1816 – French frigate Medusa wrecked; basis of Géricault’s painting “Raft of the Medusa”
1859 – 1st intercollegiate baseball game, Amherst beats Williams 66-32 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts
1901 – Wimbledon Men’s Tennis: Arthur Gore beats defending 4-time champion R.F. Doherty 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4 for his 1st of 3 Wimbledon singles titles
1904 – III Summer (Modern) Olympic Games open in St Louis, the first held in the United States
1911 – The German gunboat ‘Panther’ arrives off Agadir allegedly to protect German interests and nationals in Morocco
1915 – Australia begins Commonwealth Lighthouse Service
1936 – Watchfulness Committee forms in Amsterdam
1974 – 1st Laura Ashley store in the US opens (San Francisco)
1994 – Russian spacecraft Soyuz TM-19 launches from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan
2005 – Texas Rangers pitcher Kenny Rogers is suspended for 20 games and fined $50k for shoving a cameraman – sentence later overturned
Author: gil7
Today in History for 1st July 2024
Historical Events
1097 – 1st Crusaders defeat Sultan Kilidj Arslan of Nicea
1200 – In China, sunglasses are invented
1924 – Dircet regular transcontinental airmail service between New York and San Francisco forms
1961 – KNDU TV channel 25 in Richland-Pasco-Kennew, WA (NBC) 1st broadcast
1972 – The first Gay Pride march in England takes place.
1979 – Sweden becomes 1st nation to prohibit “corporal punishment or other injurious or humiliating treatment” of children by their parents
Famous Birthdays
1844 – Verney Lovett Cameron, English explorer (Tanganyika), born in Radipole, Dorset, England (d. 1894)
1902 – William Wyler, American film director (Ben-Hur, Mrs Miniver), born in Mülhausen, Alsace-Lorraine, German Empire (d. 1981)
1925 – Art McNally, American Pro Football HOF referee and executive (NFL Head of Officiating 1968-91), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2023)
1926 – Robert Fogel, American economic historian (Nobel Prize 1993), born in New York City (d. 2013)
1971 – Melissa Peterman [Melissa Margaret], American actress (Reba, Fargo), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota
1985 – Chris Perez, American baseball pitcher (MLB All Star 2011, 12 Cleveland Indians; World Cup gold 2007), born in Bradenton, Florida
Famous Deaths
1877 – William Henry Davenport, American stage magician, claimed to be a spirit medium, dies at 36
1884 – Allan Pinkerton, Scottish-American barrel maker, private detective (co-founder of Pinkerton Agency), abolitionist, and spy, dies at 64
1953 – Jacob D du Toit [Totius], South African poet/theologist, dies
1988 – Hellmuth Christian Wolff, German composer, teacher, musicologist, and painter, dies at 82
1999 – Jack Moroney, Australian cricket batsman (7 Tests, 2 x 100, HS 118; NSWCA), dies at 81
2018 – Peter Firmin, British children’s book illustrator and puppet maker (The Saga of Noggin the Nog; Clangers), dies at 89
Famous Deaths for 30th June 2024
1965 – Bessie Barriscale, American actress (Plain Jane, Show Folks), dies at 81
1973 – Elmer Layden, College Football Hall of Fame fullback (Notre Dame legendary 4-horsemen, 1st NFL Commissioner), dies at 70
1987 – Thor Thorvaldsen, Norwegian yachtsman (Olympic gold dragon class 1948, 52), dies at 78
1992 – Nico Booken, Dutch director (Jewish Labor Social), dies at 72
1996 – David McCampbell, US Navy captain, fighter pilot, and Medal of Honor recipient (WWII, Pacific theatre, downed 34 Japanese planes), dies at 86
2003 – Robert McCloskey, American children’s book writer and illustrator (Make Way For Ducklings), dies at 88
2010 – Park Yong-ha, South Korean actor, and K-pop and J-pop singer, takes his own life at 32
2015 – Leonard Starr, American comic strip cartoonist (Little Orphan Annie), dies at 89
2016 – Geoffrey Hill, English poet, dies at 84
2022 – Bill Squires, American track and field coach (Greater Boston Track Club: Bill Rodgers, Alberto Salazar, Dick Beardsley, Greg Meyer; Boston State College 1965-78), dies at 89
Historical Events for 30th June 2024
833 – Louis crowned King of Austria
1741 – Pope Benedict XIV encyclical forbidding traffic in alms
1881 – Henry Highland Garnet named US minister to Liberia
1909 – Jack Johnson fights Tony Ross to a no decision in 6 rounds at Duquesne Gardens, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to retain his heavyweight boxing title
1911 – British Open Men’s Golf, Royal St George’s Golf Club: Harry Vardon wins his 5th Championship by 10 shots in a playoff with 1907 champion Arnaud Massy of France
1934 – Detroit radio executive George Richards pays $7,952.08 to buy NFL’s Portsmouth Spartans; moves team to Detroit and rebrands it to ‘Lions’
1968 – East German Communist Party leader Walter Ulbricht receives “Order of October Revolution”
1981 – China’s Communist Party condemns late Mao Zedong’s policy
1993 – Richard Jacobs announces Chief Wahoo will go to Jacobs Field
2018 – Two members of the public confirmed poisoned by Novichok nerve agent, a women later dies, in Wiltshire, England; authorities suspect source was left over poison from the attack on former Russian spies Sergei Skripal and his daughter
Today in History for 30th June 2024
Historical Events
1934 – Adolf Hitler stages a bloody purge of the Nazi party in the “Night of the Long Knives”
1982 – Orbiter Challenger (OV-099) rolled out at Palmdale
1992 – Fidel Ramos installed as president of the Philippines
2001 – ENI of Italy signs a $550 million contract to develop Iran’s Darquain field, expected to produce 160,000 barrels of petroleum per day
2005 – Spain legalizes same-sex marriage.
2016 – Performance of the Roundabout Theatre Company’s revival of Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick’s musical “She Loves Me” is 1st Broadway show live stream (via BroadwayHD); later released as a film
Famous Birthdays
1468 – Johann the Steadfast, Elector of Saxony (1525-32), born in Meissen, Electorate of Saxony, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1532)
1847 – Jacob Theodoor Cremer, Dutch tobacco magnate and administrator for the Deli Company in Sumatra, born in Zwolle, Netherlands (d. 1923)
1879 – Walter Hampden, American actor (Five Fingers, Hunchback of Notre Dame), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1955)
1927 – Joe Skeen, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Mexico), born in Roswell, New Mexico (d. 2003)
1941 – Mike Leander, English songwriter and record producer, born in Walthamstow, Essex (d. 1996)
1941 – John Jameson, English cricketer (England batsman, 465 p/ship with Kanhai), born in Bombay, British India
Famous Deaths
1930 – Harvey W. Wiley, American chemist known for leadership in the passage of the landmark Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906, dies at 85
1934 – Gregor Strasser, German political activist and NSDAP-Reich organization leader, murdered during the Night of the Long Knives at 42
1935 – Bill Brockwell, English cricketer (British all-rounder in 7 Tests 1893-99), dies at 70
1965 – Bessie Barriscale, American actress (Plain Jane, Show Folks), dies at 81
2010 – Park Yong-ha, South Korean actor, and K-pop and J-pop singer, takes his own life at 32
2016 – Geoffrey Hill, English poet, dies at 84
Famous Deaths for 29th June 2024
1725 – Arai Hakuseki, Japanese writer and politician (b. 1657)
1933 – Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, American actor (The Bell Boy, Moonshine, Keystone comedies), dies from a heart attack at 46
1959 – A. Cecil Snyder, American lawyer and Chief Justice of Puerto Rico, dies at 51
1966 – Arthur Meulemans, Belgian composer, dies at 82
1970 – Roman Ingarden, Polish philosopher (Studia philosophica), dies at 77
2000 – Il Mattatore [Vittorio Gassman], Italian actor, director and screenwriter (Scent of a Woman, War and Peace), dies at 77
2011 – R. C. Alston, British bibliographer, dies at 78
2020 – Ernesto Marcel, Panamanian boxer (WBA featherweight title 1972-74), dies at 72
2021 – Stuart Damon [Zonis], American stage and screen actor (General Hospital, 1977-2007 – “Dr. Alan Quartermaine”), dies of kidney failure at 84
2021 – Yitzhak “Vicky” Peretz, Israeli soccer striker (40 caps; Maccabi Tel Aviv, Strasbourg, Rennes), dies at 68
Historical Events for 29th June 2024
1529 – Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Pope Clement VII sign the Treaty of Barcelona to bring peace to Italy and to repel Turkish advances
1863 – Battle at Westminster or Corbitt’s Charge, Maryland: small unit of Delaware cavalry charge Confederate cavalry numbering nearly 6,000, crucially delaying their arrival at Gettysburg
1929 – 31.1°C (88°F) highest temperature on this day in De Bilt, Netherlands
1961 – The International Labour Organisation (ILO) calls for South Africa’s withdrawal at the Geneva Conference in protest of the racial policies of the South African government
1969 – On ‘Billy Williams Day’ at Wrigley Field, Chicago, the Cubs outfielder passes Stan Musial’s NL record for consecutive MLB games played (896) as Chicago sweeps St. Louis Cardinals, 3-1 and 12-1
1972 – Supreme Court rules (5-4) that death penalty is cruel and unusual
1990 – World’s first female diocesan Anglican bishop, Dr Penny Jamieson, appointed in New Zealand
1991 – With a world ranking of 591, Englishman Nick Brown upsets 10th-seeded (and 2001 champion) Goran Ivanišević 4-6, 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 in the 2nd round at Wimbledon
2003 – US Senior Open Men’s Golf, Inverness Club: Bruce Lietzke wins by 2 strokes from Tom Watson
2017 – Mihai Tudose confirmed as Romanian Prime Minister, by parliament, succeeding Sorin Grindeanu
Today in History for 29th June 2024
Historical Events
1850 – British ex-Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel falls off his horse; dies three days later
1857 – Battle at Chinhat (Indies rebel under Barkat Ahmed beat British)
1944 – Soviet Armies join in Bobroesjk
1969 – On ‘Billy Williams Day’ at Wrigley Field, Chicago, the Cubs outfielder passes Stan Musial’s NL record for consecutive MLB games played (896) as Chicago sweeps St. Louis Cardinals, 3-1 and 12-1
1981 – Hu Yaobang succeeds Hua Guofeng as Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China
2016 – US Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter lifts Pentagon’s ban on transgender people serving in the US armed forces
Famous Birthdays
1881 – Curt Sachs, German musicologist, born in Berlin, Germany (d. 1959)
1905 – Herb Vigran, American character actor (The Ed Wynn Show – “Ernie”; Gunsmoke – “Judge Brooker”; The Jack Benny Program), born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 1986)
1908 – Rene Gerber, Swiss composer, born in Travers (d. 2006)
1912 – Émile Peynaud, French oenologist, born in Madiran, Gers, France (d. 2004)
1943 – Little Eva [Boyd], American pop singer (“The Loco-motion”; “Keep Your Hands Off My Baby”), born in Belhaven, North Carolina (d. 2003)
1993 – Angela and Amy Lakeberg, American Siamese twins (separated on Aug 20th), born in Loyola University Medical Center, Maywood, Illinois
Famous Deaths
1784 – Caesar Rodney, American judge and Founding Father (signed US Declaration of Independence), dies at 55
1900 – Ivan Pervushin, Russian mathematician (number theory), dies at 73
1997 – William Hickey, American actor (Prizzi’s Honor, The Nightmare Before Christmas), dies of emphysema at 69
2007 – Edward Yang, Taiwanese film director (Yi Yi), dies of cancer at 59
2014 – John Freeland, Legal advisor UK foreign office and judge at the European Court of Human Rights, dies at 86
2021 – Stuart Damon [Zonis], American stage and screen actor (General Hospital, 1977-2007 – “Dr. Alan Quartermaine”), dies of kidney failure at 84
Famous Deaths for 28th June 2024
1385 – Andronicus IV Paleologus, Byzantine anti-emperor, dies
1915 – Victor Trumper, Australian cricket batsman (48 Tests, top score 214; key figure foundation of rugby league in Australia), dies of Bright’s disease at 37
1965 – [Theodora E] Betsy Ranucci-Beckman, actress (Dood Water), dies at 88
1981 – Mohammed Beheshti, Iranian cleric and politician (Chief Justice of Iran), assassinated in Hafte Tir bombing at 52
1982 – Gerard Rutten, Dutch film director (Sterren stralen overal), dies at 79
1991 – Klas Bruinsma, clergyman, dies
2001 – Joan Sims, British actress (“Carry on” films, As Time Goes By), dies from liver failure and diverticulitis at 71
2006 – Peter Rawlinson, Baron Rawlinson of Ewell, English barrister, politician and author, dies at 87
2008 – Ruslana Korshunova, Kazakhstani model, dies aged 20 after falling from the ninth-floor balcony of her Manhattan apartment under unexplained circumstances
2012 – Leontine T. Kelly, 1st African American female bishop (United Methodist Church), dies at 92
Historical Events for 28th June 2024
1865 – The Army of the Potomac is disbanded
1902 – Germany, Italy, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire renew their Triple Alliance for six more years
1941 – German and Romanian soldiers kill 11,000 Jews in Kishinev
1950 – North Korean forces capture Seoul, South Korea in opening phase of the Korean War
1958 – American swimmer Nancy Ramey sets world record for 100m butterfly in 1:09.6 in Los Angeles, California
2000 – Cuban exile Elián González returns to Cuba following a Supreme Court order.
2002 – Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, England opens: Coldplay, and Rod Stewart headline; other performers include Roger Waters, Isaac Hayes, Ani DiFranco, The Charletons, and The White Stripes
2013 – Jay Onrait and Dan O’Toole’s final “Sportscentre” broadcast on TSN
2015 – US Senior Open Men’s Golf, Del Paso CC: Jeff Maggert shoots final round 65 (-5) to win by 2 strokes from defending champion Colin Montgomerie of Scotland
2020 – COVID-19 cases surge in southern and western US states with California, Texas and Florida closing bars, Arizona reports 20% of tests returning as positive