Today in History for 8th May 2020

Historical Events

1877 – 1st Westminster Dog Show held
1882 – David Belasco’s “La Belle Russe” premieres in NYC
1906 – Philadelphia A’s pitcher Chief Benders plays outfield and hits 2 HRs
1926 – Fire breaks out in Fenway Park, home of Boston Red Socks baseball team
1984 – Minnesota Twins Kirby Puckett debuts with 4 singles
1994 – Colorado Silver Bullets (all-female pro baseball team) 1st game

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1912 – George Woodcock, author
1933 – Alistair Service, writer/publisher
1935 – Viscount Falkland, British peer (Lib-Dem)
1942 – Robin Hobbs, cricketer (England leg-spinner 1967-71)
1951 – Deborah Harmon, American actress (Ted Knight Show, M*A*S*H, Just the 10 of Us), born in Chicago, Illinois
1983 – Matt Willis, British singer

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1876 – Truganini, last originating Tasmanian, dies
1894 – Clara Fey, German Roman Catholic Nun and the founder of the Sisters of the Poor Child Jesus, dies at 79
1967 – Laverne Andrews, American singer (Andrews Sisters), dies at 55
1998 – Bebe Rebozo, American banker and Watergate figure (b. 1912)
2012 – Nicholas Katzenbach, American Attorney General, dies at 90
2012 – Maurice Sendak, American author and illustrator, dies at 83

More Famous Deaths »

Famous Deaths for 7th May 2020

1922 – Max Wagenknecht, German composer, dies at 64
1928 – Alexander Spendiaryan, Russian-Soviet composer, dies at 56
1929 – Albert Anselmi, American gangster, murdered by Al Capone
1941 – Sir James George Frazer, Scottish anthropologist (b. 1854)
1970 – Carlos Estrada, composer, dies at 60
1983 – Peter Edel, writer, dies
1986 – Gaston Defferre, French Socialist politician, dies at 75
1986 – Jeffrey Mylett, American actor and songwriter, dies at 36
2004 – Rudi Maugeri, Canadian singer (The Crew Cuts), dies at 73
2007 – Yahweh ben Yahweh, American cult leader (b. 1935)

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events for 7th May 2020

1274 – 2nd Council of Lyons (14th ecumenical council) opens, convened by Pope Gregory X
1917 – Red Sox Babe Ruth beats Washington Senator Walter Johnson, 1-0
1919 – A draft of the Versailles Treaty is shown to Germans
1927 – Angelos Sikelianos organizes the first Delphic Festival in Delphi to celebrate the ancient Greek Delphic ideal.
1970 – “Long and Winding Road” becomes Beatles’ last American release
1982 – IBM releases PC-DOS version 1.1
1992 – Constitutional amendment barring mid-term congressional raises passes
1999 – In Guinea-Bissau, President João Bernardo Vieira is ousted in a military coup.
2002 – A China Northern Airlines MD-82 plunges into the Yellow Sea, killing 112 people.
2013 – The Dow Jones Industrial average and SandP 500 set record highs

More Historical Events »

Today in History for 7th May 2020

Historical Events

1727 – Jews are expelled from Ukraine by Empress Catherine I of Russia
1862 – Much of Enschede, Netherlands, destroyed by fire
1914 – US Congress establishes Mother’s Day
1938 – Dutch Minister of Justice Goseling calls fugitives of Nazi-Germany “undesired strangers”
1956 – NY Giant Bill White, homers in his 1st at bat
1997 – Galileo, 4th Ganymede Flyby (Orbit 8)

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1328 – Louis VI the Roman, Duke of Bavaria and Elector of Brandenburg, born in Rome (d. 1365)
1803 – Johan Peter Cronhamm, Swedish composer, born in Östra Karup, Skåne, Sweden (d. 1875)
1892 – Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and leader of Yugoslavia (1943-80), born in Kumrovec, Hrvatsko Zagorje, Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia (d. 1980)
1901 – Lowell T. Coggeshall, American medical scientist and US Secretary of HEW (1956-58), born in Saratoga, Indiana (d. 1987)
1959 – Michael E. Knight, America actor (All My Children), born in Princeton, New Jersey
1973 – Dameian Jeffries, NFL defensive end (New Orleans Saints)

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1523 – Franz von Sickingen, German knight/protect of poor, dies of wounds at 42
1958 – Nyogen Senzaki, 1st Zen teacher to reside in USA, dies at 81
2002 – Seattle Slew, American racehorse (b. 1974)
2006 – Joan C. Edwards, American philanthropist (b. 1918)
2010 – Adele Mara [Adelaida Delgado], American actress, singer and dancer (Cool Million, Wheels), dies at 87
2018 – Jeremy D. Safran, Canadian-born American clinical psychologist, is killed during a burglary

More Famous Deaths »

Famous Deaths for 6th May 2020

1540 – Jean Luis Vives, Spanish theory/humanist/reformer, dies at 48
1631 – Robert Bruce Cotton, English politician and antiquarian (his library formed basis of British Museum manuscript collection), dies at 60
1739 – Bernardus Smijtegelt, Dutch vicar (Gekrookte Reed), dies at 63
1891 – Thomas Hare, English barrister and political reformer, dies at 85
1961 – Lucian Blaga, Romanian philosopher and poet (Transcendental censor), dies at 65
1987 – William J. Casey, American head of the CIA during the Iran-contra scandal (1981-87), dies of aspiration pneumonia at 73
1994 – Fred Sadoff, actor (Quiet American), dies of AIDS at 67
2000 – Leonard Lopes-Salzedo, British composer
2006 – Lillian Asplund, last American RMS Titanic survivor (b. 1906)
2009 – Valentin Varennikov, Soviet-Russian general and statesman, dies at 85

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events for 6th May 2020

1529 – Battle at Gogra: Mughal Emperor Babur beats Afghans and Bengals
1882 – Chinese Exclusion Act: US Congress ceases Chinese immigration
1904 – American Lung Association holds its 1st meeting
1944 – KJR-AM in Seattle Washington swaps calls with KOMO
1974 – West German Chancellor Willy Brandt resigns amidst controversy over his aide Günter Guillaume’s ties with the Stasi (East German secret service)
1982 – NHL Clarence Campbell Conference Final: Vancouver Canucks beat Chicago Black Hawks, 4 games to 1
1984 – Jose Napoleon Duarte wins El Salvador presidential election
1987 – USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1995 – 121st Kentucky Derby: Gary Stevens on Thunder Gulch wins in 2:01.2
2014 – Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, releases a 57 minute video boasting about abducting schoolgirls in Nigeria

More Historical Events »

Today in History for 6th May 2020

Historical Events

1672 – Brandenburg monarch Frederik Willem signs treaty with Netherlands
1860 – Giuseppe Garibaldi’s Mille sets sail from Genoa to the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
1937 – German airship Hindenburg explodes in flames at Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 35 of the 97 on board and 1 on the ground
1964 – Joe Orton’s play “Entertaining Mr Sloan” premieres in London
1979 – Louis LaRusso II’s “Knockout” premieres in NYC
2014 – Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, releases a 57 minute video boasting about abducting schoolgirls in Nigeria

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1861 – Motilal Nehru, Indian lawyer and freedom fighter, born in Agra, British India (d. 1931)
1879 – Bedřich Hrozný, Czech orientalist and linguist (development of Hittitology), born in Lysá nad Labem, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary (d. 1952)
1883 – José Ortega y Gasset, Spanish philosopher and author (The Revolt of the Masses), born in Madrid, Spain (d. 1955)
1921 – Freddy Randall, English jazz trumpeter, born in London (d. 1999)
1973 – Clay Williams, OL (Indianapolis Colts)
2019 – Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, British son of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, born in London, England

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1739 – Bernardus Smijtegelt, Dutch vicar (Gekrookte Reed), dies at 63
1978 – Ko van Dijk Jr, Dutch actor (Zaak M P), dies at 61
1996 – Leo Joseph Suenens, Belgian prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, dies at 91
2002 – Saleh Selim, Egyptian football player and 10th president of the Egyptian Al-Ahly Sporting Club, dies at 71
2002 – Pim Fortuyn, Dutch politician (b. 1948)
2018 – George G. Hall, Northern Irish applied mathematician, dies at 93

More Famous Deaths »

Famous Deaths for 5th May 2020

1811 – Robert Mylne, Scottish architect (b. 1734)
1859 – Peter G L Dirichlet, German mathematician, dies at 53
1864 – Alexander Hays, US Union-general-major, dies in battle at 44
1951 – Leo Diegel, American golfer (PGA C’ship 1928-29), dies of throat and lung cancer at 52
1971 – Harry Moorman, Dutch vice-admiral (KVP), dies at 71
1991 – William De Acutis, American actor (9½ Weeks, Other People’s Money), dies from a brain lymphoma at 33
1995 – Mikhail Botvinnik, Russian influential world chess champion, dies at 83
1995 – Lionel Alexander Bethune [Alastair] Pilkington, British engineer (float glass), dies at 75
2004 – Ritsuko Okazaki, Japanese singer-songwriter (Kanashii Jiyū / Koi ga, Kiete Yuku), dies at 44
2008 – Irv Robbins, Canadian-American entrepreneur (co-founded the Baskin-Robbins ice cream parlor chain), dies at 90

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events for 5th May 2020

1855 – New York City regains Castle Clinton, to be used for immigration
1912 – Soviet Communist Party newspaper Pravda begins publishing (4/22 OS)
1927 – Dmitri Shostakovich’s 1st Symphony premieres in Berlin
1941 – First modern perfume Chanel No. 5 released by fashion designer Coco Chanel
1966 – Borussia Dortmund of West Germany win 6th European Cup Winner’s Cup against Liverpool of England 2-1 in Glasgow
1972 – Alitalia DC-8 crashes west of Palermo Sicily; killing 115
1979 – Masterpiece Radio Theater begins broadcasting
1984 – 29th Eurovision Song Contest: Herreys for Sweden wins singing “Diggi-Loo Diggi-Ley” in Luxembourg
1994 – Labour beats Conservatives in British local elections
2000 – Conjunction of Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Moon

More Historical Events »

Today in History for 5th May 2020

Historical Events

1789 – French Estates-General meets for the first time since 1614 at Versailles, summoned King Louis XVI
1925 – Afrikaans is established as an official language in South Africa.
1941 – First modern perfume Chanel No. 5 released by fashion designer Coco Chanel
1956 – World championships of judo are 1st held in Tokyo
1957 – Adolf Scharf elected president of Austria
1984 – NHL Prince of Wales Conference Final: New York Islanders beat Montreal Canadians, 4 games to 2

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1945 – Kurtis “Kurt” Loder, American film critic, TV personality and columnist (Rolling Stone, New York, Time), born in Ocean City, New Jersey
1957 – Lisa Eilbacher, Saudi-American actress (Beverly Hills Cop), born in Dharan, Saudi Arabia
1962 – Jenifer McKitrick, American songwriter (Mine, Mine, Mine), born in Defiance, Ohio
1981 – Marcelle Bittar, Brazilian-Lebanese supermodel, born in Guarapuava, Paraná, Brazil
1988 – Adele [Adele Laurie Blue Adkins], English singer (Rolling in the Deep, Someone Like You), born in Tottenham, London
1988 – Jessica Dubroff, American aviator (attempting to become the youngest person to fly a light utility aircraft across the United States), born in Falmouth, Massachusetts (d. 1996)

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1316 – Elizabeth of Rhuddlan, youngest daughter of King Edward I and Queen Eleanor of Castile, dies at 33
1705 – Leopold I von Hapsburg, Emperor of Holy Roman Empire, dies at 64
1811 – Robert Mylne, Scottish architect (b. 1734)
1972 – [Reverend] Gary Davis, American blues and folk guitarist (A Little More Faith), dies of a heart attack at 76
1976 – Thomas Burnett Swann, American sci-fi author (Day of Minotaur), dies at 47
1994 – Hein Salomonson, architect, dies at about 83

More Famous Deaths »