1153 – Bernard of Clairvaux, French monk and saint (founded Clairvaux abbey, preached famous sermon advocating for the Second Crusade), dies (b. 1090)
1936 – Edward Weston, English-born American electrical engineer who invented the portable voltmeter, dies at 86
1968 – Earl Sande, American HOF jockey (Triple Crown 1930 Gallant Fox; 3 x Kentucky Derby; 5 x Belmont Stakes; 1 x Preakness Stakes; 3 x US Champion Jockey by earnings; US Champion Trainer by earnings 1938), dies at 69
1974 – Ilona Massey [Hajmássy], Hungarian-American film, stage, and radio actress and singer (Ilona Massey Show), dies of cancer at 64
1989 – George Adamson [Baba ya Simba – “Father of Lions”], British conservationist (Born Free), murdered in Kenya at 82
1991 – Lenore Strunsky Gershwin, widow of Ira Gershwin, dies at 90
2002 – Harry Wich, Dutch painter and set designer, dies at 76
2008 – Gene Upshaw, American NFL guard (Oakland Radiers) and NFLPA leader, dies at 63
2016 – Brian Rix [Lord Rix], British actor and activist (Mencap), dies at 92
2024 – Al Attles, American Basketball HOF coach (NBA C’ship 1975 GS Warriors; NBA All-Star Game HC 1975, 76) and point guard (GS Warriors), dies at 87
Author: gil7
Historical Events for 20th August 2025
1828 – Gioachino Rossini’s opera “Le Comte Ory” premieres in Paris
1920 – First US commercial radio station, 8MK (WWJ) in Detroit, begins daily broadcasting
1953 – Russia publicly acknowledges hydrogen bomb test detonation
1972 – The USSR performs an underground nuclear test
1977 – NASA launches Voyager 2 towards Jupiter and Saturn, later reaching Uranus and Neptune
1990 – Iraq moves Western hostages to military installations as human shields
1995 – Indians’ José Mesa sets a record with his 37th consecutive save
2009 – 12th Athletics World Championships: Usain Bolt wins 200m
Today in History for 20th August 2025
Historical Events
1879 – Government Kappeijne of Coppello resigns
1930 – A week before his 22nd birthday, Australian cricket’s batting genius Don Bradman scores 232 in a fifth Test win over England at The Oval in London
1957 – Chicago White Sox Bob Keegan no-hits Washington Senators, 6-0
2008 – Spanair Flight 5022 from Madrid to Gran Canaria skids off the runway and crashes at Barajas Airport, killing 146 people in the crash and 8 more afterward. Only 18 people survive
2015 – Thirty students at West Point Military Academy are injured in a mass pillow fight
Famous Birthdays
1824 – Absalom Baird, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Rockland, Maine (d. 1905)
1904 – Jaap [Jacobus Albertus Wilhelmus] Burger, Dutch politician and chairman (PvdA), born in Willemstad, Netherlands (d. 1986)
1937 – Sky Saxon [Richard Marsh], American rocker (The Seeds – “Pushin’ To Hard”), born in Salt Lake City, Utah (d. 2009)
1966 – Courtney Gibbs, American actress (Baywatch) and Miss USA 1988, born in Dallas, Texas
2003 – Prince Gabriel of Belgium, second child of King Philippe and Queen Mathilde of Belgium, born in Erasmus Hospital, Anderlecht, Brussels, Belgium
Famous Deaths
1384 – Geert Groote, Dutch founder of the Brethren of the Common Life, dies at 43
1707 – Nicolas Gigault, French Baroque organist and composer, dies at about 80
2007 – Larry Hartsell, American martial artist, bodyguard, trainer, student of Bruce Lee and Dan Inosanto, dies at 65
2009 – Larry Knechtel, American session piano and bass player (Simon and Garfunkel; Johnny Rivers), dies of a heart attack at 69
2015 – Piotr Warzecha, Polish composer, dies at 74
Famous Deaths for 19th August 2025
1601 – Michael the Brave, Prince of Wallachia and Moldovia (Romanian national hero), assassinated at 42 or 43
1851 – Gioseffo Catrufo, Italian composer, dies at 80
1945 – Tomas Burgos, Chilean philanthropist (founder of Villa Lo Burgos), dies at 69
1974 – Rodger Davies, United States ambassador to Cyprus, murdered at 53 by Greek Cypriot gunmen during a demonstration outside the U.S. Embassy in Nicosia
1981 – Jessie Matthews, English actress (Gangway, First a Girl), dies at 74
1983 – Aleksandar Ranković, Yugoslavic partisan and 1st Vice President of Yugoslavia (1963-66), dies at 73
1986 – Jaap [Jacobus Albertus Wilhelmus] Burger, Dutch politician and chairman (PvdA), dies at 81
1992 – Norvel Lee, American boxer (Olympic gold 1952), dies at 67
2010 – Michael Been, American rock singer, guitarist, and songwriter (The Call – “Let the Day Begin”), dies of a heart attack at 60
2021 – Bill Freehan, American baseball catcher (11 x All Star; World Series 1968; 5 x Gold Glove; Detroit Tigers), dies from dementia at 79
Historical Events for 19th August 2025
1399 – King Richard II of England surrenders to his cousin Henry Bolingbroke at Flint Castle after promising to abdicate if his life was spared
1493 – Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I becomes Archduke of Austria on the death of his father and co-ruler Frederick III
1931 – Lefty Grove wins an AL record-tying 16th consecutive game
1990 – Dodger José Offerman hits a home run in his first at-bat
1991 – Conservative members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union attempt to depose Mikhail Gorbachev in a coup d’état
2016 – A six-way tie for first place occurs in the final of the equestrian individual jumping competition at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics; Nick Skelton of Great Britain wins the gold medal jump-off
2018 – Monsoon rains finally ease in Kerala State, India, with flooding taking 350 lives and 200,000 in relief camps
2023 – MLB Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Trea Turner hits two solo home runs in the same inning in a 12-3 win over the Nationals in Washington
Today in History for 19th August 2025
Historical Events
1493 – Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I becomes Archduke of Austria on the death of his father and co-ruler Frederick III
1912 – Percy Grainger’s orchestral piece “Shepherd’s Hey” premieres
1981 – Two US Navy F-14 jet fighters shoot down two Soviet-built Libyan SU-22s
1987 – Hungerford Massacre, England: Michael Ryan kills 16 people with an assault rifle and then commits suicide
1993 – Dow Jones Industrial Average hits record high of 3612.13
Famous Birthdays
1899 – Charlie Hall, English comedic actor (Tit for Tat, A Chump at Oxford), born in Birmingham, England (d. 1959)
1902 – Ogden Nash, American humorous poet (I’m a Stranger Here Myself, Masquerade Party), born in Rye, New York (d. 1971)
1971 – Mary Joe Fernández, American tennis player, broadcaster (Olympic gold 1992, 96), born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic
1971 – João Pinto, Portuguese football player, born in Porto, Portugal
1987 – Patrick Chung, Jamaican-American NFL player (New England Patriots), born in Kingston, Jamaica
Famous Deaths
1601 – Michael the Brave, Prince of Wallachia and Moldovia (Romanian national hero), assassinated at 42 or 43
1856 – Charles Frédéric Gerhardt, French chemist, dies at 39
1892 – František Zdeněk Skuherský, Czech composer, dies at 62
1957 – David Bomberg, English painter, dies at 66
2023 – Gloria Coates, American post-minimalist composer (“Music on Open Strings”), dies of pancreatic cancer at 89
Famous Deaths for 18th August 2025
1803 – James Beattie, Scottish poet and philosopher (Essay on Truth), dies at 67
1916 – Edward D Pain, English journalist (NY World), dies in battle at 36
1952 – Alberto Hurtado Cruchaga, Chilean Jesuit saint (b. 1901)
1968 – Arthur Marshall, American ragtime piano player and composer (“Swipesy Cakewalk” with Scott Joplin; “The Peach”), dies at 86
1980 – Norman Cazden, American composer, educator, and music theorist, dies at 65
1996 – Hugo Gabriel Gryn, British Reform rabbi, dies at 66
2007 – Michael Deaver, Reagan Administration Deputy White House Chief of Staff, dies at 69
2017 – Zoe Laskari, Greek actress, dies at 72
2023 – Garry Adey, English rugby union number 8 (2 Tests; Leicester Tigers 381 games) and businessman (Executive Chairman The Adey Group), dies at 78
2024 – Phil Donahue, American Emmy Award-winning daytime TV talk show host (The Phil Donahue Show), dies at 88
Historical Events for 18th August 2025
1217 – First historical record of Scottish scholar Michael Scot, signs and dates his translation of al-Bitruji’s “On the Sphere” in Toledo, Spain
1587 – Saul Wahl is elected King of Poland (according to legend)
1605 – Spanish army under of general Spinola conquers Lingen
1931 – Lou Gehrig is hitless in Detroit in his 1,000th consecutive game
1934 – US National Championship Women’s Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Helen Jacobs beats fellow American Sarah Palfrey Cooke 6-1, 6-3 for her third straight US singles title
1981 – Jerry Lewis appears on “Donahue” to defend telethons
2008 – Emulating the Chinese women, the men win the team table tennis gold medal at the Beijing Olympics without losing a match, winning all 10 singles and all 5 doubles matches
2021 – MLB Los Angeles Angels pitcher Shohei Ohtani becomes the fastest player in team history to reach 40 home runs in a season and also pitches 8 innings in a 3-1 win at Detroit
Today in History for 18th August 2025
Historical Events
1418 – Competition is announced to design the dome of Florence Cathedral, with main competitors Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi (supported by Cosimo de’ Medici)
1858 – Netherlands and Japan sign a trade agreement
1965 – Orioles’ Brooks Robinson hits into his third career triple play, tying George Sisler, Deacon McGuire, and Joe Start
1989 – ArenaBowl III takes place at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit: Detroit Drive defeats Pittsburgh Gladiators 39-26, with George LaFrance as MVP
2019 – 1.7 million people participate in a peaceful pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong, representing a quarter of the population
Famous Birthdays
1657 – Ferdinando Galli Bibiena, Italian architect and designer, born in Bologna, Italy (d. 1743)
1954 – Umberto Guidoni, Italian astrophysicist and writer (STS 75), born in Rome, Italy
1964 – Andi Deris, German heavy metal vocalist (Helloween, 1994-present), born in Karlsruhe, West Germany
1966 – Kang Soo-yeon, South Korean actress (The Surrogate Woman, Come Come Come Upward), born in Seoul, South Korea (d. 2022)
1981 – Jon Schneck, American rock guitarist (Relient K, 2005-present), born in Eustis, Florida
Famous Deaths
440 – Sixtus III, Italian Pope (432-40), dies
1652 – Benjamin G Cuyp, historical painter, dies at about 40
1942 – Erwin Schulhoff, Czech-Russian composer and pianist (Ogelala), dies of tuberculosis at 48 in a German concentration camp in Wülzburg, Bavaria
1981 – Anita Loos, American screenwriter, novelist (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) and playwright, dies at 88
2006 – Fernand Gignac, Canadian singer and actor (b. 1934)
Famous Deaths for 17th August 2025
1676 – Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen, German writer (Simplicius Simplicissimus), dies
1865 – Johann Nepomuk Poissl, Bavarian composer, dies at 82
1896 – Bridget Driscoll, 1st person in Great Britain to die in an auto-accident
1966 – Michael Garrison, American TV producer (Crowded Sky), dies after a fall at 43
1971 – Wilhelm List, German field marshal during World War II who was convicted of war crimes, dies at 91
1990 – Pearl Bailey, American Tony and Emmy Award-winning stage and screen actress, singer and dancer (Hello, Dolly!), dies of a heart attack at 72
1995 – “Wild Bill” Davis, American jazz pianist, organist, and arranger, dies at 76
1998 – Tadeusz Slusarski, Polish track and field athlete (b. 1950)
2008 – Franco Sensi, Italian oil tycoon and president of A.S. Roma, dies at 82
2020 – Boyd Grant, American college basketball coach (PCAA Coach of the Year 1978, 81, 82; Fresno State, Colorado State), dies from a stroke at 87