1926 – St Louis Browns acquire catcher Wally Schang from NY Yankees
1935 – 1st election to allow women to vote in Turkey
1948 – Nils Karlsson wins the 50k cross country gold medal at the St. Moritz Winter Olympics; Swedish skiers win all 3 cross-country events at the Games
1961 – “Jail, No Bail” Jail-in movement starts in Rock Hill, South Carolina
1970 – Graeme Pollock completes 274 v Australia at Durban
1971 – Bernard Watt (28), a Catholic civilian, is shot and killed by the British Army (BA) during street disturbances in Ardoyne, Belfast
1971 – 1st time a golf ball is hit on Moon (by Alan Shepard)
1974 – Dutch speed limit set at 100km due to oil crisis
2012 – Laureus World Sports Awards, Central Hall Westminster, London, England: Sportsman: Novak Đoković; Sportswoman: Vivian Cheruiyot; Team: FC Barcelona
2018 – Maldives President Abdulla Yameen declares state of emergency ordering arrest of two judges
Author: gil7
Today in History for 6th February 2021
Historical Events
1855 – British government of Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston forms
1862 – General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Henry in Tennessee
1904 – Japan notifies Russia that in view of Russia’s delaying tactics and provocative military action, Japan is ending negotiations and recalling its members from Moscow
1926 – NFL rules college students ineligible until college classes graduates
1969 – Jerry Herman’s “Dear World” opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 132 performances
1971 – Bernard Watt (28), a Catholic civilian, is shot and killed by the British Army (BA) during street disturbances in Ardoyne, Belfast
Famous Birthdays
1838 – Yisrael Meir Kagan [Chofetz Chayim], Belarusian rabbi, born in Dzyatlava, Belarus (d. 1933)
1866 – Karl Sapper, German traveller and natural historian (d. 1945)
1889 – Karel Wellens, Flemish painter, born in Lummen, Belgium (d. 1958)
1964 – Gordon Downie, Canadian rock singer-songwriter and musician (The Tragically Hip), born in Amherstview, Ontario (d. 2017)
1981 – Calum Best, American model, born in San Jose, California
1983 – S. Sreesanth, Indian cricketer, born in Kothamangalam, India
Famous Deaths
1612 – Christopher Clavius, calendar reformer, dies (birth date unknown)
1793 – Carlo Goldoni, Italian playwright and librettist (Belisario, Servant of Two Masters), dies at 85
1855 – Josef Munzinger, Swiss Federal Councilor, dies at 63
1965 – Jack Wagner, American actor (The Razor’s Edge, Under Two Flags, Jive Junction), dies from a heart attack at 68
1985 – Charles Briggs, actor (13 Frightened Girls, Capt Newman), dies at 53
1993 – Arthur Ashe, American tennis player (3 Grand Slam singles titles), dies of AIDS related pneumonia at 49
Famous Deaths for 5th February 2021
1758 – Bernhard Christian Weber, composer, dies at 45
1822 – Ali Paşa Tepelenë, known as ‘The Lion of Janina”, Ottoman Albanian ruler, Pasha of Yanina (1788-1822), dies aged somewhere between 78-82
1919 – Vasili V Rozanov, Russian philosopher and writer, dies at 62
1922 – James W. Tate, English composer, dies at 46
1952 – Reginald Allen, cricketer (uncle of Gubby, Test Aust v Eng 1887), dies
1981 – Barend Barendse, Dutch sports reporter and actor (Zeskamp, Oebele), dies at 73
1982 – Wies [Aloisius CA] Moens, Flemish writer/nazi, dies at 84
1997 – Pamela Harriman, US Ambassador (to France), dies of stroke at 76
2012 – Sam Coppola, American actor (Saturday Night Fever), dies at 79
2017 – Thomas Lux, American poet (Split Horizon), dies of cancer at 70
Historical Events for 5th February 2021
1825 – Hannah Lord Montague of NY creates 1st detachable shirt collar
1887 – Snow falls on San Francisco
1897 – 1st showing of a motion picture in Hawaii at the Hawaiian Opera House
1901 – Pierpont Morgan forms US Steel Corp
1947 – Bolewet Beirut becomes President of Poland
1948 – Gretchen Fraser becomes 1st US woman Olympic slalom champion
1991 – All American Bowl ends after 14 years
1995 – Japan’s Shinshinto Party wins local elections
2013 – The US Postal Service announces the cessation of Saturday first-class mail delivery from August 2013
2015 – 65th Berlin International Film Festival: “Taxi” wins the Golden Bear
Today in History for 5th February 2021
Historical Events
1859 – Wallachia and Moldavia are united under Alexander John Cuza as the United Principalities
1897 – Marcel Proust meets Jean Lorrain in a pistol duel
1956 – VII Winter Olympic Games close in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy
1958 – Clifton R Wharton confirmed as 1st US African American foreign minister (to Romania)
2004 – Rebels from the Revolutionary Artibonite Resistance Front capture the city of Gonaïves, starting the 2004 Haiti rebellion
2017 – Romanian government scraps corruption degree after 6 days of mass demonstrations
Famous Birthdays
1748 – Christian Gottlob Neefe, German composer, conductor and tutor of Beethoven, born in Shimnitz, Saxony (d. 1798)
1952 – Daniel Balavoine, French singer -songwriter, born in Alençon, France (d. 1986)
1955 – Mike Heath, American baseball player, born in Tampa, Florida
1971 – Dianne Norman, Canadian basketball forward (Olympics 1996), born in Sault Ste. Marie, Canada
1976 – Abhishek Bachchan, Indian actor, born in Mumbai, India
1986 – Billy Sharp, English footballer, born in Sheffield, United Kingdom
Famous Deaths
1745 – Coelestin Praelisauer, composer, dies at 49
1907 – Ludwig Thuille, Austrian composer (sextet for piano and wind quintet), dies of a heart attack at 45
1917 – Paul Rubens, English musical comedy composer, (Miss Hook of Holland), dies at 41
1987 – William Collier [Charles F Gall Jr], American stage and film actor and producer, dies at 84
2008 – Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, Indian guru who developed Transcendental Meditation, dies at 90
2016 – Bodil Malmsten, Swedish writer (The Price of Water in Finistère), dies at 71
Famous Deaths for 4th February 2021
1781 – Josef Mysliveček, Czech composer, dies at 43
1928 – Hendrik Antoon Lorentz, Dutch physicist (electromagnetic radiation, Nobel 1902), dies at 74
1944 – Yvette Guilbert, French singer and actress, dies at 79
1954 – Vaclav Vackar, composer, dies at 72
1966 – Gilbert H. Grosvenor, American geographer and 1st full-time editor of National Geographic Society (1899-1954), dies at 90
1975 – Louis Jordan, American musician, songwriter and bandleader (Caldonia), dies of a heart attack at 66
1994 – Jan Veldkamp, Dutch geophysicist and director (KNMI), dies at 84
2012 – Robert Glaser, American educational psychologist, dies from Alzheimer’s disease at 91
2018 – Kenneth Haigh, British actor (Look Back in Anger, Search for the Nile), dies at 86
2020 – Benito Sarti, Italian soccer defender (6 caps; Juventus, Sampdoria), dies at 83
Historical Events for 4th February 2021
1787 – Shays’ Rebellion (of debt-ridden Massachusetts farmers) fails
1913 – National Institute of Arts and Letters founded
1924 – George Kelly’s play “Show-Off,” premieres in New York City
1924 – Jacob Tullin Thams of Norway wins ski jumping gold at the Chamonix Winter Olympics; in 1936 he earns a silver medal in sailing at Berlin Summer Games
1939 – Glenn Cunningham (top miler) says 4-min mile beyond human effort
1951 – US female Figure Skating championship won by Sonya Klopfer
1970 – “Gantry” opens at George Abbott Theater NYC for 1 performance
1971 – National Guard mobilized to quell rioting in Wilmington NC
1986 – 38th NHL All-Star Game, Hartford Civic Centre: Wales Conference beats Campbell Conference, 4-3 (OT); MVP: Grant Fuhr, Edmonton Oilers, G
2016 – Fifth Democratic presidential candidates debate, broadcast on MSNBC, held in Durham, New Hampshire
Today in History for 4th February 2021
Historical Events
1794 – French National Convention proclaims abolition of slavery
1922 – First part of Katherine Mansfield’s short story “The Garden Party” appears in the Saturday Westminster Gazette
1959 – Israel begins exporting copper ore
1972 – Dutch speed skater Ard Schenk wins the 5,000m at the Sapporo Winter Olympics; also wins the 1,500m and 10,000m gold medals
1988 – Despite union calls to end the strike, rank-and-file seamen at major British ports refuse to return to work
1998 – Bill Gates gets a pie thrown in his face in Brussels, Belgium
Famous Birthdays
1778 – A. P. de Candolle, Swiss botanist (d. 1841)
1889 – Walter Catlett, American actor (Climax, Front Page, Tale of 2 Cities), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1960)
1916 – Colin Morris, playwright/documentary filmmaker
1950 – Philip Ehart, rock drummer (Kansas)
1970 – Todd Peterson, NFL kicker (Seattle Seahawks)
1976 – Chen Kun, Chinese actor (Painted Skin), born in Chongqing, China
Famous Deaths
856 – Hrabanus Maurus, East France, archbishop of Mainz, dies
1189 – Gilbert of Sempringham, English monastery founder/saint, dies
1781 – Willem Crul, British admiral (West-Indies), dies in battle during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War at 59
1992 – Fred Slyter, dialogue coach, dies after long illness at 56
2013 – Theresia van der Pant, Dutch sculptor, dies at 88
2016 – Edgar Whitcomb, American politician and Governor of Indiana (1969-73), dies at 98
Famous Deaths for 3rd February 2021
1669 – Catharina Questiers, Dutch poet (Friend of Abandoned Child), dies at 31
1697 – Sjoucke Gabbes, Frisian sailor, dies/buried on Dirk-Hartog Island
1866 – François-Xavier Garneau, French Canadian poet and historian (b. 1809)
1900 – William W. Averell, American Major General (Union Army), dies at 67
1900 – Ottokar Eugen Novacek, composer, dies at 33
1924 – Woodrow Wilson, 28th US President (1913-21), dies at his home in Washington at 67
1958 – Henry Kuttner, sci-fi author (Dark World, As You Were), dies at 42
2006 – Al Lewis [Alexander Meister], American actor (The Munsters, Used Cars), dies at 82
2007 – Ralph de Toledano, Moroccan-born American political columnist and author (b. 1916)
2013 – Cardiss Collins, American politician (first African-American woman to represent the Midwest in Congress), dies at 81
Historical Events for 3rd February 2021
1783 – Spain recognizes US independence
1923 – The Alpha Zeta chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia founded at Pennsylvania State University.
1924 – Alexei Ryko elected as President of People’s commission (succeeds Lenin)
1932 – “Shanghai Express” directed by Josef von Sternberg and starring Marlene Dietrich, Clive Brook and Anna Mae Wong premieres in Los Angeles
1956 – Toni Sailer of Austria wins the downhill at the Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics; becomes first athlete to sweep all 3 alpine skiing events in a single Olympics
1965 – Orbiting Solar Observatory 2 launches into Earth orbit (552/636 km)
1967 – “Purple Haze” recorded by Jimi Hendrix
1982 – Columbia Shuttle moves to Vandenberg AFB for mating for STS-3 mission
1989 – Military coup overthrows Alfredo Stroessner, dictator of Paraguay
1990 – Jockey Bill Shoemaker (58), retires after 40,350 horse race