1703 – Georg Christoph Leuttner, German composer, dies at 58
1805 – Jean-Baptiste-Gaspard d’Ansse de Villoison, French classical scholar (Anecdota Graeca), dies at 55
1865 – Charles J Sax, Belgium musician and father of Adolphe Sax inventor of the saxophone, dies at 74
1920 – Srinivasa Ramanujan, Indian mathematician (number theory), dies of illness at 32
1924 – Josef Labor, Austrian composer, dies at 82
1958 – Joan Collette, Dutch graphic artist and painter (New Church, Delft), dies at 68
1964 – Edwin John Pratt, Canadian poet (Towards the Last Spike), dies at 81
1970 – “Gypsy” Rose Lee [Hovick], American burlesque actress (Gypsy), dies of lung cancer at 59
1991 – Leo Arnaud, French-American composer (Bugler’s Dream), dies at 86
2013 – Jacqueline Brookes, American actress (Jack and Mike, Another World), dies at 82
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 26th April 2023
1952 – US minesweeper Hobson rams aircraft carrier Wasp, kills 176
1954 – “Seven Samurai”, Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa, starring Toshiro Mifune, is released
1954 – Mass trials of Jonas Salk’s anti-polio vaccine begin; the first shot is delivered in Fairfax County, Virginia; more than 443,000 children receive shots over three months
1954 – Far Eastern Affairs conference opens in Geneva
1957 – Jamestown, Virginia 350th Anniversary Festival opens
1961 – French paratroopers’ revolt suppressed in Algeria
1961 – Roger Maris hits 1st of 61 homers in 1961
1964 – Tanganyika and Zanzibar form The United Republic of Tanganyika and Zanzibar
1974 – Landslide in Huancavelica Province Peru creates a natural dam
1982 – Argentina surrenders to Great Britain on South Georgia Island, near the Falkland Islands
Today in History for 26th April 2023
Historical Events
1848 – Alfred Russel Wallace departs the U.K. for South America, beginning four years of travel, collecting, and research in the region
1904 – Bell Telephone Company of Antwerp Belgium forms
1925 – Artist Diego Rivera resigns from the Mexican Communist Party
1991 – 23 killed in Kansas and Oklahoma by tornadoes
2018 – Serial killer “Golden State Killer” identified after 40 years as a former police officer, responsible for 12 killings, 50 rapes in California
2022 – Russia says it will stop supplying gas to Poland and Bulgaria, after the countries refused to pay in rubles, escalating the energy supply standoff between Russia and Europe
Famous Birthdays
1798 – Eugène Delacroix, French painter and etcher (Journal), born in Charenton-Saint-Maurice, Île-de-France, France (d. 1863)
1827 – Charles Edward Hovey, American lobbyist and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Thetford, Vermont (d. 1897)
1863 – Charles Haslewood Shannon, English lithographer and painter, born in Sleaford, Lincolnshire (d. 1937)
1883 – Harry Sothern, British actor (Blind Wives, Buck Rogers), born in London, England (d. 1957)
1922 – Mike Kellin [Myron Kellin], American actor (Pipe Dream, American Buffalo), born in Hartford, Connecticut (d. 1983)
1981 – Caro Emerald [Caroline van der Leeuw], Dutch singer (“On A Night Like This”), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands
Famous Deaths
1660 – Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, German princess and consort of Brandenburg as the wife of George William, dies at 62
1944 – Violette Morris, French athlete and spy for Nazi Germany, dies at 51
1976 – Allan Jackson, American newscaster (Youth Takes a Stand), dies at 60
1986 – Bessie Love, American actress (Broadway Melody, Isadora), dies at 87
1989 – Lucille Ball, American comedienne and actress (I Love Lucy; Mame), dies of a heart attack at 77
1991 – Leo Arnaud, French-American composer (Bugler’s Dream), dies at 86
Famous Deaths for 25th April 2023
1271 – Master Gerhard, first master mason of Cologne Cathedral, falls to his death from scaffolding during the building of the cathedral (b. c. 1210)
1516 – John Yonge, English diplomat (b. 1467)
1566 – Diane de Poitiers, French mistress of French King Henry II, dies at 66
1943 – Vladimir Ivanovich Nemirovich-Danchenko, playwright/director, dies
1960 – Amanullah Khan, Emir and King of Afghanistan (1919-28), dies at 67
1982 – Celia Johnson, English actress (Brief Encounter, Happy Breed), dies at 73
1992 – Brian MacLeod, Canadian rock guitarist, keyboardist and vocalist (Chilliwack), dies of cancer at 39
2002 – Michael Bryant, British actor (Sakharov, Girly), dies at 74
2009 – John J. Marchi, American politician (NY Senate 1957-2006), dies at 87
2013 – Rick Camp, American MLB pitcher, dies of natural causes at 59
Historical Events for 25th April 2023
1864 – Battle of Marks’ Mill, Arkansas (Camden Expedition)
1941 – Operation Mercury: Adolf Hitler orders the conquest of the island of Crete, the first mainly airborne invasion in military history
1945 – Soviet forces complete their encirclement of Berlin, cutting off all access points west of the German capital
1949 – Friedrich Durrenmatt’s “Romulus der Grosse” premieres in Basel
1959 – St Lawrence Seaway linking Atlantic and the Great Lakes opens to shipping
1966 – Drunk driver kills 10 children in Asse, Belgium
1990 – Violeta Barrios de Chamorro begins a 6-year term as Nicaragua’s president
1997 – Seattle Mariner Ken Griffey Jr. hits his 250th HR
2015 – 100 year anniversary of the Gallipoli Peninsula landings in Turkey by ANZAC forces during WWI
2022 – Twitter announces a deal to sell itself to Elon Musk for $44 billion
Today in History for 25th April 2023
Historical Events
1792 – “La Marseillaise”, later the national anthem of France, is composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg
1945 – Clandestine Radio 1212, used to hoax Nazi Germany’s final transmission
1945 – 45 countries convene UN Conference on Intl Organization in San Francisco
1983 – Portugal’s Mário Soares’ Partido Socialista wins parliamentary election
1993 – NFL Draft: Washington State quarterback Drew Bledsoe first pick by New England Patriots
2018 – Danish inventor Peter Madsen found guilty of killing and desecrating body of journalist Kim Wall aboard submarine, sentenced to life imprisonment
Famous Birthdays
1824 – Gustave Boulanger, French painter, born in Paris (d. 1888)
1897 – Paula Trueman, American actress (Dirty Dancing), born in NYC, New York (d. 1994)
1906 – Zoltán Gárdonyi, Hungarian composer, born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 1986)
1907 – Vasily Pavlovich Solov’yov-Sedoy, Russian composer, born in Saint Petersburg, Russia (d. 1979)
1969 – Gina Torres, American actress (Firefly, Suits), born in NYC, New York
1977 – Matthew West, American Christian musician and singer (“Happy”), born in Downers Grove, Illinois
Famous Deaths
1926 – Ellen Key, Swedish author and feminist (Courageous Woman), dies at 76
1960 – Ilmari Krohn, Finnish composer, dies at 92
1988 – Carolyn Franklin, American singer-songwriter, sister of Aretha, dies of cancer at 43
2013 – Jacob Avshalomov, Russian-American composer (Symphony of Songs; The Oregon), conductor (Portland Youth Philharmonic, 1954-91), and pedagogue, dies at 94
2013 – Virginia Gibson, American actress, dies at 88
2020 – Richard Divila, Brazilian motorsports designer (Fittipaldi Automotive; Ligier, Nissan), dies at 74
Famous Deaths for 24th April 2023
1622 – Fidelis of Sigmaringen, Swiss friar, martyr, and saint, dies at 44
1891 – Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, Prussian general and fieldmarshal, dies at 90
1900 – Andrew Smith Hallidie, American inventor and cable car pioneer, dies at 64
1900 – George Campbell, 8th Duke of Argyll and Secretary of State for India (1868-74, 1880-85), dies at 76
1938 – George Grey Barnard, American sculptor, dies at 74
2001 – Leon Sullivan, African-American civil rights leader and pastor (b. 1922)
2004 – Estée Lauder [Josephine Esther Mentzer], American entrepreneur (Estée Lauder cosmetics), dies of cardiopulmonary arrest at 97
2014 – Konstantin Orbelyan, Armenian pianist, jazz and classical composer, and orchestra leader (State Estrada (Pops) Orchestra), dies at 85
2017 – Agustín Edwards, Chilean media tycoon (El Mercurio), dies at 89
2020 – Graeme Watson, Australian cricket all-rounder (5 Tests, 1 x 50, 6 wickets; 2 ODIs; Victoria CA, WA CA, NSW CA), dies from cancer at 75
Historical Events for 24th April 2023
1311 – General Malik Kafur returns to Delhi after campaign in South India
1704 – 1st continuously published newspaper in America – The Boston News-Letter published in Boston by John Campbell
1872 – Volcano Mt Vesuvius erupts in Italy
1915 – German army fires chloroform gas in Ypres (Leper)
1954 – Australia and USSR break diplomatic relations
1955 – KFDM TV channel 6 in Beaumont, TX (CBS) begins broadcasting
1968 – Mauritius becomes a member state of the United Nations.
1979 – US State of Georgia designates Ray Charles’ rendition of “Georgia On My Mind” (written by Hoagy Carmichael) as official state song
1987 – Howard Stern holds a free speech rally at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, NYC
2013 – 33 people are killed and 115 are injured after a magnitude 5.7 earthquake strikes Jalalabad, Afghanistan
Today in History for 24th April 2023
Historical Events
1823 – Eugene Scribes opera “Le Menteur Veridique” premieres in Paris
1899 – Transvaal British Uitlanders ask Queen Victoria for aid
1917 – Yankee lefty George Mogridge no-hits Red Sox 2-1 at Fenway
1969 – Car firm British Leyland launch the Austin Maxi in Oporto Portugal
2007 – Iceland announces that Norway will shoulder the defense of Iceland during peacetime
2018 – Ed Sheeran’s “÷” is the best-selling album of 2017, selling 6.1 million copies, according to IFPI
Famous Birthdays
1706 – Giovanni Battista Martini, Italian Conventual Franciscan friar and composer, born in Bologna, Italy (d. 1784)
1766 – Robert Bailey Thomas, American journalist and founder (The Farmer’s Almanac), born in Grafton, Massachusetts (d. 1846)
1845 – Carl Spitteler, Swiss poet (Prometheus and Epimetheus; Nobel 1919), born in Liestal, Switzerland (d. 1924)
1927 – Seymour Bernstein, American concert pianist, teacher, and composer, born in Newark, New Jersey
1933 – Claire Davenport, English actress (The Elephant Man), born in Sale, Cheshire, England (d. 2002)
1945 – Larry Tesler, American computer scientist (invented copy, cut, paste), born in The Bronx, New York (d. 2020)
Famous Deaths
1185 – Antoku Taira, emperor of Japan (1180-85), drowns
1928 – Ferdinand Hummel, German composer, dies at 72
1998 – Mel Powell [Epstein], American composer (Duplicates: A Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra – Pulitzer Prize for Music, 1990), dies from liver cancer at 75
2004 – Estée Lauder [Josephine Esther Mentzer], American entrepreneur (Estée Lauder cosmetics), dies of cardiopulmonary arrest at 97
2016 – Jan Henrik Kayser, Norwegian concert pianist (Grieg Prize, 1978), dies at 83
2017 – Benjamin Barber, American political theorist (Jihad vs. McWorld), dies at 77
Famous Deaths for 23rd April 2023
1926 – Joseph Pennell, American artist and author, dies at 68
1936 – Teresa de la Parra, Venezuelan writer (Memorias de Mamá Blanca), dies at 46
1990 – Paulette Goddard, American actress (Modern Times, The Great Dictator, Hazard), dies at 79
1993 – Lalith Athulathmudali, Sri Lankan minister, murdered at 59
1993 – Bertus Aafjes, poet/writer (World is a Muze), dies at 78
1994 – Cassidy Clinton Cremer, author (John Cremer), murdered at 30
2008 – William H. Stewart, 10th US Surgeon General (1965-69), dies at 86
2010 – Peter Porter, Australian-British author and poet (Chair of Babel), dies at 81
2011 – Peter Lieberson, American composer, dies of cancer at 64
2016 – Banharn Silpa-archa, Prime Minister of Thailand (1995-96), dies at 83