1213 – Battle of Steppes: Hugh Pierrepont, Bishop of Liège and Louis II, Count of Loon defeat Henry I, Duke of Brabant
1871 – The Delphic Fraternity is founded as the Delphic Society at the State Normal School in Geneseo, New York.
1902 – US President Theodore Roosevelt threatens to start using army troops to work coal mines struck since 12 may; this brings the owners to agree to abide by a Commission of Arbitration
1917 – 70,000 people gather to see ‘Miracle of the Sun’, solar visions reportedly by the Virgin Mary in Fátima, Portugal after prophecies by local children
1936 – Explosion caused by leaking gas rips out section 12 of Cleve Stadium
1958 – Burial of Pope Pius XII on the 41st anniversary of the “Miracle of the Sun”
1969 – Billy Martin (97-65) is fired as manager of AL West-winning Twins
1973 – Jordan enters Yom Kippur war
1978 – Tiros N, US’s 1st third generation weather satellite, is launched
2007 – 17th College Football Holy War: Boston College beats Notre Dame 27-14 in South Bend
Author: gil7
Today in History for 13th October 2020
Historical Events
1724 – Jonathan Swift publishes last of Drapier’s letters
1964 – US sweeps medals in the men’s 200m backstroke at the Tokyo Olympics; Jed Graef swims world record 2:10.3 to win gold ahead of teammates Gary Dilley and Bob Bennett
1967 – First American Basketball Association (ABA) game is played with Oakland Oaks beating Anaheim Amigos, 132-129; red, white and blue ball and 3-point field goal introduced
1970 – A man dies in a premature bomb explosion in Dublin, Republic of Ireland
1984 – John Henry becomes 1st thoroughbred to win $6 million
1989 – Bob Quinn resigns as NY Yankee VP/GM and replaced by Harding Peterson
Famous Birthdays
1783 – Frantiszek Sołtyk, Polish composer, born in Piastów, Poland (d. 1865)
1853 – Maria “Beppie” Bakker, Dutch actress and wife of Piet Vink Senior (d. 1949)
1876 – Rube Waddell, American Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher (Triple Crown, AL wins leader 1905; ERA leader 1900, 05; strikeout leader 1902–07; Philadelphia A’s), born in Bradford, Pennsylvania (d. 1914)
1954 – Claude Ribbe, French historian and writer, born in Paris
1970 – Paul Potts, British opera singer and winner of Britain’s Got Talent 2007, born in Kingswood, South Gloucestershire, England
1973 – Peter Dumbreck, Scottish race car driver, born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland
Famous Deaths
1788 – Robert Nugent, 1st Earl Nugent, Irish politician and poet (b. 1702)
1795 – William Prescott, American Revolutionary soldier, dies
1819 – Giovanni Battista Gaiani, Italian organist and composer, dies at 61
1979 – Rebecca Clarke, British-American violist and classical composer (Morpheus), dies at 93
1996 – Henri Nannen, journalist, dies at 82
2016 – Gerhard Wimberger, Austria composer (Glove), dies at 93
Famous Deaths for 12th October 2020
1492 – Piero della Francesca, Italian painter
1666 – Dirck Graswinckel, Dutch States-General court clerk, dies at 66
1958 – Gerard Hordijk, Dutch architect and painter, dies at 59
1967 – Nathaniel “Nat” Pendleton, American wrestler (Olympics 1920, Silver) and actor (The Thin Man, Reckless), dies from a heart attack at 72
1988 – Ken Murray, actor (Bill and Coo, Crooner, Half-Marriage), dies at 85
1989 – Carmen Cavallaro, American actor and pianist (Hollywood Canteen, Diamond Horseshoe), dies from prostate cancer at 76
1991 – Arkady Natanovich Strugatsky, Soviet-Russian sci-fi author (Tale of the Troika), dies at 66
1995 – Eleanor Aller, cellist, dies at 78
1997 – John Denver, American country music star (Country Boy), dies in a plane crash at 53
2013 – Eduard Martsevich, Soviet-Russian actor and People’s Artist of the RSFSR, dies at 76
Historical Events for 12th October 2020
1815 – Ex-king Joachim Murat of Naples sentenced to death
1861 – Confederate ironclad Manassas attack Union’s Richmond on Mississippi
1864 – War of the Triple Alliance begins with Brazilian troops under the command of Gen. João Propício Mena Barreto invading Uruguay
1879 – British troops occupy Kabul, Afghanistan
1933 – Gangster George Francis Barnes, aka Machine Gun Kelly, is sentenced to life imprisonment
1935 – Cole Porters musical “Jubilee” premieres in NYC
1957 – Canadian Prime Minister Lester Bowles Pearson wins Nobel Peace Prize
1960 – Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev bangs his shoe on his desk at UN General Assembly session
1961 – USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1969 – Soviet spacecraft Soyuz 7 is launched
Today in History for 12th October 2020
Historical Events
1609 – Children’s rhyme “Three Blind Mice” published in London
1730 – Christian VI succeeds Frederik IV as king of Denmark
1862 – JEB Stuart completes his “second ride around McClellan”
1920 – Cleveland Indians beat Bkln Dodgers, 5 games to 2 in 17th World Series
1976 – Hua Guo-feng succeeds Mao Zedong as chairman of Communist Party
1979 – Typhoon Tip becomes the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded with peak sustained winds of 305km/h (190mph) and a wind diameter of 2,220km (1,380mi)
Famous Birthdays
1855 – August Sauer, Austrian literature historian (Euphorion), born in Wiener Neustadt, Austria (d. 1926)
1891 – Edith Stein, German philosopher and Discalced Carmelite nun (St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross), born in Breslau (Silesia), Germany (d. 1942)
1903 – Josephine Hutchinson, American actress (Story of Louis Pasteur), born in Seattle, Washington (d. 1998)
1935 – Luciano Pavarotti, Italian operatic tenor (Oh Giorgio, The Three Tenors), born in Modena, Italy (d. 2007)
1942 – Daliah Lavi [Levinbuck], Israeli actress (Casino Royale, Lord Jim), born in Haifa, British Palestine (d. 2017)
1968 – Charles Anthony, American CFL defensive back (Toronto Argonauts), born in Las Vegas, Nevada
Famous Deaths
638 – Honorius I, [dux plebis], Italian Pope, dies
1941 – Harry Micajah Daugherty, American politician, lawyer and political manager accused of corruption, dies at 81
1983 – Jiri Lederer, Czechoslovakia journalist/dissident, dies at 61
1989 – Franco, [Francis Luambo/”Makiadi”], Zaire composer/music, dies at 51
1998 – Mario Beaulieu, French Canadian politician (b. 1930)
2007 – Kisho Kurokawa, Japanese architect (b. 1934)
Famous Deaths for 11th October 2020
1188 – Robert I of Dreux, son of Louis VI of France
1852 – Ferdinand Eisenstein, German mathematician (number theory), dies at 29
1940 – Lluís Companys, Spanish politician, 123rd President of the Generalitat of Catalonia (1933-40), shot at 58
1953 – James Earle Fraser, American sculptor (Indian Head (Buffalo) nickel), dies at 76
1958 – Johannes R. Becher, German writer and politician, dies at 67
1989 – M. King Hubbert, American geologist and geophysicist, dies at 86
1991 – Redd Foxx, American comedian (Sanford and Sons), dies of heart attack at 68
1998 – Richard Denning [Louis Denninger Jr.], American actor (An Affair to Remember, The Black Scorpion), dies from cardiac arrest at 84
2007 – Sri Chinmoy [Chinmoy Kumar Ghose], Indian guru, dies at 76
2019 – Robert Forster [Foster], American actor (Medium Cool, Jackie Brown), dies of cancer at 78
Historical Events for 11th October 2020
1737 – Earthquake kills 300,000 and destroys half of Calcutta, India
1861 – Battle of Dumfries, VA (Quantico Creek)
1865 – President Andrew Johnson paroles Confederate States VP Alexander H. Stephens
1911 – Ty Cobb (AL) and Frank Schulte (NL) are named inaugural MLB MVPs; prize is a car
1919 – First transcontinental air race ends
1923 – Babe Ruth hits 2 HRs in a World Series game
1939 – NAACP organized Legal Defense and Education Fund
1972 – MLB National League Championship: Cincinnati Reds beat Pittsburgh Pirates, 3 games to 2
1975 – Islander’s Bryan Trottier’s 1st career hat trick
2012 – A further 83 people are killed throughout Syria by the Syrian army
Today in History for 11th October 2020
Historical Events
1776 – Brigadier-General Arnold’s Lake Champlain fleet defeated by British during the Battle of Valcour Island (American Revolutionary War)
1863 – Skirmish at Rheatown/Henderson’s Mill, Tennessee
1906 – White Sox Ed Walsh strikes out then record 12 in a World Series game
1960 – Radio/TV executive John Fetzer buys a controlling interest of Detroit Tigers
1985 – President Reagan bans import of South African Krugerrands to the USA
1997 – Dennis Rodman returns from second longest NBA suspension (11 games)
Famous Birthdays
1675 – Samuel Clarke, English philosopher and theologian, born in Norwich, England (d. 1729)
1835 – Hunter McGuire, American physician and Med Director (Confederate Army), born in Winchester, Virginia (d. 1900)
1871 – Johan Oscar Smith, Norwegian Christian leader who founded the evangelical Brunstad Christian Church, born in Fredrikstad, Norway (d. 1943)
1884 – Sig Ruman [Siegfried Albon Rumann], German-American actor (Schultz-Life With Luigi), born in Hamburg, Germany (d. 1967)
1956 – Nicanor Frutos, 47th President of Paraguay (2003-08), born in Coronel Oviedo, Paraguay
1961 – Amr Diab, Egyptian singer (Leily Nehary), born in Port Said, Egypt
Famous Deaths
1809 – Meriwether Lewis, American explorer, soldier and public administrator who helped lead the Lewis and Clark Expedition, dies of gunshot wounds at 35 under mysterious circumstances that could have been murder or suicide along the Natchez Trace in Tennessee at an inn called Grinder’s Stand
1962 – Erich Tschermak von Seysenegg, Austrian botanist who was one of three scientists (also Hugo de Vries and Carl Correns) who independently rediscovered Gregor Mendel’s work on the laws of genetics, dies at 90
1984 – K. M. Rangnekar, Indian cricketer (33 runs at 5 50 for India), dies at 67
1988 – Wayland Flowers, ventriloquist (Madame), dies of AIDS at 48
2002 – Dina Pathak [Ghandi], Indian Gujarati theatre actress, director and activist (President-National Federation of Indian Women), dies of a heart attack at 80
2006 – Cory Lidle, American baseball pitcher (b. 1972)
Famous Deaths for 10th October 2020
1747 – John Potter, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1674)
1791 – C F D Schubart, writer, dies
1885 – John McCloskey, 1st American cardinal and Archbishop of New York, dies at 75
1914 – Gijsbert van Tienhoven, mayor (Amsterdam)/foreign minister, dies at 73
1964 – Bedřich Havlík, Czech composer, dies at 71
1978 – Ralph Metcalfe, American athlete, politician (Rep-D-Ill; joint world record 100m, Olympic gold 4x100m relay 1936), dies of a heart attack at 68
1993 – Catherine Collard, French pianist (Debussy, Haydn), dies at 46
1994 – Richard John Copeland Atkinson, archaeologist, dies at 74
2000 – Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (1960-65, 1970-77 and 1994-2000) and 1st female head of state, dies of a heart attack at 84
2004 – Maurice Shadbolt, New Zealand writer (Season of the Jew), dies at 72
Historical Events for 10th October 2020
1845 – Naval School (now called US Naval Academy) opens at Annapolis
1871 – The Great Chicago Fire is finally extinguished after 3 days, leaving approximately 300 dead, 100,000 homeless, and costing $222m in damage
1920 – Italy annexes South Tirol (Alto Adige)
1931 – William Waltons “Belshazzar’s Feast” premieres in Leeds
1932 – “Betty and Bob” premieres on radio
1944 – Admiral Halsey’s Task Force 30 bombs Okinawa, 700 die
1945 – Detroit Tigers beat Chicago Cubs, 4 games to 3 in 42nd World Series
1963 – France cedes control of the Bizerte naval base to Tunisia
1978 – British pop music magazine “Smash Hits” first published
1978 – Steve Perry joins Journey