Author: gil7

Historical Events

1777 – Washington settles his troops at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania for the winter
1842 – US recognizes independence of Hawaii
1862 – Skirmish at Jackson, Salem Church, Tennessee (80 casualties)
1931 – Joseph A Lyons (C) becomes premier of Australia
1948 – Cleveland Browns beats Buffalo Bills 49-7 in AAFC championship game
1993 – “Red Shoes” closes at Gershwin Theater NYC after 5 performances

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Famous Birthdays

1817 – James Jay Archer, Brigadier General (Confederate Army) (d. 1864)
1905 – (Charles) Robert Medley, English abstract and figurative style painter, born in London (d. 1994)
1925 – Robert Sherman, songwriter (Mary Poppins, The Jungle Book), born in NYC, New York (d. 2012)
1934 – Rudi Carrell [Rudolf W Kesselman], Dutch showmaster
1957 – Kevin McHale, American NBA forward (Boston Celtics), born in Hibbing, Minnesota
1960 – Mike Lookinland, American actor (Bobby-Brady Bunch), born in Mt Pleasant, Utah

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Famous Deaths

1911 – John Bigelow, American statesman and author, dies at 94
1967 – Alfred Courtens, Belgian sculptor, dies at 78
1982 – Jean-Jacques Grunenwald, French organist/composer, dies at 71
1982 – Dwight Macdonald, American social critic (b. 1906)
1990 – Massimo Amfiteatrof [Maksim Amfiteatrov], Russian-Italian classical musician, known as ‘the Cellists’ Caruso’, dies at 83
1995 – Harold Watkinson, British politician/businessman, dies at 85

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Historical Events

1813 – British take Fort Niagara in War of 1812
1917 – The Soviet government issues a decree recognizing Finland’s newly-declared independence [N.S. December 31]
1956 – Israeli flag hoisted on Mount Sinai
1963 – “The Pink Panther” film premieres directed by Blake Edwards and starring Peter Sellers and David Niven with theme by Henry Mancini
1969 – House of Lords votes to abolish the death penalty in England, Wales and Scotland (Northern Ireland 25 July 1973)
2018 – Manchester United sacks high profile Portuguese manager Jose Mourinho; United in 6th place in EPL, 19 points behind league leaders Liverpool; Ole Gunnar Solskjaer new caretaker manager

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Famous Birthdays

1734 – Jean-Baptiste Rey, French conductor (Paris Opera) and composer, born in Lauzerte, France (d. 1810)
1920 – Willis Conover, American broadcaster (Voice of America), born in Buffalo, New York (d. 1996)
1934 – Colin Baker, Welsh soccer wing half (7 caps; Cardiff City 298 games), born in Cardiff, Wales (d. 2021)
1966 – Mille Petrozza, German singer (Kreator)
1970 – Lucious Harris, NBA guard (NJ Nets, Dallas Mavericks)
1971 – Frank Pimiskern, CFL safety (BC Lions)

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Famous Deaths

1651 – Francisco the Melo, Portuguese-Spanish earl of Assumar, dies at 54
1894 – Erastus Flaval Beadle, American publisher (Beadle’s Dime Novels), dies at 73
1971 – Aleksandr Tvardovsky, Russian poet and editor in chief (Novyj Mir), dies at 61
2002 – Wayne Owens, former U.S. Congressman (D-Utah) (b. 1937)
2004 – John W. Downey, American composer, dies at 77
2007 – Jack Linkletter, American TV host (Haggis Baggis, Hootenanny), dies at 70

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Historical Events

1920 – AL votes to let spitball pitchers to continue using it
1932 – Cards trade Jim Bottomley to Reds for Estel Crabtree and Ownie Carroll
1970 – USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1986 – Edmonton’s Wayne Gretzky scores 4 goals, including a natural hat trick in the 1st period and also records an assist as the Oilers win 5-3 over the visiting Quebec Nordiques; his 41st NHL career hat trick
2014 – 103-year-old Gus Andreone records the 8th ace of his career on the 113-yard, 14th hole of the Lakes Course, Palm Aire, Sarasota, FL; oldest golfer to record a hole-in-one
2019 – Young girl’s 5,700 year old DNA extracted from birch tar used as chewing gum, from Lolland Island, southern Denmark

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Famous Birthdays

1734 – Georg Peter Weimar, German cantor and composer, born in Stotternheim (d. 1800)
1908 – William Brocklesby Wordsworth, composer
1930 – Julia Meade [Kunz], American actress and TV hostess (Spotlight Playhouse), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2016)
1939 – Novella Nelson, American actress (Antwone Fisher, Purlie, Chiefs), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2017)
1943 – Dave Dee, British musician (Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich), born in Salisbury, Wiltshire (d. 2009)
1967 – Pauline Maurice, Welland Ontario, softball outfielder (Olympics 1996)

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Famous Deaths

1833 – Kaspar Hauser, German son of grand duke Karel of Bathe (who claimed to have grown up in the total isolation of a darkened cell), murdered at 21
1909 – Leopold II, King of Belgium (1865-1909), dies at 74
1917 – Frank Gotch, American professional wrestler, dies at 40
1948 – Edgar Istel, German composer, dies at 68
1961 – Marion Perkins, sculptor (Man of Sorrow), dies at 53
2006 – Timmie Rogers, American comedian (The Jackie Gleason Show), actor and singer-songwriter (Back to School Again; I Love Ya, I Love Ya, I Love Ya), dies at 91

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Historical Events

1538 – King Francois I orders renewed pursuit of Protestants
1631 – Mount Vesuvius in Italy erupts, burying many villages under lava flows and killing around 3,000 people
1968 – Official revocation of the Edict of Expulsion of Jews from Spain at Second Vatican Council
1970 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1997 – US President Bill Clinton names his Labrador retriever “Buddy”
2019 – Drew Brees breaks Peyton Manning’s NFL record (539) for career touchdown passes as New Orleans Saints rout Indianapolis Colts, 34-7; Brees 29 of 30 for 307 yards and 4 TDs for record 96.7% pass completion

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Famous Birthdays

1742 – Gebhard Fürst Blücher von Wahlstatt, German Field Marshal (d. 1819)
1775 – Jane Austen, English novelist (Pride and Prejudice), born in Steventon, England (d. 1817)
1904 – Edward Morris Bernstein, economist
1918 – Pierre Delanoë [Leroyer], French songwriter and lyricist, born in Paris (d. 2006)
1938 – Jimmie Lee Jackson, American civil rights protester and church deacon, shot and killed by an Alabama State Trooper in 1965, born in Marion, Alabama (d. 1965)
1988 – Anna Popplewell, English actress

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Famous Deaths

1774 – Francois Quesnay, French personal physician of Louis XIV, dies at 80
1920 – Ma Yuanzhang, Chinese Muslim rebel and Sufi master, crushed to death during the 1920 Haiyuan earthquake at an unknown age
1928 – Elinor Wylie, American poet and writer (b. 1885)
1993 – Ratu Penaia Ganilau, president of Fiji (1987-93), dies at 75
2007 – Dan Fogelberg, American rocker (Same Old Lang Syne), dies at 56
2012 – Laurier LaPierre, Canadian journalist, broadcaster and senator, dies at 83

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