1867 – Juan Álvarez, Mexican revolutionary leader (President of Mexico 1855), dies at 77
1921 – Ernest Daudet, French journalist and writer (White Terror), dies at 84
1937 – George Wright, American Baseball HOF shortstop (NA pennant 1872-75 Boston Red Stockings; NL pennant 1877-78 Boston Red Caps, 1879 Providence Grays), dies at 90
1952 – Isaac Sadeh, Polish-born leader of Jewish commando force (Palmach), dies at 62
1958 – Walter Schumann, American choral director (Ford Show) and film and television composer (Night Of The Hunter; Dragnet theme), dies at 44
1980 – Jack Cheetham, South African cricket batsman and captain (24 Tests; Western Province), dies at 60
1995 – James Truitte, American ballet dancer (Lester Horton; Alvin Ailley), dies at 72
1996 – Joyce Plesters, British conservation scientist, dies at 69
2005 – Martin Dillon, American opera singer, dies of cardiac arrest at 48
2012 – Georg Leber, German politician, dies at 91
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 21st August 2023
1689 – Battle of Dunkeld fought in Scotland between supporters of King James VII of Scotland and troops of William of Orange
1949 – Philadelphia fans cause A’s to forfeit game when they riot over a trapped line drive by Rich Ashburn, Giants leading 4-2 in 9th declared winners
1975 – US lightens trade embargo against Cuba
1977 – American water skier Donna Patterson Brice sets women’s high speed record 111.11 mph at Long Beach, California
1991 – Conservative coup in the Soviet Union is crushed by popular resistance led by Boris Yeltsin in three days
1992 – US Marshals move in on Randy Weaver’s cabin in Ruby Ridge, Idaho to apprehend him on firearms charges; an 11 day stand-off ensues
1994 – The last French troops pull out of Rwanda, ending their highly controversial mission there
1994 – Ernesto Zedillo wins Mexican presidential election
2018 – Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull calls for and wins a leadership vote 43-35 over Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton
2020 – American golfer Scottie Scheffler makes birdie on 4 of final 5 holes to become 12th player in PGA Tour history to shoot 59 in 2nd round of the Northern Trust at TPC Boston
Today in History for 21st August 2023
Historical Events
1821 – Jarvis Island is discovered by the crew of the ship, Eliza Frances
1944 – Germans storm up Hill 262 (Mont Ormel) Normandy
1975 – Rick and Paul Reuschel become 1st brothers to pitch a combined shut out
1995 – Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 529 crashes near Carrollton, Georgia, killing 9 crew and passengers
2013 – 21 people are killed in flash floods in Qinghai province, China
2015 – Terrorist attack on train between Amsterdam and Paris thwarted by 4 passengers overpowering gunman
Famous Birthdays
1670 – James FitzJames, 1st Duke of Berwick, French military leader, born in Moulins, France (d. 1734)
1821 – William Barksdale, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Smyrna, Tennessee (d. 1863)
1825 – Kate Loder, British composer and pianist, born in Bathwick Street, Bathwick, England (d. 1904)
1927 – Wilhelm Killmayer, German composer, born in Munich, Germany (d. 2017)
1941 – Jackie DeShannon [Sharon Lee Myers], American singer-songwriter (“What the World Needs Now Is Love”; “When You Walk In The Room”), born in Hazel, Kentucky
1951 – Bernhard Germeshausen, German bobsledder (Olympic gold x 4 GDR 1976, 80), born in Heilbad Heiligenstadt, Germany (d. 2022)
Famous Deaths
1905 – Mary Mapes Dodge, American children’s author (St. Nicholas Magazine), editor and writer (Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates), dies at 74
1943 – (Abraham) A. Merritt, American magazine editor and sci-fi author (The Moon Pool; Burn, Witch, Burn!), dies from a heart attack at 59
1960 – David Barnard Steinman, American civil engineer and bridge designer (Hudson, Triborough), dies at 74
1977 – Danny Lockin, American actor and dancer (Hello Dolly), dies after being stabbed at 34
2005 – Robert Moog, American engineer (Moog synthesizer, Moog Music), dies of a brain tumor at 71
2005 – Martin Dillon, American opera singer, dies of cardiac arrest at 48
Famous Deaths for 20th August 2023
1153 – Bernard of Clairvaux, French saint (preached famous sermon advocating for the Second Crusade), dies
1648 – Edward Herbert of Cherbury, English military and philosopher, dies at 65
1823 – Pius VII [Luigi Barnaba Gregorio Chiaramonti], Italian bishop of Imola and Pope (1800-23), dies at 83
1856 – Philipp Jakob Riotte, German composer, dies at 80
1885 – Edouard J. A. Agneessens, Flemish painter (Slave Market), dies at 42
1932 – Emille-Louis-Victor Mathieu, composer, dies at 87
1970 – Hildo Krop, Dutch modernistic sculptor, dies at 86
1995 – Paul Foster, American gospel singer (The Soul Stirrers), dies at 75
2000 – Henry Austin, British tennis player (3-time Grand Slam runner-up), dies of complications from a fall at 94
2008 – Margaret Douglas, chief political adviser (BBC), dies at 73
Historical Events for 20th August 2023
1391 – Konrad von Wallenrode becomes the 24th Hochmeister of the Teutonic Order.
1856 – Wilberforce University forms in Ohio
1900 – Great Britain beats France by 158 runs in Paris; cricket’s only appearance at an Olympic Games
1920 – 1st US commercial radio station, 8MK (WWJ), Detroit begins daily broadcasting
1949 – 78,382 watch White Sox play Indians at Cleveland
1953 – Russia publicly acknowledges hydrogen bomb test detonation
1957 – USAF balloon, manned by David Simons, breaks an altitude record at 102,000 ft (3,1089.6 m), over Minnesota and South Dakota
1988 – Yordanka Donkova of Bulgaria sets 100m hurdle woman’s record (12.21)
1990 – George Steinbrenner steps down as NY Yankee owner
1995 – Indians’ Jose Mesa sets record with his 37th consecutive save
Today in History for 20th August 2023
Historical Events
1935 – Military coup by General Pons and President Ibarra in Ecuador
1942 – Dim-out regulations implemented in San Francisco
1989 – Said Aouita runs world record 3,000 m (7:29.45)
2016 – Chinese diver Chen Aisen does the Olympic 10m platform double in Rio de Janeiro; having already won the synchronised event, he wins the individual gold by a comfortable margin
2016 – Rio de Janeiro Olympics: team sports – China beats Serbia, 3-1 for the women’s indoor volleyball gold; in the men’s water polo final, Serbia downs Croatia, 11-7 for first Olympic title
2020 – Kamala Harris accepts her nomination for vice-president, becoming the 1st US woman of color on a major-party ticket saying “there is no vaccine for racism”
Famous Birthdays
1710 – Thomas Simpson, English mathematician (rule of Simpson), born in Sutton Cheney, Leicestershire (d. 1761)
1719 – Charles-François de Broglie, French soldier and diplomat, marquis de Ruffec, born in Paris (d. 1791)
1860 – Raymond Poincaré, French President (1913-20) and three time Prime Minister (1912-13, 1922-24, 1926-29), born in Bar-le-Duc, France (d. 1934)
1937 – El Fary, Spanish singer and actor, born in Madrid, Spain (d. 2007)
1947 – David Lasley, American session vocalist and songwriter, born in Branch, Michigan
1954 – Tawn Mastrey, American disc jockey and music video producer, born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (d. 2007)
Famous Deaths
1643 – Anne Hutchinson, English Puritan preacher, killed in Native American uprising (b. 1591)
1961 – Percy Williams Bridgman, American physicist (Nobel 1946 – physics of high pressure), dies at 79
1996 – Rio Reiser, German rock singer (“Ton Steine Scherben”), dies at 46
2008 – Margaret Douglas, chief political adviser (BBC), dies at 73
2018 – Charles Blackman, Australian figurative artist (Heide circle), dies at 90
2021 – Peter Ind, British jazz double bassist, dies at 93
Famous Deaths for 19th August 2023
1245 – Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence (b. 1195)
1493 – Frederick III of Innsbruck, German Emperor (1440-1493), dies at 77
1922 – Felipe Pedrell, Spanish guitarist, composer (Excelsior; La Celestina), and musical scholar, dies at 81
1939 – Johannes Marinus Meulenhoff, Dutch publisher, dies at 70
1957 – David Bomberg, English painter, dies at 66
1959 – Jacob Epstein, American-English sculptor (Adam, Jacob and the Angel), dies at 78
1968 – George Gamow, Ukrainian-born American nuclear physicist and cosmologist (Big Bang Theory, DNA), dies at 64
1976 – Jenö Kenessey, Hungarian conductor and composer, dies at 70
1996 – Jurriaan Andriessen, Dutch pianist and composer (Berkshire Symphonies; Les Cloches des Clochards), dies at 70
2013 – Cedar Walton, American hard bop jazz pianist (Jazztet; Art Blakey), and composer (“Mosaic”), dies at 79
Historical Events for 19th August 2023
1934 – The first All-American Soap Box Derby is held in Dayton, Ohio
1941 – Romania annexes the Transnistria territory from the Soviet Union after Operation Barbarossa
1943 – Belgian church excommunicates Nazi collaborator Léon Degrelle
1953 – Democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran Mohammad Mosaddegh is overthrown in a coup orchestrated by the United Kingdom (under the name ‘Operation Boot’) and the United States (under the name TPAJAX Project)
1954 – American Ralph Bunche named undersecretary of the UN
1977 – USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan USSR
1985 – Following the Rubicon speech four days earlier, Archbishop Desmond Tutu snubs P. W. Botha’s invitation to attend a meeting to discuss the role and actions of the police and security forces in South Africa
1985 – Japan launches its 2nd probe of Halley’s Comet, Suisei
1987 – Hungerford Massacre: in England, Michael Ryan kills sixteen people with an assault rifle and then commits suicide
2010 – Operation Iraqi Freedom ends, with the last of the United States brigade combat teams crossing the border to Kuwait
Today in History for 19th August 2023
Historical Events
1939 – 37.6 cm rainfall at Tuckerton, NJ (state record)
1957 – NY Giants board of directors vote 8-1 to move their baseball franchise to San Francisco in 1958
1958 – NAACP Youth Council begin sit-in at “whites-only” lunch counter at Katz Drug Store in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
1962 – Homer Blancos plays finest round in golf, shooting a 55
1998 – South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission chairperson, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, releases documents revealing an alleged plot by Western countries to assassinate UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld of Sweden
2015 – US Food and Drug administration approves Female Viagra libido pill Addyi
Famous Birthdays
1557 – Frederick I, Duke of Württemberg, born in Montbéliard, France (d. 1608)
1558 – Paulus Merula, Dutch lawyer and historian (Historia Belgica), born in Dordrecht, Netherlands (d. 1607)
1686 – Eustace Budgell, English writer (The Spectator, writing 37 numbers signed X), born in Saint Thomas, Exeter, England (d. 1737)
1904 – June Collyer, American actress (Before Midnight, Charley’s Aunt), born in NYC, New York (d. 1968)
1967 – Tabitha Soren, American MTV reporter (This Week in Rock), born in San Antonio, Texas
1975 – Chynna Clugston Flores, American comic book creator (Blue Monday), born in Fresno, California
Famous Deaths
1186 – Geoffrey II, Duke of Brittany (b. 1158)
1931 – Aristides Agramonte y Simoni, Cuban-American Physician, Pathologist and Bacteriologist (yellow fever), dies at 63
1950 – Giovanni Giorgi, Italian physicist and electrical engineer (Giorgi system of measurement), dies at 78
1975 – Jim Londos, Greek-American wrestler, dies at 81
2003 – Carlos Roberto Reina, President of Honduras (b. 1926)
2017 – Bea Wain, American pop singer (“Deep Purple” (the song, not the group); “Heart and Soul”), and radio host, dies at 100
Famous Deaths for 18th August 2023
1712 – Richard Savage, 4th Earl Rivers, English soldier
1896 – Richard Avenarius, German philosopher (founded the epistemological theory of knowledge known as empirical criticism), dies at 52
1969 – Otto Stern, German-American physicist (Stern-Gerlach-experiment, Nobel 1943), dies at 81
1989 – Bert Oosterbosch, Dutch cyclist, dies at 32
1990 – Raf Reymen, Flemish actor (Huisvuil, Het glas water), dies at 64
1994 – Gottlob Frick, German opera singer, dies at 88
2000 – Maurice Evans, English soccer wing half (Reading, 407 games) and manager (Shrewsbury Town, Reading, Oxford United), dies from a heart attack at 63
2005 – Christopher Bauman, American wrestler (b. 1982)
2018 – Kofi Annan, Ghanaian diplomat and 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations (1997-2006), dies at 80
2020 – Hal Singer, American jazz and RandB saxophonist (“Corn Bread”), dies at 100