Author: gil7

Historical Events

1929 – Spanish dictator Primo de Rivera closes university of Madrid
1973 – St. Patrick’s Day marchers carry 14 coffins commemorating Bloody Sunday
2008 – Governor Eliot Spitzer of New York resigns after scandal involving a high-end prostitute; David Paterson becomes acting governor
2013 – Toyo Ito wins the 2013 Pritzker Architecture Prize
2018 – China’s National People’s Congress appoints Wang Qishan as vice-president

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Famous Birthdays

1877 – Albert Hahn, Dutch political cartoonist (Het Volk), born in Groningen, Netherlands (d. 1918)
1880 – Guillermo Uribe Holguin, Colombian composer, born in Bogotá, Colombia (d. 1971)
1881 – Kristian Elster, Norwegian author (Less bror Harris), born in Trondheim, Norway (d. 1947)
1931 – Lorraine Ellison, American soul singer (“Stay with Me”; “Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)”), and songwriter, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1983)
1987 – Rob Kardashian, American television personality and only son of Robert Kardashian and Kris Jenner (Keeping Up with the Kardashians), born in Los Angeles, California

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Famous Deaths

1801 – Juan de Sesé y Balaguer, Aragonese composer, dies at 64
1910 – Joaquin Valverde Durán, Spanish composer, dies at 64
1956 – Irene Joliot-Curie, French chemist and physicist (Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1935) and daughter of Marie Curie, dies of leukemia at 58
1992 – George Lovi, American columnist (Sky and Telescope’s “Ramblings”), dies
2025 – John A. Hemingway, Irish Royal Air Force pilot who fought in the Battle of Britain during World War Ⅱ, dies at 105

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Historical Events

1322 – The Battle of Boroughbridge takes place in the First War of Scottish Independence
1802 – US Army Corps of Engineers established (2nd time)
1830 – London’s re-organised police force (Scotland Yard)
1865 – Battle of Averasboro North Carolina (1,500 casualties)
1958 – LPGA Titleholders Championship Women’s Golf, Augusta CC: Beverly Hanson wins by 5 strokes ahead of Betty Dodd

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Famous Birthdays

1581 – Pieter Corneliszoon Hooft, Dutch historian, poet and playwright (Grandida; Nederduytsche Historiën / History of the Netherlands), born in Amsterdam, Dutch Republic (d. 1647)
1776 – Johan Gijsbert Verstolk van Soelen, Dutch minister of Foreign Affairs, born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 1845)
1929 – Nadja Tiller, Austrian actress (Ich suche Dich, Rosemary), and beauty queen (Miss Austria, 1949), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 2023)
1964 – Gore Verbinski, American movie director (Pirates of the Caribbean films; Rango), born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee
1991 – Wolfgang Van Halen, American rock bassist son of guitarist Eddie Van Halen and actress Valerie Bertinelli, born in Santa Monica, California

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Famous Deaths

1977 – Kamal Jumblatt, Lebanese politician and founder of the Progressive Socialist Party, assassinated by unknown gunmen at 59
2015 – Andy Fraser, English bass guitarist (Free), dies at 62
2021 – Erhan Önal, Turkish soccer central defender (12 caps; FC Bayern Munich, Standard Liège, Galatasaray), dies at 63
2022 – Bobby Weinstein, American songwriter (with Teddy Randazzo – “I’m on the Outside Looking In”, “Goin’ Out of My Head”, “It’s Gonna Take a Miracle”), and music executive, dies at 82
2025 – Doug Laughton, English rugby league lock (15 Tests GB; St. Helens, Wigan, Widnes) and coach (Widnes 504 games), dies at 80

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Historical Events

221 – Liu Bei, a Chinese warlord and member of the Han royal house, declares himself Emperor of Shu-Han, claiming legitimate succession to the Han Dynasty
1906 – Britons Henry Rolls, Charles Royce and Claude Johnson formalize their existing partnership as Rolls Royce Ltd
1913 – 1st US presidential press conference, held by Woodrow Wilson
1954 – “CBS Morning Show” premieres with Walter Cronkite and Jack Paar
2023 – Another atmospheric river creates a storm across California, bringing widespread flooding and power outages, with Monterey County issuing a 25 mile evacuation order

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Famous Birthdays

1831 – Edward Aylesworth Perry, American soldier and politician (General under Lee for Confederate Army, 14th Governor of Florida 1885-89), born in Richmond, Massachusetts (d. 1889)
1831 – Daniele Comboni, Italian Catholic missionary and Vicar Apostolic of Central Africa (1877-81), born in Limone sul Garda, Kingdom of Lombardy-Venetia (d. 1881)
1838 – Alice Cunningham Fletcher, American ethnologist and anthropologist who studied native American culture (advocated for Dawes Act), born in Havana, Cuba (d. 1923)
1969 – Yutaka Take, Japanese jockey (Japan Cup x 5; JRA Grand Prize Jockey 1997-2000, 02-06; Japanese Triple Crown 2005), born in Kyoto, Japan
1974 – Vaughan Gething, Welsh first minister (2024-) Labour and Co-operative politician, born in Usaka, Zambia

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Famous Deaths

1842 – Luigi Cherubini, Italian musical prodigy, composer (Médée; Requiem in D minor), and educator (Conservatoire de Paris, 1822-42), dies at 81
1987 – W. Sterling Cole, American politician (Rep-R-NY, Director International Atomic Energy Agency), dies at 82
2015 – Mike Porcaro, American rock bassist (Toto, 1982-2007 “Stranger In Town”), dies from Lou Gehrig’s disease at 59
2018 – Robert Grossman, American illustrator, dies of heart failure at 78
2020 – Suzy Delair, French singer and actress (The Murderer Lives at Number 21; Utopia; White Paws), dies at 102

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Historical Events

1800 – Luigi Chiaramonti elected Pope Pius VII
1900 – Dutch botanist Hugo de Vries rediscovers Gregor Mendel’s laws of heredity and genetics
1972 – NBA’s Cincinnati Royals, plagued by poor home attendance, announce they are moving franchise to Kansas City
2013 – 7 people are killed after gunmen storm a bar in Cancun, Mexico
2021 – UK police officer charged with the death of Sarah Everard, who disappeared walking home in south London, and whose death sparked debate about violence against women

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Famous Birthdays

1804 – Johann Strauss the Elder, Viennese violinist and composer (Radetzky March), born in Leopoldstadt, Austria (d. 1849)
1898 – Arnold Chikobava, Georgian linguist, born in Sachikobavo, Georgia, Russian Empire (d. 1985)
1917 – Macha Rosenthal, American critic and poet (Poetry as Confession), born in Washington D.C. (d. 1996)
1938 – Eleanor Bron, British actress (Women in Love, Bedazzled), born in Stanmore, England
1945 – Michael Martin Murphey, American country singer (Wildfire), born in Dallas, Texas

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Famous Deaths

1903 – Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch, Dutch landscape painter, dies at 88
1917 – Princess Louise Margaret of Prussia, Duchess of Connaugh and Strathearn, dies of influenza at 56
1976 – Busby Berkeley [Enos], American film choreographer (42nd Street) and director (Strike Up The Band; They Made Me A Criminal), dies at 80
1991 – Howard Ashman, American playwright and lyricist (Little Shop of Horrors; The Little Mermaid), dies of AIDS-related complications at 40
2023 – Jim Ferree, American golfer (1 x PGA Tour win; 2 x Senior PGA Tour wins), dies at 91

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