Category: On This Day

Historical Events

833 – Louis the Pious, King of the Franks, performs public act of penance at the Church of Saint Medard in Soissons
1946 – Bradman scores 106 for an Australian XI v the MCC
2000 – Philippine House Speaker Manuel B. Villar, Jr. passes the articles of impeachment against Philippine President Joseph Estrada
2001 – War on Terrorism: In the first such act since World War II, US President George W. Bush signs an executive order allowing military tribunals against foreigners suspected of connections to terrorist acts or planned acts on the United States.
2001 – Doha Round: The World Trade Organization ends a four-day ministerial conference in Doha, Qatar

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Famous Birthdays

1801 – Elisabeth Ludovika of Bavaria, Queen consort of Prussia (1840-61), born in Munich, Electorate of Bavaria, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1873)
1854 – George Whitfield Chadwick, American composer (Judi Van Winke), born in Lowell, Massachusetts (d. 1931)
1874 – Henry Kolker, German-American actor and director (Holiday, Baby Face, Mad Love), born in Berlin, Germany (d. 1947)
1946 – Ray Wylie Hubbard, American country and blues-rock singer-songwriter, born in Soper, Oklahoma
1954 – Chris Noth, American actor (Sex and the City, Law and Order), born in Madison, Wisconsin

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Famous Deaths

1314 – Albert II, Margrave of Meissen
1997 – Dawud M. Mu’Min, American murderer (b. 1953)
1998 – Valerie Hobson, British actress (Great Expectations), dies at 81
1999 – Jaswick Taylor, West Indian cricket fast bowler (3 Tests, 10 wickets; 5/109 in Test debut 1958; Trinidad and Tobago), dies at 67
2017 – Bobby Doerr, American Baseball Hall of Fame second baseman (9 x MLB All Star; Boston Red Sox), dies at 99

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Historical Events

1981 – Bill C Davis’ “Mass Appeal” premieres in NYC
1986 – Roger Clemens wins AL Cy Young Award unanimously
1998 – Vice President of the United States, Al Gore, symbolically signs the Kyoto Protocol, but the US never ratifies it
2022 – US Mid-term elections: Democrats retain control of the Senate with Catherine Cortez Masto’s victory in Nevada 50-49, with run-off in Georgia still to be decided
2025 – Final US penny is minted in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; manufacturing cost of the1-cent coin, produced for 232 years, had risen to nearly 3.7 cents, an estimated 1.4 billion remain in circulation

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Famous Birthdays

1881 – Maximilian von Weichs, German aristocrat and army officer (WWII Field Marshal; WWI Cavalryman), born in Dessau, German Empire (d. 1954)
1937 – Richard H. Truly, American US Navy Rear Admiral, NASA astronaut (STS T-2, T-4, 2, 8), and administrator (Head of NASA, 1989-92), born in Fayette, Mississippi (d. 2024)
1944 – Al Michaels, American sportscaster (Miracle on Ice, American Football), born in Brooklyn, New York
1945 – Michael Bishop, American sci-fi author (Nebula, Stolen Faces), born in Lincoln, Nebraska
1961 – Greg Gagne, American MLB infielder (LA Dodgers), born in Fall River, Massachusetts

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Famous Deaths

1754 – Jacob de Wit, Dutch Rococo painter, dies at 58
1955 – Alfréd Hajós, Hungarian swimmer (Olympic gold 100/200m 1896), soccer forward (1 cap) and manager (Hungary 1906), dies at 77
2017 – Michel Chapuis, French classical organist and pedagogue, dies at 87
2021 – Bob Bondurant, American auto racer (24 Hours of Le Mans GT +3.0 1964; Shelby American, Ferrari, Eagle teams), dies at 88
2025 – Fern Michaels [Mary Kuczkir], American novelist (Weekend Warriors, Texas Rich), dies at 92

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Historical Events

1688 – Prince William of Orange’s invasion fleet sails to England
1946 – New York Knicks play their first Basketball Association of America (BAA) home game at Madison Square Garden, losing 78-68 to the Chicago Stags in overtime
1966 – NASA Gemini 12 launches on a four-day flight with Jim Lovell and Buzz Aldrin
2000 – 12th College Football Holy War: Notre Dame beats Boston College, 28-16 in South Bend
2023 – Icelandic town of Grindavík on Reykjanes peninsula evacuated after thousands of earthquakes and rising magna point to an imminent eruption

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Famous Birthdays

1907 – Joseph G. Hamilton, American physician who was a pioneer of using radioactive isotopes in disease treatment and diagnosis, born in Waverley, Massachusetts (d. 1957)
1962 – Demi Moore [Guynes], American actress (Ghost, Striptease, GI Jane), born in Roswell, New Mexico
1970 – Lee Parkin Starkey, English fashion designer, and daughter of Ringo Starr and his first wife Maureen, born in London
1976 – Lisa Gleave, American actress and model (The Price is Right), born in Queensland, Australia
1978 – Lou Vincent, New Zealand cricketer, born in Warkworth, New Zealand

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Famous Deaths

1150 – Hartbert, bishop of Utrecht (1140-50), dies
1973 – Artturi Ilmari Virtanen, Finnish Chemist, 1945 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for inventing AIV silage and a preservation method for butter, dies at 78
1982 – Gösta Törner, Swedish hot jazz and session trumpeter and bandleader, dies at 70
2007 – Delbert Mann, American television and film director (Marty, Separate Tables, A Gathering of Eagles), dies from pneumonia at 87
2010 – William Edwin Self, American actor and television producer (b. 1921)

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Historical Events

1942 – Philip Barry’s play “Without Love” premieres in NYC
1964 – Braves sign a 25-year lease to play in the new Atlanta stadium
1971 – US table tennis team arrived in China
1979 – Train detrailment in Mississauga, Ontario; a 106 car train derails causing the evacuation of 200,000 people
2019 – Death toll in demonstrations in Iraq reaches 319, with 15,000 injured since Oct 1 according to Iraqi human rights organization

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Famous Birthdays

1945 – Donna Fargo [Yvonne Vaughn], American country singer (“The Happiest Girl in Whole USA”), born in Mount Airy, North Carolina
1947 – Glen Buxton, American guitarist (Alice Cooper) and composer, born in Akron, Ohio (d. 1997)
1961 – Rudolf Grimm, Austrian physics professor (Bose–Einstein condensation of molecules), born in Mannheim, West Germany
1968 – Steve Brookstein, English singer who won the first series of The X Factor, born in Mitcham, England
1973 – Patrik Berger, Czech footballer, born in Prague, Czechoslovakia

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Famous Deaths

2000 – Jacques Chaban-Delmas, French politician, Prime Minister of France (1969-72), and 3-time President of the National Assembly, dies at 85
2006 – Fokko du Cloux, mathematician (b. 1954)
2009 – Gheorghe Dinica, Romanian actor (b. 1934)
2015 – Pat Eddery, Irish jockey (11 x British flat racing Champion Jockey; 3 x Epsom Derby), dies from a heart attack at 63
2020 – Tony Waiters, British soccer goalkeeper (5 caps; Blackpool) and manager (Canada, Plymouth Argyle, Vancouver Whitecaps), dies at 83

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Historical Events

1961 – The Beatles meet future manager Brian Epstein after a lunch time performance at The Cavern Club in Liverpool, England
1968 – Ian Paisley and Ronald Bunting lead a Loyalist march to the Diamond area of Derry, North Ireland
1985 – Russia’s Garry Kasparov, at 22, becomes the youngest World Chess Champion with a 13-11 win over fellow countryman Anatoly Karpov
1992 – Howard Stern Radio Show begins broadcast in Las Vegas, Nevada on KFBI
1999 – TAESA Flight 725 crashes a few minutes after leaving Uruapan Airport en route to Mexico City, killing 18 people

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Famous Birthdays

1898 – Leonard Carmichael, American Psychologist and secretary of the Smithsonian Institution (1953-64), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1973)
1943 – Lee Graziano, American rock drummer (American Breed), born in Chicago, Illinois
1951 – Hetty de Boer-Jongkind, Dutch medical astrologist and founder (Vakvereniging Medical Astrology), born in Amsterdam (d. 1993)
1964 – Robert Duncan McNeill, American television director and actor (Lt. Tom Paris in “Star Trek: Voyager”), born in Raleigh, North Carolina
1978 – Sisqó [Mark Althavean Andrews], American singer (Dru Hill, Unleash the Dragon), born in Baltimore, Maryland

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Famous Deaths

1801 – Carl Stamitz, German violin virtuoso, and composer, dies at 56
1809 – Paul Sandby, English cartographer and landscape painter, dies at about 78 [exact birthdate uncertain, c. 1731]
1862 – John Bordenave Villepigue, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 32
2004 – Edward “Ed” Kemmer, American actor (Space Patrol, Lux Video Theatre), dies at 83
2016 – Zoltán Kocsis, Hungarian pianist, conductor and composer, dies of cancer at 64

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Historical Events

1965 – US soap opera “Days of Our Lives” premieres
1977 – Harvey Milk becomes the first openly gay person elected to public office in California, winning a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors
1984 – NASA astronaut Anna Lee Fisher becomes the first mother to go into orbit when she flies on the STS-51A mission
1989 – Hong Kong’s MTR Lam Tin Station comes into service
2018 – Authorities report more than 150 people have been killed in week-long assault by government forces on port of Hudaydah in Yemen

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Famous Birthdays

1904 – Horace Mann Bond, American educator, administrator (President of Lincoln University (Pa), 1945-57), and historian, born in Nashville, Tennessee (d. 1972)
1921 – Douglas Townsend, American composer, born in Manhattan, New York City (d. 2012)
1924 – Joe Flynn, American character actor (McHale’s Navy – “Capt. Binghamton; The Love Bug; The Rescuers), born in Youngstown, Ohio (d. 1974)
1968 – Parker Posey, American actress (Party Girl, Superman Returns), born in Baltimore, Maryland
1991 – DanTDM [Daniel Middleton], British professional gamer and YouTube personality (The Diamond Minecraft), born in Aldershot, England

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Famous Deaths

1830 – Francis I, King of the Two Sicilies (1825-30), dies at 53
1876 – Maria Vittoria dal Pozzo, Queen consort of Spain (1870-73), dies at 29
1944 – Walter Nowotny, Austrian-born fighter pilot ace (258 aerial victories for Luftwaffe), dies in a plane crash at 23
1978 – Norman Rockwell, American artist and illustrator (Saturday Evening Post covers), dies at 84
1994 – Michael O’Donoghue, American comedy writer (SNL), dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at 54

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Historical Events

1874 – First cartoon depicting an elephant as the Republican Party symbol is published by Thomas Nast
1921 – Ed Wynn’s musical revue “The Perfect Fool” premieres in NYC
1941 – British air attacks on Berlin, Mannheim and Ruhrgebied
1954 – US spy plane shot down North of Japan
2021 – Kyle Larson holds off Martin Truex Jr in the NASCAR Cup Series Championship Race at Phoenix Raceway to earn his 10th win of the season and claim his first Cup Series championship

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Famous Birthdays

1856 – Semyon Alapin, Russian chess master, born in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire (d. 1923)
1906 – Margaret Lambert, British historian (Saar), born in Devon, England (d. 1995)
1922 – Al Hirt, jazz trumpeter (Greatest Horn in the World), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1999)
1939 – Dudu, Brazilian soccer midfielder (13 caps; Palmeiras 134 games) and manager (Palmeiras), born in Araraquara, São Paulo, Brazil (d. 2024)
1943 – Michael Spence, Canadian-American economist (Nobel 2001 – dynamics of information flows and market development), born in Montclair, New Jersey

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Famous Deaths

1560 – Peter Lotichius Secundus [Peter Lotz], Neo latin poet (Opera omnia), dies at 32
1581 – Richard Davies, Welsh bishop and scholar
1974 – Sandra Rivett, English nanny to John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan, allegedly bludgeoned to death by Mr Lucan at 29 before he mysteriously disappeared
1981 – Will Durant, American author and historian (The Story of Philosophy, The Story of Civilization), dies at 96
1982 – Salvador Contreras, Mexican composer (Grupo de los cuatro), dies at 71

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Historical Events

1940 – Franklin D. Roosevelt re-elected US President
1991 – “Moscow Circus Cirk Valentin” opens at Gershwin NYC for 32 performances
1991 – Maximus 2.0 BBS released
2012 – Green Moon wins the Melbourne Cup race at Flemington
2021 – Billie Jean King Cup Women’s Tennis, Prague: Daria Kasatkina and Liudmila Samsonova win their singles matches to guide RTF to a 2-0 win over Switzerland in inaugural BJKC version of Federation Cup

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Famous Birthdays

1558 – Thomas Kyd, English dramatist (The Spanish Tragedy), born in London (d. 1594)
1822 – Gordon Granger, American Major General during the Civil War (Union Army), born in Wayne County, New York (d. 1876)
1931 – Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Bulgarian composer, born in Sofia, Bulgaria (d. 1982)
1949 – Nigel Havers, English actor (Don’t Wait Up), born in London, England
1964 – Corey Glover, American rock guitarist and singer (Living Colour), born in Brooklyn, New York City

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Famous Deaths

1597 – Infanta Catherine Michelle of Spain [Catalina Micaela de Austria], Duchess consort of Savoy (1585-97), dies at 30
1865 – Thérèse Wartel, French pianist and composer, dies at 51
1980 – Mary Michael, American actress (Biridie-Wonderful John Acton), dies at 77
2005 – Minako Honda, Japanese singer and musical actress, dies of leukemia at 38
2021 – Peter Aykroyd, Canadian actor, comedian, and writer (SNL, 1980; PSI Factor), dies of septicemia caused by an untreated abdominal hernia at 65

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Historical Events

1883 – Edward Harrigan’s musical farce “Cordelia’s Aspirations” premieres at Theatre Comique, NYC
1883 – Battle at El Obeid Sudan: Mahdi’s army destroys Egyptian army
1989 – 20th NYC Marathon won by Juma Ikangaa in 2:08:01
1997 – Davey Johnson is named AL Manager of Year two hours after resigning from the Baltimore Orioles
2025 – Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin becomes first NHL player to score 900 career goals in a 6-1 win over the St. Louis Blues at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

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Famous Birthdays

1666 – Attilio Ariosti, Italian baroque composer (Court of Kingdom of Prussia, 1697-1703), viola d’amore player, and harpsichordist, born in Bologna, Papal States (d. 1729)
1851 – Charles Dupuy, 3 times Prime Minister of France, born in Le Puy-en-Velay, France (d. 1923)
1906 – Fred Lawrence Whipple, American astronomer (dirty-snowball theory), born in Red Oak, Iowa (d. 2004)
1977 – Tuula Puputti, Finnish ice hockey goalie (Finland, Olympics 1998), born in Kuopio, Finland
1984 – Tobias Enstrom, Swedish NHL hockey player (Atlanta Thrashers, Winnipeg Jets), born in Nordingrå, Sweden

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Famous Deaths

1942 – George M. Cohan, American father of musical comedy (Phantom President; Give My Regards to Broadway), dies of cancer at 64
1951 – Bedrich Antonin Wiedermann, Czech organist and composer, dies at 67
1954 – Oran “Hot Lips” Page, American jazz trumpeter, singer, and bandleader, dies at 46
2009 – Félix Luna, Argentine historian and lyricist, dies at 84
2021 – Charlie Burns, Canadian ice hockey forward (world champion Whitby Dunlops 1958) and coach (Minnesota North Stars), dies at 85

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Historical Events

1333 – Flood of the Arno River, causing massive damage in Florence as recorded by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani
1910 – Start of South Africa’s 1st F-C game in Aust (v S Aust). It rained
1968 – WTOG TV channel 44 in St Petersburg-Tampa, FL (IND) 1st broadcast
2003 – “Shock’n Y’all” 8th studio album by Toby Keith is released (Billboard Album of the Year 2004)
2021 – WHO says Europe is again the Epicenter for COVID-19 after cases rise 50% in a month

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Famous Birthdays

1765 – Pierre-Simon Girard, French mathematician and engineer (fluid mechanics), born in Caen, France (d. 1836)
1818 – Alexander Lawton, Brigadier General in the Confederate Army, born in Beaufort District, South Carolina (d. 1896)
1904 – Walter Bauer, German Canadian writer, born in Merseburg (d. 1976)
1950 – Markie Post, American actress (Night Court, 1984-92 – “Christine”; There’s Something About Mary), born in Palo Alto, California (d. 2021)
1978 – John Grabow, American baseball player, born in Arcadia, California

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Famous Deaths

1411 – Khalil Sultan, ruler of Transoxonia (b. 1384)
1847 – (Jacob Ludwig) Felix Mendelssohn [Bartholdy], German composer and pianist (Italian Symphony; Songs Without Words), dies after a series of strokes at 38
1869 – George Peabody, American-British entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded the Peabody Trust and the Peabody Institute, dies at 74
1987 – Raphael Soyer, Russian-born American artist (Depression scenes in NYC), dies at 87
2022 – Dow Finsterwald, American golfer (PGA Championship 1958; PGA Player of the Year 1958), dies at 93

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