1865 – Zutphen-Fishing Dutch railway opens
1916 – Broadway theatre owner and producer Harry H. Frazee and Hugh Ward buy MLB club the Boston Red Sox for approximately $700,000 from Joseph Lannin
1918 – Yugoslav battleship Viribus Unitis sunk by Italians
1922 – Mustafa Kemal Ataturk takes Constantinople from Mehmed VI, proclaiming the Republic of Turkey and bringing an end to the Ottoman Empire
1942 – 10th day of battle at El Alamein
1950 – Celtics’ forward Chuck Cooper becomes first African American to play in the NBA in Boston’s 107-84 loss at Fort Wayne Pistons; future Hall of Famer Bob Cousy also debuts for Celtics
1956 – Karnataka (then known as Mysore State) is formed from the merge of Kannada-speaking regions in India
1987 – New Zealand All Blacks create a rugby union international world record score when they beat Japan, 106-4 at the National Stadium in Tokyo
2017 – Boiler explosion at a NTPC government-run coal-fired power plant in Rae Bareli, India, kills 29
2020 – Slovakia completes testing two-thirds of its population for COVID-19 using quick antigen tests, 1.06% test positive out of 3.625 million
Author: gil7
Today in History for 1st November 2021
Historical Events
1877 – Dutch government of Heemskerk-Van Lynden resigns
1940 – 1st US air raid shelter, Fleetwood, Pa
1968 – Noël Coward’s “Sweet Potato” opens at Booth Theater NYC for 36 performances
1973 – “Molly” opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 68 performances
1991 – Three faculty, and one staff member of the department of physics and astronomy, were killed, along with one administrator, when physics graduate student Gang Lu went on a shooting rampage at the University of Iowa.
2004 – “That’s What I Love About Sunday” single released by Craig Morgan (Billboard Song of the Year 2005)
Famous Birthdays
1643 – John Strype, English historian and biographer, born in Houndsditch, London (d. 1737)
1871 – Stephen Crane, American novelist (Red Badge of Courage), born in Newark, New Jersey (d. 1900)
1912 – Bill Bonthron, American athlete (world 1,500m record 3:48.8 1934), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 1983)
1927 – Victor Pellot, Puerto Rican baseball infielder (6 x MLB All Star; 7 x Gold Glove), born in Arecibo, Puerto Rico (d. 2005)
1968 – Kent Graham, American NFL quarterback (New York Giants), born in Winfield, Illinois
1972 – Glen Murray, Canadian ice hockey right wing (1,009 NHL games; All Star 2003-04; Boston Bruins), born in Halifax, Nova Scotia
Famous Deaths
921 – Richard, Duke of Burgundy
1676 – Gisbertus Voetius, Dutch theologian (b. 1589)
1881 – Jacques Perk, Dutch poet (Iris, Wood Song), dies at 22
1962 – Ricardo Rodríguez, Mexican auto racer (youngest F1 driver ever to race for Ferrari), dies in practice accident at 20
1963 – Elsa Maxwell, American author (Jack Paar Show), dies at 80
1995 – Alun Pask, Welsh rugby union flanker (26 caps; British Lions 8 caps; Abertillery), dies at 58
Famous Deaths for 31st October 2021
1448 – Johannes VIII Palaeologus, Emperor of Byzantine, dies
1661 – Mehmed Koprulu, Albanian great vizier of Turkey, dies
1884 – Marie Bashkirtseff, Russian diarist and painter, dies at 25
1902 – Jean-Baptist Colyns, Belgian violinist and composer, dies at 67
1976 – Linda Watkins, American actress (From Hell it Came, Harpy), dies at 68
1994 – Lester Sill, pioneer music publisher/record producer, dies at 76
2002 – Michail Stasinopoulos, Greek politician and 1st President of Greece, dies at 99
2005 – John “Beatz” Holohan, American drummer (Bayside), dies in an auto accident at 31
2010 – Theodore Sorenson, American presidential advisor to JFK and author (Kennedy), dies at 82
2019 – (Elizabeth) Ann Crumb, American stage and screen actress and singer, dies of ovarian cancer at 69
Historical Events for 31st October 2021
1756 – Giacomo Casanova escapes from prison in Venice by climbing onto the roof
1794 – John Dalton’s first lecture to Manchester Literary/Philosophical Society
1864 – Nevada admitted as 36th state of the Union
1940 – Battle of Britain, fought between the RAF and Luftwaffe over the English Channel and southern England, ends with a British victory
1943 – Washington Redskin Sammy Baugh passes for 6 touchdowns vs Bkln (48-10)
1953 – TV broadcasting begins in Belgium
1963 – J. Edgar Hoover’s last meeting with President John F. Kennedy
1968 – Milwaukee Bucks win their 1st game beating Detroit 138-118 (6th game)
2000 – A chartered Antonov An-26 explodes after takeoff in Northern Angola killing 50
2018 – US and Great Britain call for a cease-fire in Saudi-led war in Yemen, in 3-year war that has claimed over 10,000 lives and created famine conditions
Today in History for 31st October 2021
Historical Events
1978 – Iranian oil workers go on strike
1982 – Pope John Paul II becomes first pontiff to visit Spain
1994 – American Eagle ATR-72 crash down at Gary, Indiana: 68 killed
1995 – American jam band Phish performs The Who’s “Quadrophenia” as a musical costume during a show at the Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, Illinois
1998 – Iraq disarmament crisis begins: Iraq announces it would no longer cooperate with United Nations weapons inspectors.
1999 – Finnish McLaren driver Mika Häkkinen wins season ending Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka to clinch his second straight F1 World Drivers Championship; wins by 2 points from Irishman Eddie Irvine
Famous Birthdays
1345 – Ferdinand I, King of Portugal (1367-83), born in Coimbra, Portugal (d. 1383)
1872 – James Hogan, Irish College Football Hall of Fame tackle (Yale), born in Glenbane, County Tipperary, Ireland (d. 1910)
1912 – Ollie Johnston, American animator and the last living member of Disney’s Nine Old Men, born in Palo Alto, California (d. 2008)
1941 – Lucas Brown Jackson, American basketball player (Olympic gold 1964), born in San Marcos, Texas
1945 – (Russell Glyn) “Russ” Ballard, British rock singer, songwriter and guitarist (Argent – “Liar”; “You Can Do Magic”), born in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, England
1973 – Grigorios Georgatos, Greek footballer, born in Piraeus, Greece
Famous Deaths
1926 – Harry Houdini [Erich Weisz], magician, dies in Detroit of gangrene and peritonitis that developed after his appendix ruptured
1950 – Jozef C Bittremieux, Flemish theologist, dies at 72
1984 – Indira Gandhi, 4th Prime Minister of India (1966-77, 1980-84), assassinated by two of her bodyguards at 66
1991 – Johan Schmitz, actor (Gysbregt van Aemstel/Soldat van Orange), dies
1995 – Wallace Edward Rowling, Prime Minister of NZ (1974-1975), dies at 68
2009 – Tom Wheatcroft, English businessman and car collector (Donington Grand Prix Collection ), dies at 87
Famous Deaths for 30th October 2021
1667 – Johann Jakob Wolleb, a Swiss organist , theologian and composer, dies in the plague at 54
1823 – Edmund Cartwright, English inventor (power loom), dies at 80
1901 – U Benson, British lt-col (Magers’ fountain), killed in battle
1956 – Pío Baroja y Nessi, Spanish Basque writer, author of over 100 novels (The Struggle for Life, Zalacain the Adventurer), dies at 83
1967 – Charles Trowbridge, Mexican-American actor (Fatal Hour), dies at 85
1968 – Conrad Richter, American writer (Light in the Forest), dies at 78
1982 – Angelo Ephrikian, Armenian-Italian composer, dies at 69
1993 – Paul Grégoire, French Canadian Archbishop of Montreal, dies at 82
2015 – Mel Daniels, American professional basketball player (Hall of Fame 2012), dies at 71
2019 – Don Fraser, American boxing promoter (LA venues; colourful wardrobe and offbeat PR gimmicks), dies at 92
Historical Events for 30th October 2021
1954 – 1st use of 24-sec shot clock in pro basketball (Rochester vs Boston)
1957 – WLWI (now WTHR) TV channel 13 in Indianapolis, IN (ABC) 1st broadcast
1957 – Dmitri Shostakovich’s 11th Symphony premieres in Moscow
1972 – Worst US rail accident in 14 years; 45 die in Chicago, llinois
1974 – “The Rumble in the Jungle”: Muhammad Ali KOs George Foreman in the 8th round in Kinshasa, Zaire; regains world heavyweight boxing title with famous “rope-a-dope” tactic
1985 – “Rockin’ with the Rhythm” second studio album by The Judds is released (Billboard Album of the Year 1986)
1985 – 22nd Space Shuttle Mission (61-A)-Challenger 9-launched
1987 – “Faith” debut album by George Michael is released
2017 – Actor Kevin Spacey issues apology after actor Anthony Rapp accuses him of inappropriate sexual behaviour when he was 14
2019 – Twitter head Jack Dorsey announces it will no longer take political ads
Today in History for 30th October 2021
Historical Events
1502 – Vasco da Gama returns to Calicut, India for the second time.
1944 – Last transport for Auschwitz arrives in Birkenau
1947 – Darius Milhaud’s 3rd Symphony “Hymnus Ambrosianus,” premieres in Paris
1963 – Morocco and Algeria sign cease fire
1969 – WXPO (now WNDS) TV channel 50 in Manchester, NH (IND) 1st broadcast
2004 – Breeders’ Cup Horse Racing, Lone Star Park; winners: Ghostzapper, Wilko, Ashado, Better Talk Now, Oujja Board, Sweet Catomine, Singletary, Speightstown
Famous Birthdays
1895 – Gerhard Domagk, German bacteriologist (Nobel Prize 1939 in Physiology or Medicine – first commercially available antibiotic and marketed under the brand name Prontosil), born in Lagow, Brandenburg (d. 1964)
1945 – Glenn Poshard, American politician (Rep-D-Illinois), born in Herald, Illinois
1953 – Kathleen Cody, American actress (Charley and the Angel), born in The Bronx, New York
1970 – James Pedro, American lightweight judoka (Olympic bronze 1992, 96), born in Danvers, Massachusetts
1970 – Patrice Tardif, Canadian NHL center (LA Kings), born in Thetford Mines, Quebec
1983 – Trent Edwards, American football player (Buffalo Bills), born in Los Gatos, California
Famous Deaths
1602 – Jean-Jacques Boissard, French poet (b. 1528)
1944 – Paul Ladmirault, French composer, dies at 66
1956 – Pío Baroja y Nessi, Spanish Basque writer, author of over 100 novels (The Struggle for Life, Zalacain the Adventurer), dies at 83
1996 – John Young, Scottish actor and TV panelist (Masquerade Party), dies at 80
2008 – Pedro Pompilio Argentinian businessman (b. 1950)
2018 – Hardy Fox, American member of avant-garde band The Residents, dies at 73
Famous Deaths for 29th October 2021
1846 – Jean Louis van Aelbroeck, Flemish agronomist, dies at 90
1853 – William Richard Bexfield, English composer, dies at 29
1885 – George McClellan, Union army major general, dies of a heart attack at 58
1927 – Leonard Nelson, German philosopher (Nelson-Friessche Schule), dies at 45
1947 – Frances Cleveland, American First Lady (1885-89 93-97), wife of Grover Cleveland dies at 83
1963 – Michael Holliday [Norman Milne], British pop singer (“The Story of My Life”), dies of a suspected drug overdose at 38
1985 – John Lodge, American actor (Witchmaker) and politician (79th Governor of Connecticut), dies at 82
1991 – Mario Scelba, Prime Minister of Italia (1954-55), dies
2013 – Rudolf Kehrer, Soviet classical pianist of German heritage, dies at 90
2018 – Larry Snyder, American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey (US Champion Jockey by wins 1969; George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award 1989), dies from cancer at 76
Historical Events for 29th October 2021
1268 – Conradin, the last legitimate male heir of the German Hohenstaufen dynasty of Kings and Holy Roman Emperors, is executed with Frederick I, Margrave of Baden by Charles I of Sicily
1508 – Gelderse troops occupies Kuinre
1833 – 1st US college fraternity to have a fraternity house founded
1923 – Textile strike against lower wages begins in Enschede, Netherlands
1941 – Cole Porter’s musical “Let’s Face It” opens at the Imperial Theatre, NYC; runs 547 performances
1974 – Law bans discrimination of sex or marital status in credit application
1987 – Thomas Hearns wins unprecedented 4th different weight boxing title
2008 – Delta Air Lines merges with Northwest Airlines, creating the world’s largest airline and reducing the number of US legacy carriers to 5.
2018 – World Scrabble Championship won for the fourth time by New Zealand Malaysian Nigel Richards with the word “groutier” (bad-tempered)
2020 – India records more than 8 million COVID-19 cases, the second country after the US, with a death toll of 120,527