1551 – Joachim Vadian [Vadianus] Swiss humanist, scholar and protestant reformer, dies at 66
1833 – Adamántios Koraïs, Greek humanist scholar, dies at 84
1939 – Robert Courtneidge, British theater producer, dies
1970 – Sam Sheppard, American accused murderer (b. 1923)
1971 – Igor Stravinsky, Russian composer (Le Sacre du Printemps – The Rite of Spring; The Firebird), dies of pneumonia at 88
1979 – Milton Ager, American composer, dies at 85
1996 – Nadieh [Karin Meis], Dutch singer, guitarist and composer (Haifa Blue), dies from a pulmonary embolism and breast cancer at 37
2015 – James Best [Jewel Franklin Guy], American actor (The Dukes of Hazzard, Sounder), dies at 88
2020 – Graham “Jock” Edwards, New Zealand cricket batsman (8 Tests, 3 x 50; Central Districts), dies from heart failure at 64
2020 – Radomir Antić, Serbian soccer defender (1 cap Yugoslavia; Partizan, Luton Town) and manager (Atlético Madrid; Serbia), dies from pancreatitis at 71
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 6th April 2023
1757 – British King George II dismisses minister William Pitt the Elder, Secretary of State for the Southern Department
1920 – To force German evacuation of the Ruhr area, the French occupy Frankfurt, Darmstadt, and Hanau
1924 – 4 planes leave Seattle on 1st successful around-the-world flight
1931 – 1st Scottsboro (Alabama) trial begins – 9 blacks accused of rape
1934 – 418 Lutheran ministers arrested in Germany
1938 – Teflon invented by Roy J. Plunkett
1957 – NYC ends trolley car service
1975 – Fastest hat trick by a Wash Cap 3 mins 26 secs (Stan Gilbertson)
1994 – Liberal Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun (Roe v Wade) resigns
2019 – Tampa Bay Lightning beats Boston Bruins, 6-3 in the season finale for their 62nd regular season win, tying the NHL record held by Detroit Red Wings (1995-96); 128 points, 4th in NHL history
Today in History for 6th April 2023
Historical Events
1905 – Germany receives invitation from Sultan of Morocco to an international conference to discuss matters relating to Morocco
1955 – Yemen: failed coup by Abdullah Seif el-Islam
1976 – 1st quadrophonic movie track: “Ladies and Gentlemen the Rolling Stones”
1978 – Karnataka beat Uttar Pradesh by inn and 193 to win Ranji Trophy
2017 – Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Florida for talks with US President Donald Trump
2020 – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe announces state of emergency in seven prefectures and a nearly $1 trillion stimulus package as COVID-19 cases climb
Famous Birthdays
1903 – Harold Edgerton, American electrical engineer and photographer who created high-speed photography techniques, born in Fremont, Nebraska (d. 1990)
1931 – Joan Carlyle, British soprano
1934 – Reijo Jyrkiainen, Finnish composer, born in Suistamo, Finland
1955 – Keith Hunter Jesperson, Canadian-born serial killer
1978 – Tim Hasselbeck, American football player
1987 – Jerrod Carmichael, American comedian and filmmaker (Rothaniel), born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Famous Deaths
1605 – John Stow, English historian (Survey of London), dies
1686 – Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey, English royalist statesman, dies at 71
1976 – Sidney Franklin, American bullfighter (b. 1903)
1990 – Nancy Hawkes, (1946 best dressed woman), dies at 73
1998 – Wendy O. Williams, American singer (Plasmatics) (b. 1949)
2014 – Jacques Castérède, French composer and pianist (Pandora’s Box), dies at 87
Famous Deaths for 5th April 2023
1673 – Francois Caron, admiral/governor (Formosa), drowns at about 72
1676 – John Winthrop, the Younger, American politician (b. 1606)
1944 – Isolde Kurz, German writer/poetess (Meine Mutter), dies at 90
1954 – Claude Delvincourt, French composer and pianist, dies at 66
1970 – Jacob H “Jaap” Stotijn, Dutch oboist, and conductor (Residence Orchestra), dies at 78
1992 – Anthony “Tony” Papa, big band leader, dies at 65
2018 – Cecil Taylor, American pianist, poet, and one of the pioneers of free jazz, dies at 89
2018 – Eric Bristow MBE [‘The Crafty Cockney’], English darts player (BDO World Champion 1980-81, 84-86), dies of a heart attack at 60
2018 – Isao Takahata, Japanese anime film director, screenwriter and producer (Grave of the Fireflies, The Tale of the Princess Kaguya), dies of lung cancer at 82
2020 – Peter Walker, English cricket batsman (3 Tests; Glamorgan CCC), dies after a stroke at 84
Historical Events for 5th April 2023
1804 – High Possil Meteorite: The first recorded meteorite in Scotland falls in Possil
1905 – James Barrie’s “Alice-sit-by-the-fire” premieres in London
1946 – 100th Grand National: Capt. Robert Petre wins aboard 25/1 shot Lovely Cottage; first true GN since 1940 due to World War II; last on a Friday
1967 – ATS II launched but fails to reach orbit
1969 – Massive anti-Vietnam War demonstrations occur in many U.S. cities
1982 – 43 year old St. Louis reliever Jim Kaat pitches 1 inning for the Cardinals in a season-opening, 14-3 rout of Houston; sets a MLB record for pitchers by playing in his 24th consecutive season
1991 – Space Shuttle STS 37 (Atlantis 8) launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida
1994 – Miami Heat beat NY Knicks ending 15 game NBA winning streak
1998 – The Arizona Diamondbacks record their first win in team history with a 3-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants in Phoenix, AZ; ends second-worst start ever (0-5) by an expansion team
2022 – Shanghai lockdown extended to cover the whole city as COVID-19 cases increase, as China remains one of the last to employ a “zero-Covid” system
Today in History for 5th April 2023
Historical Events
1946 – 100th Grand National: Capt. Robert Petre wins aboard 25/1 shot Lovely Cottage; first true GN since 1940 due to World War II; last on a Friday
1950 – Prague espionage trial against bishops and priests begins
1981 – Philadelphia Flyers amass a record 2,621 penalty minutes
1983 – France throws out 47 Soviet diplomats
2005 – The Washington Nationals lose their inaugural season opener, 8-4 to the Philadelphia Phillies; first team to represent the nation’s capital since the Washington Senators left after the 1971 season
2012 – Severe storms in Argentina kill 14 people
Famous Birthdays
1825 – David Rumph Jones, American Major General (Confederate Army), born in Orangeburg, South Carolina (d. 1863)
1939 – Ronald “Ronnie” White, American singer (The Miracles – “Shop Around”), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 1995)
1944 – Ann Maxwell, American sci-fi author (Jaws of Menx), born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
1951 – Rennie Stennett, Panamanian baseball infielder (World Series 1979; SF Giants; one of 3 players to collect 7 hits in a MLB game), born in Colón, Panama (d. 2021)
1953 – John Buchanan, Australian cricketer (Qld batsman 78-79, Shield coach 1995), born in Ipswich, Queensland
1979 – Timo Hildebrand, German footballer
Famous Deaths
1419 – Vincent Ferrer, Spanish missionary and saint, dies at 69
1673 – Francois Caron, admiral/governor (Formosa), drowns at about 72
1884 – John Wisden, English cricket all-rounder (launched Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 1864; Sussex CCC, Kent CCC, Middlesex CCC), dies at 57
1981 – Bob “Bear” Hite, rocker (Canned Heat), dies of a heart attack at 36
2015 – Richard Dysart, American actor (Leland MacKenzie-LA Law, The Last Days of Patton), dies at 86
2022 – Paul Siebel, American folk singer and songwriter (Louise; Spanish Johnny), dies from complications of pulmonary fibrosis at 84
Famous Deaths for 4th April 2023
1585 – Caspar de Robles, Spanish viceroy of Frisia, dies at about 57
1903 – Margaret Ann Neve, British 1st recorded female Supercentenarian, who lived in three centuries, dies at 110
1931 – Andre Michelin, French industrialist, tire manufacturer (Michelin) and publisher of the Michelin Guide, dies of respiratory failure at 78
1943 – Raoul Laparra, French composer, dies during a bombing raid in WWII at 66
1972 – Adam Clayton Powell Jr., American politician (Rep-D-NY), dies of acute prostatitis at 63
1978 – Gino Contilli, Italian composer, dies at 70
1991 – John Heinz, American businessman and Republican politician (Senator from Pennsylvania, 1977-1991), dies in a plane crash at 52
2003 – Anthony Caruso, American actor (b. 1916)
2010 – Clifford M. Hardin, American politician (17th U.S. Secretary of Agriculture), dies at 94
2013 – Carmine Infantino, American comic book artist, dies at 87
Historical Events for 4th April 2023
1859 – Bryant’s Minstrels debut “Dixie” in New York City in the finale of a blackface minstrel show
1870 – Golden Gate Park forms by City Order #800
1912 – Army fires on striking mine workers at Lena-gold fields in Siberia
1932 – George Bernard Shaw’s comedy play “Too True To Be Good” premieres in NYC; runs for 59 performances
1968 – US civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated by James Earl Ray at the Lorraine Hotel in Memphis, Tennessee
1994 – 1st game played at Jacobs Field, Indians beat Mariners 4-3 in 11 inn
1994 – 56th NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Arkansas beats Duke, 76-72; Razorbacks’ first title in first title game
1999 – The Tradition Senior Men’s Golf, GC at Desert Mountain: Graham Marsh of Australia wins his second Champions Tour major by 3 strokes from Larry Nelson
2013 – 9 people have been killed on an axe-murdering rampage in Chhattisgarh state, India
2019 – US Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints pledges to roll back anti-LGBT policies, including not baptizing children of gay parents
Today in History for 4th April 2023
Historical Events
1905 – Earthquake in Kangra India, kills 20,000
1917 – US Senate agrees (82-6) to participate in WWI
1918 – Food riot in Amsterdam
1960 – Senegal declares independence from France
1966 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1984 – Winston Smith in Orwell’s novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four” begins his secret diary in defiance of the totalitarian government of Oceania
Famous Birthdays
1731 – Francesc Morera i Cots, Valencian composer, born in Sant Mateu (d. 1793)
1872 – Nikolai Amani, Russian composer, born in St. Petersburg, Russia (d. 1904)
1945 – Walter Charles, American actor (Fletch Lives, Weeds), born in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
1950 – Christine Lahti, American actress (Harvey Korman Show, Swing Shift), born in Detroit, Michigan
1969 – Anthony Tucker, American basketball forward (NY Knicks), born in Washington, D.C.
1970 – Jason Stoltenberg, Australian tennis star, born in Narrabri, Australia
Famous Deaths
1874 – Charles Ernest Beulé, French archaeologist and politician (b. 1826)
1905 – Constantin Meunier, Belgian painter and sculptor, dies at 73
1951 – Al Christie, Canadian film director and producer (b. 1881)
1986 – Frank Mortelmans, Belgian painter, dies at 87
1996 – Seumas MacNeill, Scottish bagpiper, and educator (College of Bagpipes), dies at 79
2012 – Claude Miller, French director and screenwriter, dies at 70
Famous Deaths for 3rd April 2023
1350 – Eudes IV, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1295)
1811 – Pieter-Jozef Verhaghen, Flemish court painter, dies at 83
1941 – Pal Teleki-von Szek, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Hungary (1920-21, 39-41), committed suicide at 61
1950 – Carter G. Woodson, American historian (African American studies), dies at 74
1994 – Elizabeth “Betty” Furness, American actress, journalist and consumer activist (Dangerous Corner, Studio 1), dies of stomach cancer at 78
2002 – Fad Gadget [Francis Tovey], English singer and musician, dies of a heart attack at 45
2015 – Sarah Brady, American gun-control activist, dies at 73
2016 – Joseph Medicine Crow, Native American chief and historian, dies at 102
2018 – Lill-Babs [Barbro Margareta Svensson], Swedish pop singer, (Eurovision, 1961) actress, and television presenter, dies of heart failure while battling cancer at 80
2022 – June Brown, British actress (EastEnders, 1985–93 and 1997–2020 – “Dot”; Sitting Target), dies at 95