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
Author: gil7
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
Historical Events for 9th August 2021
1848 – US Barnburners (anti-slavery) party merges with Free Soil Party nominating Martin Van Buren for president
1859 – Otis Tufts patents the first passenger elevator in the US
1942 – CBS radio broadcasts the debut of wartime series “Our Secret Weapon”
1952 – General strike against overtime conscription in Belgium
1984 – STS 41-D vehicle again moves out to launch pad
1987 – The National Union of Mineworkers begin South Africa’s longest wage strike
1992 – Record temperature in Berlin-Dahlem 99.3°F (37.4°C)
2012 – Women’s Olympic Football Gold Medal won by the USA beating Japan 2-1 in the final
2016 – Chinese weightlifter Deng Wei sets a world record of 147kg in the clean and jerk, and another for a total score of 262kg, to win the women’s 63kg gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics
2020 – Brazil passes 100,000 COVID-19 deaths, the world’s 2nd highest, with over 3 million recorded cases
Today in History for 9th August 2021
Historical Events
1854 – American transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau publishes “Walden”
1862 – Berlioz’ opera “Beatrice et Benedict” premieres in Baden-Baden
1898 – Rudolf Diesel of Germany obtains patent #608,845 for his internal combustion engine, later known as the diesel engine
1908 – Tour de France: French road cyclist Lucien Petit-Breton successfully defends his title beating François Faber of Luxembourg
1936 – Hungarian swimmer Ferenc Csik wins 100m freestyle gold medal in 57.6 at the Berlin Olympics, beating Japanese pair Masanori Yusa and Shigeo Arai
1973 – USSR launches Mars 7
Famous Birthdays
1593 – Izaak Walton, English biographer and author (The Compleat Angler), born in Stafford, England (d. 1683)
1845 – Xavier Mellery, Belgian painter and illustrator, born in Laken, Belgium (d. 1921)
1920 – Enzo Biagi, Italian journalist and writer, born in Lizzano in Belvedere, Italy (d. 2007)
1957 – Melanie Griffith, American actress (Body Double, Working Girl), born in New York City
1969 – Divine Brown [Estelle Marie Thompson], American prostitute (Hugh Grant), born in Oakland, California
1973 – Kevin McKidd, Scottish actor Trainspotting; Grey’s Anatomy -“Owen Hunt”, born in Elgin, Moray, Scotland
Famous Deaths
1652 – John Dirksz Both, Dutch landscape painter and etcher, dies at about 37
1949 – Harry Davenport, American actor and director (Her Unborn Child, My Sin), dies at 83
2003 – Jacques Deray, French film director (b. 1929)
2004 – David Raksin, American composer renown for his work in film and TV (Laura, Modern Times), dies at 92
2008 – Mahmoud Darwish, Palestinian prominent poet and writer, dies at 66
2014 – Michael Brown, American shooting victim whose death provoked nationwide protests and civil unrest, shot dead by white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson at 18
Famous Deaths for 8th August 2021
869 – Lothair II of Lotharingia (855-869) dies at about 34
1828 – Carl Peter Thunberg, Swedish naturalist, dies at 84
1897 – Jacob Burckhardt, Swiss cultural historian, dies at 79
1898 – Eugène Boudin, French painter (beach scenes), dies at 74
1950 – Nikolai Myaskovsky, Russian composer (Kirov is With Us), dies at 69
1980 – Jacqueline Cochran, US pilot and 1st woman to break sound barrier, dies at 74
1982 – Hermine Heijermans, author (Snikken en Smartlapjes), dies at 80
1988 – Ramón Valdés, Mexican actor (b. 1923)
1996 – George Richard Samways, children’s writer, dies at 101
2005 – Ilse Werner [Ilse Charlotte Still], Dutch-German actress (Fernsehsender Paul Nipkow), dies at 84
Historical Events for 8th August 2021
1844 – Brigham Young chosen as head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints following the death of Joseph Smith
1916 – A’s set AL record with 19th consecutive loss on road
1931 – Washington Senators pitcher Bobby Burke no-hits Boston Red Sox, 5-0 at Griffith Stadium, Washington D. C.
1963 – Great Train Robbery in England, £2.6 million ($7.3 million)
1988 – Discovery of most distant galaxy (15 * 10 ^ 12 light yrs) announced
2006 – Actor Sylvester Stallone and former heavyweight boxing contender Chuck Wepner settle lawsuit out of court for an undisclosed sum; Wepner claims he was the inspiration for the “Rocky” movies
2008 – IXXX Summer Olympic Games open in Beijing, China
2012 – 16 people are killed from flooding from heavy rain in Manilla, Philippines
2013 – 28 people are killed by a suicide bombing in Quetta, Pakistan
2013 – Ben Bradlee is named as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama