coming Home”), dies of cancer at 48
2016 – Anita Brookner, English novelist (Hotel du Lac) and art historian, dies at 87
Historical Events for 10th March 2024
1535 – Spanish Bishop of Panama Tomés de Berlanga discovers the uninhabited Galapagos Islands after his ship drifts off course
1831 – The French Foreign Legion is established by King Louis-Philippe to support his war in Algeria
1906 – 1st performance of Maurice Ravel’s “Sonatine” by pianist Paule de Lestang, in Lyon, France
1920 – NHL’s Quebec Bulldog Joe Malone scores 6 goals vs Ottawa Senators
1937 – Benny Goodman unofficially crowned the “King of Swing” at New York City’s Paramount Theater as his band plays before exuberant sell-out crowd filled with teenagers; unable to attend nightclub performances, kids dance in the aisles
1966 – 5 time American Horse of the Year, Kelso, retires from racing
1972 – General Lon Nol becomes President and Prince Sirik Matak premier of Cambodia
1977 – CBS’ premiere of “A Circle of Children”, starring Jane Alexander and based on the life and book about this by Mary Mac Cracken
1978 – “The Incredible Hulk”, starring Bill Bixby as David Banner, premieres on CBS
2002 – 49th ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament: #3 Duke beats NC State, 91-61