1692 – Royal Hospital Chelsea Founder’s Day first celebrated in London
1886 – American chemist John Pemberton begins to advertise Coca-Cola
1909 – Frank “Home Run” Baker’s 1st career home run for Philadelphia Athletics
1914 – Ship rams Canadian ship Empress of Ireland on St Lawrence River; 1,024 die
1954 – Pope Pius XII issues holy declaration
1960 – Everly Brothers “Cathy’s Clown” hits #1
1979 – Bishop Abel Muzorewa is sworn in as Zimbabwe’s 1st black Prime Minister
1989 – Philadelphia Phillies 12-time All Star 3rd baseman Mike Schmidt retires from MLB at 39
2010 – Philadelphia Phillies’ Roy Halladay becomes 20th pitcher to throw a perfect game (1-0 vs Florida Marlins), in Miami
2012 – Thousands march in protest in Johannesburg against Brett Murray’s controversial painting The Spear
Author: gil7
Today in History for 29th May 2021
Historical Events
1922 – US Supreme Court rules organized baseball is a sport and not a business and thus not subject to antitrust laws
1924 – AEK Athens FC is established on the anniversary of the siege of Constantinople by the Turks
1954 – British runner Diane Leather becomes first woman to run the mile in under 5 minutes; 4:59.6 at Alexander Sports Ground in Birmingham, England
1987 – “Twilight Zone: The Movie” director John Landis found innocent of involuntary manslaughter in death of actor Vic Morrow and 2 child actors during filming
2005 – Indianapolis 500: Dan Wheldon wins in 3:10:21.0769 (253.637 km/h)
2018 – Death toll on Puerto Rico 70 times higher than official figure, likely 4,600 died from Hurricane Maria according to Harvard University study
Famous Birthdays
1910 – Ralph Metcalfe, American athlete, politician (Rep-D-Ill; joint world record 100m, Olympic gold 4x100m relay 1936), born in Atlanta, Georgia (d. 1978)
1948 – Linda Esther Gray, Scottish operatic soprano (Isolde), born in Greenock
1954 – Pankaj Kapoor, Indian actor (Ek Doctor Ki Maut, Raakh), born in Ludhiana, Punjab
1958 – Ivar Sisniega, Mexican pentathlete, politician (Sports Minister 1994-2000), born in Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA
1982 – Ana Beatriz Barros, Brazilian model (Sports Illustrated), born in Itabira, Brazil
1989 – Riley Keough, American actress and model, grand daughter of Elvis Presley, born in Santa Monica, California
Famous Deaths
1405 – Philippe de Mézières, advisor to Charles V of France
1899 – Frantz Jehin-Prume, Canadian violinist and composer, dies at 60
1942 – John Barrymore, American actor (Beloved Rogue, Dinner at 8), dies from cirrhosis of the liver and kidney failure at 60
1942 – Akiko Yosano, Japanese poet (Tangled Hair), dies at 63
1951 – Dimitrios Levidis, Greek composer, dies at 66
2009 – Karine Ruby, French snowboarder and Olympic champion (b. 1978)
Famous Deaths for 28th May 2021
1357 – Afonso IV, King of Portugal (1325-57), dies at 66
1521 – Willem van Croij, Duke of Soria, dies at about 62
1921 – Geo Mestdagh, Belgian aviation pioneer, dies
1940 – Randle Ayrton, British actor (The Manxman, Nell Gwyn), dies at 70
1944 – Katri Vala, Finnish poet, dies at 42
1971 – Audie Murphy, American soldier who was among the most decorated in WW II with 33 medals and actor (To Hell and Back, Whispering Smiths), killed in a plane crash at 46
1990 – Giorgio Manganelli, writer, dies at 67
1993 – Charles “Doctor” Ross, American blues singer and guitarist (Doctor Ross the Harmonica Boss), dies at 67
1995 – Henning Kronstam, Danish dancer, dies at 60
1996 – Buck Bundy, TV dog (Married with Children), dies at 13
Historical Events for 28th May 2021
1608 – Claudio Monteverdi’s “Arianna” premieres in Mantua
1731 – All Hebrew books in Papal State are confiscated
1742 – 1st indoor swimming pool opens (Goodman’s Fields, London)
1926 – US Customs Court created by congress
1955 – 80th Preakness: Eddie Arcaro aboard Nashua wins in 1:54.6
1967 – Francis Chichester arrives home at Plymouth from Round-the-world trip
1990 – Eugenia Charles’ Dominican Freedom Party wins election in Dominica
1995 – Southwestern Florida outside of Tampa begins using new area code 941
2004 – The Iraqi Governing Council chooses Ayad Allawi, a longtime anti-Saddam Hussein exile, to become Prime Minister of Iraq’s interim government
2018 – Coco-Cola launches its first alcoholic drink – Lemon-Do on island of Kyushu, Japan
Today in History for 28th May 2021
Historical Events
1156 – Battle at Brindisi: Norman-Sicillian King William beats Byzantine fleet under John Doukas and Alexios Bryennios
1918 – Azerbaijan gains independence and declares itself a Democratic Republic
1960 – 59th Women’s French Championships: Darlene Hard beats Yola Ramirez (6-3, 6-4)
1983 – “Ricky”, parody song by Weird Al Yankovic hits #63
2016 – Harambe, a gorilla at Cincinnati Zoo, is shot after dragging a 3 year old boy who had slipped into its enclosure (Cincinnati, Ohio)
2018 – One million French smokers quit in one year after anti-smoking measures introduced according to Public Health France
Famous Birthdays
1807 – Jan van Swieten, Dutch general and governor of West-Sumatra, born in Mainz, Germany (d. 1888)
1831 – Eliza Ann Gardner, African-American abolitionist and religious leader, born in NYC, New York (d. 1922)
1858 – Carl Richard Nyberg, Swedish inventor (blowtorch), born in Arboga, Sweden (d. 1939)
1935 – Kenneth Kleinwort, English banker/multi-millionaire
1943 – Elena Souliotis, Greek soprano, born in Athens (d. 2004)
1944 – Billy Vera, American rock singer-songwriter (Billy and The Beaters – “At This Moment”; “Into the Night”), born in Riverside, California
Famous Deaths
1940 – Walter Connolly, American actor (It Happened One Night, Good Earth), dies from a stroke at 53
1940 – Friedrich Karl von Hessen (b. 1868)
1948 – Unity Mitford, English fascist sympathizer and one of the Mitford sisters, dies from the effects of a bullet in her head at 33
1963 – Vissarion Yakovlevich Shebalin, Soviet composer, dies at 60
1995 – Jean Muir, British fashion designer, dies at 66
2018 – Cornelia Frances [Zulver], British-Australian actress (Home and Away), dies from bladder cancer at 77
Famous Deaths for 27th May 2021
1541 – Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury, daughter of George, Duke of Clarence, beheaded at 67 for treason in Tower of London by Henry VIII
1564 – John Calvin [Jehan Cauvin], Protestant religious reformer and theologian (Calvinism), dies at 54 (b. 1509)
1576 – Louis de Boisot, Dutch admiral, drowns at about 44
1596 – Tibaldi II, Italian painter/sculptor/architect, dies
1887 – Coenraad J van Houten, Dutch cocoa manufacturer, dies at 86
1896 – Allard Pierson, Dutch theologist, philosopher and art historian, dies at 65
1958 – Ainslie Pryor, actor (Adventures of Hiram Holiday), dies at 46
1960 – Edward Brophy, American character actor (Champ, Dumbo, Great Guy, The Cameraman, Doughboys), dies at 65
1987 – John H. Northrop, American biochemist (crystallized enzymes (Nobel 1946)), dies at 95
1993 – Roger MacDougall, Scottish playwright and screenwriter (The Man in the White Suit), dies at 82
Historical Events for 27th May 2021
1849 – Opening of the Great Hall at Euston station in London
1920 – Tatar ASSR forms in Russian SFSR
1941 – German battleship Bismarck sunk by British naval force
1942 – Dorie Miller awarded navy cross for deeds at Pearl Harbor
1970 – British expedition climbs south face of Annapurna I in the Himalayas in north-central Nepal, 10th highest mountain
1981 – 25th European Cup: Liverpool beats Real Madrid 1-0 at Paris
1986 – Norway Showcase groundbreaking
1990 – Radical Democratic Party holds 1st political meetings in Moscow
1997 – Russian President Boris Yeltsin signs a historic treaty with NATO
2020 – Spain begins 10 days of mourning for victims of COVID-19 with death toll just under 27,000
Today in History for 27th May 2021
Historical Events
1903 – 37th Belmont: John Bullman aboard Africander wins in 2:21.75
1937 – Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco opens to pedestrians
1955 – Red Buttons Show, last airs on NBC-TV
1956 – US performs nuclear test at Enwetak (atmospheric tests)
2009 – NHL Western Conference Final: Detroit Red Wings beat Chicago Black Hawks, 4 games to 1
2020 – America’s COVID-19 death toll passes 100,000 (Johns Hopkins figures) equal to number of US servicemen and women killed in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan put together
Famous Birthdays
1836 – Edwin Gray Lee, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Shepherdstown, Virginia (d. 1870)
1891 – Claude Champagne, Canadian composer, born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 1965)
1910 – Daniel Greenway, CEO (Daniel Greenway and Sons)
1923 – Sumner Redstone, American media mogul (ViacomCBS), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2020)
1935 – Mal Evans [Malcolm Frederick Evans], British Beatles roadie and assistant, born in Liverpool, England (d. 1976)
1951 – John Conteh, British boxer, WBC Light Heavyweight crown (1974-77), born in Liverpool
Famous Deaths
366 – Procopius, Roman usurper (b. 326)
1939 – Joseph Roth, Austria journalist (Fluctuate ohne Ende), dies at 44
1992 – John Myhers, director/actor (Billion Dollar Hobo), dies at 70
1993 – Roger MacDougall, Scottish playwright and screenwriter (The Man in the White Suit), dies at 82
1996 – Ivan Sutton, British concert promoter (City Music Society), dies at 82
2019 – Bill Buckner, American MLB 1st baseman (1986 World Series infamous fielding error; NL batting champ 1980), dies of dementia at 69
Famous Deaths for 26th May 2021
1595 – Philippus Nerius [Filippo Neri], Italian merchant/saint, dies at 79
1703 – Samuel Pepys, English navy administrator and Member of Parliament famous for his Diary of the English Restoration period, dies at 70
1864 – Charles Sealsfield, Austrian-American writer, dies at 71
1924 – Victor Herbert, American cellist, composer, and conductor (Babes in Toyland; Eileen), dies of a heart attack at 65
1944 – Robert van Spaendonck, Dutch resistance fighter, dies at 27
1993 – Cor de Great, pianist/conductor/composer (Vernissage), dies at 78
1996 – Matima Kinuani Mpiosso, musician, dies at 45
2003 – Kathleen Winsor, American writer (b. 1919)
2005 – Chico Carrasquel, Venezuelan baseball player (b. 1928)
2018 – Ted [Samuel Frederick] Dabney, American electrical engineer and founder of Atari (Pong), dies at 81
Historical Events for 26th May 2021
1328 – William of Ockham [Occam] forced to flee from Avignon by Pope John XXII
1874 – 2nd Preakness: William Donohue aboard Culpepper wins in 2:56.5
1972 – US President Richard Nixon and Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev sign SALT accord
1972 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1973 – Super Fly Meets Shaft by John and Ernest hits #31
1982 – 35th Cannes Film Festival: “Missing” directed by Costa Gavras and “Yol” directed by Serif Goren and Yilmaz Güney jointly awarded the Palme d’Or
1987 – William H. Webster replaces Robert M. Gates as 14th director of CIA
1993 – 1st UEFA Champions League Final: Marseille beats Milan 1-0 at Munich
2004 – The United States Army veteran Terry Nichols is found guilty of 161 state murder charges for helping carry out the Oklahoma City bombing.
2012 – A gunman in the Finnish town of Hyvinkaa kills 2, wounds 7