1536 – William Tyndale, English Protestant bible translator and scholar, is strangled and burned at the stake at 41 or 42 (born c. 1494)
1891 – Charles Stewart Parnell, English-Irish Home Rule Party leader, dies of pneumonia at 45
1919 – Ricardo Palma, Peruvian writer and poet (Tradiciones Peruanas), dies at 86
1956 – Walter Herlihy, announcer (Music at Meadowbrook), dies at 42
1983 – Terence Cooke, American Roman Catholic Cardinal, Archbishop of New York, dies of leukemia at 62
2006 – Wilson Tucker, American sci-fi writer, dies at 91
2006 – Eduardo Mignogna, Argentinian film director (b. 1940)
2008 – Kim Ji-hoo, South Korean actor and model (b. 1985)
2022 – Ivy Jo Hunter, American RandB songwriter, record producer Motown – “Dancing in the Street”), and singer, dies at 82
2024 – Johan Neeskens, Dutch soccer midfielder (49 caps; Ajax, Barcelona, NY Cosmos) and manager (FC Zug, NEC), dies from a heart attack at 73
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 6th October 2026
1903 – The High Court of Australia sits for the first time
1949 – US President Harry Truman signs the Mutual Defense Assistance Act to strengthen NATO allies especially Greece and Turkey
1965 – William Goodhart’s “Generation” premieres in New York City
1967 – Haight-Ashbury (San Francisco) hippies hold a funeral for “Hippie” to signify the end of “the Summer of Love”
1973 – Yom Kippur War begins as Syria and Egypt attack Israel
1986 – Russian nuclear submarine K-291 sinks in the Atlantic Ocean
2012 – New Zealand wins the inaugural Rugby Championship with a 32-16 victory over South Africa in Johannesburg; the undefeated All Blacks score four tries to one, with Dan Carter kicking three conversions, a penalty, and a drop goal
2023 – Imprisoned Iranian human rights activist Narges Mohammadi is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for fighting the oppression of women in Iran
Today in History for 6th October 2026
Historical Events
1920 – 1st brothers oppose each other in World Series, Cleveland’s Wheeler Johnston pinch-hits as brother Jimmy plays 3rd base for Brooklyn
1942 – Allied assault on oil installations of Bula Ceram
1945 – Memorial for the executed unveiled in Terbregge, Netherlands
2013 – Presidents Cup Golf, Muirfield Village GC: US wins for 5th successive time with an 18½–15½ victory over the International team
2018 – Oil tanker collision with a car leaves at least 50 people dead and one hundred with serious burns near Kisantu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Famous Birthdays
1459 – Martin Behaim, German navigator and geographer, designed the Erdapfel, the oldest terrestrial globe in the world, born in Nuremberg, Germany (d. 1507)
1618 – Miguel Gómez Camargo, Spanish Baroque composer, born in Avila, Spain (d. 1690)
1946 – Millie Small, Jamaican ska singer, and songwriter (“My Boy Lollipop”), born in Clarendon, Jamaica (d. 2020)
1974 – Walter Centeno, Costa Rican footballer, born in Palmar Sur, Costa Rica
1988 – Maki Horikita, Japanese model and actress known for ” Nobuta wo Produce”, born in Tokyo, Japan
Famous Deaths
1861 – Elias Canneman, Dutch liberal politician and minister of Finance (1813-14), dies at 84
1992 – Denholm Elliott, British actor (Alfie; A Room with a View; Raiders of the Lost Ark), dies of tuberculosis at 70
2004 – (Hillegonda) “Hilly” Axwijk, Suriname-Dutch social worker and women’s rights activist, dies at 69
2006 – Eduardo Mignogna, Argentinian film director (b. 1940)
2011 – Brad Felt, American jazz tuba and euphonium player, composer, and bandleader, dies of pancreatic cancer at 55
Famous Deaths for 5th October 2026
1056 – Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor (1046-56), dies at 38
1892 – Bob Dalton, American outlaw of the Old West (leader of the Dalton Gang), killed in failed bank robbery attempt in Coffeyville, Kansas at 23
1933 – Nikolaj N Joedenitsj, Russian general/contra revolutionary, dies at 71
1943 – Leon Roppolo, American early jazz clarinetist, dies at 41
1976 – Lars Onsager, Norwegian-American physical chemist, theoretical physicist and Nobel laureate for his work on thermodynamics, dies of an aneurysm at 72
1981 – Jud Strunk, American singer-songwriter (“Daisy a Day”), and comedian (Laugh-In), dies of aheart attack while piloting a private plane in Maine at 45
2001 – Lou Zara, American writer (Stump the Authors), dies at 91
2011 – Fred Shuttlesworth, American civil rights activist, dies at 89
2014 – Geoffrey Holder, Trinidadian-American actor, choreographer, singer, director and painter (Annie; The Wiz), dies at 84
2025 – Alfa-Betty Olsen, American recording secretary and confidant of Mel Brooks, dies at 88
Historical Events for 5th October 2026
1750 – Carlo Goldoni’s comedy play “Il Teatro Comico” premieres in Venice
1793 – French Revolution: Christianity is disestablished in France
1869 – A strong hurricane known as the Saxby Gale devastates the Bay of Fundy region in Maritime Canada. Incredibly, British naval officer Stephen Martin Saxby predicts the storm 10 months earlier in December 1868 through astronomy.
1887 – 1st US National Championship Women’s Tennis, Philadelphia Cricket Club: Ellen Hansell wins inaugural event; beats Laura Knight 6-1, 6-0
1916 – Adolf Hitler is wounded in the left thigh by an exploding shell during the Battle of the Somme
1983 – Polish Solidarity leader Lech Wałęsa wins the Nobel Peace Prize
1991 – USSR reduces its nuclear weapons arsenal
1994 – 52 members of the cult Order of the Solar Temple (Zonnetempel) die in a mass murder-suicide in Salvan, Switzerland
Today in History for 5th October 2026
Historical Events
1907 – Canadian Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU) plays its first game; Montreal defeats Toronto 17-8 in Montreal
1942 – Budy Massacre at Auschwitz sub-camp, 90 French-Jewish women are beaten to death by prison guards
1947 – Brooklyn Dodgers outfielder Al Gionfriddo makes a famous catch off Joe DiMaggio in Game 6 of the Baseball World Series; Dodgers beat Yankees 8-6; the catch inspires the “back-back-back” expression
1994 – Magnitude 7.9 earthquake strikes the Kuril Islands, killing at least 10 people
2020 – Nobel Prize for Medicine awarded jointly to Harvey J. Alter, Michael Houghton, and Charles M. Rice for the discovery of hepatitis C virus
Famous Birthdays
1703 – Jonathan Edwards, Christian preacher, philosopher, and theologian (Original Sin), born in East Windsor, Connecticut Colony (d. 1758)
1795 – Alexander Keith, Scottish-Canadian politician (4th Mayor of Halifax) and brewer (founder of the Alexander Keith’s Nova Scotia Brewery), born in Halkirk, Caithness, Highland, Scotland (d. 1873)
1917 – Robert Adams, English sculptor and designer, born in Far Cotton, Northampton (d. 1984)
1932 – Richard Lamparski, American interviewer and author (Whatever Became Of…?), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 2025)
1942 – Maureen Waaka, first Māori Miss World contestant, second Māori woman to win Miss New Zealand (1962), and council politician (1998–2013), born in Ohinemutu, New Zealand (d. 2013)
Famous Deaths
1056 – Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor (1046-56), dies at 38
1883 – Joachim Barrande, French paleontologist and geologist (fossils in Bohemia, opposed Darwin’s Theory of Evolution), dies at 84
1892 – Bob Dalton, American outlaw of the Old West (leader of the Dalton Gang), killed in failed bank robbery attempt in Coffeyville, Kansas at 23
1954 – Oscar Charleston, American Baseball HOF CF (NgL Triple Crown 1921 St. Louis Giants, 1924, 25 Harrisburg Giants) and manager (NgL WS 1933, 35, 36 Pittsburgh Crawfords), dies of a stroke at 57
2003 – Denis Quilley, British actor (Anything Goes, The Lady’s Not For Burning, Masada), dies from liver cancer at 75
Famous Deaths for 4th October 2026
1754 – Tanacharison, Catawba Indian chief
1863 – Gerrit Schimmelpenninck, Dutch politician (1st Dutch PM as Chairman of the Council of Ministers 1848), dies at 69
1946 – Barney Oldfield, American auto racer (International Motorsports Hall of Fame; first to drive at 60mph on circular track), dies of a heart attack at 67
1991 – Leonard C. Odell, American entrepreneur who wrote 7,000 Burma Shave poems, dies at 83
1994 – Scoville “Toby” Browne, American jazz saxophone and clarinet player, dies at 84
1996 – Masaki Kobayashi, Japanese film director and screenwriter (Joi-uchi), dies at 80
2018 – Will Vinton, American Emmy Award-winning animator and filmmaker (Claymation Christmas Celebration, Adventures in Wonderland, The PJs), dies from multiple myeloma at 70
2018 – Audrey Wells, American screenwriter and director (Under the Tuscan Sun, Guinevere), dies of cancer at 58
2019 – Diahann Carroll [Carol Diann Johnson] American Tony Award-winning stage and screen actress (No Strings; Julia; Claudine; Dynasty – “Dominique”), dies of cancer at 84
2022 – Günter Lamprecht, German actor (Berlin Alexanderplatz, The World on a Wire), dies at 92
Historical Events for 4th October 2026
1830 – Provisional Government of Belgium declares independence and succession from the United Kingdom of the Netherlands
1901 – Charlie Barr skippered Columbia (US) beats Shamrock II (UK), 3-0 on New York City Harbour in 11th America’s Cup yachting challenge series
1922 – Protocol for the Reconstruction of Austria, between the government of Austria and the governments of Great Britain, France, Italy, and Czechoslovakia, for reconstructing the Austrian economy, signed in Geneva, Switzerland
1938 – Baseball World Series: NY Yankees win third straight championship; beat Chicago Cubs, 8-3 at Yankee Stadium for 4-0 sweep
1957 – Soviet Union launches Sputnik I, the first artificial Earth satellite, into an elliptical low Earth orbit
1985 – Free Software Foundation is founded in Massachusetts, USA
1992 – Solheim Cup Women’s Golf, Dalmahoy CC: Europe beats US, 11½-6½; Laura Davies of England wins all her 3 matches
2001 – Siberia Airlines Flight 1812: a Sibir Airlines Tupolev TU-154 crashes into the Black Sea after being struck by an errant Ukrainian S-200 missile, killing 78 people
Today in History for 4th October 2026
Historical Events
1809 – Spencer Perceval becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after William Cavendish-Bentinck, Duke of Portland retires due to ill health
1921 – Riccardo Zanella becomes first elected President of Free State of Fiume
1962 – US Air Force Major Robert A. Rushworth flies an X-15 to an altitude of 105,971 ft (32,300 m)
1991 – San Jose Sharks play first NHL game in franchise history, a 4-3 loss in Vancouver; native Californian Craig Coxe scores club’s first goal while Jeff Hackett makes an impressive 48 saves
1992 – “Real Inspector Hound” closes at Criterion Theater in NYC after 61 performances
Famous Birthdays
1945 – Clifton Davis, American actor (That’s My Mama; Amen) and singer-songwriter (“Never Can Say Goodbye”), born in Chicago, Illinois
1952 – Nina Carter, vocalist (Blonde on Blonde), born in London, England
1960 – Jennifer Anglin, American actress (Cheryl Stansbury in “General Hospital”), born in Adrian, Michigan
1961 – Kazuki Takahashi, Japanese creator of manga and trading card game Yu-Gi-Oh, born in Tokyo, Japan (d. 2022)
1980 – Morgan Spector, American actor (The Gilded Age, The Plot Against America), born in Santa Rosa, California
Famous Deaths
1893 – Pieter Elout van Soeterwoude, Dutch judge and politician (AR), dies at 88
1948 – Georg Kulenkampff, German concert violinist, dies of encephalitis at 50
1970 – Janis Joplin, American rock and blues singer-songwriter (“Piece of My Heart”; “Me and Bobby McGee”; “Mercedes Benz”), dies of a heroin overdose at 27
1975 – Joan Whitney Payson, American heiress, businesswoman and philanthropist (co-founder and majority owner of MLB’s New York Mets), dies at 72
2010 – Norman Wisdom, British comedian (Kraft Music Hall; Trouble In Store), dies at 95
Famous Deaths for 3rd October 2026
1283 – Dafydd ap Gruffyd, last monarch of Gwynnedd (North-Wales), dies
1564 – Christophorus Fabritius [Christoffel Smit], calvinist vicar, burned
1596 – Florent Chrestien, French writer and satirist, dies at 55
1611 – Margarita of Austria, Queen of Spain and Portugal by marriage to King Philip III and II of Spain, dies at 26
1629 – Giorgi Saakadze, Georgian military leader (b. 1570)
1929 – Gustav Stresemann, German chancellor (1923) who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1926, dies of a stroke at 51
1975 – Guy Mollet, French politician, Prime Minister of France (1956-57), dies of a heart attack at 69
1979 – Charles White, American artist (The Contribution of the Negro to American Democracy), dies at 61
1985 – Charles Collingwood, American news commentator (Chronicles), dies at 68
2019 – Philip Gips, American graphic artist and movie poster designer (Alien, Rosemary’s Baby), dies at 88 of complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia