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
Author: gil7
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
Historical Events for 26th August 2023
1545 – Pope Paul III names his son Pierluigi Farnese as Duke of Parma
1912 – MLB pitcher Walter Johnson’s 16-game winning streak ends
1920 – Surrey cricket all-rounder Percy Fender scores 100 in 35 minutes [113no] in a county match vs Northamptonshire at the County Ground, Northampton
1940 – Chad is the first French colony to join the Allies under the administration of Félix Éboué, France’s first black colonial governor
1942 – 7,000 Jews are rounded up in Vichy-France
1971 – Dutch Queen Juliana and Prince Bernhard visit Indonesia
1973 – David Eisenhower writes his last sports column
1992 – Hurricane Andrew makes landfall in Louisiana as Category 3 storm after causing deaths and severe damage in Florida
2015 – WDBJ TV reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward are fatally shot live on TV by an ex-colleague in Moneta, Virginia
2018 – Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop resigns after losing Liberal Party leadership contest
Today in History for 26th August 2023
Historical Events
1652 – Battle of Plymouth: General-at-Sea George Ayscue of the Commonwealth of England attacked a convoy of the Dutch Republic commanded by Vice-Commodore Michiel de Ruyter. Dutch victory
1940 – RKC soccer team forms in Waalwijk
1942 – Transport #24 departs with French Jews to nazi-Germany
1944 – Bulgaria announces withdrawal and German troops are to be disarmed
1973 – University of Texas (Arlington) is first accredited school to offer belly dancing
2018 – Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, former US Vatican Ambassador, claims Pope Francis knew of and ignored sex abuse allegations against Cardinal Theodore McCarrick
Famous Birthdays
1931 – Guy Vander Jagt, American politician (Rep-R-MI, 1966-93), born in Cadillac, Michigan (d. 2007)
1935 – Cornelis B. Vaandrager [Cor Vaan], Dutch poet (Long Live Joop Massaker)
1936 – Francine York, American actress (Slattery’s People), born in Aurora, Minnesota (d. 2017)
1946 – Mark Snow [Martin Fulterman], American television and film composer (The X-Files theme), born in New York City
1969 – Adrian Young, American drummer (No Doubt – “Don’t Speak”), born in Long Beach, California
1985 – Brian Kelley, American country musician (Florida Georgia Line), born in Ormond Beach, Florida
Famous Deaths
1486 – Ernst I, Elector of Saxony (1464-86), dies at 45
1595 – Antonio, Prior of Crato, claimant to the throne of Portugal (b. 1531)
1857 – Adolf Schlagintweit, German botanist and explorer (Tarimbekken, executed in Kashgar after being mistaken for a spy at 28
1865 – Marcellus Monroe Crocker, US attorney/Union brigadier general, dies at 35
1865 – Johann Franz Encke, German astronomer (Comet Encke), dies at 73
2009 – Dominick Dunne, American writer and producer (Panic in Needle Park), dies at 83
Famous Deaths for 25th August 2023
1346 – Louis of Nevers, Count of Flanders, dies in battle
1944 – Musa Cälil, Russian-Soviet Tatar poet (The Moabit Notebooks), and resistance fighter, executed by guillotine in Plötzensee Prison, Berlin at 38
1971 – Ted Lewis [Theodore Leopold Friedman], American entertainer, bandleader and musician (Is Everybody Happy?), dies of lung failure at 81
2001 – Ken Tyrrell, English race driver and founder of Tyrrell Racing, dies at 77
2001 – Madge Adam, English solar astronomer (1st solar physicist at Oxford university’s observatory), dies at 89
2007 – Ray Jones, English footballer, dies when he crashed his car into a bus 3 weeks after getting his driver’s license at 18
2016 – Marvin Kaplan, American character and voice actor (Top Cat – “Choo Choo”; Alice – “Henry”), dies at 89
2018 – John McCain, American war hero and Republican politician (Rep-Arizona, 1983-2018, Presidential candidate, 2008), dies of brain cancer at 81
2021 – Robin Miller, American motorsports journalist (Indianapolis Star, Autoweek, Car and Driver, ESPN, Speed, NBCSN), dies from leukemia at 71
2021 – Neal Brendel, American rugby union prop (6 Tests; Pittsburgh RC) and executive (Chairman USA Rugby 2002-05), dies from cancer at 66
Historical Events for 25th August 2023
1609 – Galileo demonstrates his first telescope to Venetian lawmakers, including to the Doge (ruler) of Venice, Leonardo Donato
1908 – Allen Winter wins US 1st $50,000 trotting race
1910 – US National Championship Men’s Tennis, Newport, RI: William Larned beats Tom Bundy 6-1, 5-7, 6-0, 6-8, 6-1 for his 4th consecutive US singles title
1921 – Yankee pitcher Harry Harper hits 3 batters in an inning tying record
1950 – US President Harry Truman orders army to take control of railroad to avert a strike
1984 – USSR performs underground nuclear test
1985 – STS 51-I scrubbed at T -9m because of an onboard computer problem
1991 – Norway and Denmark recognize independence of former USSR Baltic republics
2019 – Double Dave, a rare two-headed timber rattlesnake found in Pine Barrens forest, New Jersey
2020 – England’s James Anderson becomes first fast bowler to reach 600 wickets in Test cricket; Pakistan batsman Azhar Ali caught at first slip on 5th day of 3rd Test at Southampton