Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1930 – Cricket master batsman Don Bradman scores 236 for Australia v Worcestershire in his first 1st class innings in England
1947 – Cleveland Indians abandon League Park (venue for weekday games) to play all MLB games at Municipal Stadium
1972 – North Vietnamese troops occupy Quang Tri Activities Committee
1989 – 135 acre Disney’s MGM studio theme park officially opens to public in Lake Buena Vista, Florida
2019 – UK Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson fired over leaking information about Huawei deal from a UK National Security Council meeting by Theresa May
2022 – Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says Adolf Hitler “had Jewish blood” in interview on Italian TV, prompting outrage from Israel

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Famous Birthdays

1238 – Magnus VI Lagabuter, King of Norway (1263-80), born in Tønsberg, Norway (d. 1280)
1896 – J. Lawton Collins, American general, born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1987)
1910 – Cliff Battles, American College/Pro Football HOF halfback (West Virginia Wesleyan College; 3 x First-Team All-Pro; NFL rushing yards leader 1932, 37; Boston Braves/Redskins, Washington Redskins), born in Akron, Ohio (d. 1981)
1941 – Barbara Barendrecht [BHM Wurfbain], actress (Dirty Picture)
1947 – Carlos Ward, rocker (B T Express)
1986 – Christian Benítez, Ecuadorian soccer striker (58 caps; El Nacional, Santos Laguna, América), born in Quito, Ecuador (d. 2013)

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Famous Deaths

1277 – Stefanus IV Uros I de Great, King of Serbia (1243-76), dies
1903 – Arthur Haygarth, English cricket batsman (Middlesex and Surrey, cricket historian), dies at 77
1941 – John R Locksmith de Brown, vicar/CHU-politician, dies at 71
1965 – Leo Spies, Russian-born German composer, dies at 65
2014 – Juan de Dios Castillo, Mexican soccer coach (Copa Centroamericana 2011 Honduras; El Salvador), dies of skin cancer at 63
2014 – Assaf Dayan, Israeli actor (He Walked Through the Fields), dies at 68

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Historical Events

311 – Roman Emperor Galerius issues Edict of Toleration, ending persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire
1492 – Christopher Columbus is given royal commission by Spanish monarchs Isabella I and Ferdinand II to equip his fleet to the New World
1506 – Philip of Burgundy and England sign trade agreement
1789 – George Washington is inaugurated as the first President of the United States of America at Federal Hall in NYC
1947 – Boulder Dam renamed in honor of Herbert Hoover
1958 – Ted Williams is 10th major league player to get 1,000 extra-base hits

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Famous Birthdays

1919 – Valeer van Kerkhove, Flemish writer (De Bungalow), born in Sleidinge, Belgium (d. 1982)
1949 – Phil Garner, American baseball player and manager (Astros), born in Jefferson City, Tennessee
1959 – Stephen Harper, 22nd Prime Minister of Canada (2006-15), born in Toronto, Ontario
1963 – Steve Smith, NHL defenseman (Chicago Blackhawks), born in Glasgow, Scotland
1977 – Pell James, American actress, born in Virginia
1980 – Sam Heughan, Scottish actor (Outlander), born in Balmaclellan, Scotland

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Famous Deaths

65 – Lucan, Roman poet (Bellum Civile), forced to commit suicide after taking part in attempt to overthrow Emperor Nero dies at 25
1942 – Catherine Murphy Urner, American composer, dies at 51
1970 – Jacob Presser, Dutch historian and writer (Ashes in the Wind), dies at 71
1973 – Josie Sedgwick, American actress (The Best Man, Queen of the Round-Up), dies of stroke at 75
1974 – Agnes Moorehead, American actress (Endora in Bewitched), dies of uterine cancer at 73
2005 – Ron Todd, TGWU General Secretary (1985 – 1992) (b. 1927)

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Historical Events

1922 – 1st official International Weightlifting Federation Champ in Tallinn, Estonia
1991 – Earthquake in Georgia, kills 100
1992 – Sheena Easton collapses on stage while performing in “Man of LaMancha”
2006 – NFL Draft: North Carolina State defensive end Mario Williams first pick from Houston Texans
2019 – Sports Illustrated features a Muslim model, Halima Aden, in a Burkini for the first time in their swimsuit edition
2019 – Indonesia is plans to relocate its capital from Jakarta due to the city sinking, according to a government minister

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Famous Birthdays

1896 – Walter Mehring, German writer (Die Gedichte, Lieder und Chansons des Walter Mehring), born in Berlin, Germany (d. 1981)
1927 – (Cecil James) “Big Jay” McNeely, American RandB saxophonist, born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2018)
1929 – [John] Jeremy Thorpe, British politician, Leader of the Liberal Party (Norman Scott scandal), born in London, England (d. 2014)
1929 – April Stevens [Caroline LoTempio], American vocalist (“Deep Purple” – the song, not the band), born in Niagara Falls, New York (d. 2023)
1960 – Joseph Guzaldo, American actor (Stir Crazy), born in Chicago, Illinois
1978 – Bob Bryan, American professional tennis player (23 x Grand Slam Doubles titles; Olympic gold 2012; 4 x ATP Tour Finals; Davis Cup 2007), born in Oxnard, California

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Famous Deaths

852 – Amalarius [Fortunatus] Frankish Bishop of Metz and Lyon, dies at 76
1943 – Karl Adrian Wohlfart, Swedish composer, dies at 68
1996 – David William Eric Davis, broadcaster, dies at 87
2010 – Johannes Fritsch, German composer, dies at 68
2015 – Calvin Peete, American golfer (12 PGA Tour titles), dies of lung cancer at 71
2020 – Irrfan Khan, Indian film producer and actor (Paan Singh Tomar, Slumdog Millionaire, Life of Pi), dies of cancer at 53

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Historical Events

1253 – -May 7th) Utrecht destroyed by fire
1865 – Giacomo Meyerbeer’s opera “L’Africaine” premieres in Paris
1901 – Cleveland’s Bock Baker gives up a record 23 singles as White Sox beat Blues (Cleveland Blues!) 13-1
1919 – American stuntman and parachute developer Leslie Irvin (23) makes first premeditated free-fall parachute jump from a plane above US the Army Air Service’s McCook Field near Dayton, Ohio
1971 – Dutch social democratic party/D’66/DS’70 win parliamentary election
1988 – Baltimore Orioles lose AL record 21 games in a row

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Famous Birthdays

1753 – Franz K. Achard, German physicist and chemist, born in Berlin (d. 1821)
1902 – Johan Borgen, Norwegian author (Lillelord), born in Kristiana, Norway (d. 1979)
1944 – Elizabeth LeCompte, American theater director (founding member of The Wooster Group), born in New Jersey
1964 – Noriyuki Iwadare, Japanese video game music composer, born in Matsumoto City, Nagano, Japan
1979 – Bahram Radan, Iranian actor (The Passion of Love), born in Tehran, Iran
1986 – George [Nozuka], Canadian-Japanese RandB singer-songwriter (“Talk To Me”), born in New York City

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Famous Deaths

1109 – Saint Hugh of Cluny, 6th abbot of Cluny, dies at 84
1974 – Paul Page, American actor (Girl From Havana, Moth), dies at 70
1993 – Jim Valvano, American basketball coach (NC State), dies of cancer at 47
1997 – Ann Lane Petry, American journalist and author (Street), dies at 88
2000 – Jerzy Einhorn, Polish-Swedish doctor, researcher and politician, dies at 74
2016 – Jenny Diski, English writer (Stranger on a Train), dies of cancer at 68

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Historical Events

1942 – Belgian Jews are forced to wear stars
1950 – South Africa passes Group Areas Act segregating races
1973 – KC Royals pitcher Steve Busby no-hits Detroit Tigers, 3-0
1983 – Nolan Ryan becomes strikeout king (3,509), passing Walter Johnson
2018 – German leader Angela Merkel has a 1-day trip to Washington, DC, meeting US President Donald Trump
2019 – Pope Francis donates $500,000 for migrants stranded in Mexico trying to reach the US

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Famous Birthdays

1904 – Arthur F. Burns, American economist and chairman (Federal Reserve Board), born in Stanislau, Austria-Hungary (d. 1987)
1942 – John Shrapnel, English actor, born in Birmingham, Warwickshire
1962 – Edvard Moser, Norwegian psychologist and neuroscientist (2014 Nobel Prize for Physiology for discovery of place cells), born in Ålesund, Norway
1976 – Isobel Campbell, Scottish singer and composer, born in Glasgow, Scotland
1984 – Frank Carter, British musician (Gallows) and tattooist, born in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England
1987 – William Moseley, British actor (The Chronicles of Narnia – Peter Pevensie), born in Sheepscombe, Gloucestershire, England

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Famous Deaths

630 – King Ardashir III of Persia, Sasanian shah of Iran, dies at 9
1873 – William Charles Macready, British actor, manager, and diarist, dies at 80
1937 – Antonio Gramsci, Italian philosopher and Marxist theorist, dies at 46
1988 – David Scarboro, British actor, dies at 20
1999 – Cyril Washbrook, English cricket batsman (37 Tests, 6 x 100, HS 195; Lancashire CCC), dies at 84
2022 – Judy Henske, American folk singer (High Flying Bird), dies at 85

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Historical Events

1848 – Alfred Russel Wallace departs the U.K. for South America, beginning four years of travel, collecting, and research in the region
1904 – Bell Telephone Company of Antwerp Belgium forms
1925 – Artist Diego Rivera resigns from the Mexican Communist Party
1991 – 23 killed in Kansas and Oklahoma by tornadoes
2018 – Serial killer “Golden State Killer” identified after 40 years as a former police officer, responsible for 12 killings, 50 rapes in California
2022 – Russia says it will stop supplying gas to Poland and Bulgaria, after the countries refused to pay in rubles, escalating the energy supply standoff between Russia and Europe

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Famous Birthdays

1798 – Eugène Delacroix, French painter and etcher (Journal), born in Charenton-Saint-Maurice, Île-de-France, France (d. 1863)
1827 – Charles Edward Hovey, American lobbyist and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Thetford, Vermont (d. 1897)
1863 – Charles Haslewood Shannon, English lithographer and painter, born in Sleaford, Lincolnshire (d. 1937)
1883 – Harry Sothern, British actor (Blind Wives, Buck Rogers), born in London, England (d. 1957)
1922 – Mike Kellin [Myron Kellin], American actor (Pipe Dream, American Buffalo), born in Hartford, Connecticut (d. 1983)
1981 – Caro Emerald [Caroline van der Leeuw], Dutch singer (“On A Night Like This”), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands

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Famous Deaths

1660 – Elizabeth Charlotte of the Palatinate, German princess and consort of Brandenburg as the wife of George William, dies at 62
1944 – Violette Morris, French athlete and spy for Nazi Germany, dies at 51
1976 – Allan Jackson, American newscaster (Youth Takes a Stand), dies at 60
1986 – Bessie Love, American actress (Broadway Melody, Isadora), dies at 87
1989 – Lucille Ball, American comedienne and actress (I Love Lucy; Mame), dies of a heart attack at 77
1991 – Leo Arnaud, French-American composer (Bugler’s Dream), dies at 86

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Historical Events

1792 – “La Marseillaise”, later the national anthem of France, is composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg
1945 – Clandestine Radio 1212, used to hoax Nazi Germany’s final transmission
1945 – 45 countries convene UN Conference on Intl Organization in San Francisco
1983 – Portugal’s Mário Soares’ Partido Socialista wins parliamentary election
1993 – NFL Draft: Washington State quarterback Drew Bledsoe first pick by New England Patriots
2018 – Danish inventor Peter Madsen found guilty of killing and desecrating body of journalist Kim Wall aboard submarine, sentenced to life imprisonment

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Famous Birthdays

1824 – Gustave Boulanger, French painter, born in Paris (d. 1888)
1897 – Paula Trueman, American actress (Dirty Dancing), born in NYC, New York (d. 1994)
1906 – Zoltán Gárdonyi, Hungarian composer, born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 1986)
1907 – Vasily Pavlovich Solov’yov-Sedoy, Russian composer, born in Saint Petersburg, Russia (d. 1979)
1969 – Gina Torres, American actress (Firefly, Suits), born in NYC, New York
1977 – Matthew West, American Christian musician and singer (“Happy”), born in Downers Grove, Illinois

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Famous Deaths

1926 – Ellen Key, Swedish author and feminist (Courageous Woman), dies at 76
1960 – Ilmari Krohn, Finnish composer, dies at 92
1988 – Carolyn Franklin, American singer-songwriter, sister of Aretha, dies of cancer at 43
2013 – Jacob Avshalomov, Russian-American composer (Symphony of Songs; The Oregon), conductor (Portland Youth Philharmonic, 1954-91), and pedagogue, dies at 94
2013 – Virginia Gibson, American actress, dies at 88
2020 – Richard Divila, Brazilian motorsports designer (Fittipaldi Automotive; Ligier, Nissan), dies at 74

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Historical Events

1823 – Eugene Scribes opera “Le Menteur Veridique” premieres in Paris
1899 – Transvaal British Uitlanders ask Queen Victoria for aid
1917 – Yankee lefty George Mogridge no-hits Red Sox 2-1 at Fenway
1969 – Car firm British Leyland launch the Austin Maxi in Oporto Portugal
2007 – Iceland announces that Norway will shoulder the defense of Iceland during peacetime
2018 – Ed Sheeran’s “÷” is the best-selling album of 2017, selling 6.1 million copies, according to IFPI

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Famous Birthdays

1706 – Giovanni Battista Martini, Italian Conventual Franciscan friar and composer, born in Bologna, Italy (d. 1784)
1766 – Robert Bailey Thomas, American journalist and founder (The Farmer’s Almanac), born in Grafton, Massachusetts (d. 1846)
1845 – Carl Spitteler, Swiss poet (Prometheus and Epimetheus; Nobel 1919), born in Liestal, Switzerland (d. 1924)
1927 – Seymour Bernstein, American concert pianist, teacher, and composer, born in Newark, New Jersey
1933 – Claire Davenport, English actress (The Elephant Man), born in Sale, Cheshire, England (d. 2002)
1945 – Larry Tesler, American computer scientist (invented copy, cut, paste), born in The Bronx, New York (d. 2020)

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Famous Deaths

1185 – Antoku Taira, emperor of Japan (1180-85), drowns
1928 – Ferdinand Hummel, German composer, dies at 72
1998 – Mel Powell [Epstein], American composer (Duplicates: A Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra – Pulitzer Prize for Music, 1990), dies from liver cancer at 75
2004 – Estée Lauder [Josephine Esther Mentzer], American entrepreneur (Estée Lauder cosmetics), dies of cardiopulmonary arrest at 97
2016 – Jan Henrik Kayser, Norwegian concert pianist (Grieg Prize, 1978), dies at 83
2017 – Benjamin Barber, American political theorist (Jihad vs. McWorld), dies at 77

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Historical Events

1798 – Dutch emperor accepts new Constitution
1919 – US Major League Baseball opens a reduced 140-game season
1959 – 1st heliport in Britain opens in London
1967 – Soyuz 1 launched; Vladimir Komarov becomes 1st in-flight casualty
1969 – ABC Masters Bowling Tournament won by Jim Chestney
1997 – 32nd Academy of Country Music Awards: Brooks and Dunn, George Strait, and Patty Loveless win

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Famous Birthdays

1629 – Jan Commelin, Dutch botanist and director of Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, born in Leiden, Netherlands (d. 1692)
1747 – Abbé Alexandre-Auguste Robineau, French composer and painter, born in Paris (d. 1828)
1908 – Myron Waldman, American animator (Fleischer Studio), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2006)
1948 – Pascal Quignard, French author (Les Ombres), born in Verneuil-sur-Avre, Eure, France
1949 – Joyce DeWitt, American actress (Janet Wood-Three’s Company), born in Wheeling, West Virginia
1988 – Alistair Brownlee, British triathlete (Olympic gold 2012, 16), born in Dewsbury, England

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Famous Deaths

1014 – Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, dies in battle at Clontarf
1728 – Tomas de Torrejon y Velasco, Spanish composer based in Peru, dies at 83
1880 – Raden Saleh [Raden Saleh Sjarif Boestaman], Indonesian romantic painter, dies at about 69
1915 – Rupert Brooke, British WW I poet (Lithuania, The Soldier), dies at 27
1929 – Rudolf Nilsen, Norwegian poet (Hverdagen), dies of tuberculosis at 28
2006 – Susan Browning, American actress (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman – “Pat”), dies at 65

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Historical Events

1526 – 1st slave revolt in North America at San Miguel de Gualdape, a Spanish settlement (now part of South Carolina)
1964 – World’s Fair at Flushing Meadow, Corona Park, NY opens
1983 – Stern mag announces major historical find-discovery of 60 volume personal diaries written by Adolf Hitler (turned out to be a hoax)
2010 – NFL Draft: Oklahoma quarterback Sam Bradford first pick by St. Louis Rams
2018 – Monte Carlo Tennis Masters: Rafael Nadal beats Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-2 to extend his Open-era record for most wins at the same event (11)
2019 – Marvel film “Avengers: Endgame” directed by Anthony and Joe Russo starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans and an ensemble cast, premieres in Los Angeles

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Famous Birthdays

1844 – Lewis Powell, American Confederate soldier who was part of the conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln and who attempted to kill Secretary of State William H. Seward, born in Randolph, Alabama (d. 1865)
1935 – Dick Conway, New Zealand rugby union flanker/#8 (10 Tests; Otago RFU, Bay of Plenty RU), born in Whakatāne, New Zealand (d. 2022)
1939 – Jason Miller, American actor and writer (Exorcist, Light of Day), born in Scranton, Pennsylvania (d. 2001)
1967 – Sherri Shepherd, American comedian, actress, and television personality The View, 2007-14), born in Chicago, Illinois
1969 – Bobby Olive, NFL wide receiver (Indianapolis Colts)
1978 – Jason Stollsteimer, American singer (The Von Bondies)

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Famous Deaths

1833 – Richard Trevithick, English inventor (steam locomotive), dies at 62
1883 – Octave Fouque, French pianist and composer, dies at 38
1951 – Stanley Ridges, British-born actor (possessed, Sgt York, Mr Ace), dies at 59
1967 – Tom Conway {Sanders], British radio and screen actor (The Falcon’s Brother; I Cheated The Law; The Betty Hutton Show), dies of cirrhosis of the liver at 62
1990 – Albert Salmi, American stage and screen character actor (Caddyshack; The Brothers Karamazov; Bus Stop), kills terminally ill wife and self at 62
2001 – Ludvig Nielsen, Norwegian organist, composer, choir director, and conductor (Nidaros Cathedral, 1935-76), dies at 95

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