1600 – Olivier van Noorts ships reach Philippines
1775 – Portland, Maine burned by British
1849 – Avery College establishes in Allegheny, Pennsylvania
1968 – Americans Tommie Smith (gold 19.83 WR) and John Carlos (bronze) famously give the Black Power salute on the 200m medal podium during the Mexico City Olympics to protest racism and injustice against African-Americans
1976 – Soyuz 23 returns to Earth
1980 – China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC
1987 – Dow Jones for 1st time falls more than 100 pts (108.35)
1990 – US forces reach 200,000 in Persian Gulf
1997 – “Side Show,” opens at Richard Rodgers Theater NYC for 91 performances
2018 – Man Booker Prize is won by Anna Burns’ “Milkman”, the first winner from Northern Ireland
Author: gil7
Today in History for 16th October 2023
Historical Events
1903 – Homel, 1st Jewish self defense organization founded in Russia
1908 – Edmonton Rugby Foot-ball Club re-organizes as Esquimoux
1957 – USAF sends 2 aluminium bullets into space
1986 – Joe Raposa’s musical “Raggedy Ann: The Musical Adventure”, starring Ivy Austin, opens at Nederlander Theater, NYC; runs for 5 performances
1995 – Brian Lara scores 169 in Sharjah ODI versus Sri Lanka
2013 – 21 people are killed after a minibus hits a land mine in Nawa, Syria
Famous Birthdays
1888 – Paul Popenoe, American activist (d. 1979)
1945 – Roger Hawkins, American session drummer (the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section – Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin), born in Mishawaka, Indiana (d. 2021)
1949 – André Leon Talley, American fashion expert, former Vogue editor, born in Washington, D.C.
1956 – James H Newman, Trust Territory of Pacific, PhD/Astronaut (STS 51, 69)
1960 – Val Skinner, American golfer (6 LPGA Tour wins), born in Hamilton, Montana
1991 – Joshua Crumbly, American jazz bassist, born in Westlake Village, California
Famous Deaths
1822 – Eva Marie Veigel [La Violette], Austrian ballet dancer and wife of actor David Garrick, dies at 98
1946 – Fritz Sauckel, German Nazi General of Labor, hanged at 51
1946 – Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Austrian Nazi politician (Austrian Chancellor, 1938), and war criminal responsible for deportation of Dutch Jews, hanged at 54
1946 – Hans Frank, German Nazi Governor General of Occupied Poland, hanged by Allied forces after the Nuremberg war trials at 46
1973 – Gene Krupa, American jazz and swing drummer (“Sing, Sing, Sing”), dies of heart failure while battling leukemia and emphysema at 64
2004 – Pierre Salinger, American newsman (ABC) and press secretary (John F. Kennedy), dies at 79
Famous Deaths for 15th October 2023
1512 – Antoon Keldermans, Brabant builder (Middelburg town hall), dies at 72
1889 – Edward Aylesworth Perry, American soldier and politician (General under Lee for Confederate Army, 14th Governor of Florida 1885-89), dies of a stroke at 58
1891 – Gilbert Arthur à Beckett, English writer (Punch), dies at 54
1891 – William Henry Fitzhugh Lee, American Major General (Confederate Army), dies at 54
1910 – Larkin Goldsmith Mead, American sculptor who worked in Florence, dies at 75
1955 – Fumio Hayasaka, Japanese film score composer (Rashomon; Seven Samurai), dies of tuberculosis at 41
1969 – Abdirashid Shermake, President of Somali Republic, shot by one of his bodyguards at 50
1978 – W. Eugene Smith, American photojournalist (Saipan, Walk to Paradise Garden), dies of a stroke at 59
2006 – Derek Bond, British actor (Nicholas Nickelby, Armchair Theatre), dies at 86
2013 – Gloria Lynne [Wilson], American jazz vocalist (Dell Tones), dies of a heart attack at 83
Historical Events for 15th October 2023
1582 – Gregorian calendar introduced in Spain, Portugal and pontifical states, after skipping 10 days after Oct 4 to sync the calendar
1756 – Saxon army surrenders to Prussia
1954 – Hurricane Hazel makes landfall in the US in North Carolina as a category 4 hurricane, 195 die in US and Canada
1955 – Buddy Holley opens for Bill Haley and His Comets in Lubbock, Texas, and impresses Nashville scout Eddie Crandall, leading to a recording contract with a misspelling that creates “Buddy Holly”
1972 – 61st Davis Cup: USA beats Romania in Bucharest (3-2)
1983 – Columbia beats Yale 21-18 in football, will lose next 44 games
1984 – Centrum party expels 2nd Member of parliament Janmaat due to fraud
1988 – Amnesty International’s “Human Rights Now!” Concert Tour ends in Buenos Aires, Argentina
2005 – Riot in Toledo, Ohio breaks out during a National Socialist/Neo-Nazi protest; over 100 are arrested
2007 – Fox Business Network (FBN), American financial cable network is launched
Today in History for 15th October 2023
Historical Events
1917 – Dutch exotic dancer Mata Hari is executed by firing squad for spying for Germany during WWI at Vincennes near Paris
1939 – Yeshiva of Mir closes after 124 years
1963 – Ludwig Erhard succeeds Konrad Adenauer as Chancellor of West Germany
1980 – Nobel Prize in Economics awarded to Lawrence Klein
1984 – Central Intelligence Agency Information Act passes
1986 – MLB National League Championship: New York Mets beat Houston Astros, 4 games to 2
Famous Birthdays
1858 – John L. Sullivan, American boxer (first heavyweight gloved champion, de facto 1882-92; last heavyweight bare-knuckle champion), born in Roxbury, Massachusetts (d. 1918)
1911 – James H. Schmitz, American sci-fi author (Lion Game), born in Hamburg, Germany (d. 1981)
1943 – Penny Marshall, American actress (The Odd Couple; Laverne and Shirley), and director (Big; Awakenings; A League of Their Own), and producer (Cinderella Man), born in The Bronx, New York (d. 2018)
1957 – Mira Nair, Indian-American filmmaker (Monsoon Wedding), born in Rourkela, Odisha, India
1966 – Bill Charlap, American jazz pianist (Phil Woods; Tony Bennett; Sandy Stewart), and educator, born in New York City
1970 – Lonnie Palelei, American football offensive lineman (NY Jets), born in Nu’uuli, American Samoa
Famous Deaths
961 – Abd al-Rahman III, Umayyad Emir (912-29) and 1st Caliph of Córdoba (929-961), dies at 70
1268 – Dirk II, mister of Valkenburg, dies
2001 – Zhang Xueliang, Chinese ruler of Manchuria, dies at 100
2005 – Matti Wuori, Finnish politician, dies of cancer at 60
2008 – Tom Tresh, American baseball utility (MLB All-Star 1962, 63; AL Rookie of Year and World Series 1962 NY Yankees), dies from a heart attack at 70
2022 – Joyce Sims, American RandB singer-songwriter (“All and All”; “Come into My Life”), dies at 63
Famous Deaths for 14th October 2023
1092 – Aboe Ali Hasan ibn Nizam al-Moelk, writer (Sijasetname), assassinated
1790 – William Hooper, American attorney and signer of U.S. Declaration of Independence, dies at 48
1976 – Edith Evans, English actress (Tom Jones, Scrooge, Chalk Garden), dies at 88
1998 – Cleveland Amory, American animal rights activist and TV critic (TV Guide), dies at 81
1999 – Julius Nyerere, Tanzanian politician and 1st President of Tanzania (1964-1985), dies at 77
2003 – Patrick Dalzel-Job, English soldier and inspiration for James Bond (b. 1913)
2007 – Raymond Pellegrin, French actor (Woman of Rome), dies at 82
2008 – Barrington J. Bayley, English sci-fi author (Collision Course), dies at 71
2010 – Simon MacCorkindale, English actor (Falcon Crest, Manimal), dies of bowel cancer at 58
2022 – Stanislav Kropilák, Slovak basketball power forward-center (4 × FIBA European Selection; 5 × Czech Player of the Year; BK Inter Bratislava), dies at 67
Historical Events for 14th October 2023
530 – Discorus ends his reign as Catholic anti-Pope
1912 – Cretan representatives are admitted to the Greek assembly; in doing so the Greek Government challenges the Turkish Government
1925 – Anti-French uprising in Damascus (French inhabitants flee)
1952 – “Buttrio Square” opens at New Century Theater NYC for 7 performances
1957 – Queen Elizabeth II becomes the first Canadian monarch to open the Parliament of Canada with the Speech from the Throne
1966 – Dutch government of Cals falls by motion of Schmelzer
1968 – American sprinter Jim Hines runs a world record 9.95s to beat Lennox Miller of Jamaica and Charles Greene of the US, and win the 100m gold medal at the Mexico City Olympics
1981 – Citing official misconduct in the investigation and trial, Amnesty International charges U.S. government with holding Richard Marshall of the American Indian Movement as a political prisoner
2018 – Flash floods in Aude region, France kill at least 10 people
2018 – Afghan batsman Hazratullah Zazai becomes only the 6th player in cricket history (3rd in T20) to hit 6-sixes in an over; scores 62 in 17 balls in Kabul Zwanan loss v Balkh Legends in Afghanistan Premier League
Today in History for 14th October 2023
Historical Events
1805 – Battle of Elchingen, France defeats Austria
1934 – “Lux Radio Theatre” premieres
1958 – Paul Osborn’s “World of Suzie Wong” premieres in NYC
1964 – US 4 x 100m freestyle relay team of Steve Clark, Mike Austin, Gary Ilman and Don Schollander swim world record 3:33.2 to beat Germany by 4.0s and win the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics
2018 – Afghan batsman Hazratullah Zazai becomes only the 6th player in cricket history (3rd in T20) to hit 6-sixes in an over; scores 62 in 17 balls in Kabul Zwanan loss v Balkh Legends in Afghanistan Premier League
2020 – French president Emmanuel Macron announces a public health emergency and a curfew of 9 pm for nine cities due to surge in COVID-19 cases
Famous Birthdays
1687 – Robert Simson, Scottish mathematician (Simson line), born in West Kilbride, Ayrshire, Scotland (d. 1768)
1891 – Paul de Keyser, Flemish philologist and folklorist, born in Ghent, Belgium (d. 1966)
1892 – Sumner Welles, American diplomat (Good neighbor policy), born in New York (d. 1961)
1906 – Hannah Arendt, German-American political theorist and historian (Origins of Totalitarianism), born in Hanover, Germany (d. 1975)
1970 – Pär Zetterberg, Swedish football player
1976 – Henry Mateo, Dominican baseball player
Famous Deaths
1660 – Thomas Harrison, English Puritan soldier (b. 1606)
1909 – Gottfred Matthison-Hansen, Danish composer, dies at 76
1923 – Marcellus Emants, Dutch writer and poet (Refrained from Confession), dies at 75
1967 – Marcel Aymé, French novelist and playwright, dies at 65
1980 – S N Banerjee, cricketer (one Test for India), dies
2020 – Herbert Kretzmer, South African-British lyricist of Lithuanian heritage (Les Misérables), dies at 95
Famous Deaths for 13th October 2023
1687 – Geminiano Montanari, Italian astronomer (b. 1633)
1855 – Gottfried Rieger, Czech composer, dies at 91
1919 – Karl Adolph Gjellerup, Danish writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1857)
1965 – Paul Hermann Müller, Swiss chemist (1948 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for discovering effects of DDT), dies at 66
1981 – Nils Asther ‘the male Greta Garbo’, Swedish actor (Son of Lassie, Wild Orchids), dies at 84
1991 – Daniel Oduber Quiros, president of Costa Rica (1974-1978), dies at 70
1993 – Gwen Wells, American actress (Nashville), dies of cancer at 42
1997 – Adil Carcani, prime minister of Albania (1982-91), dies
2009 – Stephen Barnett, American legal scholar who opposed the Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 (b. 1935)
2012 – Marc Awodey, American artist and writer, dies at 51
Historical Events for 13th October 2023
1282 – Nichiren Daishonin, founder of the Nichiren School of Buddhism, dies, his ashes are interred at Taisekiji Temple
1890 – The Delta Chi fraternity is founded by 11 law students at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
1921 – Baseball World Series: NY Giants beat NY Yankees, 1-0 at the Polo Grounds for a 5-3 series win; final WS played in best-of-nine format; Yankees first ever WS appearance
1949 – “Touch and Go” opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 176 performances
1964 – Australian swimmer Dawn Fraser wins her third consecutive Olympic 100m freestyle gold medal at the Tokyo Games; Olympic record 59.05s
1975 – Rock vocalist Neil Young undergoes throat surgery
1975 – 9th Country Music Association Award: John Denver wins
1982 – IOC Executive Committee approves the reinstatement of Jim Thorpe’s gold medals from the 1912 Olympics
1993 – Captured American Pilot Mike Durant is filmed in an interview in captivity by a CNN camera crew.
2019 – Kurdish forces make a deal with Syrian army for them to patrol border areas in north east Syria to combat Turkish offensive after US President Donald Trump pulls out US forces