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
Author: gil7
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
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
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)
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
Famous Deaths for 4th May 2020
1604 – Claudio Merulo, Italian organist and composer, dies at 71
1684 – John Nevison, English highwayman (b. 1639)
1790 – Matthew Tilghman, American delegate to the Continental Congress (b. 1718)
1885 – Alexander Karađorđević, Prince of Serbia (1842-58), dies at 78
1891 – Sherlock Holmes, “dies” at Reichenbach Falls
1893 – George Washington Hewitt, composer, dies at 82
1928 – Barry Pain, English writer (Punch), dies at 63
1980 – Josip Broz Tito, Yugoslav communist revolutionary and leader of Yugoslavia (1943-80), dies at 87
2012 – MCA [Adam Yauch], Beastie Boys vocalist, dies from cancer at 47
2018 – Paul Bloodgood, American artist, dies at 58 of Alzheimer’s disease
Historical Events for 4th May 2020
1535 – Five Carthusian monks from London Charterhouse monastery hung, drawn and quartered at Tyburn, London, for refusing to acknowledge Henry VIII as head of the Church of England
1897 – Fire in Paris bazaar at Rue Jean Goujon kills 200
1898 – 24th Kentucky Derby: Willie Simms aboard Plaudit wins in 2:09
1927 – 1st balloon flight over 40,000 feet (Scott Field, Illinois)
1942 – Battle of Coral Sea begins (1st naval battle fought solely in air) between Japanese, US and Australian navies and air forces
1961 – Malcolm Ross and Victor Prather reach 34,668 m (record) in balloon
1973 – Longest baseball game in Veterans’ Stadium, Phillies beat Braves 5-4 in 20 innings
1994 – Arsenal of England win 34th European Cup Winner’s Cup against Parma of Italy 1-0 in Copenhagen
1996 – Greg Pavlik one-hits Tigers making the Rangers 1st AL team to pitch back-to-back one-hitters since the Washington Senators in 1917
2001 – The Milwaukee Art Museum addition, the first Santiago Calatrava-designed structure in the United States, opens to the public.
Today in History for 4th May 2020
Historical Events
1303 – Flemings conquers Middelburg
1783 – Herschel reports seeing a red glow near lunar crater Aristarchus
1919 – 1st legal Sunday baseball game in NYC, 35,000 watch the Phillies beat the NY Giants 4-3
1967 – Lunar Orbiter 4 launched by US; begins orbiting Moon May 7
1981 – Rockline premieres on KLOS FM in Los Angeles
2014 – Juan Carlos Varela is elected President of Panama
Famous Birthdays
1796 – William H. Prescott, American historian, born in Salem, Massachusetts (d. 1859)
1921 – Virginia “Patsy” Garrett, American singer and actress (Nanny and the Professor, Fred Waring’s Pleasure Time), born in Atlantic City, New Jersey (d. 2015)
1954 – Marilyn Martin, American singer-songwriter (Separate Lives), born in Tennessee
1955 – Robert Ellis Orrall, American singer and songwriter, born in Winthrop, Massachusetts
1966 – Jane McGrath, British-Australian co-founder of the McGrath Foundation for breast cancer, born in Paignton, Devon (d. 2008)
1984 – Kevin Slowey, American baseball player, born in Conroe, Texas
Famous Deaths
1471 – Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset, English military commander (executed)
1855 – Camille Pleyel, Austria piano builder/composer, dies at 66
1893 – George Washington Hewitt, composer, dies at 82
1971 – Louis de Bree [Louis Davids], actor (De man zonder hart, The Cross-Patch, Bluejackets), dies at 87
2001 – Bonnie Lee Bakley, American murder victim (b. 1956)
2018 – Barnet Fain, American businessman and artist, dies at 86
Famous Deaths for 3rd May 2020
1622 – Pedro Páez, Spanish Jesuit missionary (b. 1564)
1839 – Ferdinando Paer, composer, dies at 67
1863 – Elisha Franklin “Bull” Paxton, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 35
1965 – Howard Spring, British author (Heaven Lies About Us), dies at 76
1969 – Imre Vincze, Hungarian composer, dies at 42
1992 – Peter Bruni, dies of heart failure at 60
2018 – Junior Rodriguez, American politician, dies at 82
2018 – Joe Scannella, American football coach (Oakland Raiders, Montreal Alouettes, Cleveland Browns), dies at 89
2018 – Bob Prewitt, American college basketball coach (SMU Mustangs), dies at 93
2018 – Paolo Signorelli, Italian footballer, dies at 79
Historical Events for 3rd May 2020
1715 – Edmond Halley observes total eclipse phenomenon “Baily’s Beads”
1802 – Washington, D.C. is incorporated as a city
1851 – Sixth major fire in San Francisco destroys 1500-2000 buildings
1916 – Irish Nationalists Patrick Pearse, Thomas MacDonagh and Thomas Clarke are executed by firing squad following their involvement in the Easter Rising
1932 – 24 tourists begin 1st air-charter holiday (London-Basle, Switzerland)
1956 – Frank Loesser’s musical “Most Happy Fella” opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 678 performances
1959 – Tiger’s Charlie Maxwell hits 4 consecutive HRs in a doubleheader
1980 – Giants 1st baseman Willie McCovey hits his 521st and final HR
1981 – “Moony, Shapiro Songbook” opens and closes at Morosco Theater NYC
1992 – NY Met Eddie Murray is 24th to hit 400 HRs
Today in History for 3rd May 2020
Historical Events
1382 – Battle of Beverhoutsveld near Bruges in modern-day Belgium – the army of Ghent beats a drunken Bruges militia
1916 – Irish Nationalists Patrick Pearse, Thomas MacDonagh and Thomas Clarke are executed by firing squad following their involvement in the Easter Rising
1942 – Japanese troop attack Tulagi, Gavutu and Tanambogo, Solomon Islands during WWII
1948 – 1st broadcast of “CBS Evening News” – longest running network news show in the US
1981 – “Moony, Shapiro Songbook” opens and closes at Morosco Theater NYC
1997 – 123rd Kentucky Derby: Gary Stevens aboard Silver Charm wins in 2:02.3
Famous Birthdays
1876 – Bert Hopkins, Australian cricketer (Australian pace bowler of the 1900’s), born in Young, New South Wales (d. 1931)
1898 – Septima Poinsette Clark, American educator and civil rights activist, born in CHarleston, South Carolina (d. 1987)
1905 – Albrecht Luitpold Ferdinand Michael, duke of Bavaria, born in Munich, German Empire (d. 1996)
1907 – Earl Wilson, American journalist and columnist (Midnight Earl), born in Rockford, Ohio (d. 1987)
1919 – Pete Seeger, American folk singer (The Weavers – Goodnight Irene) and activist, helped create the modern American folk music movement, born in NYC, New York (d. 2014)
1963 – Jeff Hornacek, American basketball player and coach, born in Elmhurst, Illinois
Famous Deaths
1442 – Engelbert I, Earl of Nassau-Dillenburg, dies
1752 – Samuel Ogle, British provincial Governor of Maryland (b. c. 1692)
1792 – Carlo Zuccari, Italian composer and violinist, dies at 87
1992 – Peter Bruni, dies of heart failure at 60
1999 – Joe Adcock, American baseball utility, manager (Milwaukee Braves; 2-time MLB All Star), dies of Alzheimer’s disease at 71
2018 – H. Basil S. Cooke, South African-Canadian geologist and paleontologist, dies at 102
Famous Deaths for 2nd May 2020
1969 – Franz von Papen, German diplomat and chancellor (1932), dies at 89
1980 – Clarrie Grimmett, cricket (36 Tests for Australia, 216 wickets), dies
1989 – Veniamin Kaverin, Russian writer (b. 1902)
1993 – Julio Gallo, wine maker (Gallo), dies in a car accident at 82
2005 – Wee Kim Wee, 4th President of Singapore (b. 1915)
2008 – Beverlee McKinsey, American actress (Iris-Another World, Guiding Light), dies at 72
2015 – Guy Carawan, American folk singer and folklorist (We Shall Overcome) dies at 87
2018 – Tony Cucchiara, Italian folk singer and songwriter (Cain and Abel), dies at 80
2018 – Harald Range, German jurist (Attorney General, 2011–2015), dies at 70
2018 – Sir Keith Williamson, British air force commander (Chief of the Air Staff, 1982–1985), dies at 90