304 – Saint Emmanuel, Christian martyr killed under Diocletian
1880 – Mariano Soriano Fuertes y Piqueras, Spanish composer, dies at 62
1926 – Georges Vezina, Canadian NHL Hall of Fame goalie (Canadiens), dies from TB at 39
1932 – Jean Cartan, French composer, dies at 25
1934 – Grete Gulbransson, Austrian writer and poet (Geliebte Schatten), dies at 51
1943 – Lillien Jane Martin, American psychologist who founded the world’s 1st gerontology clinic in San Francisco, dies at 91
1973 – Don Messer, Canadian folk fiddler, and television host (Jubilee, 1959-73), dies of a heart attack at 63
1988 – Musa Kaleem [Orlando Wright], American jazz saxophonist, dies at 67
2002 – (Randolpho) Randy Castillo, American rock and mariachi drummer (Ozzy Osbourne; Mötley Crüe; Azul), dies of cancer at 51
2016 – Jim Harrison, American poet and novelist (Legends of the Fall), dies at 78
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 26th March 2024
1808 – Charles IV of Spain abdicates in favor of his son, Ferdinand VII
1845 – Joseph Francis from NYC, patents a corrugated sheet-iron lifeboat
1845 – Patent awarded for adhesive medicated plaster, precursor of band-aid
1903 – American Hotel opens in Amsterdam
1910 – William H. Lewis appointed US Assistant Attorney General
1951 – United States Air Force flag officially adopted by President Harry S. Truman
1956 – Red Buttons stars as an angel on TV anthology series “Studio One” episode “Tale of St. Emergency”
1970 – Folk singer Peter Yarrow (Peter, Paul and Mary) pleads guilty to “taking immoral liberties” with a 14-year-old girl and serves 3 months in prison; granted a presidential pardon in 1981
1970 – The Police (Northern Ireland) Act becomes law; the act provides for the disarmament of the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) and the establishment of an RUC reserve force
2018 – US, European Union and Ukraine expel more than 100 Russian diplomats in response to Russian use of nerve gas in UK
Today in History for 26th March 2024
Historical Events
1958 – The African Regroupment Party (PRA) is launched at a meeting in Paris
1973 – 35th NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: UCLA beats Memphis 81-76; Bruins’ 7th straight title; future Hall of Fame center Bill Walton tournament MOP for 2nd consecutive year
1983 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1995 – “Moliere Comedies” closes at Criterion Theater NYC after 56 performances
2014 – Laureus World Sports Awards, Istana Budaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Sportsman: Sebastian Vettel; Sportswoman: Genzebe Dibaba; Team: Germany Men’s National Football team
2017 – Mass protests in Chile over country’s privatised pension system
Famous Birthdays
1773 – Nathaniel Bowditch, American mathematician, astronomer and author (Marine Sextant), born in Salem, Province of Massachusetts Bay (d. 1838)
1931 – Charles Stepney, American pianist, arranger, and record producer (Chess Records; Minnie Riperton; Ramsey Lewis; Earth, Wind and Fire), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1976)
1941 – Barclay Plager, Canadian ice hockey defenceman (NHL All-Star 1970, 71, 73, 74 St. Louis Blues) and coach (St. Louis Blues 1977-83), born in Kirkland Lake, Ontario (d. 1988)
1959 – Chris Hansen, American reporter and correspondent (Dateline NBC: To Catch A Predator, 2004-07), born in Chicago, Illinois
1970 – Martin McDonagh, Irish playwright and filmmaker (In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths), born in London, England
1985 – Prosper Utseya, Zimbabwean cricket spin bowler and captain who played 4 Tests and 161 ODIs; Midlands, Manicaland, Mashonaland, born in Harare, Zimbabwe
Famous Deaths
1517 – Heinrich Isaac, Flemish composer, dies at about 67 [birth date uncertain, c. 1450]
1772 – Charles Pinot Duclos, French writer and historian, dies at 68
1923 – Sarah Bernhardt, French actress (Camille, Queen Elizabeth), dies of uremia at 78
1973 – Safford Cape, American-Belgian conductor, composer and music historian, dies at 67
2004 – Jan Berry, American musician (Jan and Dean), dies after a stroke at 62
2015 – John Renbourn, British jazz and folk guitarist and songwriter (Pentangle), dies of a heart attack at 70
Famous Deaths for 25th March 2024
1738 – Turlough O’Carolan, Irish harper and composer (b. 1670)
1931 – Ida B. Wells (-Barnett), American journalist, civil rights activist, and co-founder of the NAACP, dies at 68
1933 – Eric Jan Hanussen [Hermann Steinschneider], Austrian astrologist, clairvoyant, illusionist, and speaking tutor to Hitler, murdered at 43
1937 – John Drinkwater, English poet and playwright (Bird in Hand), dies at 54
1958 – Tom Brown, American dixieland jazz trombonist, dies at 69
1969 – Norman Gallichan, New Zealand cricket all-rounder (1 Test, HS 30, 3 wickets; Manawatu, Wellington), dies at 62
1996 – John Snagge, British newsreader and commentator for the BBC (Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race), dies at 91
1999 – Cal Ripken Sr, American baseball manager (Baltimore Orioles 1987-88; World Series 1983 [coach]), dies of lung cancer at 63
2007 – Andranik Margaryan, 14th Prime Minister of Armenia (2000-07), dies at 57
2023 – Pavel Krotov, Russian freestyle skier (World C’ship gold mixed team aerials 2021), dies at 30
Historical Events for 25th March 2024
1305 – Consecration of the Scrovegni Chapel (Arena Chapel) in Padua, Italy, with fresco masterpiece by Florentine painter Giotto
1581 – Portuguese Cortes (King’s Court) calls Philip II King of Portugal, further legitimatizing his rule
1865 – SS General Lyon at Cape Hatteras catches fire and sinks, killing 400
1900 – US Socialist Party forms in Indianapolis
1972 – “Selling of the President” closes at Shubert Theater NYC after 5 performances
1979 – Czech tennis star Martina Navratilova retains her WTA Tour Championship with a 6–3, 3–6, 6–2 win over American teenager Tracey Austin in NYC
1986 – Men’s Figure Skating Championship in Geneva won by Brian Boitano (USA)
1988 – “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, starring Carmen Maura and Antonio Banderas is released
2003 – Capitol/Nashville Records releases “Rules of Travel”, the tenth studio album by singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash; produced by husband John Leventhal, it includes a duet with her father Johnny Cash
2020 – Spain’s death toll from COVID-19 overtakes China’s at 3,434 to become then second worldwide behind Italy with 7,503 deaths with a worldwide toll of 20,836
Today in History for 25th March 2024
Historical Events
421 – Friday at 12 PM – city of Venice founded
1961 – 3rd place game is one of the wildest contests in NCAA Tournament history as St Joseph’s defeats Utah, 127-120 in quadruple overtime
1968 – Members of the Derry Housing Action Committee (DHAC) disrupt a meeting of Londonderry Corporation to protest at the lack of housing provision in the city, Northern Ireland
1979 – Czech tennis star Martina Navratilova retains her WTA Tour Championship with a 6–3, 3–6, 6–2 win over American teenager Tracey Austin in NYC
1985 – Edwin Meese III takes office as US Attorney General
2019 – Further power blackouts in Caracas, Venezuela, prompt government to tell workers and students to stay at home
Famous Birthdays
1532 – Pietro Pontio, Italian composer (Ragionamento di Musica), born in Parma, Duchy of Milan (d. 1596)
1762 – Francesco Giuseppe Pollini, Italian composer, singer, and pupil of Mozart, born in Ljubljana , Habsburg Empire (d. 1846)
1903 – Gertrude “Binnie” Barnes, actress (Last of the Mohicans, 3 Musketeers), born in London, England (d. 1998)
1930 – David Burge, American pianist, composer and conductor, born in Evanston, Illinois (d. 2013)
1960 – Idy Chan Yuk-Lin, Hong Kong actress
1982 – Álvaro Saborío, Costa Rican footballer
Famous Deaths
1223 – Afonso II, 3rd King of Portugal (1211-23), dies at 36
1692 – Gerardus Blasius, Flemish anatomist, dies at about 66
1712 – Nehemiah Grew, English naturalist (b. 1641)
1983 – Martha Sleeper, actress (Spitfire), dies of a heart attack at 72
1991 – Marcel Lefebvre, French Catholic prelate (b. 1905)
2020 – Mark Blum, American actor (Desperately Seeking Susan, Blind Date, Presidio), dies of COVID-19 complications at 69
Famous Deaths for 24th March 2024
1603 – Elizabeth I Tudor [Virgin Queen], Queen of England and Ireland (1558-1603) and daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, dies at 69
1877 – Walter Bagehot, English journalist and economist (founded National Review), dies at 51
1882 – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet (Song of Hiawatha), dies at 75
1888 – Vsevolod Garshin, Russian author (b. 1855)
1899 – Billy Barnes, English cricket all-rounder (21 Tests, 1 x 100, HS 134, 51 wickets, BB 6/28; Nottinghamshire CCC), dies at 46
1910 – Galen Clark, Canadian-born American naturalist and conservationist (discovered and helped preserve Mariposa’s Grove of giant Sequoia trees), dies at 95
1968 – Lauwrens Voorthuyzen, Dutch sect leader, dies at 70
1977 – Saburō Moroi, Japanese composer and educator, dies at 73
2010 – Jules van Neerven, Dutch economist, journalist, and editor (Limbourg Daily), dies at 80
2020 – Albert Uderzo, French cartoonist and script writer (Asterix comic books), dies at 92
Historical Events for 24th March 2024
1877 – University boat race between Oxford and Cambridge ends in a dead heat
1972 – Great Britain imposes direct rule over Northern Ireland
1980 – Capitol Records releases some rare Beatles tracks on the LP “Rarites”
1981 – Bombay beat Delhi by innings and 46 to win Ranji Cricket Trophy
1982 – US sub Jacksonville collides with a Turkish freighter near Virginia
1987 – 1st Soul Train Music Awards: Janet Jackson, Luther Vandross win
1990 – Tom Hunter swims world record 50m freestyle (21.81 sec)
1996 – MTA raises NYC bridge tolls to $3.50 each way
1997 – 69th Academy Awards: “The English Patient”, Geoffrey Rush and Frances McDormand win
2015 – Germanwings flight on route between Barcelona and Düsseldorf crashes in the French Alps killing all 150 on board
Today in History for 24th March 2024
Historical Events
1883 – 1st telephone call between NY and Chicago
1905 – A group of Cretans dedicated to Crete’s union with Greece led by Eleutherios Venizelos, meet at the village of Therisso and proclaim a union in defiance of the Great Powers
1979 – 10 rebounds and 10 assists, as the Spartans cruise to a 101-67 by Penn Mich State’s Earvin “Magic” Johnson registers triple-double 29 pts
1990 – Indian troops leave Sri Lanka
1999 – “The Matrix” film written and directed by The Wachowskis, starring Keanu Reeve, Lawrence Fishburne and Carrie-Ann Moss premieres
2013 – Scotland defeats Sweden to win the 2013 World Women’s Curling Championship
Famous Birthdays
1919 – John J. Duncan Sr., American politician (Rep-R-TN, 1965-1988), born in Huntsville, Tennessee (d. 1988)
1938 – David Irving, British historian
1951 – Dougie Thompson, Scottich bassist (Supertramp – “Bloody Well Right”), born in Glasgow, Scotland
1957 – Scott J Horowitz, PhD/Capt USAF/astronaut (STS 75, 82), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1960 – Kelly LeBrock, American actress (Weird Science, Woman in Red), born in New York City
1977 – Natalie Hemby (Wrucke), American Grammy Award-winning country music songwriter (Miranda Lambert – “Only Prettier”; “Automatic”; Toby Keith – “Drinks After Work”), and singer (The Highwomen), born in Bloomington, Illinois
Famous Deaths
1396 – Walter Hilton, English mystic
1563 – Hosokawa Harumoto, Japanese military leader (b. 1514)
1823 – Cornelis van Foreest, Dutch politician, Mayor of Alkmaar, dies at 66
1993 – John Hersey, American author (Hiroshima, Bell for Adano, Wall), dies at 78
2010 – Robert Culp, American actor, screenwriter, voice actor, and director (I Spy, Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice), dies at 79
2020 – Albert Uderzo, French cartoonist and script writer (Asterix comic books), dies at 92
Famous Deaths for 23rd March 2024
1361 – Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster, richest peer in England, dies at 50 or 51
1653 – Johan van Galen, Dutch admiral (commanded Dutch fleet during Battle of Leghorn), dies of wounds from the Battle of Leghorn at about 48
1748 – Johann Gottfried Walther, German composer and musicologist, dies at 63
1786 – Patience Wright, 1st US woman pro artist, dies (birth date unknown)
1819 – August von Kotzebue, German dramatist, dies at 57
1987 – Adriaan Pitlo, Dutch lawyer, dies at 85
1991 – Parkash Singh, Indian soldier, recipient of the Victoria Cross (b. 1913)
1995 – Russell Reading Braddon, Australian author, dies at 74
2000 – Dick van Niehoff, Dutch pop vocalist (Fouryo), dies at 62
2006 – Sarah Caldwell, American conductor/opera director (Flagstaff), dies at 82