1158 – Anselm of Havelberg, Brandenburg bishop of Havelberg (1129-55), dies at about 58
1546 – Francisco de Vitoria, Spanish theology/lawyer, dies
1638 – Johannes Althusius [Althaut], German lawyer, dies at about 81
1648 – Ibrahim I, 18th Ottoman Sultan (1640-48), dies at 32
1900 – James Edward Keeler, American astronomer (rings of Saturn), dies at 42
1935 – Friedrich Schottky, German mathematician (Schottky’s theorem), dies at 84
1976 – Thomas Edward Driberg, 1st baron Bradwell, journalist, dies
1989 – William Shockley, American physicist who helped invent the transistor (1956 Nobel), who was also known for his racist eugenics views, dies of prostate cancer at 79
1992 – John Cage, American composer (Imaginary Landscape No 1/O’O), dies of a stroke at 79
2010 – Isaac Bonewits, founder of U.S. Druid organization Ar Ndraiocht Fein (b. 1949)
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 12th August 2021
1480 – Battle of Otranto – Ottoman troops behead 800 Christians for refusing to convert to Islam
1530 – Florence surrenders for emperor Karel I
1869 – Self-proclaimed Emperor Joshua Abraham Norton of the USA issues edict abolishing the Democratic and Republican parties
1945 – Emperor Hirohito of Japan informs the imperial family that he has decided to surrender
1960 – Echo 1, 1st communications satellite, is launched by NASA
1978 – International Cometary Explorer (ICE) spacecraft launched – to study solar wind
1979 – Iranian press censors start massive book burnings
1991 – Last day in Test Cricket for Viv Richards, Dujon and Marshall
1994 – Members of the Major League Baseball Players Association go on strike leading to cancellation of World Series for only the second time in MLB history (1904); labour dispute
2018 – NASA launches the Parker Space Probe, its first mission to the Sun and its outermost atmosphere, the corona
Today in History for 12th August 2021
Historical Events
1812 – Duke of Wellington’s troops enter Madrid
1876 – Madeline (US) beats Countess Dufferin (Canada) in 4th America’s Cup
1942 – Lt General Bernard Montgomery arrives in Cairo
1971 – Syrian President Hafez al-Assad drops diplomatic relations with Jordan
1991 – Creditors vote to support Greyhound Bus reorganization plan
2000 – The Oscar class submarine K-141 Kursk of the Russian Navy explodes and sinks in the Barents Sea during a military exercise.
Famous Birthdays
1720 – Konrad Ekhof [Hans Konrad Dieterich Eckhof], German actor and director, born in Hamburg, Germany (d. 1778)
1911 – Cantinflas [Mario Moreno], Mexican actor (Around World in 80 Days, Pepe), born in Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico (d. 1993)
1925 – Earl Coleman, American jazz singer, born in Port Huron, Michigan (d. 1995)
1944 – Peter Hofmann, German tenor
1970 – Anthony Swofford, American novelist
1970 – Alison Inverarity, Australian high jumper (Olympic 8th 1992, 96)
Famous Deaths
1822 – Robert Stewart, 2nd marguess of Londonderry, commits suicide, dies
1948 – Harry Brearley, English inventor (b. 1871)
1968 – Esther Forbes, American novelist (Johnny Tremain), dies at 76
1973 – Perry Botkin, American jazz and session guitarist, banjo player, composer, and musical director (Bing Crosby), dies at 66
1999 – Jean Drapeau, Quebec politician, mayor of Montreal (b. 1916)
2004 – Sir Godfrey Hounsfield, English electrical engineer and inventor, Nobel laureate (b. 1919)
Famous Deaths for 11th August 2021
1494 – Hans Memling [John Memlinc], Flemish painter (Passietaferelen), dies
1886 – Lydia Koidula, Estonian poet (b. 1843)
1892 – Enrico Betti, Italian mathematician (b. 1813)
1968 – Lucien Cerfaux, Belgian New Testament scholar, dies at 85
1982 – Tom Drake [Alfred Sinclair Alderdice], American actor (Meet Me In St. Louis; Warlock), dies of lung cancer at 63
1988 – Anne Ramsey, American actress (Throw Mama from the Train), dies of cancer at 59
1988 – Pauline Lafont, daughter of Bernadette, dies in hiking accident at 25
1995 – Phil Harris [Wonga Philip], American actor and singer (Anything Goes, Robin Hood), dies of heart failure at 91
2010 – Geoffrey Johnson Smith, Scottish Conservative politician (1959-2001), dies at 86
2016 – Hanif Mohammad, Pakistani cricket batsman (55 Tests; longest Test innings in history at 16 hours, 337 v WI 1958; 12 x 100), dies at 81
Historical Events for 11th August 2021
1718 – Battle of Cape Passaro: British fleet destroys Spanish off Sicily
1936 – Chaing Kai-shek’s troops conquers Kanton
1978 – Funeral of Pope Paul VI held in the Vatican
1985 – PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Cherry Hills CC: Hubert Green wins by 2 strokes from fellow American Lee Trevino
1987 – France and Great-Britain send minesweepers to Persian Gulf
1991 – Space shuttle STS 43 (Atlantis 9) lands
1992 – Oakland A’s rip Jose Canseco for leaving stadium before end of game
1999 – Total solar eclipse in India-North -France (2m23s)
2008 – Japanese swimmer Kosuke Kitajima repeats 1st leg of his Athens Olympics 100/200m breaststroke double at the Beijing Games winning the 100m in world record 58.91; goes on to win 200m event
2020 – US Democratic candidate for President Joe Biden announces California Senator Kemala Harris is his running mate, the 1st woman of color selected by a major party
Today in History for 11th August 2021
Historical Events
1884 – First double-century stand in Test cricket; Percy McDonnell (103) Billy Murdoch (211) for Australia in drawn 3rd Test v England in London
1907 – St Louis Card Ed Karger pitches perfect game vs Braves, 4-0 in 7 inn
1968 – Satchel Paige (62) and needing 158 days on a major league payroll to qualify for a pension, is signed by Braves
1970 – Jim Bunning becomes 2nd (Cy Young) to win 100 games in both leagues
2003 – A heat wave in Paris results in temperatures rising to 112°F (44° C), leaving about 144 people dead.
2012 – 13 people are killed and 15 injured by a lightning strike at a Mosque in Bangladesh
Famous Birthdays
1744 – Johann Gottlieb Schwencke, German bassonist, born in Breitenau, Saxony
1894 – Wilhelm Grosz, composer
1905 – Erwin Chargaff, Austrian biochemist (d. 2002)
1911 – Ronald Batty, bookseller
1911 – Thanom Kittikachorn, general/premier Thailand (1958..73)
1992 – Jose Ortiz Jr., Puerto Rican jockey (Belmont Stakes 2016), born in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico
Famous Deaths
897 – Wilfred the Hairy, Count of Barcelona
1519 – Johann Tetzel, Dominican monk, dies at about 79
1778 – Augustus Montague Toplady, English hymn writer (Rock of Ages), dies at 37
2005 – James Booth [David Geeves], British actor and screenwriter (Zulu, Keeping Mum), dies at 77
2010 – Dan Rostenkowski, American politician (Rep-D-Il, 1959-94), convicted of mail fraud, dies at 82
2020 – Sumner Redstone, American media mogul (ViacomCBS), dies at 97
Famous Deaths for 10th August 2021
1857 – John Wilson Croker, politician
1861 – Nathaniel Lyon, American Brigadier-General (Union Army), 1st Union General to die in battle at 43
1886 – Eduard Grell, German composer, dies at 85
1918 – Erich Lowenhardt, Germany flying ace of World War I (b. 1897)
1932 – Rin Tin Tin, American Hollywood shepherd dog (Clash of the Wolves), dies at 13
1948 – Emmy Hennings-Ball [Emma Cordsen], German poet and performer dies at 63
1960 – Emil Strauss, German writer (Vaterland), dies
1960 – Frank Lloyd, Scottish actor and director (Mutiny on Bounty, Oliver Twist, Blood on the Sun), dies at 74
1993 – Øystein Aarseth, Norwegian musician (Mayhem) (b. 1968)
2007 – Henry Cabot Lodge Bohler, American member of Tuskegee Airmen and civil rights activist (b. 1925)
Historical Events for 10th August 2021
1566 – Protestant Iconoclasm “Beeldenstorm” begins in European Low Countries
1822 – Antioch Syria, hit by Earthquake; about 20,000 die
1876 – 1st phone call between Brantford and Paris, Canada
1972 – Finnish runner Lasse Virén wraps up the 5,000/10,000m double at the Munich Olympics; runs Olympic record 13:26.42 for the 5k gold medal
1977 – About 100 white sympathisers joined evicted black squatters in a protest against the demolition of shanty dwellings outside Cape Town, South Africa
1985 – Michael Jackson buys ATV Music (every Beatle song) for $47 million
1992 – Soyuz TM-15 lands
1996 – Bob Dole picks Jack Kemp as his Republican VP running mate
2017 – Taylor Swift testifies that DJ David Mueller groped her in court in Denver, Colorado
2018 – Anti-government protests begin in Bucharest, Romania, with over 400 injured in clashes with police
Today in History for 10th August 2021
Historical Events
1827 – Race riots in Cincinnati (1,000 blacks leave for Canada)
1906 – Pope Pius X bans Associations cults
1943 – Dutch submarine attacks Hertenbeest Island, NW Bali
1954 – At Massena, New York, the groundbreaking ceremony for the St. Lawrence Seaway is held.
1972 – Paul and Linda McCartney are arrested in Sweden on drug possession
2019 – Typhoon Lekima makes landfall in Zhejiang province, China, killing at least 32 with one million evacuated
Famous Birthdays
1878 – Alfred Döblin, German writer (d. 1957)
1918 – Arnett Cobb, American jazz tenor saxophonist (Lionel Hampton), born in Houston, Texas (d. 1989)
1926 – Benjamin Ward, 1st African American NYC Police Commissioner (1984-89), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2002)
1946 – James Reynolds, American actor (Days of our Lives), born in Oskaloosa, Kansas
1952 – Daniel Hugh Kelly, American actor
1979 – Yannick Schroeder, French racing driver
Famous Deaths
1928 – Rex Cherryman, American actor (Camille, The Sunshine Trail, In for Thirty Days), dies from septic poisoning at 31
1979 – John Nicholas “Dick” Foran, American actor (OK Crackerby, Fort Apache, Winners of the West), dies at 69
1994 – Leendert-John Schalm, Dutch banker on Curacao, murdered at 58
1996 – Adriano Mandarino Hypolito, priest, dies at 78
1997 – Conlon Nancarrow, American composer (Soundings 4), dies at 84
2010 – Antonio Pettigrew, American athlete (World C’ship gold 400m 1991), dies by overdose medication containing diphenhydramine at 42
Famous Deaths for 9th August 2021
1634 – William Noy, English jurist (b. 1577)
1969 – Sharon Tate, American actress (Valley of Dolls), murdered by Manson’s gang at 26
1978 – Johan Daisne [Thiery], Belgian writer (Lago Maggiore), dies at 66
1980 – P K “Perker” Lee, Australian cricketer (Australian bowler 1931-33, 2 Tests), dies at 75
1992 – William Russell [Russell William Wagner], American violinist, modern composer (Fugue for Eight Percussion Instruments), and musicologist (Oh, Mister Jelly), dies at 87
1996 – Ruth Holland, British journalist (BMJ), dies in the Watford rail crash at 54
1996 – Kenneth Fleetwood, English fashion designer (Hardy Amies, dressed Queen Elizabeth II), dies at 65
1996 – James Whitman McLamore, American businessman and 1st CEO of Burger King who created The Whopper, dies at 70
2000 – Fouad Serageddin, Egyptian politician and leader of Egypt’s Wafd Party, dies at 88
2016 – Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster, British peer and its 3rd richest Britain, dies at 64