Author: gil7

Today in History for 18th July 2020

Historical Events

1743 – 1st half-page newspaper ad is published (NY Weekly Journal)
1861 – Battle of Blackburn’s Ford, Virginia
1947 – British seize “Exodus 1947” ship of Jewish immigrants to Palestine
1952 – KWGN TV channel 2 in Denver, Colorado (IND) begins broadcasting
1966 – Carl Sagan turns 1 billion seconds old
1996 – Storms provoke severe flooding on the Saguenay River, beginning one of Québec’s costliest natural disasters ever

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Famous Birthdays

1711 – Pierre-Joseph Le Blan, composer, born in Soignies, Belgium (d. 1765)
1864 – Phillip Snowden, British politician, 1st Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer, born Cowling, Yorkshire (d. 1937)
1880 – Otto Vrieslander, German composer, born in Münster, Germany (d. 1950)
1900 – Nathalie Sarraute [Tcherniak], French writer (Childhood, Portrait of a Man Unknown, The Golden Fruits), born in Ivanovo, Russia (d. 1999)
1962 – Jack Irons, American drummer (red Hot Chilli Peppers), born in Los Angeles, California
1967 – Jeff Lageman, NFL defensive end (Jacksonville Jaguars)

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Famous Deaths

1730 – François de Neufville, duc de Villeroi, French soldier (b. 1644)
1872 – Benito Juarez, Cuban justice/general (battle of Acapulco), dies at 66
1990 – Yoon Boseon, President of South Korea (b. 1897)
1990 – Karl Menninger, American psychiatrist (Menninger Clinic), dies at 96 of cancer
1992 – Viktor Louis, Russian journalist, dies
2015 – Alex Rocco, American actor (The Godfather, The Famous Teddy Z), dies at 79

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Famous Deaths for 17th July 2020

656 – Uthman ibn Affan, Third Caliph, assassinated.
1790 – Adam Smith, Scottish economist (Wealth of Nations) and moral philosopher, dies at 67
1894 – Josef Hyrtl, Austrian anatomist, dies at 83
1918 – Alexei Trupp, Russian footman and assistant of Tsar Nicholas II, executed at 62
1937 – Henri-Constant-Gabriel Pierne, composer, dies at 73
1987 – Yujiro Ishihara, Japanese actor (b. 1934)
1996 – Paul Touvier, French-Nazi WW II criminal, dies at 81
2003 – David Kelly, Welsh UN weapons inspector (b. 1944)
2005 – Laurel Aitken, Jamaican singer and one of the pioneers of Jamaican ska music, dies at 78
2009 – Leszek Kołakowski, Polish philosopher (b. 1927)

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Historical Events for 17th July 2020

1712 – Great Britain, Portugal and France sign ceasefire [or 19th]
1791 – Members of the French National Guard under command of General Lafayette open fire on crowd of radical Jacobins at Champ de Mars, Paris, during the French Revolution, killing up to 50 people
1864 – CSA President Davis replaces General Joe Johnston with John Bell Hood
1922 – Curacao harbor workers begin strike under Felix Chacuto
1936 – Spanish generals Francisco Franco and Emilio Mola lead a right-wing uprising, starting the Spanish Civil War
1980 – Bolivian military coup; General Garcia Meza becomes president
1981 – Israeli bombers destroy PLO/al-Fatah headquarters in Beirut
1993 – Graeme Obree breaks the world hour cycling record, riding 51.596km on Old Faithful at the Hamar velodrome in Norway
2004 – Former South African President Nelson Mandela calls for commitment by the world to take action against AIDS
2007 – TAM Airlines (TAM Linhas Aéreas) Flight 3054 crashes upon landing during rain in São Paulo. Brazil’s deadliest aviation accident to date with estimated 199 deaths.

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Today in History for 17th July 2020

Historical Events

1509 – Venice recaptures Padua
1816 – “L’Argus” accidentally discovers raft holding survivors from wrecked French frigate “Méduse.” After 13 days at sea only 15 of 151 remain, the rest having been cannibalised, murdered, or committed suicide. This event was made famous by Théodore Gericault’s painting “The Raft of the Medusa”
1850 – Harvard Observatory takes 1st photograph of a star (Vega)
1919 – Finland adopts constitution
1959 – Paleoanthropologist Mary Leakey discovers partial skull of a new species of early human ancestor, Zinjanthropus boisei or ‘Zinj’ (now called Paranthropus boisei) lived in Africa almost 2 million years ago
1981 – USSR performs nuclear Test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

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Famous Birthdays

1885 – Benjamin James Dale, composer
1933 – Bruce Wells, English boxer (European amateur light middleweight champion 1953) and actor (Dr. Who 1965-73), born in Harlesden, Middlesex (d.2009)
1949 – Geezer Butler, English rock bassist (Black Sabbath), born in Birmingham, England
1950 – P.J. Soles, German-born American actress, born in Frankfurt, Germany
1960 – Scott Norwood, American NFL kicker (Buffalo Bills-Super Bowl XXV goat), born in Alexandria, Virginia
1976 – Dagmara Dominczyk, Polish actress, born in Kielce, Poland

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Famous Deaths

1571 – Georg Fabricius, German poet, historian and archaeologist, dies at 55
1704 – Pierre-Charles Le Sueur, French fur trader and explorer
1791 – Martin Dobrizhoffer, Austrian Jesuit missionary (b. 1717)
1794 – John Roebuck, English inventor and industrialist (b. 1718)
1881 – Jim Bridger, American mountain man, Indian fighter, and explorer (b. 1804)
1943 – Sir Patrick Duncan, Governor-general of the Union of South Africa (1937 to 1943), dies at 72

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Famous Deaths for 16th July 2020

1691 – Francois Michel le Tellier, French statesman (Marquis de Louvois), dies at 82
1782 – Louise Ulrike, queen of Sweden and wife of Adolf Frederik, dies at 61
1886 – Ned Buntline, [Edward Zane Carroll Judson], author, dies
1917 – Ludwig Philipp Scharwenka, German composer (Album Polonaise), dies at 70
1947 – Horatio Mbelle, South African interpreter, community leader and politician, dies in Pretoria at 77
1960 – Albert Kesselring, German general during World War II (Commander-in-Chief South and West), dies of a heart attack at 74
1996 – John Panozzo, drummer, dies at 48
1998 – John Henrik Clarke, American historian and scholar (b. 1915)
2006 – Winthrop Paul Rockefeller, Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas (b. 1948)
2019 – Pat Bowlen, American Pro Football Hall of Fame team owner (Denver Broncos), dies of complications of Alzheimer’s disease at 75

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Historical Events for 16th July 2020

1661 – 1st banknotes in Europe are issued by Bank of Stockholm
1867 – Amstel Hotel, “the dignified old lady” opens in Amsterdam
1950 – Single day 16 team HR record set at 37 (NL-25, AL-12)
1955 – Juan Manuel Fangio of Argentina clinches his third Formula 1 World Drivers Championship by finishing 2nd to fellow Mercedes driver Sterling Moss in the British Grand Prix at Aintree
1976 – Rock duo Loggins and Messina break-up after 6 years
1980 – Ronald Reagan nominated for US President by Republicans in Detroit
1982 – Sun Myung Moon sentenced to 18 months for tax fraud
1990 – Ukraine declares independence
2008 – 79th All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 4-3 at Yankee Stadium, New York
2018 – 12 new moons discovered orbiting Jupiter bringing planet’s moon total to 79, by scientists at Carnegie Institution for Science

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Today in History for 16th July 2020

Historical Events

1790 – Congress declares the city of Washington in the District of Columbia, the permanent capital of the United States
1883 – Wimbledon Men’s Tennis: William Renshaw wins third straight Wimbledon title; beats twin brother Ernest Renshaw 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3
1921 – Encouraged by the British, King Constantine of Greece launches a drive to take Asia Minor from nationalists under Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
1972 – Smokey Robinson and Miracles final live performance
1982 – Sun Myung Moon sentenced to 18 months for tax fraud
1988 – Florence Joyner runs 100m in women’s world record 10.49 seconds

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Famous Birthdays

1870 – Lambert McKenna, Irish editor and lexicographer, born in Clontarf, County Dublin, Ireland (d. 1956)
1913 – Peter Van Eyck [Götz von Eick], German actor (The Longest Day, The Wages of Fear), born in Steinwehr, Pomerania, Germany (d. 1969)
1932 – Oleg Protopopov, Russian olympic pairs skater (Gold 1964, 68), born in Saint Petersburg, Russia
1946 – John Hollins, British retired footballer, born in Guildford, Surrey
1952 – Phil Carrick, English cricketer (Yorkshire County Cricket Club), born in Armley, Yorkshire, England (d. 2000)
1969 – Rain Pryor, American actress (Head of the Class) and daughter of Richard Pryor, born in Los Angeles, California

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Famous Deaths

1831 – Louis Alexandre Andrault de Langeron, Russian general (b. 1763)
1917 – Ludwig Philipp Scharwenka, German composer (Album Polonaise), dies at 70
1939 – Beatrice Erskine Lane Suzuki, Zen student, dies
1972 – Max Zehnder, Swiss composer, dies at 70
1996 – John Panozzo, drummer, dies at 48
2014 – Johnny Winter, American Hall of Fame blues musician, dies at 70

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Famous Deaths for 15th July 2020

1751 – John Wilson, botanist, dies
1839 – Winthrop Mackworth Praed, English politician and poet, dies at 36
1929 – Hugo Von Hofmannsthal, playwright/poet, dies
1931 – Ladislaus Bortkiewicz, Russian mathematician 9Poisson distribution) and economist (b. 1868)
1937 – Walter Gay, artist, dies
1960 – Set Persson, Swedish communist politician (b. 1897)
1982 – Bill Justis, American musician and producer (Raunchy), dies of cancer at 58
1982 – Donald Beard, cricketer (4 Tests for NZ 1952-56), dies
1983 – Eddie Foy Jr [Edwin Fitzgerald Jr], American actor (The Pajama Game, Fair Exchange), dies of cancer at 78
1992 – Henk van der Molen, guitarist/composer/writer (Martine Bijl), dies

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Historical Events for 15th July 2020

1864 – Troop train loaded with Confederate prisoners collided with a coal train killing 65 and injuring 109 of 955 aboard
1870 – Hudson’s Bay and Northwest Territories transferred to Canada
1900 – President Steyn/General De Law escape Brandwater Basin
1928 – 22nd Tour de France: Defending champion Nicolas Frantz of Luxembourg holds yellow jersey from start to finish; his Alcyon team has all 3 podium positions
1953 – ANC members, Walter Sisulu and Duma Nokwe leave South Africa and go overseas under false names
1961 – British Open Men’s Golf, Royal Birkdale GC: Arnold Palmer wins the first of 2 consecutive Open Championships, a stroke ahead of Welshman Dai Rees
1962 – Algeria becomes member of Arab League
1994 – NJ Nets Derrek Coleman accused of rape in Detroit
2002 – Anti-Terrorism Court of Pakistan hands down the death sentence to British born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and life terms to three others suspected of murdering Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl
2012 – US Senior Open Men’s Golf, Indianwood G andCC: Englishman Roger Chapman wins by 2 strokes ahead of Bernhard Langer, Fred Funk, Corey Pavin and Tom Lehman

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Today in History for 15th July 2020

Historical Events

1307 – Duke Henrik of Corinthia chosen as King of Bohemia
1500 – Baglione family massacre at the “Blood Wedding” of Astorre Baglione and Lavinia Colonna in Perugia
1538 – Peace talks between Charles I and King Francois I
1915 – The head of German propaganda in the US, Dr Heinrich Albert, loses his briefcase on a subway in New York City; an examination of its content reveals an extensive network of German espionage and subversion across the US
1991 – France performs nuclear Test at Mururoa atoll
2002 – Anti-Terrorism Court of Pakistan hands down the death sentence to British born Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and life terms to three others suspected of murdering Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl

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Famous Birthdays

1898 – Norman Demuth, composer
1917 – Robert Conquest, English historian and poet (The Great Terror), born in Great Malvern, Worcestershire (d. 2015)
1932 – Ed Litzenberger, Canadian NHL right wing (Stanley Cup 1961-4), born in Neudorf, Saskatchewan (d. 2010)
1939 – Patrick Wayne, actor (Rounder, Shirley, Beyond Atlantis), born in Los Angeles, California
1952 – Johnny Thunders, American musician (d. 1991)
1973 – Brian Austin Green, American actor (David-Beverly Hills 90210), born in Van Nuys, California

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Famous Deaths

1411 – Johannes Parvus, [Jean Petit], French theologist, dies
1751 – John Wilson, botanist, dies
1937 – Walter Gay, artist, dies
1980 – Henri Martelli, French composer, dies at 85
1990 – Troy Dixon, rapper (Trouble T-Roy of Heavy D), dies at 22 of a fall
2003 – Tex Schramm, American football team president and general manager (b. 1920)

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