Author: gil7

Historical Events

1504 – Treaty of Blois signed between Philip of Burgundy, Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and French King Louis XII
1890 – First known ascent of Mt. Olympus, Washington, by an expedition led by Joseph P. O’Neil
1955 – Commercial television begins in the UK with the launch of ITV, soon airs the 1st advert on UK TV, for Gibbs SR toothpaste
1961 – Antonio Albertondo (Argentina) completes 1st “double” crossing swim of English Channel in 43 hrs 10 min at 42.
1971 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
2013 – Angela Merkel and the Christian Democrats win a third term with their best result since 1990 in German Federal elections

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1547 – Philipp Nikodemus Frischlin, German philologist and poet (d. 1590)
1788 – Theodore Hook, English author, famous practical joker and recipient of the world’s 1st postcard, born in London (d. 1841)
1885 – Erich von Stroheim, Austrian-American film director and actor (Greed; La Grande Illusion; Sunset Boulevard), born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (d. 1957)
1936 – Art Metrano, American comedian (Amy Prentiss, Joanie Loves Chachi), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2021)
1953 – Richard Fairbrass, English singer and bassist (Right Said Fred), born in Kingston upon Thames, England
1978 – Ed Joyce, Irish-English cricketer, born in Dublin, Ireland

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1286 – Mugaku Sogen, Zen Rinzai line founder of Engakuji temple, dies at 60
1399 – Thomas de Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, English politician (b. 1366)
1970 – Alice Hamilton, American physician, scientist and social advocate (workmen’s compensation laws, occupational illnesses), dies at 101
1971 – Yvonne St Clair, American dancer, dies at 57
2004 – Big Boss Man [Ray Washington Traylor Jr.], American professional wrestler, dies at 41
2005 – Johan “Joop” Doderer, Dutch actor (Swiebertje; My Fair Lady), dies at 84

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1451 – Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa orders Jews of Holland to wear a badge
1958 – American pilots Jim Heth and Bill Burkhart complete 1st airplane flight exceeding 1200 hours (50 days, 16 minutes), landing “The Old Scotchman”, their modified Cessna 172 in Dallas, Texas; record broken 123 days later
1970 – Oakland A’s Vida Blue no-hits Minnesota Twins, 6-0
2013 – 100 people are killed in a series of attacks across Iraq
2017 – Discovery of the first brainless animal that sleeps, the jellyfish Cassiopea, research published in “Current Biology” by Caltech scientists
2022 – New York Attorney General Letitia James files lawsuit against Donald Trump and three of his children, alleging widespread fraud through inflating his personal net worth by billions of dollars

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1452 – Girolamo Savonarola, Italian preacher and dictator of Florence (1494-98), born in Ferrara, Italy (d. 1498)
1905 – Robert Lebel, French Canadian ice hockey executive, born in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada (d. 1999)
1931 – Sykuro Manabe, Japanese-American meteorologist (2021 Nobel Prize for Physics for pioneering work on climate change), born in Ehime, Japan
1945 – Richard Childress, NASCAR team owner
1968 – Jon Brookes, English drummer (The Charlatans), born in Burntwood, Staffordshire (d. 2013)
1991 – Jordan Hasay, American track and field athlete

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

687 – Conon, Sicilian Pope (686-87), dies
1883 – Johannes van Vloten, Dutch man of letters and theologist, dies at 65
1935 – Herm McFarland, American MLB outfielder (first grand slam in AL history), dies at 65
1948 – Bokke R. S. Pollema, Dutch Frisian journalist, poet, and author (Lok en Lijen (Happiness and Suffering)), dies at 65
1986 – Pierre Wigny, Belgium politician (Minister of Foreign affairs 1958-61), dies at 81
1991 – Angelo Rossitto, American dwarf actor (known as “Little Moe”, Carousel), dies at 83

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1871 – Bishop John Coleridge Patteson martyred on the island of Nukapu, a Polynesian outlier island now in the Temotu province of the Solomon Islands. He was the first bishop of Melanesia.
1877 – Chase National Bank opens in NYC (later merges into Chase Manhattan)
1944 – Polish forces free Terneuzen Neth
1948 – Mexican Baseball league disbanded
2000 – The British MI6 Secret Intelligence Service building is attacked by a Russian-built Mark 22 anti-tank missile.
2019 – Researchers for SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) propose that aliens may have bugged earths co-orbitals (nearby orbiting rocks) in “The Astronomical Journal”

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1653 – Benedict Schultheiss, German composer, born in Free Imperial City of Nuremberg, Holy Roman Empire (now Germany) (d. 1693)
1886 – Charles Williams, British poet and writer, born in London (d. 1945)
1935 – Keith Roberts, English writer (Irish Encounter, Ladies from Hell), born in Kettering, Northamptonshire (d. 2000)
1938 – George J. Hochbrueckner, American politician (Rep-D-NY), born in Queens, New York
1951 – Javier Marías, Spanish translator and novelist (Corazón Tan Blanco – A Heart So White), born in Madrid, Spain (d. 2022)
1966 – Nuno Bettencourt, Portuguese-American rock guitarist (Extreme – “More Than Words”), born in Praia da Vitória, Terceira, Azores, Portugal

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1932 – Max Slevogt, German painter, dies at 63
1973 – Maurice T. “Maury” Muehleisen, American musician and songwriter (Jim Croce), dies in a plane crash at 24
1996 – Paul Erdos, Hungarian mathematician, dies of a heart attack at 83
1999 – Raisa Gorbacheva, Russian philanthropist and wife of Mikhail Gorbachev, dies at 67
2006 – Sven Nykvist, Swedish cinematographer (Cries and Whispers), dies at 83
2010 – Leonard Skinner, American high school gym teacher; namesake of rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, dies at 77

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1862 – Battle at Iuka Mississippi (1,700 casualties)
1952 – “Adventures of Superman” TV series starring George Reeves premieres in syndication in the US
1960 – Chubby Checker’s “The Twist” hits #1 on the Billboard Hot 100
1996 – “Skylight” opens at Royale Theater NYC
2006 – Thai military stages a coup in Bangkok. The Constitution is revoked and martial law is declared.
2022 – Scientists discover site of the Amazon’s tallest tree, an angelim vermelho at 88.5 meters (290 feet) tall and 9.9 meters (32 feet) wide, Iratapuru River Nature Reserve, northern Brazil,

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1749 – Jean Baptiste Joseph Delambre, French mathematician and astronomer (The History of Astronomy), born in Amiens, France (d. 1822)
1811 – Orson Pratt, American mathematician and religious leader, born in Hartford, New York (d. 1881)
1904 – Karen Aabye, Danish author (Less bedstemor there jomfru), born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 1982)
1921 – Paulo Freire, Brazilian educator and philosopher (critical pedagogy), born in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil (d. 1997)
1946 – Brian Henton, English racing driver, born in Castle Donington, Leicestershire
1967 – Kenny Smith, American bluegrass guitarist and vocalist (Lonesome River Band, 1996-2001), born in Nine Mile, Indiana

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1902 – Masaoka Shiki, Japanese haiku and tanka poet and diarist (Salt Water Ballads), dies at 34
1935 – Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, Russian pioneer in rocket and space research, dies at 78
1993 – Richard Landau, American screenwriter (Back to Bataan), dies at 79
1995 – Mr. Bo {Louis Collins], American electric blues guitarist and singer, dies at 63
2000 – Gloria Talbott, American film and television actress, sometimes known as “the Scream Queen” for her work in B-movies, dies of kidney failure at 69
2013 – Hiroshi Yamauchi, Japanese businessman (President of Nintendo, 1949-2003, owner of Seattle Mariners), dies at 85

More Famous Deaths »