1935 – Charles Lee Williams, English composer (Gloucester Cathedral), dies at 82
1946 – J E Feenstra, Nazi military police commandant, executed
1977 – Jean Hagen, actress (Dead Ringer, Shaggy Dog, Arena), dies at 54
1979 – Mary Marquet, French actress (Landru, Paris Canaille), dies at 84
1991 – Kathryn Cravens, American early news correspondent, dies at 92
1995 – Harry Broadhurst, British Royal Air Force commander and flying ace of the Second World War, dies at 89
2001 – Francisco Rabal, Spanish actor (b. 1926)
2007 – Banarsi Das Gupta, Indian 4th Chief Minister of Haryana (1975-77), dies at 89
2008 – Geoffrey Perkins, British comedy producer (b. 1953)
2009 – Frank Gardner, Australian auto racer (European F5000 1971; British Touring Car Championship 1967-68, 73), dies at 77
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 29th August 2023
1854 – Self-governing windmill patented by American inventor Daniel Halladay
1920 – An American sweep of the medals in the women’s 3m springboard diving event at the Antwerp Olympics; Aileen Riggin wins gold ahead of teammates Helen Wainwright and Thelma Payne
1937 – MLB Philadelphia A’s Bob Johnson is 2nd to get 6 RBIs in an inning (1st)
1944 – 15,000 American troops liberating Paris march down Champs Elysees
1958 – Cliff Richard and the Drifters release single “Move It”, Richards debut single. Credited as 1st British Rock n Roll song.
1972 – SF Giant Jim Barr retires 1st 20 batters he faces added to last 21 he retired 6 days earlier for record 41 in a row
1992 – Largest wrestling crowd outside US – 75,000 at Wembley Stadium, London
1997 – Netflix is founded by Marc Randolph and Reed Hasting in Scotts Valley, California as an online DVD rental business
2004 – Athens Olympic marathon is run on same route as 1896 Games, start at site of the Battle of Marathon to the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens: Stefano Baldini of Italy wins men’s gold in 2:10:55
2014 – Riots break out in Guinea following rumours that health workers are deliberately transmitting the Ebola virus to locals
Today in History for 29th August 2023
Historical Events
1930 – The last 36 remaining inhabitants of St Kilda are voluntarily evacuated to other parts of Scotland.
1967 – Yanks longest day, Red Sox take 1st game 2-1 in 9, Yanks win 2nd game in 20, 4-3 a total of 8 hours and 19 minutes
1987 – Houston Astro MLB player Nolan Ryan passes the 200-strikeout barrier for record 11th time
1992 – Irish rock band U2 plays the 1st of two sold-out nights at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, NYC
2011 – “Tha Carter IV” 9th studio album by Lil Wayne is released
2012 – Banana Spider venom is found to be effective in relieving erectile dysfunction
Famous Birthdays
1843 – David B. Hill, American politician and Governor of New York (1885-91), born in Montour Falls, New York (d. 1910)
1844 – Edward Carpenter, English poet and philosopher (Civilisation, Its Cause and Cure), born in Hove, Sussex, England (d. 1929)
1905 – Arndt Pekurinen, Finnish pacifist, executed without a trial for his beliefs, born in Juva, Finland (d. 1941)
1954 – Julio Fernandez, Cuban-American jazz guitarist (Spyro Gyra, 1984-present), born in Havana, Cuba
1963 – Elizabeth Fraser, Scottish singer (Cocteau Twins – “Heaven OR Las Vegas”), born in Grangemouth, Scotland
1974 – Jay Onrait, Canadian sports broadcaster (TSN, Fox Sports 1), born in Athabasca, Alberta
Famous Deaths
1893 – Aleksey Apukhtin, Russian poet (Stichotvorenia), dies at 52 [OS=8/17]
1931 – David Abercrombie, Abercrombie and Fitch founder, dies at 64
1980 – Louis Darquier de Pellepoix, French politician and Nazi collaborator (anti-Semite minister in WWII Vichy government), dies at 92
1987 – Lee Marvin, American actor (Paint Your Wagon, Cat Ballou), dies of a heart attack at 63
2002 – Alan MacNaughtan, Scottish actor (To Serve Them All My Days), dies at 82
2007 – Pierre Messmer, French politician (Prime Minister of France 1972-74 under Georges Pompidou), dies at 91
Famous Deaths for 28th August 2023
683 – K’inich Janaab’ Pakal [Sun Shield], Ajaw of the Maya city-state of Palenque, dies at 80
1528 – Pedro Navarro, Navarrese general and engineer (invented the land mine), dies (b. c. 1460)
1903 – August Labitzky, Bohemian composer, dies at 70
1933 – Helen Dunbar, American actress (b. 1863)
1943 – Boris III, Tsar of Bulgaria (1918-43), dies of heart failure at 49; likely caused by poisoning but by whom remains a mystery
1964 – Lumsden Hare, Irish actor (Oregon Trail, Desert Fox, Young Bess), dies at 89
1982 – Geoff Chubb, South African cricket fast bowler (5 Tests, 21 wickets; Border), dies at 71
1990 – Larry Jackson, American baseball pitcher (5 × MLB All-Star; MLB wins leader 1964; St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Philadelphia Phillies), dies from cancer at 59
2017 – Bobby Boyd, American NFL cornerback (5 × All-Pro 1964–1968; NFL interceptions leader 1965; Baltimore Colts), dies of bladder cancer at 79
2022 – Manzoor Hussain, Pakistani field hockey striker (Olympic gold 1986; World Cup gold 1978, 82; 175 caps, 86 goals), dies at 63
Historical Events for 28th August 2023
1898 – Caleb Bradham renames his carbonated soft drink “Pepsi-Cola”.
1918 – Tris Speaker suspended for season due to assault on umpire Tom Connolly
1939 – Netherland mobilizes
1966 – 27th Venice Film Festival: “The Battle of Algiers” directed by Gillo Pontecorvo wins Golden Lion
1988 – 70 killed in crash of three Italian air force fighters at air show at Ramstein, Germany
1990 – Stefan Edberg (#1 seeded player) loses in 1st round to Alex Volkov
1994 – 94th US Golf Amateur Championship won by Tiger Woods
2011 – Canadian Open Women’s Golf, Hillsdale CC: Brittany Lincicome wins by 1 stroke from Michelle Wie and Stacy Lewis
2017 – Kenya brings in world’s toughest ban on plastic bags with possible US$38,000 fine and four years in jail
2018 – Aretha Franklin lies in state at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit in a 24 carat coffin
Today in History for 28th August 2023
Historical Events
1862 – Belle Boyd released from Old Capital Prison in Washington, D.C.
1921 – Babe Ruth starts streak of an extra-base hit in 9 straight games
1967 – Boston signs 1st free-agent outfielder Ken Harrelson for $75,000 bonus
1987 – Mike Schmidt passes Ted Williams and Willie McCovey with 522 HRs
1990 – Stefan Edberg (#1 seeded player) loses in 1st round to Alex Volkov
1994 – 1st Japanese gay pride parade
Famous Birthdays
1842 – Willem Linnig The Younger, Flemish painter and graphic artist, born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1890)
1881 – Arne Eggen, Norwegian organist and composer, born in Trondheim, Norway (d. 1955)
1931 – John Shirley-Quirk, British operatic bass-baritone (Death in Venice), born in Liverpool, England (d. 2014)
1938 – Maurizio Costanzo, Italian television journalist (Maurizio Costanzo Show), born in Rome, Italy (d. 2023)
1947 – Alice Playton, American actress (Who Killed Mary Whats ‘er Name), born in NYC, New York
1970 – Jaime Fields, NFL/WLAF linebacker (KC Chiefs, Scotland Claymores), born in Compton, California (d. 1999)
Famous Deaths
1539 – Lieven Pain, Flemish, beheaded at about 75
1654 – Axel Oxenstierna, Swedish statesman (Lord High Chancellor and regent of Sweden), dies at 71
1678 – John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton, English soldier (b. 1602)
1757 – David Hartley, English philosopher and Founder of the Associationist School of Psychology, dies at 51
1839 – William Smith, British geologist who is credited with creating the first nationwide geological map (Strata Identified by Organized Fossils), dies at 70
1953 – Nikolai Golovanov, Russian conductor and composer (Bolshoi Opera), dies at 61
Famous Deaths for 27th August 2023
1208 – Irene Angelina, daughter of Isaac II Angeles, dies
1635 – Lope Félix de Vega Carpio, Spanish playwright and poet (Angelica, Arcadia), dies at 72
1758 – Barbara of Portugal [Maria Madalena Bárbara Xavier Leonor Teresa Antónia Josefa], Queen of Spain, dies at 46
1930 – Didericus van Epen, Dutch genealogist (Dutch Patriarch, dies at 62
1958 – Ernest Lawrence, American nuclear scientist and inventor (Cyclotron – Nobel 1939), dies at 57
1967 – Henri-Georges Adam, French painter/cartoonist/sculptor, dies at 63
1975 – Bob Scholl, American doo-wop vocalist (Mello-Kings – “Tonite, Tonite”), dies in a boating accident at 41
1996 – Alexander Lanusse, military President of Argentina (1971-73), dies
2007 – Emma Penella, Spanish actress, dies at 76
2009 – Sergey Mikhalkov, Soviet writer and poet, dies at 96
Historical Events for 27th August 2023
1585 – Duke of Parma’s troops occupy Antwerp
1883 – Krakatoa volcano, west of Java in Indonesia, erupts with a force of 1,300 megatons and kills approximately 40,000 people
1918 – Christy Mathewson resigns as Cincinnati Reds manager to accept a commission as a captain in chemical warfare branch of US Army
1956 – Curt Robert of Columbus (Intl League) hits 4 HRs in 7 inning game
1968 – Protest by the Derry Housing Action Committee (DHAC) at the Guildhall’s council chamber; after which Eamon Melaugh phones the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) to organise a march in Derry
1982 – Soyuz T-7 returns to Earth
1991 – Moldavia declares independence from USSR
1996 – Dino Ciccarelli is traded by the Detroit Red Wings to the Tampa Bay Lightning
2004 – China’s first ever gold in Olympic Games men’s track and field; Liu Xiang wins 110m hurdles in Athens, equalling Colin Jackson’s 1993 world record time of 12.91 seconds
2021 – Britain’s Prince Andrew served with a US federal lawsuit alleging he sexually abused a teenager 20 years ago
Today in History for 27th August 2023
Historical Events
1601 – Olivier van Noort completes first Dutch exploration of new world
1832 – Black Hawk, leader of Sauk-indians, gives himself up
1892 – NYC’s Metropolitan Opera House (opened in 1883) catches fire; takes two years to restore
1908 – Calgary City Rugby Football Club re-organizes as the Tigers
1974 – NY Met Benny Ayala hits a HR in his 1st at bat
2004 – German kayaker Birgit Fischer wins gold in K-4 500m and silver in K-2 500m in Athens; first woman in any sport to win gold medals at 6 different Olympics, gold 24 years apart, and 1st person to win 2 or more medals in 5 different Games
Famous Birthdays
1870 – Amado Nervo [Juan Crisóstomo Ruiz de Nervo], Mexican writer and poet, born in Tepic, Nayarit, Mexico (d. 1919)
1884 – Vincent Auriol, President of France (1947-53), born in Revel, France (d. 1966)
1886 – Rebecca Clarke, British-American violist and classical composer (Morpheus), born in Harrow, England (d. 1979)
1935 – Ernie Broglio, American baseball player
1947 – Peter Krieg [Wilhelm Gladitz], German documentary filmmaker, and writer (September Wheat), born in Schwäbisch Gmünd, West Germany (d. 2009)
1964 – Frankie Thorn, American actress
Famous Deaths
1977 – George Merritt, English actor (I Monster, Canterbury Tale), dies at 86
1980 – Douglas Kenney, American humorist (co-founded the magazine National Lampoon), dies at 33
1991 – Gordon Heath, actor (Sapphire, Staircase, Animal Farm), dies
1996 – Abram Games, British graphic artist (“Blonde Bombshell” ATS poster), dies at 82
2001 – Abu Ali Mustafa, leader of Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (assassinated) (b. 1938)
2022 – Milutin Šoškić, Serbian soccer goalkeeper (50 caps Yugoslavia; FK Partizan, 1. FC Köln), dies at 84
Famous Deaths for 26th August 2023
1346 – Charles II of Alençon, killed in the Battle of Crécy (b. 1297)
1346 – Rudolph, Duke of Lorraine, killed in the Battle of Crécy (b. 1320)
1873 – Carl Wilhelm, German composer, dies at 57
1921 – Matthias Erzberger, German Minister of Finance, murdered at 45
1983 – Mike Kellin [Myron Kellin], American actor (Pipe Dream, American Buffalo), dies of cancer at 61
1992 – Bob the Moor, Flemish comic strip artist (Tintin, Kuifje), dies at 66
2011 – John McAleese, British SAS Trooper, Team leader during 1980 Iranian Embassy Siege (b. 1949)
2018 – Neil Simon, American playwright (The Odd Couple, Plaza Suite, Biloxi Blues), dies at 91
2021 – Kenny Malone, American Nashville-based session drummer (Dolly Parton; Dobie Gray: Waylon Jennings), dies of COVID-19 at 83
2022 – Mable John, American blues, RandB, and gospel vocalist (Tamla-Motown; Ray Charles; “Your Good Thing (Is About to End)”), and minister, dies at 91