Author: gil7

Historical Events

1840 – American Charles Wilkes discovers the Shackleton Ice Shelf in Antarctica
1959 – Leonard Spigelgass’ “Majority of One” premieres in NYC
1965 – Pegasus 1 launched to detect micro-meteors
1973 – West Indies v Australia at Kingston, 1st time since 1955 without Garfield Sobers
2021 – Athens and parts of Greece covered in unusual heavy snowfall

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Famous Birthdays

1953 – André St. Laurent, Canadian NHL hockey forward, 1973-90 (New York Islanders, Detroit Red Wings, and 2 other teams), born in Rouyn, Quebec
1953 – George Martin, NFL defensive end, 1975-88 (NY Giants), born in Greenville, South Carolina
1958 – Ice-T [Tracy Marrow], American rapper (“O.G. Original Gangster”), and actor (New Jack City; Tank Girl; Law and Order: Special Victims Unit), born in Newark, New Jersey
1961 – Andy Taylor, British rock guitarist (Duran Duran – “Hungry Like the Wolf”; The Power Station), born in Tynemouth, England
1965 – Lucinda Riley, Northern Irish historical fiction and romance author (The Seven Sisters series, The Hidden Girl, The Italian Girl, The Angel tree), born in Lisburn, Northern Ireland (d. 2021)

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Famous Deaths

1531 – Johannes Stöffler, German mathematician and astronomer, dies at 78
1857 – Auguste-Gaspard-Louis Desnoyers, French engraver, dies at 77
1933 – Archie Jackson, Australian cricket batsman (8 Tests, 1 x 100, HS 164; NSWCA), dies from tuberculosis at 23
1968 – (James) Healey Willan, British-Canadian organist, composer, and educator, dies at 87
2023 – Chuck Jackson, American pop and RandB singer (“Any Day Now”; “I Don’t Want to Cry”; “I Keep Forgettin'”), dies at 85

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Historical Events

1764 – St. Louis, Missouri founded as a French trading post by Pierre Laclède
1804 – New Jersey becomes last northern state to abolish slavery
1991 – Freighter with dynamite explodes in Phang Nga Thailand, 120 die
1991 – Daily market volatility as Hussein mentions withdrawal, but Bush calls his offer a “cruel hoax”
2018 – German figure skaters Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot set new ISU best free skating score of 159.31 on their way to pairs gold medal at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics

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Famous Birthdays

1835 – Alexander Stuart Webb, American Union general (medal for gallantry at Battle of Gettysburg), born in New York City (d. 1911)
1883 – Sax Rohmer [Arthur Henry Sarsfield Ward], English author (Dr Fu Manchu novels), born in Birmingham, England (d. 1959)
1909 – Harold Beeley, British diplomat to the Arab world, born in Manchester, England (d. 2001)
1923 – Yelena Bonner, Soviet dissident and wife of Andre Sakharov, born in Merv, Turkmenistan, Soviet Union (d. 2011)
1968 – Axelle Red [Fabienne Demal], Belgian pop and soul singer-songwriter (“Sensualité”, “Parce que c’est toi”),human rights activist, and UNICEF ambassador, born in Hasselt, Belgium

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Famous Deaths

1713 – Anthony Ashley Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury, English politician and philosopher, dies at 41
1839 – Chevalier de Lorimier, Quebec notary (b. 1803)
1943 – Victor Harris, American organist, composer, conductor (St. Cecilia Society, 1902-36), vocal coach, and educator, dies at 73
1961 – Maribel Vinson, American figure skater (9 time US National Champion) and coach, dies in a plane crash at 49
2025 – Gran Hamada [Hiroaki Hamada], Japanese professional wrestler (New Japan Pro-Wrestling), dies at 74

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Historical Events

1804 – Karadjordje leads the First Serbian Uprising against the Ottoman Empire
1992 – Kieren John Perkins swims world record 800m freestyle (7:46.60)
1998 – Authorities in the United States announce that Eric Robert Rudolph is a suspect in an Alabama abortion clinic bombing
2013 – A suicide bombing kills 4 police officer and injures 5 in Dagestan
2023 – Rapper and musician Pharrell Williams appointed menswear designer for Louis Vuitton

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Famous Birthdays

1870 – Bob Quinn, American baseball executive (owner Boston Red Sox 1923–33; part owner Boston Braves 1936–45; President National Baseball Hall of Fame 1948–51), born in Columbus, Ohio (d. 1954)
1932 – Peter Ball, British Church of England clergyman (Bishop of Gloucester. 1992-93; Bishop of Lewes, 1977-92), and convicted sex offender, born in West Sussex, England (d. 2019)
1941 – Donna Shalala, American educator and politician, US Secretary of Health under Bill Clinton (Rep-Florida 2019-21), born in Cleveland, Ohio
1953 – Wayne Siegel, American electro-acoustic contemporary classical composer, based in Denmark, born in Los Angeles, California
1994 – Becky Hill, English singer (The Voice UK, 2012; “Remember”), born in Bewdley, England

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Famous Deaths

1820 – Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry, son of French King Charles X, assassinated by a Bonapartist at 42
1831 – Henry Maudslay, English inventor of the metal lathe, dies at 59
1857 – Johannes Bernardus van Bree, Dutch violinist, composer and conductor, dies at 56
1990 – Tony Holiday, German singer, dies of complications from AIDS at 38
2021 – Peter Martinček van Grob, Slovakian contemporary classical composer and conductor, dies at 58

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Historical Events

1867 – Work begins on the covering of the Senne, burying Brussels’s primary river and creating the modern central boulevards
1881 – The feminist newspaper La Citoyenne is first published in Paris by activist Hubertine Auclert
1934 – Soviet steamship SS Chelyuskin sinks in the Arctic Ocean after being crushed by ice packs near Kolyuchin Island in the Chukchi Sea
1979 – Formation of Guardian Angels crime fighters in New York City
1990 – 50 killed at Inkatha-UDF battle in Natal, South Africa

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Famous Birthdays

1879 – Sarojini Naidu, Indian freedom fighter and poet, born in Hyperbad, India (d. 1949)
1909 – M. Vasalis [Margaretha Droogleever Fortuyn-Leenmans], Dutch poet (Phoenix), born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 1998)
1910 – William Shockley, American physicist who helped invent the transistor (1956 Nobel), who was also known for his racist eugenics views, born in London, England (d. 1989)
1912 – Margaretta Scott, British actress (Crescendo, Where’s Charley, Counterblast), born in Westminster, London (d. 2005)
1970 – Ruben Brown, American football guard (9 × Pro Bowl; Buffalo Bills, Chicago Bears), born in Englewood, New Jersey

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Famous Deaths

1130 – Honorius II [Lamberto], Pope (1124-30), dies
1897 – Joseph O. Shelby, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 66
1958 – Dame Christabel Pankhurst, a leading suffragette (English) “Queen of the mob” (b.1880)
1991 – Ron Pickering, British athletics coach (GB 1964 Summer Olympics) and broadcaster (BBC), dies after a heart bypass operation at 60
2025 – Jim Guy Tucker, American attorney, businessman, and politician (Governor of Arkansas, 1992-96; US Representative form Arkansas, 1977-79), convicted of conspiracy and mail fraud in Whitewater Scandal (1996), dies of complications of colitis at 81

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