1773 – 1st schoolhouse west of Allegheny Mountains completed, Schoenbrunn, Ohio
1923 – Albert Einstein speaks on pacifism in Berlin
1944 – Frank McCormick (Reds) HR off Ace Adams (Giants) in both games of DH
1953 – US bomber shot down by Soviet Air Defence Forces in the Sea of Japan, north of Vladivostok
1954 – Publication of “Fellowship of the Ring” 1st volume of “Lord of the Rings” by J. R. R. Tolkien by George Allen and Unwin in London
1955 – Smokey Burgess hits 3 HRs to help Pirates beat Reds 16-5
1965 – Beatles movie “Help” has Royal World Premiere at the London Pavilion Theatre in the West End of London; of Princess Margaret and the Earl of Snowdon attend
1986 – Bomb attack in West-Beirut, 30 killed
1992 – American Michael Ray Barrowman swims world record 200m breaststroke (2:10.16) at the World Championships in Perth, Australia, breaking his own record set in August 1991
2015 – Over 3,500 immigrants over 2 days attempt to enter the Channel Tunnel at Calais, to cross into Britain
Author: gil7
Today in History for 29th July 2023
Historical Events
1902 – Union of Orthodox Rabbis of US and Canada forms
1914 – Austrian-Hungary bombs Belgrade
1930 – 115°F (46°C), Holly Springs, Mississippi (state record)
1935 – International Lawn Tennis Challenge, Wimbledon: 3rd straight GB title as Pat Hughes and Raymond Tuckey beat Americans Wilmer Allison and John Van Ryn 6-2, 1-6, 6-8, 6-3, 6-3 for unassailable 3-0 lead; ends 5-0
1948 – King George VI opens the XIV Summer Olympic Games at Wembley Stadium in London
1993 – Walter Koenig (Chekov in Star Trek) suffers a mild heart attack
Famous Birthdays
1887 – Komako Kimura, Japanese suffragette, actress and editor (d. 1980)
1906 – Thelma Todd [Alison Loyd], American actress (Dangerous Female), born in Lawrence, Massachusetts (d. 1935)
1911 – Stephen McNally, American attorney and actor (Split Second, 30 Seconds over Tokyo), born in NYC, New York (d. 1994)
1937 – Charles Schwab, American investor and entrepreneur (Charles Schwab Corporation), born in Sacramento, California
1945 – Mike Garson, American session and touring rock and jazz pianist (David Bowie, 1972-2006; Mick Ronson; Smashing Pumpkins), born in New York City
1956 – Patti Scialfa, American singer-songwriter (“As Long As I Can Be (With You)”), wife of Bruce Springsteen, born in Deal, New Jersey
Famous Deaths
1808 – Selim III, Turkish sultan (1789-1808) poet and composer, assassinated at 46
1838 – Jonathan Huntington, American composer, dies at 66
1918 – Ernest William Christmas, Australian painter (b. 1863)
1958 – Charles O’Malley, American actor in silent westerns (Iron Horse), dies at 61
1963 – Dorian Le Gallienne, Australian composer, dies at 48
1996 – Jason Thirsk, American punk rock bassist (Pennywise), dies of an accidental self-inflicted gunshot at 28
Famous Deaths for 28th July 2023
1655 – Cyrano de Bergerac, French dramatist and novelist (Voyage to the Moon), and inspiration for Edmond Rostand’s play, dies under mysterious circumstances at 36
1667 – Abraham Cowley, English poet (Mistress/Sex libri plantarum), dies
1844 – Joseph Bonaparte, older brother of Napoleon I and King of Naples and Spain, dies at 76
1878 – George Law Curry, American newspaper publisher and Governor of Oregon, dies at 58
1915 – Vilbrun Guillaume Sam, Haitian rebellion leader, President of Haiti (1915), lynched by a mob at 56
1937 – Muslim Magomayev, Azerbaijani-Soviet composer, dies at 51
1981 – Fr. Stanley Rother, American Roman Catholic priest, martyr and missionary to Guatemala, murdered at 46
1986 – Cliff Melton, American baseball pitcher (MLB All Star 1942; NL saves leader 1937; NY Giants), dies at 74
1994 – Colin Turnbull, British-American anthropologist (The Forest People), dies at 69
2015 – James Jude, American thoracic surgeon (developed CPR), dies at 87
Historical Events for 28th July 2023
1696 – De Croissy succeeds Le Plectia as French minister of Finance
1893 – Vizcaya Bridge – largest transporter bridge in the world opens over the River Ibaizabal, designed by Basque architect Alberto de Palacio
1898 – Spanish American War: U.S. Army occupies Ponce and declares victory in Puerto Rico over Spanish forces
1900 – Hamburger created by Louis Lassing in Connecticut
1917 – Silent Parade organised by James Weldon Johnson of 10,000 African-Americans who march on 5th Ave in NYC to protest against lynching
1929 – 23rd Tour de France won by Maurice De Waele of Belgium
1945 – Physicist Raemer Schreiber and Lieutenant Colonel Peer de Silva arrive on the Pacific island of Tinian with the plutonium core used to assemble the Fat Man bomb used in the bombing of Nagasaki on August 9
1959 – United Kingdom starts using postal codes
1977 – Roy Wilkins turns over NAACP leadership to Benjamin Hooks
2005 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army call an end to their thirty year long armed campaign in Northern Ireland
Today in History for 28th July 2023
Historical Events
1911 – 96°F (35.6°C) in De Bilt, Netherlands
1920 – Sigmund Romberg and Alex Gerber’s musical “Poor Little Ritz Girl”, with additional songs by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart (marking their Broadway debut), opens at the Central Theatre, NYC; runs for 93 performances
1928 – IX Summer Olympic Games open in Amsterdam, Netherlands
1972 – 39th NFL Chicago All Star Game: Dallas 20, All Stars 7 (54,162)
1997 – NY Ranger center Mark Messier signs with Vancouver for $20M for 3 yrs
2021 – Japanese swimmer Yui Ohashi wins women’s individual medley double with victory in 200m at the Tokyo Olympics; 3 days earlier she won the 400m IM gold medal
Famous Birthdays
1824 – Jacopo Foroni, Italian opera composer (I gladiatori; Advokathen Panthelin), and conductor, born in Verona, Italy (d. 1858)
1863 – Hussein Khan Nakhichevanski, Russian general (d. 1919)
1933 – Charlie Hodge, French Canadian ice hockey goaltender (Montreal Canadiens), born in Lachine, Quebec (d. 2016)
1934 – Ron Flowers, English soccer midfielder (49 caps; Wolverhampton Wanderers 467 games), born in Doncaster, England (d. 2021)
1938 – Luis Aragonés, Spanish soccer forward (11 caps; Atlético Madrid) and manager (Spain 2004-08; Atlético Madrid, Barcelona), born in Madrid, Spain (d. 2014)
1979 – Birgitta Haukdal, Icelandic singer, born in Húsavík, Iceland
Famous Deaths
1741 – Antonio Vivaldi, Italian Baroque composer (The Four Seasons), dies at 63
1971 – Myril Hoag, American baseball player, dies at 63
1972 – Charu Majumdar, Indian revolutionary leader, dies in custody at 53
1973 – Royal Butler [Edwin Richey], American actor (Zenobia), dies at 80
2004 – George Williams, American soul singer (The Tymes), dies at 68
2007 – Karl Gotch, Belgian professional wrestler (b. 1924)
Famous Deaths for 27th July 2023
1498 – Vespasiano da’ Bisticci, Italian book seller/writer, dies at about 77
1720 – Johann Samuel Welter, German composer, dies at 69
1833 – William Bainbridge, American naval officer, dies at 59
1938 – Catherine Wolfe Donohue, American watch dial painter, dies of radium poisoning at 35
1942 – William Matthew Finders Petrie, Egyptologist, dies
1958 – Claire Chennault, American aviator and military leader (Flying Tigers), dies at 64
1995 – Rick Ferrell, American Baseball Hall of Fame catcher (8 x MLB All Star; Boston Red Sox, Washington Senators), dies of arrhythmia at 89
2005 – Al Held, American painter and sculptor (hard edge-style), dies at 76
2016 – James Alan MacPherson, American writer, 1st black writer to win Pulitzer Prize, dies at 72
2017 – Sam Shepard Ill, American actor and playwright (Frances; Crimes of the Heart), dies at 73
Historical Events for 27th July 2023
1214 – Battle of Bouvines: King Philip II of France vs Holy Roman Emperor Otto IV and King John of England; as a result John lost Normandy and his other possessions in France (hence his nickname John “Lackland”)
1586 – Walter Raleigh brings the 1st tobacco to England from Virginia
1655 – Netherlands and Brandenburg sign military treaty
1954 – Armistice divides Vietnam into two countries
1976 – Japanese ex-premier Tanaka arrested (Lockheed Affair)
1992 – Nelson Mandela says a general strike will go ahead to protest for the removal of South African President F. W. de Klerk from power and for free elections
1993 – Mafia bombs historical buildings in Rome, Milan and Vatican City, 5 killed
1997 – “Candide” closes at Gershwin Theater NYC after 103 performances
2019 – At least 65 mourners killed in a gun attack at a funeral near Maiduguri, by suspected Boko Haram militants in north-east Nigeria
2021 – American gymnast and four-time Olympic gold medallist Simone Biles withdraws from the women’s team final at the Tokyo Games citing need to focus on her mental health; also misses individual finals
Today in History for 27th July 2023
Historical Events
1927 – Mel Ott, 18, hits his 1st league home run (inside the park)
1987 – John Demjanjuk, accused Nazi “Ivan the Terrible”, testifies in Israel
1997 – 84th Tour de France won by Jan Ullrich of Germany
1997 – Si Zerrouk massacre in Algeria; about 50 people killed.
1997 – British Senior Open Men’s Golf, Royal Portrush GC: Gary Player of South Africa wins with birdie on 2nd playoff hole against countryman John Bland
2015 – Fiat Chrysler fined record $105 million by Us regulators over their number of car recalls
Famous Birthdays
1849 – John Hopkinson, British physicist and electrical engineer (Hopkinson’s Law), born in Manchester (d. 1898)
1922 – Bob Thiele, American record producer (Impulse! Records), born in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York (d. 1996)
1957 – Hansi Muller, German footballer, born in Stuttgart
1960 – Jo Durie, English tennis player, born in Bristol
1963 – Karrin Allyson, American jazz singer (Wild for You), born in Great Bend, Kansas
1986 – Courtney Kupets, American gymnast (World Championships champion 2002, 2003), born in Bedford, Texas
Famous Deaths
916 – Kliment/Clemens van Ohrid, Bulgaria bishop of Ohrid/saint, dies
1675 – Henri de la Tour d’Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne, Marshal of France, dies at 63
1934 – Louis HG Lyautey, French minister of Defense (1916-17), dies at 79
1968 – Babe Adams, baseball player (b. 1882)
1990 – Elizabeth Allan, actress (Tale of 2 Cities, Camille, Java Head), dies
2011 – Richard Rutt, English bishop of Leicester, dies at 85
Famous Deaths for 26th July 2023
1611 – Horio Yoshiharu, Japanese warlord (b. 1542)
1863 – Sam Houston, 1st President of Republic of Texas (1836-38, 1841-44) who helped bring Texas into the United States as a constituent state, dies at 70
1919 – Edward Poynter, British painter, President of the Royal Academy, dies at 83
1937 – Gerda Taro (Gerta Pohorylle), German-born war photojournalist, dies covering Spanish Civil War aged 26
1967 – Matthijs Vermeulen, Dutch classical composer, critic, and musicologist dies at 79
1988 – Fazlur Rahman, Pakistani modernist scholar, dies at 68
1992 – Ron Webber, dies of cancer at 60
1998 – (David Allan) “Chico” Ryan, American rock bassist and singer (Sha Na Na, 1973-98), dies at 50
2009 – Marcey Jacobson, American photographer (b. 1911)
2021 – Ivan Toplak, Serbian soccer striker (1 cap; Red Star Belgrade) and manager (Red Star Belgrade, San Jose Earthquakes, Yugoslavia), dies at 89
Historical Events for 26th July 2023
1822 – Secret meeting of Simón Bolívar and Jose de San Martin
1897 – 37.5 cm rainfall at Jewell, Maryland (state record)
1944 – Japanese suicide attack on US lines in Guam
1944 – Soviet troops arrive in Weichsel
1950 – Dodgers’ Jim Russell is 1st to switch-hits HRs twice in a game
1957 – USSR launches 1st intercontinental multistage ballistic missile
1962 – Milwaukee Brave Warren Spahn sets HR record of 31 by a pitcher
1963 – Skopje, Yugoslavia, destroyed by earthquake, kills 1,000+
1977 – USSR performs underground nuclear Test
2018 – Sir Paul McCartney performs a “secret” gig at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, where the Beatles began