Author: gil7

Today in History for 16th August 2021

Historical Events

1943 – Bulgarian Tsar Boris III visits Adolf Hitler
1975 – Singer Peter Gabriel announces his departure from the rock group Genesis
1981 – American swimmer Mary T. Meagher breaks her own world women’s 100 m butterfly record (57.93) in Brown Deer, Wisconsin; holds 100/200m double WR
1990 – China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC
2017 – Over 100 Maasai houses destroyed in Tanzania by game park authorities as part of a border dispute near Serengeti National Park
2020 – Japan’s economy, the world’s third largest, posts its worst-ever decline, falling 7.8% (April-June quarter)

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1557 – Agostino Carracci, Italian artist (Communion of St. Jerome), born in Bologna, Italy (d. 1602)
1864 – Ferdinand C. S. Schiller, German-British philosopher (Riddles of the Sphinx), born in Altona, Holstein, German Confederation (d. 1937)
1892 – Otto Messmer, American cartoonist (Felix the Cat), born in Union City, New Jersey (d. 1983)
1939 – Sir Trevor Mcdonald, Trinidadian-born British television newsreader
1975 – Didier Agathe, French footballer, born in Saint-Pierre, Réunion
1980 – Robert “Bob” Hardy, English musician (Franz Ferdinand), born in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1518 – Loyset Compère, French composer
1894 – Herman van der Tuuk, Dutch linguist (Toba Batak grammar), dies at 70
1938 – Andrej Hlinka, Slovak politician and Catholic priest, dies at 1938
1994 – Earnest Pawel, Polish/American author (Nightmare of Reason), dies at 74
2000 – Alan Caddy, English musician (The Tornados), dies at 60
2005 – Joe Ranft, American screenwriter and animator (Toy Story, Cars), dies at 45

More Famous Deaths »

Famous Deaths for 15th August 2021

1118 – Alexius I Comnenus [Alexios I Komnenos], Emperor of Byzantium (1081-1118), dies
1853 – Giovanni Battista Polledro, Italian composer, dies at 72
1963 – John Powell, American composer, dies at 80
1974 – Edmund Cobb, Mexican western actor (Motorcycle Gang, Comanche Territory), dies at 82
1983 – Benjamin V Cohen, American author of New Deal legislation, dies at 88
1985 – Richard Yardumian, American composer (Creator Spirit), dies at 68
1988 – Mohammed Zia ul-Haq, President of Pakistan, killed in plane crash
1992 – Jackie Edwards, Jamaican songwriter (Keep On Running), dies at 53 or 54
1995 – Jesse Thomas ‘Babyface’, American blues singer, dies at 84
2008 – Vic Toweel, South African boxer (undisputed world bantamweight champion), dies at 79

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events for 15th August 2021

1549 – Jesuit priest Saint Francis Xavier comes ashore at Kagoshima (Traditional Japanese date: July 22, 1549).
1893 – US no longer allowed exclusive rights in Bering Sea
1912 – Yankee Guy Zinn sets record by stealing home twice in a game
1914 – Panama Canal opens (under cost) with the SS Ancon making the 1st official steamship through the canal
1964 – Ralph Boston of US, sets then long jump record at 27′ 3½”
1967 – UK’s Marine Offences Bill making pirate radio stations a crime goes into effect, pirate station Radio 355 closes down
1983 – Ramones guitarist Joey Ramone beaten in fight-undergoes brain surgery
2004 – Bay of Plenty defeat Auckland 33-26 in Rugby Union to win NZ’s Ranfurly shield for the first time in the shield’s 102 year history and after 28 unsuccessful challenges
2006 – Der Spiegel, Spiegel Online, publishes documents confirming German writer Günter Grass’ membership of the Waffen-SS in World War II
2019 – 60th annual finger wrestling (Fingerhakeln) championships takes place in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, southern Germany, part of Partenkirchner Festival week

More Historical Events »

Today in History for 15th August 2021

Historical Events

778 – Battle of Roncevaux Pass: Roland, commander of the rearguard of Charlemagne’s army is defeated by the Basques
1918 – 1st full length cartoon (Sinking of Lusitania)
1948 – US Open Women’s Golf, Atlantic City CC: Babe Didrikson-Zaharias wins by 8 strokes from Betty Hicks
1952 – 9 inches of rain fall creates a 20 ft wave in Lynmouth, England, killing 34
1971 – Charles Lismont wins Helsinki marathon (2:13:09.0)
1993 – NYC radio (WFAN) personality Don Imus’ lung collapses for 2nd time

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1769 – Napoleon Bonaparte, French military leader and Emperor of the French (1804-14, 1815), born in Ajaccio, Corsica, France (d. 1821)
1901 – Sulho Ranta, Finnish composer, born in Peräseinäjoki, Finland (d. 1960)
1914 – Peter Nicholson Gunn, Australian writer (The Churches of Rome), born in Sydney, Australia (d. 1995)
1946 – Tony Robinson, English actor, comedian and author, born in Homerton, London
1946 – Jean-Claude Arnault, French Swedish photographer involved in Nobel Prize scandal, born in Marseille, France
1977 – Igor Cassina, Italian gymnast (Olympic gold 2004), born in Seregno, Italy

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1552 – Hermann of Wied, German Catholic archbishop (b. 1477)
1971 – Thomas Wayne, American rockabilly singer (“Tragedy”), dies in a car accident at 31
1975 – Clay Shaw, alleged John F. Kennedy assassination conspiracist and businessman (b. 1913)
1981 – Pappy Waldorf, American College Football Hall of Fame tackle and coach (Northwestern, California), dies at 78
1990 – Lew DeWitt, American country singer and composer (Statler Brothers – “Flowers on the Wall”), dies of Crohn’s disease complications at 52
2008 – Vic Toweel, South African boxer (undisputed world bantamweight champion), dies at 79

More Famous Deaths »

Famous Deaths for 14th August 2021

1652 – Abraham Elsevier, Dutch book publisher, dies at 60
1784 – Nathaniel Hone, Irish-born portrait and miniature painter, dies at 66
1856 – William Buckland, dean (Westminster)/geologist, dies
1922 – Alfred CW Harmsworth, 1st viscount Northcliffe/newspaper magnate, dies
1966 – Tip Snooke, South African cricket all-rounder and captain (26 Tests 1905-23, 35 wickets), dies at 85
1984 – J. B. Priestly, English novelist and scriptwriter (The Good Companions, An Inspector Calls), dies at 89
1996 – Uzo Egonu, painter/print maker, dies at 64
2004 – Eric Petrie, New Zealand cricketer (NZ wicketkeeper of the late 1950’s), dies at 77
2013 – Lisa Robin Kelly, American actress, dies at 43
2020 – Angela Buxton, English tennis player (French C’ships, Wimbledon women’s doubles 1956 [with Althea Gibson]), dies at 85

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events for 14th August 2021

1861 – 79th NY troops mutinies
1908 – The first beauty contest is held in Folkestone, England.
1920 – VII Summer Olympic Games open in Antwerp, Belgium; first time Olympic Oath voiced, doves released to symbolise peace, and Olympic Flag flown
1944 – Soviet offensive at Weichsel
1952 – Mátyás Rákosi appointed premier of Hungary
1953 – 20th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Detroit 24, All-Stars 10 (93,818)
1964 – Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait and Syria form common market
1967 – Radio Scotland and Radio Swinging Holland go off the air
1974 – Congress authorizes US citizens to own gold
1977 – PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Pebble Beach: Lanny Wadkins wins his only major title in event’s 1st sudden-death playoff with Gene Littler

More Historical Events »

Today in History for 14th August 2021

Historical Events

1966 – 1st US lunar orbiter begins orbiting Moon
1971 – France performs nuclear test
1974 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
2003 – Widescale power blackout in the northeast United States and Canada.
2012 – 46 people are killed and 80 injured after a series of suicide bombings in Afghanistan
2017 – Parliamentary citizenship scandal deepens in Australia after Barnaby Joyce, Deputy PM revealed to be a New Zealand citizen

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1599 – Méric Casaubon, French-English classical scholar, born in Geneva (d. 1671)
1899 – Jaroslav Jeremiáš, Czech pianist and composer, born in Pisek, Bohemia Austria-Hungary (d. 1919)
1913 – Fred Davis, English snooker player (World C’ship 1948-49, 51), born in Chesterfield, Derbyshire (d. 1998)
1924 – Georges Prêtre, French classical and opera conductor known for interpretation of Poulenc, born in Waziers, France (d. 2017)
1974 – Christopher Gorham, American actor, born in Fresno, California
1986 – Terin Humphrey, American gymnast, born in Saint Joseph, Missouri

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1433 – John I, king of Portugal (1383-1433), dies at 76
1955 – Herbert Putnam, American Librarian of Congress, dies at 93
1977 – Alexander Luria, Russian neuropsychologist (Higher Cortical Functions in Man), dies at 75
1982 – Patrick Magee [McGee], Northern Irish actor and director (A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon), dies from a heart attack at 60
1999 – Harold “Pee Wee” Reese, American MLB baseball shortstop, 10x All-Star (Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers, 1940-58), dies at of cancer 81
2013 – Lisa Robin Kelly, American actress, dies at 43

More Famous Deaths »

Famous Deaths for 13th August 2021

1134 – Irene of Hungary [Piroska], Byzantine empress, dies at 46
1933 – Paul Joseph Guillaume Hillemacher, French composer and painist, dies at 80
1954 – Hermann W. S. Waltershausen, German musicologist and composer, dies at 71
1989 – Tim Richmond, American race car driver (won 13 NASCAR races), dies of AIDS at 34
1992 – Bill Elverman, American playwright and actor (After Hours), dies at 40
1996 – W. Gordon Smith, Scottish playwright (Jock), dies at 67
1998 – Nino Ferrer, French-Italian singer and composer (Mirza, Cornichons), dies at 63
2008 – Jack Weil, American oldest working CEO ( Rockmount Ranch Wear), dies at 107
2008 – Sandy Allen, American second-tallest woman in the world at 7 feet 7 inches (231 cm), dies at 53
2013 – Jon Brookes, English drummer (The Charlatans), dies of cancer at 44

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events for 13th August 2021

1553 – Spanish theologian and physician Michael Servetus arrested as a heretic in Geneva (put on trial the next day, eventually found guilty of heresy and burned to death)
1919 – American thoroughbred racehorse Man o’ War’s only defeat in 21 start career; Upset wins Sanford Memorial Stakes at Saratoga Race Course
1920 – Flag designed by Marcus Garvey consisting of three horizontal stripes of red, black and green is adopted as the pan-African flag
1948 – Satchel Paige at 42, pitches his 1st major league complete game
1959 – US Military satellite Discoverer 5 launches into polar orbit
1963 – Warren Spahn sets left-hander strike out mark at 2,382
1963 – US Customs agents confiscate 21 gold coins from Witte Museum, San Antonio, Texas
1970 – Pamphlet bombs which scatter revolutionary African National Congress propaganda leaflets explode in Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban and Port Elizabeth, South Africa
1981 – American swimmer Mary T. Meagher breaks her own world women’s 200 m butterfly record (2:05.96) in Brown Deer, Wisconsin
1985 – South African Defence Force soldiers, travelling in a convoy of more than ten armoured vehicles, surrounded the Thaba-Juluba high school in Soweto and arrest 200 students during a clampdown on school boycotts

More Historical Events »

Today in History for 13th August 2021

Historical Events

1516 – The Treaty of Noyon between France and Spain is signed. Francis recognises Charles’s claim to Naples, and Charles recognises Francis’s claim to Milan.
1521 – Spanish conquistadors under Hernán Cortés capture Aztec Emperor Cuauhtémoc in Tenochtitlan marking the end of the Aztec Empire
1792 – Revolutionaries imprison French royals, including Marie Antoinette
1906 – Black soldiers raid Brownsville, Texas
1914 – -14] German army occupies forts at Liege
2004 – 156 Congolese Tutsi refugees massacred at the Gatumba refugee camp in Burundi

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1752 – Maria Carolina of Austria, Queen of the Two Sicilies, born in Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna (d. 1814)
1911 – James Benton Parson, American judge, 1st African American federal judge, born in Kansas City, Missouri (d. 1993)
1940 – Tony Cloninger, American MLB pitcher and coach (2 Grand Slams in one game), born in Cherryville, North Carolina (d. 2018)
1941 – Jim Barnes, American basketball player (Olympic gold 1964), born in Tuckerman, Arkansas (d. 2002)
1970 – Matt Hyson, American professional wrestler, born in Providence, Rhode Island
1984 – Niko Kranjčar, Croatian soccer midfielder (81 caps; Dinamo Zagreb, Hajduk Split, Portsmouth, Tottenham Hotspur, QPR), born in Zagreb, Croatia

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1886 – Adolf von Doss, German composer, dies at 62
1937 – Arthur Plunkett, English civil engineer (designed Sydney Harbour Bridge) (b. 1890)
1947 – Tobias Norlind, Swedish musicologist, dies at 68
2005 – David Lange, 32nd Prime Minister of New Zealand (Labour: 1984-89), dies of complications associated with renal failure and diabetes at 63
2012 – Johnny Pesky, American baseball player and manager, dies at 92
2016 – Françoise Mallet-Joris, Belgian writer (Signs and Wonders), dies at 86

More Famous Deaths »