Author: gil7

Historical Events

1661 – Nicolas Fouquet, French Superintendent of Finances under Louis XIV is arrested for maladministration of state funds; he died in 1680, never seeing freedom again.
1915 – Tsar Nicholas II, distressed by increasing Russian losses, assumes personal command of his nation’s military forces; clearly a symbolic act and devastating for his leadership
1958 – “The Huckleberry Hound Show” by Hanna-Barbera featuring Yogi Bear premieres on US TV
1986 – Hijacking of aircraft Pan Am 73 at Karachi airport, Pakistan, 20 passengers killed
2012 – 54 people are killed and 50 injured after a firecracker factory explodes in Nadu
2021 – Tour Championship, Men’s Golf, East Lake GC, GA: Patrick Cantlay claims richest prize in golf ($15m) with 1 stroke win over Jon Rahm; runner-up Rahm pockets $5m

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Famous Birthdays

1319 – Peter IV, King of Aragon (1336-87), born in Perpignan, France (d. 1387)
1918 – Luis Alcoriza, Mexican screenwriter, film director, and actor, born in Badajoz, Mexico (d. 1992)
1920 – Fons Rademakers, Dutch director (Assault) and actor (Daughter of Darkness), born in Roosendaal, Netherlands (d. 2007)
1926 – Carmen Petra-Basacopol, Romanian composer and educator Bucharest Conservatory (1962-2003), born in Sibiu, Transylvania, Romania
1939 – Claudette Colvin, American civil rights activist who was arrested at age 15 for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a crowded, segregated bus (nine months before Rosa Parks), born in Montgomery, Alabama, born in Montgomery, Alabama
1982 – Sondre Lerche, Norwegian musician, born in Bergen, Norway

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Famous Deaths

1808 – John Home, Scottish writer (b. 1722)
1978 – Joe Negroni, American rock vocalist (Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers), dies of a brain hemorrhage at 37
1993 – Willem Wagter, actor (Ghetto, Medic Center West), dies at 60
2002 – David Todd Wilkinson, American astronomer, author of the first study of the Cosmic microwave background radiation (b. 1935)
2003 – Moe Biller, American labor union officer (AFL-CIO, Postal Workers), dies at 87
2021 – Ivan Patzaichin, Romanian canoeist (Olympic gold C-2 1000m 1968, 80, 84; C-1 1000m 1972; World C’ship gold x 8), dies from lung cancer at 71

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Historical Events

1282 – King of Aragon Pedro III annexes Sicily
1940 – CBS begins broadcasting TV as station W2XAB
1957 – Governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, calls out National Guard to prevent 9 black students from entering a Little Rock’s Central High School
1993 – Mats Wilander beats fellow Swede Mikael Pernfors in a US Open marathon 7-6, 3-6, 1-6, 7-6, 6-4 in 4 hours, 1 minute; match ends at 2:26am
1994 – Bulgarian government of Lyuben Berov falls
1995 – Cult TV series “Xena: Warrior Princess” starring Lucy Lawless and Renee O’Connor debuts in the US

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Famous Birthdays

1853 – Hermann Wissmann, German African explorer and governor of East-Africa, born in Frankfurt, Germany (d. 1905)
1913 – Stanford Moore, American biochemist (Nobel 1977), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1982)
1916 – Robert A. W. Lowndes, American sci-fi author (Puzzle Planet) (d. 1988)
1949 – Dado Topić, Croatian musician (Time; Dragonfly), born in Nova Gradiška, Croatia
1967 – Darrin Murray, New Zealand cricket batsman (8 Tests), born in Christchurch, Canterbury
1970 – Luis Lopez, Puerto Rican baseball infielder (San Diego Padres), born in Cidra, Puerto Rico

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Famous Deaths

1916 – José Echegaray, Spanish politician and dramatist (Nobel Prize for Literature 1904), dies at 84
1994 – Louis Myers, American blues guitarist and harmonica player, dies at 64
1997 – Natko Devčić, Croatian composer, dies at 83
2007 – John Scott, Duke of Buccleuch, Scottish peer, then largest landowner in Scotland, 1st MP in a wheelchair, dies at 83
2009 – Iain Cuthbertson, Scottish actor (Guilty, Scandal, Rep, Danger UXB), dies at 79
2020 – Gary Peacock, American jazz bassist (Keith Jarrett Trio), dies at 85

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Historical Events

1812 – World’s first cannery (Donkin, Hall and Gamble) opens in London, England to supply food to the Royal Navy
1940 – Dutch government in exile of Gerbrandy forms in London
1966 – Future Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Orr signs his first NHL contract with the Boston Bruins; 2 year deal paying a then record $70,000 plus signing bonus
1967 – Final episode of “What’s My Line?” hosted by John Charles Daly on CBS TV
1989 – American tennis star Chris Evert beats 15-year-old Monica Seles 6-0, 6-2 in a 4th round match for her 101st and last US Open singles victory
1995 – eBay (Electronic Bay) founded by Pierre Omidyar

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Famous Birthdays

1781 – Eugène de Beauharnais, stepson of Napoleon I (son of Alexandre de Beauharnais and Joséphine Tascher de la Pagerie), born in Paris (d. 1824)
1915 – Knut Nystedt, Norwegian organist, choral composer, and conductor, born in Kristiania, Norway (d. 2014)
1926 – Irene Papas, Greek actress (Zorba the Greek, Attila The Hun, The Guns of Navarone), born in Chiliomodi, Corinth, Greece
1947 – Michael Huffington, American oil millionaire and politician (Rep-R-California, 1992-94), born in Dallas, Texas
1948 – Tara Singh Varma, Dutch politcian (1st black woman in Dutch 2nd Chamber), born in Springlands, British Guiana
1964 – Ernest Givins, American NFL wide receiver (Pro Bowl 1990, 92; Houston Oilers), born in St. Petersburg, Florida

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Famous Deaths

1860 – Aleksey Stepanovich Khomyakov, Russian poet, dies at 56
1903 – Joseph Skipsey, British poet (b. 1832)
1962 – E. E. Cummings, American poet (Tulips and Chimneys), dies at 67
1994 – Nikos Ghika, Greek artist, dies at 88
1995 – Donald Cuthbert Coleman, British economic historian, dies at 75
2015 – Adrian Cadbury, British confectionery manufacturer (Cadbury) and author of report on Corporate Governance, dies at 86

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Historical Events

1839 – Salon of Varietes opens in Amsterdam
1924 – US National Championship Men’s Tennis, Forest Hills NY: Bill Tilden wins 5th straight US singles title; beats Bill Johnston for 3rd consecutive year 6-1, 9-7, 6-2
1963 – Alabama Governor George Wallace prevents integration of Tuskegee High School
1978 – John McClain performs 180 outside loops in an airplane over Houston
1988 – Amnesty International’s Human Rights Now! tour begins in Wembley Stadium, London
2021 – At least 43 people die as the remnants of Hurricane Ida hit the US Northeast with record rains, tornadoes and flooding with New York and New Jersey declaring state of emergency

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Famous Birthdays

1856 – Yang Hsiu-ch’ing, commander in chief of Taiping Rebellion
1866 – Hiram Johnson, Progressive politician, US Senator, Governor of California (1911-17), born in Sacramento, California (d. 1945)
1939 – Sam Gooden, American soul vocalist (The Impressions – “People Get Ready”; “It’s All Right”), born in Chattanooga, Tennessee (d. 2022)
1944 – Claude Nicollier, Swiss astronaut (STS 61-K, 46, 61, 75), born in Vevey, Switzerland
1963 – Sam Mitchell, NBA forward (Minn Timberwolves)
1987 – Spencer Smith, American rock drummer (Panic! at the Disco), born in Denver, Colorado

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Famous Deaths

1384 – Louis I, Duke of Anjou and King of Naples (Battle of Poitiers), dies at 45
1870 – Arthur Saint-Leon, French composer and dancer, dies at 48
1944 – Manfred Freiherr von Killinger, German ambassador to Romania, commits suicide after Romanian coup
1982 – Tom Baker, American actor, dies of a drug overdose in New York at 42
1984 – Manos Katrakis, Greek actor (Antigone, Marinos Kontaras), dies at 79
2006 – Bob Mathias, American decathlete (Olympic gold 1948, 52) and congressman, dies of cancer at 75

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