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
Author: gil7
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)
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
Famous Deaths for 22nd April 2024
536 – St. Agapetus I, Bishop of Rome (535-36), dies at 46
1355 – Eleonora Plantagenet, daughter of King Edward II, dies at 36
1616 – Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra, Spanish author (Don Quixote), dies of likely diabetes at 68
1844 – Henri-Montan Berton, French composer, dies at 76
1933 – Henry Royce, English industrialist and automobile founder (Rolls-Royce), dies at 70
1976 – Frutuoso de Lima Viana, Brazilian pianist and composer, dies at 79
1983 – Earl “Fatha” Hines, American jazz pianist and bandleader (Deep Forest), dies at 79
1994 – Jack Bently, English trombonist, dies at 80
1996 – Harold “Jug” McSpaden, American golfer, course designer (17 PGA Tour wins), dies of carbon monoxide poisoning at 87
2023 – Mike Coulman, English rugby union prop (9 Tests England, 1 British and Irish Lions; Moseley RUFC) and rugby league front rower (3 Tests GB, 5 England; Salford RLFC), dies at 78
Historical Events for 22nd April 2024
1164 – Raynald of Dassel names Guido di Crema as anti-pope Paschalis III
1793 – President Washington attends opening of Rickett’s, 1st circus in US
1823 – Baltic Club (Exchange) forms in London
1969 – Robin Knox-Johnston ends 312 days of non-stop sailing to become the 1st person to perform a single-handed non-stop circumnavigation of the globe
1977 – Shimon Peres becomes Acting Prime Minister of Israel
1983 – Stern mag announces major historical find-discovery of 60 volume personal diaries written by Adolf Hitler (turned out to be a hoax)
1986 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1992 – Plane crash at Perris Valley Airport California, kills 16 parachutists
1993 – Seattle Mariner Chris Basio no-hits Boston Red Sox
2000 – In a pre-dawn raid, federal agents seize six-year-old Elián González from his relatives’ home in Miami, Florida.
Today in History for 22nd April 2024
Historical Events
1893 – Francis Dhanis army occupies Kasongo
1959 – Yankee Whitey Ford strikes out 15, beating Senators, 1-0 in 14 innings
1962 – Stanley Cup Final, Chicago Stadium, Chicago, IL: Dick Duff scores the winner as Toronto Maple Leafs beat Chicago Blackhawks, 2-1 for a 4-2 series victory
1977 – Shimon Peres becomes Acting Prime Minister of Israel
1981 – USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
1990 – NFL Draft: University of Illinois quarterback Jeff George first pick by Indianapolis Colts
Famous Birthdays
1864 – Phil May, English cartoonist, born in Wortley, Leeds (d. 1903)
1920 – Jos de Haes, Flemish philological and poet (Misery of the Word), born in Leuven, Belgium (d. 1974)
1926 – Charlotte Rae, American character actress, (Facts Of Life – “Edna”), comedian, singer and dancer, born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (d. 2018)
1933 – Anthony Llewellyn, Welsh-American scientist and NASA astronaut, born in Cardiff, Wales (d. 2013)
1943 – Steve Dunne, New Zealand cricket umpire (39 Tests; 100 ODIs), born in Dunedin. Otago
1955 – Arthur Baker, American music producer (Afrika Banbaataa; Planet Rock; New Order), born in Boston, Massachusetts
Famous Deaths
1648 – Catharina Belgica of Nassau and Countess and Regent of Hanau-Münzenberg, Dutch daughter of William I of Orange, dies at 69
1827 – Thomas Rowlandson, English artist and caricaturist, dies at 70
1896 – Thomas Meik, Scottish civil engineer, dies at 84
2003 – Martha Griffiths, U.S. Congresswoman, dies at 91
2008 – Cameron Argetsinger, American auto racing executive (created Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course; F1 US Grand Prix 1961-80), dies from a stroke at 87
2019 – Dave Samuels, American vibraphonist (Spyro Gyra-Morning Dance), dies at 70
Famous Deaths for 21st April 2024
1898 – Louis Théodore Gouvy, French-German composer, dies at 78
1910 – Mark Twain [Samuel Clemens], American author (Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer), dies at 74
1981 – Harry Lee, cricketer (scored 18 and 1 in only Test for England), dies
1982 – Joe Sawyer [Sauers], Canadian actor (Adventures of Rin Tin Tin – “Sgt. Biff O’Hara”), dies of liver cancer at 75
1985 – Rudi Gernreich, Austrian-American fashion designer (monokini, miniskirt), dies of cancer at 62
1992 – Robert Harris, American criminal and murderer, executed in a gas chamber at 39 in San Quentin State Prison, California
2000 – Neal Matthews, Jr., American singer (The Jordanaires), dies at 70
2005 – Gerry Marshall, British auto racer (625 x overall and class saloon wins), dies from heart failure at 63
2013 – Leopold Engleitner, Austrian Holocaust survivor, dies at 107
2013 – Chrissy Amphlett, Australian singer- songwriter (Divinyls – “I Touch Myself”), dies of breast cancer at 53