Author: gil7

Historical Events

1905 – Whites win right to vote in South Africa
1943 – The Demyansk Shield for German troops in commemoration of Demyansk Pocket instituted
1945 – Allied air raid on Surabaja, Java
1972 – Hans-Werner Grosse glides 907.7 miles (1,461 km) in an AS-W-12
1976 – Elections in Vietnam for a National Assembly to reunite the country
2005 – Final piece of the Obelisk of Axum is returned to Ethiopia after being stolen by the invading Italian army in 1937

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Famous Birthdays

1608 – Gaston, Duke of Orleans, brother of French King Louis XIII, born in Palace of Fontainebleau, France (d. 1660)
1903 – Camilla Horn, German actress (Rebus, Vertigine, Polterabend, Matinee Idol), born in Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany (d. 1996)
1940 – Al Pacino, American actor (And Justice For All, The Godfather, Scorpio), born in NYC, New York
1948 – Yu Shyi-kun, Premier of the Republic of China (2002-05), born in Dongshan, Yilan County, China
1951 – Ian McCartney, British MP for Makerfield (1987-10), born in Lennoxtown, Scotland
1961 – Dinesh D’Souza, Indian-American author (2016: Obama’s America), born in Mumbai, India

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Famous Deaths

1271 – Master Gerhard, first master mason of Cologne Cathedral, falls to his death from scaffolding during the building of the cathedral (b. c. 1210)
1974 – Pamela Courson, American woman and long-term companion of Jim Morrison, dies of a heroin overdose at 27
1996 – John Lorne Campbell, Scottish folklorist, dies at 90
2000 – Lucien le Cam, French mathematician (b. 1924)
2007 – Alan Ball, English footballer (b. 1945)
2009 – John Marchi, American politician (b. 1921)

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Historical Events

1801 – 1st performance of Joseph Haydn’s oratorio “Die Jahreszeiten” (The Seasons)
1865 – Fire alarm and police telegraph system put into operation in San Francisco
1915 – German army fires chloroform gas in Ypres (Leper)
1929 – Thorvald Stauning becomes premier of Denmark
1992 – “Man of La Mancha” opens at Marquis Theater NYC for 108 performances
1993 – Farm Aid VI held in Ames, Iowa; performers include Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, Neil Young, Arlo Guthrie, The Jayhawks, Lyle Lovett, Johnny Cash, Ricky Van Shelton, Marty Stuart, Martina McBride, Bruce Hornsby, Bryan Adams, Ringo Starr, and Dwight Yoakam

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Famous Birthdays

1828 – Robert Brank Vance, American politician, U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina (1873-85), born in Buncombe, North Carolina (d. 1899)
1856 – Philippe Pétain, French marshal and Chief of the French State (1940-44), born in Cauchy-à-la-Tour, France (d. 1951)
1942 – Richard M. Daley, American politician, 43rd Mayor of Chicago (1989-2011), born in Chicago, Illinois
1950 – Rob Hyman, American rock singer-songwriter, keyboardist, melodica and accordion player (The Hooters – “All You Zombies”; “And We Danced”), born in Meriden, Connecticut
1961 – Roger Mayweather, American boxer, (WBA and lineal super featherweight titles 1983-84, WBC light welterweight 1987-89; IBO light welterweight; IBO welterweight 1994-95), born in Grand Rapids, Michigan (d. 2020)
1969 – Melinda Clarke, American actress (Days of Our Lives), born in Dana Point, California

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Famous Deaths

709 – Wilfrid, English bishop and saint, dies at about 76
1656 – Thomas Fincke, Danish mathematician and physicist (b. 1561)
1850 – Louis Alexandre Piccinni, Italian-French composer, dies at 70
1945 – Anton de Kom, Suriname resistance fighter, dies at 47
1955 – Alfred Polgar, Austrian writer/theater critic, dies at 79
2017 – Don Gordon [Donald Guadagno], American actor (Bullitt, Papillon), dies at 90

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Historical Events

1344 – Order of the Garter founded by English King Edward III, the most senior knighthood in the UK with just 24 living members plus the monarch (or 1348)
1597 – William Shakespeare’s “The Merry Wives of Windsor” is first performed, with Queen Elizabeth I of England in attendance
1918 – Dover Patrol overthrows Germany U-boat in East Sea
1948 – KSTP TV channel 5 in St Paul-Minneapolis, MN (ABC) 1st broadcast
1953 – WCOV TV channel 20 in Montgomery, AL (IND/CBS) begins broadcasting
1996 – US docuseries “Forensic Files” (Medical Detectives) premieres on TLC Network

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Famous Birthdays

1818 – James Anthony Froude, English historian and novelist (The Nemesis of Faith), born in Dartington Rectory, Devon (d. 1894)
1900 – Jim Bottomley, American baseball player, born in Oglesby, Illinois (d. 1959)
1914 – John Hubbard, American actor (Don’t Call Me Charlie, The Tall T, One Million B.C.), born in East Chicago, Indiana (d. 1988)
1920 – Eric Yarrow, British businessman, CEO (Clydesdale Bank), born in Frensham, Surrey
1939 – Ray Peterson, American singer (“Tell Laura I Love Her”), born in Denton, Texas (d. 2005)
1977 – Willie Mitchell, Canadian ice hockey player, born in Port McNeill, British Columbia, Canada

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Famous Deaths

1124 – Alexander I, King of Scots (1107-24), dies at 47
1792 – Karl Friedrich Bahrdt, German theologian and adventurer, dies at 50
1996 – Jean Victor Allard, Canadian army general, dies at 82
1998 – James Earl Ray, American assassin of Martin Luther King Jr., dies while still under detention of complications related to kidney disease and liver failure caused by hepatitis C at 70
2010 – Peter Porter, Australian-British author and poet (Chair of Babel), dies at 81
2021 – Bill Whittington, American auto racer (24 Hours of Le Mans 1979), dies in a plane crash at 71

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Historical Events

1500 – Pedro Álvares Cabral is the first european to discover Brazil, landing near Monte Pascoal, claims it for Portugal
1898 – 1st Spanish–American War action sees the USS Nashville capture a Spanish ship
1903 – American Power Boat Association forms
1916 – Karl Spindler scuttles the Aud near Daunt’s Rock, to prevent its cargo of 20,000 rifles destined for Irish republicans falling into enemy hands
1993 – Seattle Mariner Chris Basio no-hits Boston Red Sox
2018 – Monte Carlo Tennis Masters: Rafael Nadal beats Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-2 to extend his Open-era record for most wins at the same event (11)

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Famous Birthdays

1729 – Michael Hillegas, American merchant and first Treasurer of the United States (1775-89), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1804)
1909 – Rita Levi-Montalcini, Italian neurologist (Nobel 1986), born in Turin, Italy (d. 2012)
1943 – Mel Carter, American pop singer (“Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me”), born in Cincinnati, Ohio
1948 – Carol Drinkwater, Anglo-Irish actress (Father, All Creatures Great and Small) and author (The Haunted School, Provence), born in London
1967 – Sherri Shepherd, American comedian and actress
1980 – Courtney Friel, presenter of World Poker Tour

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Famous Deaths

1782 – Anne Bonny, Irish pirate, dies in prison at 85
1821 – John Crome [Old Crome], English landscape painter and etcher, dies at 52
1893 – Chaim Aronson, Lithuanian inventor and academic, dies at 67
1982 – Melville Bell Grosvenor, American photographer and president of National Geographic Society, dies at 80
2006 – Alida Valli [Baroness Alida von Marckenstein-Frauenberg], Italian actress (The Paradine Case, The Third Man), dies at 84
2013 – Richie Havens, American singer-songwriter, and guitarist who opened the Woodstock Festival (“Freedom”; “Here Comes The Sun”), dies from a heart attack at 72

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