1415 – English King Henry V lays the foundation stone for Syon Abbey for nuns of the Bridgettine Order. Became one of the wealthiest abbeys in England.
1633 – St. Peter’s Baldachin, the cathedral’s sculptural centerpiece, by Gian Lorenzo Bernini is inaugurated by Pope Urban VIII in Rome
1922 – London issues a unilateral declaration of Egyptian independence
1935 – Airplanes are no longer permitted to fly over the White House
1941 – German assault on El Agheila Libya
1945 – British troops take Ramree Island, Burma
1956 – 1st English soccer match at Kunstlicht: Portsmouth vs Newcastle United
1989 – UK physicist Stephen Hawking calls the proposed missile defense system known as Star Wars a “deliberate fraud”
1998 – Petr Svoboda scores the winner as the Czech Republic claims its first ever Olympic ice hockey gold medal with a 1-0 victory over Russia in Nagano, Japan
2014 – Snowboard Olympic parallel special slalom event debuts and is run for the only time at the Sochi Winter Games; Russian Vic Wild and Julia Dujmovits of Canada win unique gold medals
Author: gil7
Today in History for 22nd February 2024
Historical Events
1882 – The Serbian kingdom is refounded.
1906 – Black evangelist William J Seymour arrives in Los Angeles, California
1922 – London issues a unilateral declaration of Egyptian independence
1979 – Billy Martin named manager of Oakland A’s
2003 – Pakistani pace bowler Shoaib Akhtar bowls the fastest ball recorded in cricket history at 100.2 mph (161.3 km/h)
2014 – Viktor Yanukovych is ousted as President of Ukraine by the parliament following the Euromaidan revolution
Famous Birthdays
1881 – Joseph B. Ely, American politician (d. 1956)
1920 – Del Wood [Adelaide Hazelwood], American country musician, born in Nashville, Tennessee (d. 1989)
1929 – Rebecca Schull [Wattenberg], American actress (Wings, United 93), born in New York City
1949 – Olga Morozova, Russian tennis player, born in Moscow, Soviet Union
1962 – Lenda Murray, American body builder (4X Ms Olympia), born in Detroit, Michigan
1962 – Mark Arm [McLaughlin], American grunge rock singer-songwriter, (Green River; Mudhoney), born at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
Famous Deaths
1213 – Wibert of Gembloers, benediction/writer/abbot of Gembloers, dies
1849 – Alexander Fesca, German pianist and composer, dies at 28
1960 – Paul-Émile Borduas, Canadian abstract painter, dies at 54
1983 – Christina E “Christine” Auwen, singer and wife of John Kelly, dies at 75
1993 – Pieter A H Bos, Dutch lawyer/procureur-general (Aruba), dies at 63
2009 – Günter Kochan, German composer, dies at 78
Famous Deaths for 21st February 2024
1624 – Dirck van Baburen, Dutch painter (Sepulture), dies at about 28
1823 – Charles Wolfe, Irish poet, dies at 31
1842 – Wojciech Żywny, Polish pianist, composer and Chopin’s first piano teacher, dies at 85
1919 – Habibullah Khan, Emir of Afghanistan (1901-19), murdered at 46
1948 – Frederick Lamond, Scottish pianist and composer, dies at 80
1992 – Franc Holden, British astronomer (Binary Stars), dies
1993 – Dick White, British intelligence officer (Director General of MI5 1953–1956; Head of the Secret Intelligence Service 1956–1968), dies at 86
1997 – Michael Hollings, British Catholic priest/crusader, dies at 75
2015 – Bruce Sinofsky, American documentary film director (Brother’s Keeper), dies at 58 from diabetes complications
2016 – Roger Chorley [Baron Chorley), English accountant and peer (Chorley Report, President of the Royal Geographical Society), dies at 85
Historical Events for 21st February 2024
1797 – Trinidad, West Indies, a Spanish colony, surrenders to the British
1821 – Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire begins
1828 – 1st American Indian newspaper in US, “Cherokee Phoenix”, published
1916 – World War I: Battle of Verdun begins with a German offensive, leads to an estimated 1 million casualties and becomes the longest battle of the entire war (9 months)
1921 – Constituent Assembly of the Democratic Republic of Georgia adopts the country’s first constitution
1927 – Franz Lehár’s opera “Der Zarewitsch” premieres
1958 – Egypt-Syria as United Arab Republic elect Nasser president (99.9% vote)
1969 – Ted Williams signs 5-year contract to manage Washington Senators
1978 – Electrical workers accidentally discover the Aztec Templo Mayor, or High Temple, two blocks from Mexico City’s central square, the Zócalo
2015 – 35th Golden Raspberry Awards: “Saving Christmas” wins worst film
Today in History for 21st February 2024
Historical Events
1440 – The Prussian Confederation is formed
1911 – Gustav Mahler conducts his last concerto, Berceuse élégiaque, in New York City
1982 – “Little Me” closes at Eugene O’Neill Theater NYC after 36 performances
1993 – Sergei Bubka pole vaults world record indoor (6.15 m)
1995 – RAF-pilot Jo Salter is 1st woman to fly in a tornado
1997 – NASA’s STS 82 (Space Shuttle Discovery 22) lands
Famous Birthdays
1880 – Frank Orth, American actor (Boston Blackie, Brothers), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1962)
1887 – Savielly Tartakower, Austrian-Polish-French chess player, born in Rostov-on-Don, Russian Empire (d. 1956)
1925 – Al Fann, American actor (Alvin-He’s the Mayor), born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 2018)
1949 – Jerry Harrison, American rock keyboardist and guitarist (Talking Heads; solo “Rev It Up”), and record producer (Kenny Wayne Shepherd; Bo-Deans; The String Cheese Incident), born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
1958 – Steve Nieve [Nason], British session and touring keyboard player and composer (Elvis Costello), born in Bishop’s Stortford, England
1970 – Marc Woodard, American NFL linebacker (Philadelphia Eagles), born in Kosciusko, Mississippi
Famous Deaths
1846 – Emperor Ninko, 120th Emperor of Japan (1817-46), dies at 45
1918 – Neltje Blanchan, American nature writer, dies at 52
1919 – Mary Edwards Walker, American surgeon and feminist, only woman awarded Medal of Honor (US Civil War), dies at 86
1941 – Frederick Banting, Canadian physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, dies in a plane crash at 49
1985 – Ina Claire [Fagan], American stage and screen actress (Ninotchika), dies of a heart attack at 91
1993 – Dick White, British intelligence officer (Director General of MI5 1953–1956; Head of the Secret Intelligence Service 1956–1968), dies at 86
Famous Deaths for 20th February 2024
1431 – Pope Martin V [Oddo Colonna] dies, (b. 1368)
1771 – Jean Jacques d’Ortous de Mairan, French geophysicist, dies at 92
1779 – Johannes Burman, Dutch botanist, plant author and physician, dies at 71
1803 – Marie Dumesnil, French actress (Iphigénie en Aulide), dies at 90
1904 – Gustav Adolf Heinze, Dutch composer, dies at 83
1920 – Jacinta Marto, Portuguese saint and youngest witness of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Fátima, dies in the flu epidemic at 9
1964 – R T Stanyforth, English cricket wicket-keeper (South Africa 1927-28), dies
1987 – Adrian Cruft, British composer, dies at 66
2010 – Alexander Haig Jr, American General and 59th Secretary of State (1981-82), dies from a staphylococcal infection at 85
2022 – Joni James [Joan Babbo], American pop singer (“Why Don’t You Believe Me?”; “How Important Can It Be?”), dies at 91
Historical Events for 20th February 2024
1865 – Massachusetts Institute of Technology forms 1st US collegiate architectural school
1956 – WOSU TV channel 34 in Columbus, OH (PBS) begins broadcasting
1963 – Australian cricket greats Neil Harvey and Alan Davidson play final Test match in drawn 5th Test vs England at the Sydney Cricket Ground
1975 – USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1989 – Members of 1949 Oklahoma football team cancel an April reunion because of the deplorable conduct of Oklahoma players
1998 – Vancouver Canucks’ right wing Pavel Bure scores 5 goals for Russia in a 7-4 semi-final win over Finland at the Nagano Winter Olympics
1999 – Toronto Maple Leafs play their first NHL home game at Air Canada Centre; Steve Thomas scores overtime winner in a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens
2013 – Estonia becomes the first country to establish a national system of fast chargers for electric cars
2014 – Marie-Philip Poulin scores in overtime to lead Canada to a 3-2 win over the US and 4th consecutive Olympic women’s ice hockey gold medal at the Sochi Winter Games
2017 – Famine is declared in Unity State, South Sudan, affecting 4.9 million
Today in History for 20th February 2024
Historical Events
1926 – Montreal and Ottawa battle out just the second 0-0 tie in NHL history; dominant goalies are Clint Benedict (Maroons) and Alex Connell (Senators)
1971 – National Emergency Center erroneously orders US radio and TV stations to go off the air. Mistake wasn’t resolved for 30 minutes
1976 – The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands.
1988 – Stefka Kostadinova of Bulgaria sets high jumps indoor world record (2.06 m)
1988 – Andre Hoffmann skates world record 1500m (1:52.06)
2014 – Aberdeen, Washington unveils statue of a weeping Kurt Cobain at park named after the singer
Famous Birthdays
1779 – Augustus Callcott, English landscape painter, born in Kensington Gravel Pits, England (d. 1844)
1794 – William Carleton, Irish novelist (d. 1869)
1802 – Charles-Auguste de Beriot, Belgian violinist and composer, born in Leuven, Belgium (d. 1870)
1967 – Kurt Knudsen, American baseball pitcher (Detroit Tigers)
1971 – Shawn McKenzie, American programmer
1978 – Julia Jentsch, German actress
Famous Deaths
1855 – Joseph Hume, Scottish doctor and social reformer, dies at 78
1860 – Henry Drummond, English banker and religious leader, dies at 69
1911 – (Peter) Nicolai von Wilm, German-Baltic pianist and composer, dies at 76
1976 – Kathryn Kuhlman, religious leader/faith healer, dies
2004 – J. J. Malone, American soul singer (“It’s A Shame”), dies of cancer at 68
2005 – John Raitt, American stage and screen singer and actor (Carousel; Pajama Game), dies from pneumonia at 88
Famous Deaths for 19th February 2024
1553 – Erasmus Reinhold, German mathematician (calculated planetary table), dies at 41
1864 – William Edwin Baldwin, US Confederate brigadier general, dies in a horse accident at 36
1887 – Multatuli [Eduard Douwes Dekker], Dutch writer (Max Havelaar), dies at 66
1962 – Georgios Papanicolaou, Greek-American doctor, cytopathologist, and inventor of the Pap smear, dies at 78
1997 – Stan Pearson, English soccer inside forward (8 caps; Manchester United, Bury, Chester), dies at 76
1998 – (Louis) “Grandpa” Jones, American country music singer and banjo wizard (Hee Haw), dies at 84
2001 – Stanley Kramer, American producer/director (Inherit the Wind), dies at 87
2013 – Donald Richie, American-born author and (Japanese) film critic, dies at 88
2020 – Heather Couper, British astronomer and presenter (The Sky at Night), dies at 70
2023 – Greg Foster, American athlete (3 x World C’ship gold 110m hurdles; Olympic silver 1984), dies from amyloidosis at 64
Historical Events for 19th February 2024
1574 – Spanish troops plunder Krommenie, Wormerveer and Jisp, Netherlands
1600 – Peruvian stratovolcano Huaynaputina explodes in the most violent eruption in South American recorded history
1900 – British troops occupy Hlangwane, Natal
1928 – II Winter Olympic Games close at St Moritz, Switzerland
1946 – New York Giants outfielder Danny Gardella is 1st major leaguer to announce he is jumping to the “outlaw” Mexican Baseball League for a fee of $10,000
1950 – Groundbreaking ceremony held for Mississippi Vocational College (later Mississippi Valley State University)
1953 – William Inge’s “Picnic” premieres in NYC
1985 – ADM of Amsterdam declares bankruptcy
1995 – Kenneth Koch wins Bollingen Prize for One Train (1994) and On The Great Atlantic Rainway: Selected Poems 1950-1988 (1994)
2023 – Brazilian state of Sao Paulo hit by flooding and landslides after heavy rain, with at least 44 killed and 800 homeless