Today in History for 29th April 2020

Historical Events

1553 – Flemish woman introduces practice of starching linen into England
1903 – Limestone slides at Turtle Mountain kill 9 in Frank, Alberta
1932 – 1st broadcast of “One Man’s Family” on NBC radio, longest-running dramatic serial on US radio (ends 1959)
1982 – Alfredo Magana elected President of El Salvador
1986 – NFL Draft: Auburn running back Bo Jackson first pick by Tampa Bay Buccaneers
1992 – 27th Academy of Country Music Awards: Garth Brooks and Reba McEntire win

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Famous Birthdays

1896 – Jacques Wolfe, Romanian-American composer, born in Botoşani, Romania (d. 1973)
1925 – Albert “Ab” Abspoel, Dutch actor and director (Surprise Attack, Elevator), born in The Hague, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands (d. 2000)
1945 – Hugh Hopper, rocker (Soft Machine)
1963 – Mike Babcock, Canadian NHL Coach (Anaheim, Detroit, Team Canada), born in Manitouwadge, Ontario
1974 – Alana Blahoski, ice hockey forward (USA, Olympics 1998)
1974 – Julian Knowle, Austrian tennis player

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Famous Deaths

1935 – Leroy Carr, American blues singer-songwriter, dies at 30
1956 – Nemesio Otano y Eugenio, composer, dies at 75
1986 – Seamus McElwaine, Irish IRA-terrorist, killed at 25
1988 – Jan Kapr, Czech composer, dies at 74
2012 – Amarillo Slim, American professional poker player, dies at 83
2015 – Jean Nidetch, American businesswoman and founder of Weight Watchers, dies at 91

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Famous Deaths for 28th April 2020

1865 – Samuel Cunard, Canadian-British shipping magnate and founder (1st regular Atlantic steamship line), dies at 77
1933 – Robin Irvine, British actor (Easy Virtue, When Boys Leave Home), dies of pleurisy at 31
1945 – Benito Mussolini [Il Duce], Fascist Italian dictator (1922-43), shot by communist partisans at 61
1970 – Ed Begley, American actor (12 Angry Men, The Unsinkable Molly Brown), dies at 69
1975 – Jan A de Jonge, Dutch historian, dies at 48
1978 – Mohammed Daoud Khan, 1st President of Afghanistan (1973-78) and Prime Minister of Afghanistan (1953-63), dies at 68
1992 – Francis Bacon, Irish-British abstract painter (Study for a Pope), dies at 82
1999 – Alf Ramsey, English football manager (b. 1920)
2007 – Tommy Newsom, American saxophonist and bandleader (Tonight Show), dies at 78
2011 – William Campbell, American actor (Jerry-Cannonball, Luke-Dynasty), dies at 87

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Historical Events for 28th April 2020

1253 – Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist monk, propounds Nam Myoho Renge Kyo for the first time and declares it to be the essence of Buddhism, in effect founding Nichiren Buddhism.
1253 – -May 7th) Utrecht destroyed by fire
1829 – Dutch parliament accepts new press laws
1914 – 181 die in coal mine collapse at Eccles, West Virginia
1951 – Mohammad Mosaddegh elected Prime Minister of Iran by the Parliament of Iran (Majlis)
1969 – 4th Academy of Country Music Awards: Glen Campbell and Cathie Taylor win
1975 – South-Vietnam Gen Duong Van Minh sworn in as president till April 30
1986 – Soviet TV news program Vremya announces a nuclear accident at Chernobyl nuclear power station, 2 days after the event
2013 – 8 people are killed and dozens are injured after Taliban attacks on election candidates in Pakistan
2018 – Shaquem Griffin is the first one-handed person to be drafted into the NFL, for the Seattle Seahawks

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Today in History for 28th April 2020

Historical Events

1253 – Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist monk, propounds Nam Myoho Renge Kyo for the first time and declares it to be the essence of Buddhism, in effect founding Nichiren Buddhism.
1655 – English General-at-Sea Robert Blake (he was never titled Admiral) beats North African pirate fleet
1937 – 1st animated cartoon electric sign displayed (NYC)
1959 – 6th National Film Awards (India): “Sagar Sangamey” wins the Golden Lotus
1959 – KPLR TV channel 11 in Saint Louis, MO (IND) begins broadcasting
2016 – NFL Draft: Cal quarterback Jared Goff first pick by Los Angeles Rams

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Famous Birthdays

1795 – Charles Sturt, English explorer (Australia), born in Bengal, British India (d. 1869)
1810 – Daniel Ullman, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Wilmington, Delaware (d. 1892)
1900 – Bruno Apitz, German writer (Nackt unter Wölfen, born in Leipzig (d. 1979)
1922 – Alistair MacLean, Scottish novelist (The Guns of Navarone), born in Shettleston, Glasgow, Scotland (d. 1987)
1952 – Chuck Leavell, American musician (The Allman Brothers Band, Rolling Stones), born in Birmingham, Alabama
1957 – Leopold Eyharts, French cosmonaut (Soyuz TM-26, TM-28/27)

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Famous Deaths

1710 – Thomas Betterton, British actor and dramatist (Coriolanus), dies at 74
1945 – Benito Mussolini [Il Duce], Fascist Italian dictator (1922-43), shot by communist partisans at 61
1960 – Carlos Ibáñez del Campo, 19th and 25th President of Chile, dies at 82
1978 – Mohammed Daoud Khan, 1st President of Afghanistan (1973-78) and Prime Minister of Afghanistan (1953-63), dies at 68
1982 – EW “Nobby” Clark, Engl cricketer (32 wickets in 8 Tests 1929-34), dies
2005 – Percy Heath, American jazz bassist (Modern Jazz Quartet) (b. 1923)

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Famous Deaths for 27th April 2020

630 – King Ardashir III of Persia
1404 – Philip the Bold, Duke of Burgundy (1363-1404), dies at 62
1813 – Zebulon Pike, American brigadier general and explorer (Pike’s Peak), dies in battle at 34
1871 – Sigismond Fortune Francois Thalberg, composer, dies at 59
1872 – Ion Heliade-Radulescu, Romanian politician/author, dies at 70
1873 – William Charles Macready, British actor, manager, and diarist, dies at 80
1938 – Edmond Rubbens, Belgian minister to Colonies, dies at 44
1972 – Kwame Nkrumah, 1st Prime Minister of Ghana (1957-60) and 1st President Ghana (1960-66), dies at 62
1973 – Jim Sims, English cricket spin bowler (4 Tests, 11 wickets; Middlesex), dies at 69
2002 – Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza, Dutch-Swiss industrialist, dies at 81

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Historical Events for 27th April 2020

1522 – Battle of Bicocca: a combined French and Venetian force is decisively defeated by a Spanish-Imperial and Papal army
1646 – King Charles I flees Oxford
1805 – US Marines attack shores of Tripoli
1890 – French troops under Capt Archinard occupy Oussebougou, West Sudan
1910 – Louis Botha and James Hertzog establish the moderate nationalists South African Party promising equality of Britons and Boers
1942 – Tornado destroys Pryor, Oklahoma, killing 100, injuring 300
1947 – Babe Ruth Day celebrated at Yankee Stadium and through out US
1959 – Mao Zedong resigns as Chairman of the PRC after the disastrous failure of the Great Leap Forward
1968 – The Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association (NICRA) hold a rally to protest the banning of a Republican Easter parade
1989 – Mandatory seatbelt law goes into effect in Italy

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Today in History for 27th April 2020

Historical Events

1881 – Pogroms against Russian Jews start in Elisabethgrad
1910 – Belgian parliament rejects socialist motion for general voting rights
1935 – Yanks pull a 1st inning triple-play and beat Philadelphia A’s 9-8
1956 – Burma Premier U Nu’s Volksliga voor Vrijheid loses election
1959 – “Today” show goes abroard 1st time (Paris France)
1961 – Sierra Leone declares independence from UK

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Famous Birthdays

1650 – Charlotte Amalie of Hesse-Kassel, queen of Denmark and Norway (1670-99), born in Kassel, Germany (d. 1714)
1824 – William Richard Bexfield, English composer, born in Norwich, England (d. 1853)
1850 – Hans Hartwig von Beseler, German Colonel General, born in Greifswald, Prussia (d. 1921)
1893 – Draža Mihailović, Serbian WWII hero and war criminal, born in Ivanjica, Serbia (d. 1946)
1922 – Jack Klugman, American actor (Oscar-Odd Couple, Quincy, Goodbye Columbus), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2012)
1944 – Cuba Gooding Sr., American singer (Everybody Plays the Fool), born in NYC, New York (d. 2017)

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Famous Deaths

1613 – Robert Abercromby, Scottish Jesuit (b. 1532)
1896 – Henry Parkes, Australian politician (longest non-consecutive Premier of the Colony of New South Wales), dies at 80
1973 – Carlos Menditeguy, Argentine racing driver (b. 1914)
1992 – Olivier Messiaen, French composer (St Francois d’Assise), dies at 83
1999 – Cyril Washbrook, English cricketer (stalwart Lancs and England opener), dies at 84
2009 – Woo Seung-yeon, South Korean actress and model (b. 1983)

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Famous Deaths for 26th April 2020

1478 – Giuliano de’ Medici, Medeheerser of Florence, murdered at about 24
1945 – Pavlo Skoropadsky, Ukrainian politician and general, dies at 71
1972 – Fernando Amorsolo, Filipino painter (b. 1892)
1972 – Margaret A R Bonds, US pianist/composer/arranger, dies at 59
1976 – Neil McCallum, actor (Pete-Saber of London), dies at 45
1984 – William “Count” Basie, American jazz musician and bandleader, dies at 79
1986 – Bessie Love, actress (Broadway Melody, Isadora), dies at 87
1990 – Carlos Pizarro Leongomez, Colombian presidential candidate, assassinated
1995 – Hugh Morton, Baron Morton of Shuna, Scottish lawyer and judge, dies at 65
2003 – Peter Stone, American writer (b. 1930)

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Historical Events for 26th April 2020

1848 – Alfred Russel Wallace departs the U.K. for South America, beginning four years of travel, collecting, and research in the region
1865 – Confederate General J E Johnston surrenders Army of Tennessee, at Durham, North Carolina
1971 – San Francisco lightship replaced by automatic buoy
1971 – Heaviest rains ever in Bahia district of Brazil, 15″ in 24 hrs
1974 – Landslide in Huancavelica Province Peru creates a natural dam
1984 – Liverpool’s Cavern Club reopens
1986 – Game between Angels and Twins delayed for 9 minutes by strong winds
1991 – 23 killed in Kansas and Oklahoma by tornadoes
2002 – Robert Steinhäuser infiltrates and kills 17 at Gutenberg-Gymnasium in Erfurt, Germany before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot.
2012 – Indonesia suspends imports of American beef after a confirmed case of mad cow disease in California

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Today in History for 26th April 2020

Historical Events

1904 – Bell Telephone Company of Antwerp Belgium forms
1991 – “Dinosaurs” premieres on ABC-TV
1992 – “Master Builder” closes at Belasco Theater NYC after 45 performances
1993 – STS-55 (Columbia) launches into orbit
2009 – 55th British Academy Television Awards: “Harry and Paul” Best Comedy, “Wallander” Best Drama
2012 – 70 people are killed by rocket attacks by the Syrian Army on the city of Hama

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Famous Birthdays

1774 – Christian Leopold von Buch, German geologist and paleontologist, born in Stolpe an der Oder, Margraviate of Brandenburg, Prussia (d. 1853)
1927 – Dame Anne McLaren, British biologist and leading researcher on human in vitro fertilisation (IVF), born in London, England (d. 2007)
1942 – Claudine Auger, French actress (Thunderball) and Miss France (1958), born in Paris, France
1947 – Donna De Varona, American swimmer (Olympic-2 gold-64), born in Greenwich, Connecticut
1959 – Pedro Pierluisi, Puerto Rico politician, Governor of Puerto Rico (2019-), born in San Juan, Puerto Rico
1980 – Marnette Patterson, American actress (Nicole-Something So Right), born in Los Angeles, California

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Famous Deaths

1952 – Charles L Baars, Dutch actor (Women Tamers), dies at 59
1960 – Wander J de Haas, Dut physicist (Einstein-De Haas effect), dies at 82
1984 – Henry Rowland, actor (Rogue’s Regiment), dies at 70
1991 – Carmine Coppola, American composer and conductor (The Godfather Part II), and father of Francis Ford Coppola, dies at 80
1996 – Burton Stein, American historian, dies at 69
2017 – Jonathan Demme, American film director (Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia), dies at 73

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