1696 – De Croissy succeeds Le Plectia as French minister of Finance
1893 – Vizcaya Bridge – largest transporter bridge in the world opens over the River Ibaizabal, designed by Basque architect Alberto de Palacio
1898 – Spanish American War: U.S. Army occupies Ponce and declares victory in Puerto Rico over Spanish forces
1900 – Hamburger created by Louis Lassing in Connecticut
1917 – Silent Parade organised by James Weldon Johnson of 10,000 African-Americans who march on 5th Ave in NYC to protest against lynching
1929 – 23rd Tour de France won by Maurice De Waele of Belgium
1945 – Physicist Raemer Schreiber and Lieutenant Colonel Peer de Silva arrive on the Pacific island of Tinian with the plutonium core used to assemble the Fat Man bomb used in the bombing of Nagasaki on August 9
1959 – United Kingdom starts using postal codes
1977 – Roy Wilkins turns over NAACP leadership to Benjamin Hooks
2005 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army call an end to their thirty year long armed campaign in Northern Ireland
Author: gil7
Today in History for 28th July 2023
Historical Events
1911 – 96°F (35.6°C) in De Bilt, Netherlands
1920 – Sigmund Romberg and Alex Gerber’s musical “Poor Little Ritz Girl”, with additional songs by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart (marking their Broadway debut), opens at the Central Theatre, NYC; runs for 93 performances
1928 – IX Summer Olympic Games open in Amsterdam, Netherlands
1972 – 39th NFL Chicago All Star Game: Dallas 20, All Stars 7 (54,162)
1997 – NY Ranger center Mark Messier signs with Vancouver for $20M for 3 yrs
2021 – Japanese swimmer Yui Ohashi wins women’s individual medley double with victory in 200m at the Tokyo Olympics; 3 days earlier she won the 400m IM gold medal
Famous Birthdays
1824 – Jacopo Foroni, Italian opera composer (I gladiatori; Advokathen Panthelin), and conductor, born in Verona, Italy (d. 1858)
1863 – Hussein Khan Nakhichevanski, Russian general (d. 1919)
1933 – Charlie Hodge, French Canadian ice hockey goaltender (Montreal Canadiens), born in Lachine, Quebec (d. 2016)
1934 – Ron Flowers, English soccer midfielder (49 caps; Wolverhampton Wanderers 467 games), born in Doncaster, England (d. 2021)
1938 – Luis Aragonés, Spanish soccer forward (11 caps; Atlético Madrid) and manager (Spain 2004-08; Atlético Madrid, Barcelona), born in Madrid, Spain (d. 2014)
1979 – Birgitta Haukdal, Icelandic singer, born in Húsavík, Iceland
Famous Deaths
1741 – Antonio Vivaldi, Italian Baroque composer (The Four Seasons), dies at 63
1971 – Myril Hoag, American baseball player, dies at 63
1972 – Charu Majumdar, Indian revolutionary leader, dies in custody at 53
1973 – Royal Butler [Edwin Richey], American actor (Zenobia), dies at 80
2004 – George Williams, American soul singer (The Tymes), dies at 68
2007 – Karl Gotch, Belgian professional wrestler (b. 1924)
Famous Deaths for 27th July 2023
1498 – Vespasiano da’ Bisticci, Italian book seller/writer, dies at about 77
1720 – Johann Samuel Welter, German composer, dies at 69
1833 – William Bainbridge, American naval officer, dies at 59
1938 – Catherine Wolfe Donohue, American watch dial painter, dies of radium poisoning at 35
1942 – William Matthew Finders Petrie, Egyptologist, dies
1958 – Claire Chennault, American aviator and military leader (Flying Tigers), dies at 64
1995 – Rick Ferrell, American Baseball Hall of Fame catcher (8 x MLB All Star; Boston Red Sox, Washington Senators), dies of arrhythmia at 89
2005 – Al Held, American painter and sculptor (hard edge-style), dies at 76
2016 – James Alan MacPherson, American writer, 1st black writer to win Pulitzer Prize, dies at 72
2017 – Sam Shepard Ill, American actor and playwright (Frances; Crimes of the Heart), dies at 73
Historical Events for 27th July 2023
1214 – Battle of Bouvines: King Philip II of France vs Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV and King John of England; as a result John lost Normandy and his other possessions in France (hence his nickname John “Lackland”)
1586 – Walter Raleigh brings the 1st tobacco to England from Virginia
1655 – Netherlands and Brandenburg sign military treaty
1954 – Armistice divides Vietnam into two countries
1976 – Japanese ex-premier Tanaka arrested (Lockheed Affair)
1992 – Nelson Mandela says a general strike will go ahead to protest for the removal of South African President F. W. de Klerk from power and for free elections
1993 – Mafia bombs historical buildings in Rome, Milan and Vatican City, 5 killed
1997 – “Candide” closes at Gershwin Theater NYC after 103 performances
2019 – At least 65 mourners killed in a gun attack at a funeral near Maiduguri, by suspected Boko Haram militants in north-east Nigeria
2021 – American gymnast and four-time Olympic gold medallist Simone Biles withdraws from the women’s team final at the Tokyo Games citing need to focus on her mental health; also misses individual finals
Today in History for 27th July 2023
Historical Events
1927 – Mel Ott, 18, hits his 1st league home run (inside the park)
1987 – John Demjanjuk, accused Nazi “Ivan the Terrible”, testifies in Israel
1997 – 84th Tour de France won by Jan Ullrich of Germany
1997 – Si Zerrouk massacre in Algeria; about 50 people killed.
1997 – British Senior Open Men’s Golf, Royal Portrush GC: Gary Player of South Africa wins with birdie on 2nd playoff hole against countryman John Bland
2015 – Fiat Chrysler fined record $105 million by Us regulators over their number of car recalls
Famous Birthdays
1849 – John Hopkinson, British physicist and electrical engineer (Hopkinson’s Law), born in Manchester (d. 1898)
1922 – Bob Thiele, American record producer (Impulse! Records), born in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York (d. 1996)
1957 – Hansi Muller, German footballer, born in Stuttgart
1960 – Jo Durie, English tennis player, born in Bristol
1963 – Karrin Allyson, American jazz singer (Wild for You), born in Great Bend, Kansas
1986 – Courtney Kupets, American gymnast (World Championships champion 2002, 2003), born in Bedford, Texas
Famous Deaths
916 – Kliment/Clemens van Ohrid, Bulgaria bishop of Ohrid/saint, dies
1675 – Henri de la Tour d’Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne, Marshal of France, dies at 63
1934 – Louis HG Lyautey, French minister of Defense (1916-17), dies at 79
1968 – Babe Adams, baseball player (b. 1882)
1990 – Elizabeth Allan, actress (Tale of 2 Cities, Camille, Java Head), dies
2011 – Richard Rutt, English bishop of Leicester, dies at 85
Famous Deaths for 26th July 2023
1611 – Horio Yoshiharu, Japanese warlord (b. 1542)
1863 – Sam Houston, 1st President of Republic of Texas (1836-38, 1841-44) who helped bring Texas into the United States as a constituent state, dies at 70
1919 – Edward Poynter, British painter, President of the Royal Academy, dies at 83
1937 – Gerda Taro (Gerta Pohorylle), German-born war photojournalist, dies covering Spanish Civil War aged 26
1967 – Matthijs Vermeulen, Dutch classical composer, critic, and musicologist dies at 79
1988 – Fazlur Rahman, Pakistani modernist scholar, dies at 68
1992 – Ron Webber, dies of cancer at 60
1998 – (David Allan) “Chico” Ryan, American rock bassist and singer (Sha Na Na, 1973-98), dies at 50
2009 – Marcey Jacobson, American photographer (b. 1911)
2021 – Ivan Toplak, Serbian soccer striker (1 cap; Red Star Belgrade) and manager (Red Star Belgrade, San Jose Earthquakes, Yugoslavia), dies at 89
Historical Events for 26th July 2023
1822 – Secret meeting of Simón Bolívar and Jose de San Martin
1897 – 37.5 cm rainfall at Jewell, Maryland (state record)
1944 – Japanese suicide attack on US lines in Guam
1944 – Soviet troops arrive in Weichsel
1950 – Dodgers’ Jim Russell is 1st to switch-hits HRs twice in a game
1957 – USSR launches 1st intercontinental multistage ballistic missile
1962 – Milwaukee Brave Warren Spahn sets HR record of 31 by a pitcher
1963 – Skopje, Yugoslavia, destroyed by earthquake, kills 1,000+
1977 – USSR performs underground nuclear Test
2018 – Sir Paul McCartney performs a “secret” gig at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, where the Beatles began
Today in History for 26th July 2023
Historical Events
1755 – Giacomo Casanova is arrested in Venice for affront to religion and common decency and imprisoned in the Doge’s Palace
1931 – 25th Tour de France won by Antonin Magne of France
1945 – After Labour landslide in general election, Clement Attlee becomes British Prime Minister
2009 – British Senior Open Men’s Golf, Sunningdale: American Loren Roberts wins his second Open Senior title in a playoff with Mark McNulty and Fred Funk
2018 – Sir Paul McCartney performs a “secret” gig at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, where the Beatles began
2021 – Dominant British breaststroke swimmer Adam Peaty successfully defends his 100m title at the Tokyo Olympics beating Arno Kamminga of the Netherlands and Italian Nicolò Martinenghi
Famous Birthdays
1801 – John Drake Sloat, 1st Military Governor of California (Union Navy), born in Sloatsburg, New York (d. 1867)
1863 – Jāzeps Vītols, Latvian composer, born in Valmiera, Russian Empire (d. 1948)
1928 – Peter Lougheed, Canadian politician (10th Premier of Alberta), born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada (d. 2012)
1931 – Patti Bown, American jazz pianist and composer (Gene Ammons, Quincy Jones), born in Seattle, Washington (d. 2008)
1957 – Nana Visitor, American actress (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), born in NYC, New York
1974 – Dean Sturridge, English football striker, born in Birmingham, England
Famous Deaths
1471 – Pope Paul II [Pietro Barbo], Italian Pope (1464-71), dies at 54
1926 – Robert Todd Lincoln, American politician, lawyer, Captain (Union Army), diplomat, businessman, and son of President Abraham Lincoln, dies in his sleep at 82
1941 – Benjamin Lee Whorf, American linguist (the relation of language to thinking and cognition), dies at 44
1992 – Mary Wells, American pop and soul singer (“My Guy”), dies of laryngeal cancer at 49
2005 – Betty Astell, British actress (b. 1912)
2012 – Franz West, Austrian artist, dies at 65
Famous Deaths for 25th July 2023
1681 – Urian Oakes, English-born President of Harvard University (b. 1631)
1790 – Johann Bernhard Basedow, German educational reformer, dies at 66
1955 – Isaak Iosifovich Dunayevsky, Soviet operetta and film composer, dies at 55
1991 – Lazar Kaganovich, Soviet politician and one of the main associates of Joseph Stalin, dies at 97
1998 – Sal Santen, Dutch writer (You Are Jewish People), dies at 82
1998 – Tal Farlow, American jazz guitarist, dies at 77
2007 – Jesse Marunde, American Strongman competitor, dies at 27
2008 – Hiram Bullock, American jazz, funk, and fusion guitarist (The World’s Most Dangerous Band), dies of cancer at 52
2014 – Carlo Bergonzi, Italian operatic tenor, dies at 90
2020 – Lou Henson, American College Basketball Hall of Fame coach (all-time leader in victories University of Illinois and New Mexico State), dies of lymphoma at 88
Historical Events for 25th July 2023
1901 – Emily Hobhouse addresses public meetings in Britain on the concentration camps during the South African War
1907 – Korea becomes a protectorate of Japan
1942 – German troops strike at Tsym Lyanskaja
1943 – 1st warship named after an African American launched – USS Leonard Roy Harmon, a Buckley class destroyer
1964 – Race riot in Rochester, NY
1966 – Yankee manager Casey Stengel elected to Hall of Fame
1970 – Burt Bacharach and Hal David’s song “(They Long to Be) Close to You” as sung by the Carpenters reaches #1
1993 – US Open Women’s Golf, Crooked Stick GC: Lauri Merten fires a final round 68 (−4) to win her lone major title, 1 stroke ahead of runners-up Donna Andrews and Helen Alfredsson
1997 – Carroll O’Connor found not guilty of slandering Harry Perzigian
2018 – Liquid lake found on Mars under its South Pole by European Space Agency’s Mars Express orbiter reported in “Science”