1648 – French theologian Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet obtains his first thesis in theology with Louis II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, as a witness
1721 – Tsar Peter the Great makes the Moscow patriarchate and Russian Orthodox Church subordinate to the state
1904 – 179 die in coal mine explosion at Cheswick, Pennsylvania
1904 – John Millington Synge’s play “Riders to the Sea” premieres in Dublin
1909 – Richard Strauss’ one-act opera “Elektra” premieres in Dresden
1959 – 1st transcontinental commercial jet flight (American) (LA to NY for $301)
1964 – Dale Wasserman’s stage play “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”, adapted from the novel by Ken Kesey, starring Kirk Douglas, Ed Ames; Joan Tetzel, and Gene Wilder, closes at Cort Theatre, NYC, after 82 performances
1988 – Ramsewak Shankar sworn in as President of Suriname
1989 – Augusto Alcalde, 1st South American Zen teacher, receives Dharma Transmission
1996 – Ottawa Senators set an NHL record with 16th consecutive home game without a win (0-15-1) in a 4-2 loss to Detroit at the Palladium; old record (15) shared by 1928 Black Hawks and 1939 Canadiens
Author: gil7
Today in History for 25th January 2024
Historical Events
1861 – Augusta Arsenal seized by the Confederacy in Georgia (US Civil War)
1890 – National Afro-American League founded in Chicago by Timothy Thomas Fortune, one of earliest civil rights organizations in America
1919 – The Hotel Pennsylvania, at the time the world’s largest, opens in Manhattan
1955 – Russia ends state of war with Germany
1987 – 3rd Sundance Film Festival: “Waiting for the Moon” and “The Trouble with Dick” (tie) win Grand Jury Prize Dramatic
1994 – Australia beat South Africa 2-1 to win cricket’s World Series Cup
Famous Birthdays
1509 – Giovanni Morone, Italian cardinal, born in Milan, Italy (d. 1580)
1866 – Emile Vandervelde, President (1900–1918) of the International Socialist Bureau and Minister of 3 Belgian governments (d. 1938)
1957 – Andrew P. Harris, American politician and physician, born in New York City
1961 – Michele Tobin, American actress (Fitzpatricks), born in Chicago, Illinois
1966 – Paul Ranheim, American NHL left wing (Hartford Whalers), born in St. Louis, Missouri
1976 – Mario Haberfeld, Brazilian racing car driver, born in São Paulo, Brazil
Famous Deaths
1627 – Louis Hébert, French apothecary, kings attorney and colonist of New France, dies at 51 or 52
1907 – René Pottier, French racing cyclist (Tour de France 1906), dies of suicide at 27
1963 – Wilson Kettle, of Newfoundland, dies at 102, leaving 582 living descendants
1975 – Charlotte Whitton, Canadian politician, Mayor of Ottawa (1951-56), dies at 78
1995 – Tom Brugman, Dutch puppeteer (Brave Dodo), dies at 62
1998 – Mohammad Yusuf Khan, prime minister of Afganistan in (1963-65), dies
Famous Deaths for 24th January 2024
1924 – Thephilo Braga, Portuguese poet and politician, dies at 80
1989 – Ted Bundy, American serial killer of up to 100 women during the 1970s, executed by electric chair in Florida at 42
1992 – John Bleifer, American actor (Highway to Heaven), dies at 90
1998 – Walter Bishop, Jr, American bebop jazz pianist, music theorist, and educator, dies of a heart attack at 70
2002 – Elie Hobeika, Lebanese Forces militia commander (b. 1956)
2005 – June Bronhill, Australian stage and opera singer, dies at 75
2006 – Schafik Handal, Salvadoran politician
2020 – Rob Rensenbrink, Dutch soccer left winger or forward (46 caps; Anderlecht), dies of progressive muscular atrophy at 72
2021 – Jóhannes Eðvaldsson, Icelandic soccer defender (34 caps; Celtic, Tulsa Roughnecks, Hannover 96, Motherwell), dies from COVID-19 at 70
2021 – George Armstrong, Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame centre (Stanley Cup 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1966–67 Toronto Maple Leafs; 7 x NHL All Star), dies from heart complications at 90
Historical Events for 24th January 2024
1568 – In Netherlands, Duke of Alva declares William I of Orange an outlaw
1722 – Edward Wigglesworth appointed 1st north American divinity professor (Harvard)
1908 – Lieutenant General Robert Baden-Powell publishes “Scouting for Boys” as a manual for self-instruction in outdoor skills and self-improvement. The book becomes the inspiration for the Scout Movement.
1959 – WHCT TV channel 18 in Hartford, CT (IND) begins broadcasting
1960 – Algeria uprises against French President de Gaulle
1969 – Students protest the erection of steel gates around the London School of Economics
1970 – Valeri Muratov skates world record 500m (38.99 sec)
1985 – 15th Space Shuttle (51-C) Mission-Discovery 3 is launched
1988 – NBC premiere of fact based “The Murder of Mary Phagan”
2023 – Third baseman Scott Rolen (Philadelphia Philleis, St. Louis Cardinals) elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
Today in History for 24th January 2024
Historical Events
1857 – University of Calcutta founded as the first full-fledged university in South Asia
1961 – Lazard Brothers Ltd draw a check for $334,867,807.68
1986 – NHL New York Islanders Mike Bossy scores his 1,000th point
1988 – 4th Sundance Film Festival: “Heat and Sunlight” wins Grand Jury Prize Dramatic
1988 – Australian Open Men’s Tennis: Mats Wilander wins 3rd Australian title; beats home town favourite Pat Cash 6-3, 6-7, 3-6, 6-1, 8-6
2013 – A Japanese Coast guard ship engages a Taiwanese activist ship in the Senkaku Islands dispute
Famous Birthdays
1712 – Georg Friedrich Schmidt, German engraver and etcher (court artist for King Frederick of Prussia and Empress Elizabeth of Russia), born in Wandlitz (d. 1775)
1798 – Karl von Holtei, Silesian actor, playwright and author (Die Vagabunden), born in Poland (d. 1880)
1828 – Adam Jacoby Slemmer, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania (d. 1868)
1886 – Henry King, Christiansburg Virginia, American film director (d. 1982)
1972 – Naoshi Mizuta, Japanese composer, born in Kōchi
1977 – Lenka Cenkova, Czech tennis player (1995 Futures-Vaihingen-GER), born in Trinec, Czechia
Famous Deaths
817 – Stefanus IV, Pope (816-17), dies
1812 – Eligio Celestino, Italian violinist and composer, dies at 72
1948 – Arthur Liebehenschel, Polish Commandant at the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp, executed for war crimes at 48
1995 – David Cole, American songwriter ( C+C Music Factory – “Gonna Make You Sweat”), and record producer (Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin, James Brown), dies at 32
2003 – (Giovanni) “Gianni”Agnelli, Italian industrialist, executive (President of Fiat Automobiles, 1966-96), and Italian Senator-for-life (1991-), dies of prostate cancer at 81
2012 – James Farentino, American actor (The Final Countdown; Dynasty; Mary), dies of heart failure at 73
Famous Deaths for 23rd January 2024
1549 – Johannes Honter, Transylvanian Saxon humanist and theologian (b. 1498)
1926 – Joseph Carl Breil, American lyric tenor, and composer – one of the first to write for film (Les amours de la reine Élisabeth; Birth of a Nation; Intolerance), dies of heart disease at 55
1944 – Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter (The Scream), dies at 80, bequeathing all of his work to the city of Oslo
1957 – Willie Edwards, US African American, murdered by KKK at 25
1973 – Alexander Onassis, Greek heir of the Onassis family (b. 1948)
1976 – Aleksey Vasilyevich Sorokin, Russian cosmonaut, dies at 44
1980 – Babs Gonzales [Lee Brown], American be-bop jazz vocalist, poet, and songwriter (“Oop-Pop-A-Da”), dies of cancer at 60
1991 – Northrop Frye, Canadian writer and critic (b. 1912)
1997 – Audie Pitre, American bass guitarist (Acid Bath), killed by a drunk driver at 26
2003 – Nell Carter, American actress (Gimme A Break; Lobo), dies at 54
Historical Events for 23rd January 2024
1849 – Elizabeth Blackwell becomes 1st woman in the US to earn a medical degree graduating from New York’s Geneva Medical College
1855 – 1st bridge over the Mississippi River in what is now Minneapolis, Minnesota, opens; today made by the Father Louis Hennepin Bridge
1879 – US National Archery Association forms in Crawfordsville, Indiana
1958 – “Body Beautiful” opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 60 performances
1958 – Dictator Marcos Perez Jiménez flees Venezuela, Larrazabal takes power
1962 – British intelligence officer Kim Philby defects to USSR
1976 – The results to U.S. advice columnist Ann Landers’ question (if they could do it all over, would parents still become parents) state that 70% of 10,000 responding parents were negative about being parents
1993 – Indian Airlines B737 crashes at Aurangabad, killing 61
1998 – Michael Jordan scores in double figures for 800th consecutive game in a 100-98 OT win over New Jersey; adds 40 more double-figure scoring games to his NBA record before retiring for the second time (1998)
2018 – American singer-songwriter Neil Diamond abruptly retires from touring after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease
Today in History for 23rd January 2024
Historical Events
1265 – 1st English Parliament not summoned by the monarch formally convened (some authorities)
1904 – Ålesund Fire: the Norwegian coastal town Ålesund is devastated by fire, leaving 10,000 people homeless and one person dead. Kaiser Wilhelm II funds the rebuilding of the town in Jugendstil style.
1969 – Cream releases their last album “Goodbye”
1973 – 23rd NBA All-Star Game, Chicago Stadium: East beats West, 104-84; MVP: Dave Cowens, Boston Celtics, C
1994 – Bernie Kosar is 2nd QB to throw TD passes in AFC and NFC Champ games
2005 – “Numb3rs”, starring Rob Morrow and David Krumholtz, debuts on CBS
Famous Birthdays
1786 – Auguste de Montferrand, French architect, born in Trocadéro, Paris (d. 1858)
1919 – Hans Hass, Austrian zoologist and underwater scientist, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 2013)
1941 – (Perry) “Buddy” Buie, American rock songwriter, and record producer (Atlanta Rhythm Section – “So Into You”; “Imaginary Lover”), born in Marianna, Florida (d. 2015)
1961 – Fausto Gresini, Italian Grand Prix motorcycle racer (125cc World C’ship 1985, 87) and team manager (Aprilia Racing, Gresini MotoGP), born in Imola, Italy (d. 2021)
1967 – Robert Globb, Slovenian politician (Prime Minister of Slovenia 2022-), born in Šempeter pri Gorici, Yugoslavia
1971 – Kevin Mawae, American football center (Seattle Seahawks), born in Savannah, Georgia
Famous Deaths
1866 – Thomas Love Peacock, English satirical writer (headlong Hill), dies at 80
1936 – Clara Butt, English alto singer (Country of Hope and Glory), dies at 62
1972 – Big Maybelle [Mabel Smith], American RandB singer (A Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On; Candy), dies from complications of diabetes at 47
2001 – Eugene [Brother Jack] McDuff, American jazz organist (George Benson, Brother Jack), dies of heart failure at 74
2017 – Gorden Kaye, British actor (Allo Allo), dies at 75
2021 – Larry King [Zeiger], American radio and TV host (“Larry King Live”, CNN), dies of sepsis and renal failure at 87
Famous Deaths for 22nd January 2024
1750 – Franz Xaver Josef von Unertl, Bavarian politician (b. 1675)
1959 – A J Else Mauhs, German/Dutch actress (Hamlet, Nora), dies at 73
1967 – Robert Henriques, English writer (100 Hours to Suez), dies at 61
1975 – Klaas Voskuil, Dutch journalist, dies at 79
1994 – Jean-Louis Barrault, French stage actor, director and producer (Les Enfants du Paradis), dies at 83
1995 – Christopher Francis Palmer, British composer, orchestrator, and musicologist, dies of AIDS complications 48
1997 – Ian Munro, British medical journalist, humanitarian and cricketer, dies at 73
2000 – Anne Hébert, French Canadian author and poet (Kamouraska), dies at 83
2014 – Roy Cicala, American sound engineer (Record Plant Studios (NYC) – Jimi Hendrix; John Lennon; Frank Sinatra), dies at 74
2022 – Don Wilson, American rock guitarist (The Ventures – “Hawaii 5-0 Theme”; “Walk, Don’t Run”), dies at 88
Historical Events for 22nd January 2024
1472 – Great comet of 1471 (C/1471 Y1) becomes the closest comet in modern times, coming within 10 million kilometers of Earth
1517 – Ottoman forces take Cairo, capital of the Mamluk Sultanate
1931 – Sir Isaac Isaacs is sworn in as the first Australian-born Governor-General of Australia
1945 – Burma highway reopens
1953 – 1953 NFL Draft: Harry Babcock from University of Georgia first pick by San Francisco 49ers
1969 – Orbiting Solar Observatory 5 launched into earth orbit
1987 – Pennsylvania politician R. Budd Dwyer shoots and kills himself at a press conference on live national television, leading to debates on boundaries in journalism
1994 – 51st Golden Globes: Schlinder’s List, Tom Hanks, and Holly Hunter win
1998 – STS 89 (Endeavour 12) launches into orbit
2018 – Netflix becomes the largest digital media and entertainment company in the world worth $100 billion