1949 – Karl Weigl, Austrian-American pianist, composer (Apocalyptic Symphony), and educator, dies of bone marrow cancer at 68
1956 – Jackson Pollock, American expressionist painter (Lavender Mist), dies at 44 in a car accident in East Hampton
1984 – Paul Felix Schmidt, Estonian-German chess player, dies at 67
1987 – Clara Peller, Russian-American manicurist and commercial spokesperson (Wendy’s – “Where’s the beef?”), dies of congestive heart failure at 85
1994 – Gordon Cullen, architect, dies at 80
2007 – Franz Antel, Austrian filmmaker (Der Bockerer), dies at 94
2010 – Dan Rostenkowski, American politician (Rep-D-Il, 1959-94), convicted of mail fraud, dies at 82
2014 – Robin Williams, American actor and comedian (Mork and Mindy, Jumanji, Dead Poets Society, Good Will Hunting), commits suicide by hanging himself at 63
2020 – Gordon J. Brand, English golfer (British Open 1986 runner-up), dies at 65
2022 – Darius Danesh, Scottish pop, opera, and swing singer-songwriter (Colourblind; Live Twice) and stage actor, dies of respiratory arrest at 41
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 11th August 2023
1909 – SOS 1st used by an American ship, Arapahoe, off Cape Hatteras, NC
1950 – In a 4 for 38 slump, New York Yankees great Joe DiMaggio is benched for first time; replacement Cliff Mapes hits a HR in 7-6 win over Philadelphia Athletics
1963 – Four ANC political detainees escape from Pretoria Central prison in South Africa
1971 – Construction begins on Louisiana Superdome
1971 – 4 people are shot dead in separate incidents in Belfast; three of them by the British Army, as violence continues following the introduction of Internment and Operation Demetrius
1976 – Race riot in Cape Town, South Africa; 17 die
1992 – Oakland A’s rip Jose Canseco for leaving stadium before end of game
2008 – Abhinav Bindra wins men’s 10m air rifle at the Beijing Olympics, the first ever individual Olympic gold medal for India, and India’s first gold medal in any Olympic event since 1980
2015 – Japan’s Sendai Nuclear Power Plant restarts the first nuclear reactor since the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster
2020 – President Vladimir Putin in a propaganda stunt announces Russia has become the 1st country to grant regulatory approval to a COVID-19 vaccine, called “Sputnik V”, despite no scientific data being published or phase 3 trials having even begun
Today in History for 11th August 2023
Historical Events
1949 – Gaston Eyskens forms Belgian government
1952 – Hussein Ibn Talal I, proclaimed King of Jordan
1965 – “Help!” a musical comedy film featuring the Beatles released in the US
1984 – A British 1-2 in the 1,500m at the Los Angeles Olympics with Sebastian Coe edging teammate Steve Cram to become the only man to successfully defend his Olympic 1,500m title
2015 – Greek Debt crisis: European Commission announces a bailout with Greece and its creditors has been agreed “in principle”
2016 – A Greenland shark declared oldest vertebrate animal in the world at 392 years by international team of scientists
Famous Birthdays
1904 – Jess Stacy, American jazz pianist (Benny Goodman, 1935-39; the Great Gatsby), born in Bird’s Point, Missouri (d. 1995)
1912 – Eva Ahnert-Rohlfs, German astronomer (d. 1954)
1928 – Richard Barratt, former Chief Inspector of Constabulary
1947 – Catherine Collard, French concert pianist (Schumann; Brahms), and teacher, born in Paris (d. 1993)
1961 – Craig Ehlo, American NBA basketball guard (Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, and 2 other teams), born in Lubbock, Texas
1968 – Alan Kelly, England-born Irish footballer
Famous Deaths
1857 – Marshall Hall, English physician, physiologist and early neurologist (physiology of reflex function), dies of a throat infection at 67
1868 – Thaddeus Stevens, US Radical Republican congressional leader (Rep-R-Pennsylvania 1849-53 1859-68), dies at 76
1954 – Santo Trafficante, Sr., Sicilian-American mobster, dies at 68
1975 – Howard Wendell, American actor (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, How to Murder Your Wife), dies at 67
1991 – Jef Contryn, Flemish pioneer puppet theatre, dies at 89
2015 – Harald Nielsen, Danish soccer forward (14 caps; Olympic silver 1960; Frederikshavn fI, Bologna FC), dies at 73
Famous Deaths for 10th August 2023
1821 – Salvatore Vigano, composer, dies at 52
1934 – John Kane, Scottish-American primitivist painter (Self-Portrait), dies at 73
1948 – Andrew Brown, Scottish football coach (b. 1870)
1973 – Douglas Kennedy, American actor (Dark Passage, The Lone Ranger and the Lost City of Gold), dies of cancer at 57
1976 – Bert Oldfield, Australian cricket wicketkeeper (54 Tests, 130 dismissals, 4 x 50; NSW CA), dies at 81
1996 – Adriano Mandarino Hypolito, priest, dies at 78
1997 – Conlon Nancarrow, American composer (Soundings 4), dies at 84
2002 – Michael Houser, American guitarist (Widespread Panic), dies of pancreatic cancer at 40
2012 – Carlo Rambaldi, Italian Special effects artist, dies at 86
2021 – Tony Esposito, Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender (6 x NHL All Star; Vezina Trophy 1970, 72, 74; Chicago Blackhawks), dies from pancreatic cancer at 78
Historical Events for 10th August 2023
70 – Second Temple in Jerusalem set on fire by Roman army under Titus during the capture of the city (approx)
610 – In Islam, the traditional date of the Laylat al-Qadr, when Muhammad began to receive the Qur’an
1793 – Louvre palace officially opens in Paris as The Museum Central des Arts
1904 – NY Highlanders pitcher Jack Chesbro ends string of 30 consecutive complete games in a 5-1 loss to Chicago White Sox at South Side Park, Chicago
1919 – Ukrainian National Army massacres 25 Jews in Podolia Ukraine
1926 – Italian-Spanish peace treaty signed
1943 – Adolf Hitler watches lynching of allied pilots
2016 – 18 year old Australian Kyle Chalmers creates huge upset when he swims a junior world record 47.58 to win the blue ribband men’s 100m freestyle gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics
2020 – Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab announces his government is resigning, less than a week after massive industrial explosions devastated Beirut
2021 – Forest fires kill 65 people, including 25 soldiers, in Algeria in the Kabylie region during heatwave conditions
Today in History for 10th August 2023
Historical Events
1827 – Race riots in Cincinnati (1,000 blacks leave for Canada)
1914 – WWI: French fall back at Alsace
1941 – FDR and Churchill’s 2nd meeting at Placentia, Newfoundland
1971 – Twins’ Harmon Killebrew is 10th to amass 500 HRs, and adds his 501st
1978 – USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya
1992 – Soyuz TM-15 lands
Famous Birthdays
1720 – Franz Joseph Leonti Meyer of Schauensee, Swiss composer and organist, born in Lucerne, Switzerland (d. 1789)
1926 – Benjamin Ward, 1st African American NYC Police Commissioner (1984-89), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2002)
1966 – Roberta Donnay American jazz singer, guitarist, and songwriter (“One World”), born in Washington, D.C.
1973 – Javier Zanetti, Argentinian footballer (Inter Milan), born in Buenos Aires, Argentina
1978 – Daniel Allsopp, Australian footballer (Manchester City), born in Melbourne, Australia
1994 – Bernardo Silva, Portuguese footballer (Manchester City), born in Lisbon, Portugal
Famous Deaths
1784 – Allan Ramsay, Scottish painter, dies at 70
1875 – Karl Andree, German geographer and journalist (founded journal Globus), dies at 66
1929 – Aletta Jacobs, 1st Dutch female doctor and women’s suffrage activist, dies at 75
1945 – Robert H. Goddard, American rocket pioneer (invented and built the first liquid-fueled rocket), dies of throat cancer at 62
1967 – John Francis Larchet, Irish arranger (Irish national anthem), composer (By the Waters of Moyle), and musical director (Abbey Theatre – Dublin, 1908-35), dies at 83
1988 – Adela Rogers St John “The World’s Greatest Girl Reporter”, American journalist, screenwriter and author (Free Soul, Honeycomb), dies at 94
Famous Deaths for 9th August 2023
1652 – John Dirksz Both, Dutch landscape painter and etcher, dies at about 37
1888 – Isaac Strauss, French violinist, conductor and composer, dies at 82
1888 – Charles Cros, French inventor and poet (Le Hareng Saur), dies at 45
1890 – Eduard von Bauernfeld, Austrian comedic playwright, dies at 88
1904 – Friedrich Ratzel, German social-geographer (Lebensraum), dies at 59
1924 – Jacob P. Vis, Dutch founder (NV Royal Salt Industries), dies at 66
1959 – Emil František Burian, Czech author and composer, dies at 55
1992 – Jan van Baal, Dutch anthropologist and governor of Dutch New Guinea, dies (b. 1909)
1996 – Ruth Holland, British journalist (BMJ), dies in the Watford rail crash at 54
2000 – Fouad Serageddin, Egyptian politician and leader of Egypt’s Wafd Party, dies at 88
Historical Events for 9th August 2023
378 – Battle of Adrianople: Goth army defeats Roman forces under Emperor Valens, who is killed
1778 – Captain James Cook reaches Cape Prince of Wales, Bering Straits
1859 – Otis Tufts patents the first passenger elevator in the US
1864 – Siege of Fort Morgan, Alabama, by Union forces begins (Confederates surrender 23 August)
1910 – Chicago resident Alva Fisher receives US patent for an electric washing machine
1937 – Ranger (US) easily beats Endeavour II (England) in race 4 to wrap up the 17th America’s Cup yachting series, 4-0; it’s the final competition for 21 years
1944 – WWII: Port Chicago Mutiny – mass work stoppage by munition loaders at Port Chicago Naval facility concerned with conditions after recent explosion in Port Chicago, California; 50 men were tried for mutiny, found guilty and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor
1971 – Operation Demetrius (or Internment) is introduced in Northern Ireland allowing suspected terrorists to be indefinitely detained without trial; the security forces arrested 342 people suspected of supporting paramilitaries
1988 – Just 1 day after 8/8/88 NY’s daily number is 888
2001 – US President George W. Bush announces his support for federal funding of limited research on embryonic stem cells.
Today in History for 9th August 2023
Historical Events
1673 – Dutch under Admiral Cornelis Evertsen de Jonge recapture NY from English; regained by English in 1674
1936 – Helen Stephens claims the women’s sprint double at the Berlin Olympics having won the 100m and as part of the victorious American 4 x 100m relay team
1942 – Dmitri Shostakovich’s 7th Symphony, dedicated to city of Leningrad, performed in Leningrad by starving musicians and broadcast to German forces over loudspeakers during siege by Nazi forces
1961 – James Benton Parsons is 1st African American to be nominated to a US Federal District Court
1967 – Biafran offensive against Nigerian army
1991 – British radio show “On the Hour” debuts on BBC Radio 4 with first appearance of Alan Partridge character
Famous Birthdays
1834 – Elias Álvares Lobo, Brazilian composer, born in Itu, Brazil (d. 1901)
1892 – Charles Delaney, American actor (Air Police, Lonesome Trail), born in NYC, New York (d. 1959)
1942 – David Steinberg, Canadian comedian and director (End), born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
1942 – Jack DeJohnette, American Jazz drummer (Skyline), born in Chicago, Illinois
1962 – Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, German politician, Leader of Christian Democratic Union (2018-), born in Völklingen, West Germany
1973 – Jimmy King, American NBA guard (Toronto Raptors, University of Michigan Wolverines Fab Five), born in South Bend, Indiana
Famous Deaths
1806 – Louis Ferdinand, Prussian prince and a soldier in the Napoleonic Wars, dies at 33
1835 – Claus Nielsen Schali, Danish violinist and composer, dies at 78
1944 – Felix Nussbaum, German painter (Widerstandskunst), murdered at Auschwitz Concentration Camp at 39
1967 – Anton Walbrook [Adolf Wohlbrook], Austrian actor (Laura, I Accuse), dies of a heart attack at 66
1992 – Thomas J. McIntyre, American politician (Sen-NH, 1963-79), dies at 77
1995 – John Schofield, English BBC journalist, shot to death in Croatia at 29
Famous Deaths for 8th August 2023
1685 – Sassoferrato [Giovanni B Salvi], Italian painter (Madonna), dies at 75
1965 – Shirley Jackson, American author (Road Through the Wall), dies at 45
1979 – Nicholas Monsarrat, British novelist (b. 1910)
1991 – John Brasser, Dutch Zaans resistance fighter (White Ko), dies at 79
1994 – Henriette Santer, Dutch-English clinical psychologist, dies at 62
1997 – Duncan Swift, English jazz pianist, dies at 74
2005 – Ilse Werner [Ilse Charlotte Still], Dutch-German actress (Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow), dies at 84
2008 – Frank Cornish, American NFL center/guard, 1990-95 (San Diego Chargers, Dallas Cowboys, and 3 other teams), dies of heart disease at 40
2010 – Patricia Neal, American actress (Hud, Subject Was Roses) and wife of Roald Dahl, dies at 84
2022 – Lamont Dozier, American songwriter and producer (Holland–Dozier–Holland – “Heat Wave”; “Where Did Our Love Go”; “You Keep Me Hanging On”), dies at 81