Author: gil7

Today in History for 15th August 2026

Historical Events

1906 – First freight delivery tunnel system begins operation underneath Chicago
1944 – Operation Dragoon: Allied troops land in Provence
1945 – A riot ensues in San Francisco as the city celebrates the end of WWII
1993 – 75th PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Inverness GC: Paul Azinger wins his first major title in a playoff with Greg Norman of Australia
2016 – Anita Włodarczyk of Poland sets a world record of 82.29 m to win the women’s hammer throw gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics; Zhang Wenxiu (China) wins silver, and Sophie Hitchon (Great Britain) wins bronze

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Famous Birthdays

1910 – Leslie Coffelt, American White House Police officer, killed in the line of duty during an assassination attempt on Harry Truman, born in Oranda, Virginia (d. 1950)
1946 – Jimmy Webb, American singer and songwriter (“MacArthur Park”; “Up Up and Away”), born in Elk City, Oklahoma
1952 – Ger Hoeymakers, Dutch rock guitarist (Franc Boeijen Group), born in Sevenum, Netherlands
1977 – Martin Biron, Canadian American ice hockey goaltender, born in Lac-Saint-Charles, Quebec
1981 – Song Ji-hyo, South Korean actress (Running Man), born in Pohang, South Korea

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Famous Deaths

1196 – Conrad II, Duke of Swabia (b. 1173)
1615 – Cornelis C. Vrancx, Flemish poet and writer (Comfort of Soles), dies
1988 – Mohammed Zia ul-Haq, Pakistani general and politician (President of Pakistan 1978-88), killed in plane crash at 64
2014 – Jay Adams, American skateboarder (Z-Boys; Skateboarding HOF), dies of a heart attack at 53
2022 – Pete Carril, American basketball coach (13 × Ivy League champion, Princeton University), dies at 92

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Famous Deaths for 14th August 2026

1040 – King Duncan I of Scotland, killed in battle at ca. 39 years
1573 – Saitō Tatsuoki, Japanese warlord (b. 1548)
1870 – David Farragut, American Admiral (“Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!”), dies at 69
1943 – Joe Kelley, American Baseball HOF left fielder (NL stolen base leader 1896 Baltimore Orioles) and manager (Cincinnati Reds, Boston Doves), dies at 71
1970 – Vano Muradeli, Soviet Georgian composer (The Great Friendship; Our Leader), and pedagogue, dies at 62
1992 – (Samuel) “Tony” Williams, American pop singer (The Platters, 1953-59 – “Only You”; “Great Pretender”), dies at 64
2000 – Cuan McCarthy, South African cricketer (36 Test wkts for South Africa, 1 career no-ball), dies at 71
2005 – Christmas Tinto, South African ANC and UDF leader, dies at 79
2010 – Terje Stigen, Norwegian author (Det siste paradiset), dies at 88
2025 – Dawie Snyman, South African rugby union utility back (10 Tests; Western Province RFU), dies at 76

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Historical Events for 14th August 2026

1040 – King Duncan I of Scotland is killed in battle against his first cousin and rival Macbeth, who succeeds him as king (not murdered in his sleep as in Shakespeare’s play)
1758 – Battle of Zorndorf: Prussia defeats Russia, with thousands killed
1825 – Dutch King William I expels foreign students
1915 – British transport Royal Edward is sunk by a German U-boat, killing 1,000
1932 – Brooklyn Dodgers reliever Johnny Quinn, 49, becomes the oldest pitcher to win an MLB game in a 2-1, 10th-inning victory over the NY Giants at the Polo Grounds
1937 – China declares war on Japan
1981 – George Foster hits his 8th home run into the red seats at Riverfront
2024 – Tropical Storm Ernesto becomes a hurricane, bringing strong winds and rain to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, taking out power supplies

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Today in History for 14th August 2026

Historical Events

1824 – General Lafayette returns to the US
1984 – West Indies complete 5-0 series annihilation of England
1993 – Nigerian presidential election
1995 – Shannon Faulkner becomes the first woman to attend The Citadel
2023 – Former US President Donald Trump and 18 others, including Rudy Giuliani and Mark Meadows, are indicted by a grand jury in Atlanta on felony charges for attempting to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia

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Famous Birthdays

1738 – Leopold Hofmann, Austrian composer and kapellmeister (Cathedral of St. Stephan, 1772-93), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1793)
1910 – Pierre Schaeffer, French electronics engineer and composer, born in Nancy, France (d. 1995)
1926 – (Armando) “Buddy” Greco, American jazz and pop singer (“Ooh! Look-A There, Ain’t She Pretty”; “The Lady Is A Tramp”), pianist, and television personality (Away We Go), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2017)
1947 – Danielle Steel, American author (Rememberance, Zoya, Star, Daddy), born in New York City
1983 – Mila Kunis, Ukrainian-American actress (Friends with Benefits; That ’70s Show – “Jacki'”), born in Chernivtsi, Ukraine SSR, Soviet Union

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Famous Deaths

1975 – Joris Baers, Belgian priest and librarian (founded magazine Boekengids), dies at 87
1988 – Robert Calvert, South African-British writer and musician (Hawkwind), dies of a heart attack at 43
2000 – Cuan McCarthy, South African cricketer (36 Test wkts for South Africa, 1 career no-ball), dies at 71
2009 – Lawrence Lucie, American jazz guitarist (Fletcher Henderson, Louis Armstrong), and educator (Manhattan College, 1974-2004), dies at 101
2020 – Angela Buxton, English tennis player (French C’ships, Wimbledon women’s doubles 1956 [with Althea Gibson]), dies at 85

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Famous Deaths for 13th August 2026

1382 – Eleanor of Aragon, wife of John I of Castile, dies giving birth to her third child at 24
1617 – Johann Jakob Grynaeus, Swiss Protestant Calvinist clergyman, and theologian, dies at 76
1749 – Johann Elias Schlegel, German critic and dramatic poet, dies at 30
1955 – John Klenner, American pianist, composer, and songwriter (“Just Friends”, “Heartaches”), dies at 56
1992 – Jan Elburg, Dutch poet (Through the Night), dies at 72
2000 – Antony Duff, British WWII submarine commander, diplomat, (1946-80), intelligence officer (Director of MI5, 1985-88), and advocate for the homeless, dies at 80
2006 – Payao Poontarat, Thai Olympic boxer (b. 1957)
2007 – Brian Adams, aka Demolition Crush, American professional wrestler (b. 1964)
2008 – Henri Cartan, French Mathematician, dies at 104
2012 – Joan Roberts [Josephine Seagrist], American radio and stage actress (Oklahoma!), dies of congestive heart failure at 95

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Historical Events for 13th August 2026

1933 – PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Blue Mound CC: Gene Sarazen defeats Willie Goggin, 5 and 4 for 3rd of his 3 PGA C’ship titles; 6th of his 7 majors
1937 – Second Sino-Japanese War: Japanese forces start the Battle of Shanghai, a three-month conflict involving over one million troops
1951 – Great Britain and Iraq sign a new oil contract
1962 – Bert Campaneris of Daytona Beach (FSL) pitches with both arms and plays all nine positions
1989 – Two hot-air balloons crash at Alice Springs, Australia, killing 13 people
1999 – 32nd San Diego Comic-Con International opens at San Diego Convention Center
2008 – Australian swimmer Stephanie Rice wraps up the medley double at the Beijing Olympics as she swims a world record of 2:08.45 to win the 200 m individual medley gold medal
2016 – American swimmer Michael Phelps ends his career at the Rio Olympics as part of the winning 4 x 100 m medley relay, his record 23rd gold medal

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Today in History for 13th August 2026

Historical Events

1788 – Prussia joins the Anglo-Dutch alliance to form the Triple Alliance to prevent the spread of the Russo-Swedish War of 1788-90
1963 – Warren Spahn sets the left-hander strikeout record at 2,382
1985 – South African Defence Force soldiers, traveling in a convoy of more than ten armored vehicles, surround the Thaba-Jabula High School in Soweto and arrest 200 students during a clampdown on school boycotts
1997 – MLB San Diego Padres trade outfielder Rickey Henderson to Anaheim Angels
2014 – Iranian mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani is the first woman to win the Fields Medal in mathematics

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Famous Birthdays

1898 – Regis Toomey, American actor (Burke’s Law, Petticoat Junction), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 1991)
1914 – “Cap’n Jack” McCarthy, American television broadcaster (NYC’s St. Patrick Day Parade, 1949-89; kiddie show host (Popeye)), born in New York City (d. 1996)
1953 – Kristalina Georgieva, Bulgarian economist, Head of the IMF (2019-), born in Sofia, Bulgaria
1973 – Sherman Williams, American NFL running back (Dallas Cowboys), born in Mobile, Alabama
1979 – Román Colón, Dominican baseball player, born in Monte Cristi, Dominican Republic

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Famous Deaths

1721 – Jacques Lelong, French bibliographer, dies at 56
1933 – Paul Hillemacher, French classical pianist, and composer, dies at 80
1974 – Hugo Yarnold, English cricketer (Umpire in 3 Tests for England), dies at 57
1996 – David Randall, British priest and founder of AIDS/HIV center Cara, dies of AIDS at 49
2021 – Nanci Griffith, American singer (“From A Distance”), and songwriter (“Once in a Very Blue Moon”; “Love at the Five and Dime”), dies at 68

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Famous Deaths for 12th August 2026

1158 – Anselm of Havelberg, Brandenburg bishop of Havelberg (1129-55), dies at about 58
1885 – Georg Curtius, German classical linguist, dies at 65
1944 – Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr., brother of President John F. Kennedy, killed in action in plane explosion over Blythburgh, East Suffolk, England at 29
1955 – James B. Sumner, American chemist (Nobel 1946 – discovered that enzymes can be crystallized), dies at 67
1988 – Jean-Michel Basquiat, American artist (Gray, SAMO), dies of a drug overdose at 27
1996 – Victor Ambartsumian, Russian astronomer (Stalin Prize 1946, 50), dies at 87
2008 – Donald Erb, American composer known for large orchestral works, dies at 81
2010 – Paul Ryan Rudd, American stage and screen actor (Beacon Hill; Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye), dies at 70
2010 – Guido de Marco, 6th president of Malta, 45th President of the United Nations General Assembly (b. 1931)
2020 – Bill Yeoman, American College Football Hall of Fame coach (University of Houston 1962-86; record 160–108–8), dies from kidney failure and pneumonia at 92

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Historical Events for 12th August 2026

1813 – Robert Southey is appointed British Poet Laureate by King George III
1863 – First cargo of lumber leaves Burrard Inlet, Vancouver, BC
1959 – First ship firing of a Polaris missile from Observation Island
1977 – For the second consecutive day, Oakland’s Manny Sanguillen foils a no-hit bid
2007 – Bulk carrier M/V New Flame collides with oil tanker Torm Gertrud at the southernmost tip of Gibraltar and ends up partially submerged
2008 – American super-swimmer Michael Phelps wins his third of eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics when he wins the 200 m freestyle in a world record time of 1:42.96
2015 – Former US President Jimmy Carter reveals that he has cancer
2020 – Yemeni authorities say at least 172 people died in floods caused by torrential rains, which also destroy historic buildings in Sanaa, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

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Today in History for 12th August 2026

Historical Events

1905 – King Leopold II opens Antwerp Central Station in Belgium
1936 – American diver Marjorie Gestring wins the 3 m springboard gold at the Berlin Olympics, becoming the youngest Olympic gold medalist at 13 years and 268 days
1979 – “Whoopee!” closes at ANTA Theatre in New York City after 204 performances
1988 – Boston Red Sox beat Tigers 9-4 for an AL record 23rd consecutive win at home
2014 – World Health Organization (WHO) gives its ‘cautious blessing’ to the use of experimental drugs to treat the Ebola virus

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Famous Birthdays

1887 – Erwin Schrodinger, Austrian physicist and Nobel Laureate (wave mechanics), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1961)
1910 – Heinrich Sutermeister, Swiss opera composer (Romeo und Julia; Raskolnikov; Das Flaschenteufel), born in Feuerthalen, Switzerland (d. 1995)
1925 – George Wetherill, American scientist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2006)
1946 – Ken Caillat, American record producer and audio engineer (Fleetwood Mac), born in the USA
1982 – Alexandros Tzorvas, Greek soccer goalkeeper (16 caps; Panathinaikos, Apollon Smyrnis), born in Athens, Greece

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Famous Deaths

1849 – Albert Gallatin, Swiss-American politician and diplomat (4th US Secretary of the Treasury1801-14), dies at 88
1991 – Irene Campbell, British actress/dancer (Wicker Man, St Justice), dies
2004 – George Yardley III, American Basketball Hall of Fame forward (6 × NBA All-Star 1955–60; first player to score 2,000 points in a season; Fort Wayne Pistons), dies of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at 75
2020 – Melvin F. Stute, American thoroughbred racehorse trainer (Preakness Stakes 1986, Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies 1986, Breeders’ Cup Sprint 1987), dies at 93
2023 – Atanas Golomeev, Bulgarian basketball center (FIBA EuroBasket Top Scorer 1973 Academic Sofia, 1975 Levski Sofia; FIBA European Selection 1971, 73, 75, 77), dies at 76

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