Author: gil7

Historical Events

835 – Chinese Emperor Wenzong conspires with chancellor Li Xun and general Zheng Zhu to kill all the eunuchs, but the plot is foiled. Also known as the Sweet Dew Incident
1814 – The Battle of Lake Borgne in Louisiana: British victory over the United States
1894 – Test Cricket debut of Joe Darling, Ernie Jones, Archie MacLaren
1924 – Respighi’s symphony “Pini di Roma” premieres in Paris
1944 – Beginning of Liese-Aktion: Germany tries to recruit Dutch men for the Germany labor force
1987 – Chrysler pleads no contest to selling driven vehicles as new

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1917 – Wilf Ferguson, West Indian cricket leg-spinner (West Indian of post-WWII years), born in Longdenville, Trinidad (d. 1961)
1927 – Richard Cassilly, American tenor, born in Washington, D.C. (d. 1998)
1932 – Étienne Tshisekedi, Congolese opposition leader, born in Luluabourg, Central Congo (d. 2017)
1935 – Butch [David William] White, English cricketer (England opening attack Brown and White v Pak 1961), born in Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire
1976 – Leland Chapman, American bounty hunter, born in Groom, Texas
1985 – Ren Yagami, Japanese actor and singer, born in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, Japan

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1942 – Eduard C “Edo” Fimmen, Dutch trade union leader, dies at 61
1965 – Hermann Sandby, Danish cellist and composer, dies at 84
1973 – Yitzhak Edel, Israeli composer, dies at 77
1979 – Nirode Ranjan Chowdhury, Indian cricketer (2 Tests for India, avg 205), dies at 56
1997 – Kurt Winter, Canadian musician (The Guess Who), dies of kidney failure at 51
2005 – Trevanian [Rodney William Whitaker], American film scholar and author, dies at 74

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1577 – Sir Francis Drake sets sail from England on a circumnavigation of the world
1642 – Dutch explorer Abel Tasman sights the South Island of present day New Zealand; initially he calls it Staten Landt and changes it a year later to Nieuw Zeeland
1936 – National Football League Championship, Polo Grounds, NYC: Green Bay Packers beat Boston Redskins, 21-6; Packers 4th title
1977 – 14 University of Evansville basketball players die in plane crash
1987 – Belgium Christian Democrats (CVP) loses parliamentary election
2007 – The Mitchell Report is publicly released listing the names of 89 Major League Baseball players that have presumably used anabolic steroids and human growth hormones. Notable players named include Roger Clemens and Miguel Tejada.

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1860 – Lucien Guitry, French actor (La Dame aux camélias), born in Paris, France (d. 1925)
1886 – Lambertus Johannes van Apeldoorn, Dutch lawyer (martial law), born in IJlst, Netherlands (d. 1979)
1917 – Dave Street [Patrick Devlin], American actor and singer (Moonrise, I Surrender Dear, Broadway Open House), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 1971)
1948 – Ted Nugent, American guitarist (Cat Scratch Fever, Damn Yankees) and right-wing gun advocate,, born in Detroit, Michigan
1962 – Kendra Slawinski, English netball player
1965 – Marko Mäetamm, Estonian artist, born in Viljandi, Estonia

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1124 – Callistus/Callixtus II [Guido di Borgogna], Italian Pope (1119-24), dies
1621 – Katarina Stenbock, Queen of Gustav I of Sweden (b. 1535)
1930 – Fritz Pregl, Slovenian/Austrian chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1869)
1992 – Bernard Drukker, Dutch pianist/orchestra leader (duivelswiel), dies
1995 – Evangeline Bruce, hostess, dies at 81
1996 – Charles Edwin Molnar, computer pioneer, dies at 61

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1694 – The Royal Society censures Edmond Halley for suggesting in a paper titled ‘Some considerations about the cause of the universal deluge’ that the story of Noah’s flood could be an account of a cometary impact
1925 – Arthur Heinman coins term “motel”; opens Motel Inn, San Luis Obispo
1959 – UN Committee on Peaceful Use of Outer Space is established
1992 – 6.8-7.5 earthquake strikes Flores Island (tsunami kills 3,000)
1997 – SWAT team shoots John E Armstrong in Florida, freeing 2 young hostages
2003 – Paul Martin becomes Prime Minister of Canada after resignation of Jean Chretien

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1845 – Bruce Price, American architect, born in Cumberland, Maryland (d. 1903)
1887 – Kurt Magnus Atterberg, Swedish composer, born in Gothenburg, Sweden (d. 1974)
1909 – Armand Boni, Flemish poet and writer, born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1991)
1961 – Dale Sanderson, CFL guard (Hamilton Tiger Cats), born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
1963 – Ai Orikasa, Japanese voice actress and singer, born in Tokyo
1972 – Jamal Willis, American NFL running back (SF 49ers), born in Lawton, Oklahoma

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1112 – Tancred, monarch of Galilea/Edessa/Antioch, dies
1872 – Willem Anne Schimmelpenninck van der Oye, Dutch politician, dies at 72
1987 – Truman “Pinky” Tomlin, American singer and actor (Sing While You’re Able, With Love and Kisses), dies from a heart attack at 80
1993 – Jeremiah Sullivan, actor (Soldier, Double-Stop), dies of AIDS at 58
1994 – Herman H Felderhof, radio-announcer/head (NRU/NOS Radio), dies at 83
2006 – Raymond P. Shafer, 38th Governor of Pennsylvania (b. 1917)

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1878 – Anglo-Zulu War: British high commissioner Henry Bartle Frere presents an ultimatum to the Zulu Kingdom to submit to British rule or face war
1967 – “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”, directed by Stanley Kramer, starring Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier and Katharine Hepburn, premieres in NYC (Hepburn – Academy Award for Best Actress 1968)
1989 – Mark Davis signs record $3.25 million per year KC Royals contract
2016 – Bombing at a chapel in Cairo, Egypt, kills 25 and wounds 45
2018 – US President Donald Trump says he would be “proud” to shut down the government in contentious meeting at The White House with Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer
2019 – Climate activist Greta Thunberg is named Time magazine’s Person of the Year

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1856 – Georgy Valentinovich Plekhanov, Russian revolutionary theorist, born in Gudalovka, Russia (d. 1918)
1904 – Marge, American cartoonist (created Little Lulu), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1993)
1910 – Robert Grieve, Scottish civil servant and planner, born in Glasgow (d. 1995)
1927 – John Buscema, American comics artist (Conan the Barbarian), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2002)
1942 – Derek Parfit, British philosopher who specialized in problems of personal identity, rationality and ethics, born in Chengdu, China (d. 2017)
1962 – Kim Linehan, American swimmer (1979 1500m World record), born in Bronxville, New York

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1532 – Pietro Accolti, Italian Catholic cardinal (b. 1455)
1718 – Charles XII, King of Sweden (1697-1718), shot dead invading Norway at Fortress of Fredriksten at 36
1737 – John Strype, English historian and biographer, dies at 94
1941 – John Gillespie Magee, Jr., American poet and aviator (b. 1922)
2008 – Ron Carey, American labor leader (International Brotherhood of Teamsters), dies of lung cancer at 72
2012 – Ravi Shankar [Chowdhury], Bengali Brahmin sitar master and Indian classical music composer (West Meets East; Concert for Bangladesh), dies at 92

More Famous Deaths »