1936 – Pedro Muñoz Seca, Spanish comic playwright (Don Mendo’s Vengence), executed by the Spanish Republican army at 55
1959 – Maxwell Anderson, American dramatist (Key Largo, Bath Seed), dies of a stroke at 70
1961 – Joris Vriamont, Flemish writer and music publisher, dies at 64
1966 – Charles A Bassett II, astronaut, dies at 34, in a crash of T-38 jet
1985 – David Byron [Garrick], British vocalist and songwriter (Uriah Heep), dies of alcohol-related complications at 38
1999 – Christine Glanville, British Puppeteer (. 1924)
2004 – Andres Nuiamäe, Estonian soldier (b. 1982)
2004 – Gene Allison, American RandB singer (“You Can Make It If You Try”), dies at 69
2007 – Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. American historian (1946 Pulitzer-Age of Jackson), dies at 89
2016 – Frank Kelly, Irish stage and screen actor (Father Ted), dies at 77
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 28th February 2023
1653 – -Mar 3] 3 Day Sea battle English beat Dutch
1849 – 11th Grand National: Tom Cunningham wins aboard 20/1 Peter Simple; 2nd consecutive year there are 3 equine fatalities during the race
1912 – Australian batting great Victor Trumper scores 50 in his final Test innings in 5th Test loss v England at Sydney Cricket Ground
1933 – On Adolf Hitler’s advice, German President Paul von Hindenburg signs the Reichstag Fire Decree after the building is destroyed by fire in Berlin; this eliminates many civil liberties in Germany
1970 – WUTR TV channel 20 in Utica-Rome, NY (ABC) begins broadcasting
1971 – WDRB TV channel 41 in Louisville, Kentucky (IND) begins broadcasting
1981 – People’s Republic of China throws out the Netherlands ambassador due to Dutch sales of submarines to Taiwan
1997 – FBI agent Earl Pitts pleads guilty to selling secrets to Russia
1998 – First flight of RQ-4 Global Hawk, the first unmanned aerial vehicle certified to file its own flight plans and fly regularly in U.S. civilian airspace.
2001 – The US Environmental Protection Agency announces that it intends to proceed with implementation of tighter restrictions on sulfur content in diesel fuel; the rule is opposed by many in the refining industry
Today in History for 28th February 2023
Historical Events
1784 – John Wesley charters Methodist Church
1933 – Pacifist and anti fascist writer Carl Von Ossietzky arrested, sent to Esterwegen-Papenburg concentration camp
1959 – Chicago Cardinals trade running back Ollie Matson to the LA Rams for an unprecedented 9 players
1981 – Calvin Murphy (Hou), sets NBA record with 78 consecutive free throws
1993 – 7th American Comedy Award: Jerry Seinfeld
2005 – Lebanon’s pro-Syrian prime minister, Omar Karami, resigns amid large anti-Syria street demonstrations in Beirut.
Famous Birthdays
1820 – John Tenniel, English cartoonist and illustrator (Punch, Alice in Wonderland), born in London, England (d. 1914)
1865 – Arthur Symons, Welsh poet and critic (co-founder Savoy magazine), born in Milford Haven, Wales (d. 1945)
1957 – Ian Stanley, British rock keyboardist and songwriter (Tears For Fears, 1981-87 – “Shout”; “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”), born in Bath, England
1982 – Natalia Vodianova, Russian supermodel, born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
1986 – Alex Tanas, Canadian pop-reggae drummer (Magic! -“Rude”), born in Toronto, Ontario
1996 – Karsten Warholm, Norwegian athlete (Olympic gold 400m hurdles WR 45.94 2021; World C’ship gold 2017, 19), born in Ulsteinvik, Møre og Romsdal, Norway
Famous Deaths
1929 – Clemens Freiherr von Pirquet, Austrian artist (React of P), dies at 54
1956 – Emile Buisson, French murderer executed (b. 1902)
1963 – Rajendra Prasad, Indian independence activist and 1st President of India (1950-62), dies at 78
1977 – Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, American comedian and actor (The Jack Benny Program), dies at 71
1986 – Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden (1969-76, 1982-86), assassinated at 59 while walking home from the cinema with his wife
1986 – William Dollar, American ballet dancer and choreographer, dies at 79
Famous Deaths for 27th February 2023
1797 – Benvenuto Robbio San Raffaele, Italian composer, dies at 61
1943 – Kostis Palamas, Greek poet, twice nominated for the Nobel prize (b. 1859)
1968 – Johannes Tralow, German writer (Ottoman tetralogy), dies at 85
1986 – Jacques “Jake the Snake” Plante, Canadian Ice Hockey goalie who was the first to wear a goaltender mask, dies of stomach cancer at 57
1989 – Konrad Lorenz, Austrian zoologist and ethologist (Man and His Ideas, Nobel Prize 1973), dies at 85
1991 – Hein van Royen, Dutch director of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (1974-91), dies at 52
1995 – Bernard Cornfield, financier, dies at 67
1996 – Pat Smythe, English equestrian rider (Olympic bronze team jumps 1956; author children’s books), dies from heart disease at 67
2004 – Paul Sweezy, American Marxist economist and editor (Monthly Review), dies at 93
2010 – Madeleine Ferron, French Canadian writer, dies at 87
Historical Events for 27th February 2023
1626 – Yuan Chonghuan is appointed Governor of Liaodong, after he led the Chinese into a great victory against the Manchurians under Nurhaci
1670 – Jews expelled from Austria by order of Leopold I
1813 – US Congress authorizes use of steamboats to transport mail
1864 – 6th and last day of battle at Dalton, Georgia (about 600 casualties)
1943 – The Rosenstrasse protest starts in Berlin
1960 – US Olympic Ice Hockey Team beats USSR 3-2 en route to gold medal
1966 – 8th Daytona 500: Polesitter Richard Petty comes from 2 laps down to win the event after 198 laps were completed because of rain
1970 – NY Times (falsely) reports US army has ended domestic surveillance
1980 – Israel and Egypt exchange ambassadors
2012 – Wikileaks begins disclosing 5 million emails from private intelligence company Stratfor
Today in History for 27th February 2023
Historical Events
1919 – American Association for Hard of Hearing forms (NYC)
1959 – Chicago Cards trade running back Ollie Matson to LA Rams for 9 players
1967 – Rio de la Plata Treaty
1968 – CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite delivers a scathing editorial on America’s chances of winning the Vietnam War
1970 – NY Times (falsely) reports US army has ended domestic surveillance
1998 – Britain’s House of Lords agrees to end 1,000 years of male precedence by giving a monarch’s first-born daughter the same claim to the throne as any first born son
Famous Birthdays
1691 – Edward Cave, English editor and publisher (Gentlemen’s Magazine, coined term “magazine”), born in Newton, England (d. 1754)
1832 – Alfred Pollard Edward, Civil War journalist, (d. 1872)
1921 – András Szőllősy, Hungarian composer, and musicologist (cataloged works of Béla Bartók), born in Orăştie, Hungary (d. 2007)
1947 – Ashley Woodcock, Australian cricketer (one Test Aust v NZ 1974, only knock 27), born in Adelaide, Australia
1960 – Stoney Jackson, American actor (White Shadow, Insiders), born in Richmond, Virginia
1970 – Matthias Lechner, German art director, born in Mannheim, Germany
Famous Deaths
1906 – Samuel Pierpont Langley, American astronomer and pioneer aviator, dies at 71
1945 – HJ Lochtman, Dutch chaplain/resistance fighter, dies in Bergen-Belsen
1989 – Paul Oswald Ahnert, German astronomer, dies at 91
1994 – Harold Acton, English-Italian historian and art collector, dies at 84
2010 – Madeleine Ferron, French Canadian writer, dies at 87
2016 – George Kennedy, American actor (Cool Hand Luke, Naked Gun films), dies at 91
Famous Deaths for 26th February 2023
1324 – Dino Compagni, Italian silk seller, poet and chronicler, dies
1552 – Heinrich Faber, German singer, music theorist, and composer, dies at about 52
1901 – Hsu Cheng-yu, during Boxer Rebellion in China, beheaded
1918 – Pedro Miguel Marques y Garcia, Spanish violinist and composer, dies at 74
1941 – Jan Keizer, Zaanse February striker, shot to death
1947 – Ben Webster, British actor (Old Curiosity Shop), dies at 82
1966 – Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian independence activist and writer (The Indian War of Independence), dies at 82
2005 – Jef Raskin, American computer scientist (b. 1943)
2012 – Rolf “Hazy” Osterwald, Swiss jazz bandleader, trumpeter, and vibraphonist, dies at 90
2021 – Aleksandr Klepikov, Russian rower (Olympic gold Soviet Union coxed four 1976), dies at 70
Historical Events for 26th February 2023
1917 – 1st Annual fair at Utrecht Harbor (Netherlands)
1924 – Trial against Adolf Hitler for treason in “Beer Hall Putsch” begins in Munich, Germany
1930 – Play “Green Pastures” opens at Mansfield Theater
1935 – RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging) first demonstrated by Robert Watson-Watt
1953 – Allen Dulles officially promoted from deputy director to become the 5th Director of the Central Intelligence Agency
1981 – 84 penalties (406 mins) assessed for a brawl between NHL Minn and Bost
1991 – Coalition planes bomb Iraqi forces retreating from Kuwait during the Gulf War, killing hundreds and creating the so-called ‘Highway of Death’
1998 – Total solar eclipse in Venezuela-Pacific Ocean (4m09)
2018 – Cold weather nicknamed “the Beast from the East” hits Europe, killing 7 and covering Pompeii in snow
2019 – Catholic Cardinal George Pell convicted of child sexual abuse in Melbourne, Australia. As treasurer at the Vatican, the highest-ranking church official to be convicted; overturned in 2020
Today in History for 26th February 2023
Historical Events
1869 – Franz Schubert’s Symphony number 4, “The Tragic”, premieres
1918 – Stands at Hong Kong Jockey Club collapse and burn, killing 604
1923 – Italian nationalist and fascists merge (blue-shirts and black-shirts)
1933 – Golden Gate Bridge groundbreaking ceremony held at Crissy Field
1940 – US Air Defense Command forms at Mitchel Field, LI, NY
1991 – NY-NJ Knights (WLAF) players 1st come together
Famous Birthdays
1837 – Charles Woeste, Belgian count, Minister of Justice, born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1922)
1880 – Lionel Logue, Australian speech therapist who treated King George VI (The Kings Speech), born in Adelaide (d. 1953)
1917 – Robert Taft Jr, American politician (Sen-R-Ohio), born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 1993)
1946 – Bobby “Bingo” Smith, American NBA star (Cleveland Cavaliers), born in Memphis, Tennessee
1970 – Meeno Peluce, Dutch actor (Bad News Bears), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands
1981 – Kertus Davis, American auto racer (competition director NASCAR team JD Motorsports), born in Gaffney, South Carolina
Famous Deaths
1650 – Claude Favre de Vaugelas, Savoyard grammarian and man of letters, dies at 65
1883 – Alexandros Koumoundouros, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1817)
1933 – Princess Thyra, daughter of Christian IX of Denmark (b. 1853)
1990 – Maurine Stuart, Zen teacher (head of Cambridge Buddhist Association), dies
2016 – Andy Bathgate, professional ice hockey player (New York Rangers, 1958 NHL MVP), dies at 83
2017 – Robert Allworth, Australian composer (A Different Time, A Different Place), dies at 74
Famous Deaths for 25th February 2023
1247 – Hendrik IV, duke of Limburg/earl of Bergen (1226-47), dies
1798 – Louis-Jules Mancini-Mazarini, Duc de Nivernais, French diplomat and writer (b. 1716)
1850 – Daoguang, 8th Emperor of Qing Dynasty, dies at 67
1852 – Thomas Moore, Irish poet and musician, dies at 72
1914 – John Tenniel, British illustrator (Alice in Wonderland), dies at 93
1967 – Walter “Fats” Pichon American jazz pianist, singer, and big bandleader, dies at 60
1970 – Mark Rothko [Marcus Rothkovich], Latvian-American abstract expressionist (Green on Blue), takes his own life at 66
1995 – Terence Weil, British cellist (English Chamber Orchestra; Melos Ensemble), dies at 73
2012 – Louisiana Red [Iverson Minter], American blues guitarist, and singer-songwriter (“Sweet Blood Call”), dies of a stroke at 79
2017 – Boaz Vaadia, Israeli-born sculptor who worked in America, dies of cancer at 65