Author: gil7

Historical Events

1942 – SS begins transporting Jews from Maastricht
1990 – Li Hui Rong of China sets the women’s triple jump record of 47 ft 8½ in (14.54 m)
1995 – Gloucestershire cricketer Andrew Symonds scores 254 against Glamorgan, including a then first-class record of 16 sixes
2004 – Gal Fridman becomes Israel’s first Olympic gold medalist when he wins the men’s Mistral One Design windsurfing event at the Athens Games
2004 – Olga Kuzenkova of Russia throws an Olympic record 75.02 m to win the women’s hammer throw gold medal at the Athens Games

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Famous Birthdays

1846 – Judith Gautier, French poetess, novelist (Le Dragon Impérial) and daughter of Theophile Gautier, born in Paris (d. 1917)
1897 – Jaroslav Řídký, Czech harpist, conductor, and composer, born in Reichenberg, Kingdom of Bohemia, Austria-Hungary (d. 1956)
1903 – Arpad Elo, American chess writer and creator of the Elo rating system for two-player games such as chess, born in Egyházaskesző, Hungary (d. 1992)
1965 – Kathy Horvath, American tennis player (World #10 1984, 6 WTA titles), born in Chicago, Illinois
1988 – Raymond Quinn, British pop singer, born in Knowsley Village, Merseyside, England

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Famous Deaths

1282 – Thomas Cantilupe, English saint (b. ca 1218)
1868 – Costache Negruzzi, Romanian author/poet, dies at about 60
1945 – Willis Augustus Lee, American World War II admiral (Guadalcanal), and sport shooter (5 Olympic gold medals, 1920), dies of a heart attack while being ferried out to visit his flagship USS Wyoming off the coast of Maine at 57
1996 – Sylvia Fisher, Australian operatic soprano (Albert Herring Opera), dies at 86
2008 – Pehr Henrik Nordgren, Finnish composer (The Whole World Will Lament; Kwaidan-balladit), dies at 64

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Historical Events

1635 – The Great Colonial Hurricane affects the Virginia Colony at Jamestown
1921 – British airship R-38 crashes into the River Humber, killing 44 people
2008 – XXIX Summer Olympic Games close at the Beijing National Stadium
2008 – Samuel Wanjiru becomes the first Kenyan to win the men’s Olympic marathon in Beijing, winning in an Olympic record time; silver medalist Jaouad Gharib of Morocco is also faster than the Olympic record, yet finishes 44 seconds behind
2022 – South Korea records the world’s lowest fertility rate at 0.81 (advanced economies average 1.6, population replacement needs 2.1)

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Famous Birthdays

1561 – Bartholomeus Pitiscus, German mathematician (Trigonometry), born in Zielona Góra, Poland (d. 1613)
1879 – Rentaro Taki, Japanese pianist and composer, born in Tokyo, Japan (d. 1903)
1903 – Claude Hopkins, American jazz stride pianist, arranger, bandleader, and musical director (Josephine Baker), born in Alexandria, Virginia (d. 1984)
1934 – Roger Donald Dickerson, American pianist, composer (New Orleans Concerto), and educator, born in New Orleans, Louisiana
1945 – Ronee Blakley, American actress (Nashville), and singer-songwriter, born in Nampa, Idaho

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Famous Deaths

1647 – Nicholas Stone “Elder”, English sculptor and architect, dies at about 61
1712 – Thomas Bullis, Jr. English organist and composer, dies at 54 (burial date)
1870 – Edwin Gray Lee, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 34
2002 – Ted Ashley [Theodore Assofsky], American talent agent and chairman of Warner Brothers (1969-80), dies at 80
2016 – Michel Butor, French novelist and essayist (La Modification), dies at 89

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Historical Events

1929 – Arab mobs attack Jews in Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine, triggering a series of violent riots
1939 – Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union agree to the Molotov-Ribbentrop non-aggression pact and secretly divide Poland between themselves, setting the stage for World War II
1948 – Swedish diplomat Folke Bernadotte of the United Nations asks for aid for fugitives to Palestine
1972 – Republican convention in Miami Beach, Florida, renominates Vice President Spiro Agnew, but not unanimously as one vote goes to NBC newsman David Brinkley
2008 – Australian diver Matthew Mitcham wins the men’s 10 m platform gold medal with a final dive at the Beijing Olympics, preventing the Chinese from winning every diving event and achieving the highest score for an individual dive in Olympic history (112.10)

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Famous Birthdays

1623 – Stanisław Lubieniecki, Polish astronomer, born in Raków, Kielce County, Poland (d. 1675)
1922 – Eevi Huttunen, Finnish speed skater (8 World C’ship gold 1951-59), born in Karttula, Finland (d. 2015)
1968 – Chris DiMarco, American golfer (PGA C’ship 2004 runner-up), born in Huntington, New York
1978 – Julian Casablancas, American musician, born in New York City
1984 – Joe Talbot, Welsh punk-rock singer-songwriter (Ides), born in Newport, Wales

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Famous Deaths

1878 – Adolf Fredrik Lindblad, Swedish lieder and classical composer, dies at 77
1992 – Malcolm Atterbury, American actor (Jonas-Thicker than Water, Apples Way), dies at 85
1993 – Victorine Hefting, historian/wife of Bert Baker, dies at 88
1995 – Hedda J. Garza, American writer and political activist, dies at 66
2012 – Jerry Nelson, American puppeteer, dies from prostate cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at 78

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Historical Events

1642 – English Civil War begins between Royalists and Parliamentarians
1939 – Dutch border guards take positions for German invasion
1958 – Toronto’s Boyd Carter (15 yards) and Dave Mann (116 yards) combine for a CFL record for the longest punt return in a 15-14 win over the Montreal Alouettes in Toronto
1988 – US performs a nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
2024 – Vice President Kamala Harris accepts the Democratic nomination for U.S. President on the last day of the party’s national conference in Chicago

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Famous Birthdays

1874 – Edward Bairstow, English composer, born in Trinity Street, Huddersfield, England (d. 1946)
1907 – Cyril Astley Clarke, British physician and geneticist, born in Leicester, England (d. 2000)
1926 – Marc Bohan, French fashion designer, born in Paris (d. 2023)
1974 – Agustín Pichot, Argentine rugby player, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina
1974 – Brimstone [William Kucmierowski], American professional wrestler, actor and radio personality (The Grindhouse Radio), born in Mineola, New York

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Famous Deaths

1701 – John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath, English royalist statesman, dies at 72
1914 – Léon Amédée François Raffenel, French general (3rd Colonial Div, WWI), dies during Battle of Rossignol at 58
1977 – Sebastian Cabot, British actor (Kismet; Family Affair – “Mr. French”, Time Machine), dies at 59
2009 – Elmer Kelton, American Western novelist (b. 1926)
2011 – Nick Ashford, American songwriter, record producer (“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”; “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)”), and singer (Ashford and Simpson – “Solid”), dies of throat cancer at 70

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