Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1832 – The First Kingdom of Greece is declared in the London Conference
1923 – Stanley Baldwin succeeds Andrew Bonar Law as British Prime Minister
1988 – Power outage in Boston Garden in NHL’s Stanley Cup finals
1993 – Kim Basinger files for bankruptcy to avoid paying $7.4M settlement
2018 – Record US fentanyl seizure of 120lbs (54kg) confirmed by police in Nebraska in April, enough to kill 26 million people, one of largest drug busts in US history
2020 – Millions of cicadas in a once in 17-year event about to emerge from the earth in the US south posing crop danger and noise issues, according to scientists from Virginia Tech

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Famous Birthdays

1840 – Frederick Walker, British social realist painter, born in London (d. 1875)
1945 – Priscilla Presley, American actress (Jenna-Dallas, Naked Gun), born in Brooklyn, New York
1963 – Vivian Trimble, American alt-rock keyboardist (Luscious Jackson; Dusty Trails), born in New York City (d. 2023)
1965 – Shinichirō Watanabe, Japanese anime director (Samurai Champloo), born in Kyoto, Japan
1976 – Catherine Cox, Australian netballer, born in Whangarei, New Zealand
1979 – Tracy McGrady, American Basketball Hall of Fame forward (NBA All-Star 2001–07; NBA scoring champion 2003, 04; Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic, Houston Rockets), born in Bartow, Florida

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Famous Deaths

1136 – Hugues de Payens, French co-founder of The Knights Templar and its first Grand Master, dies at about 66
1826 – Friedrich Fesca, German violinist and composer, dies of tuberculosis at 37
1956 – Guy Kibbee, American actor (Capt Blood, Babes in Arms), dies at 74
2002 – Wallace Markfield, American writer (b. 1926)
2010 – Ray Alan, English ventriloquist and television entertainer (Lord Charles), dies at 79
2022 – Thomas Ulsrud, Norwegian curler (World C’ship gold [skip] 2014; Olympics silver 2010), dies from cancer at 50

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Historical Events

1894 – William Love hosts groundbreaking ceremonies for Love Canal
1926 – Chicago Cub’s Hack Wilson is 1st to hit a home run off Wrigley Field scoreboard
1962 – OAS leader general Raoul Salan sentenced to life
1991 – San Diego Sockers win 4th consecutive Major Soccer League championship
1997 – “King David” closes at New Amsterdam Theater NYC
2018 – Hamburg, Germany, becomes the first city to ban diesel cars on some roads

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Famous Birthdays

1710 – François Gaspard Adam, French sculptor (garden sculptures), born in Nancy, France (d. 1761)
1756 – Nicolas-Joseph Hüllmandel, Alsatian composer, born in Strasbourg, France (d. 1823)
1906 – Hellmuth Christian Wolff, German composer, teacher, musicologist and painter, born in Zürich, Switzerland (d. 1988)
1910 – Hugh Casson, English architect (Festival of Britain director, President of the Royal Academy), born in London, England (d. 1999)
1928 – Jeannie Carson [Shufflebottom], British-born comedian, actress, singer and dancer (As Long as They’re Happy; An Alligator Named Daisy), born in Yorkshire, England
1980 – Chrisl Gethard, American comedian, writer, talk show host and podcaster (Beautiful Stories From Anonymous People), born in West Orange, New Jersey

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Famous Deaths

1423 – Benedict XIII [Pedro the Luna], Spanish Pope (1394-1423), dies
1648 – Luis de Nain, painter, dies
1701 – William Kidd, Scottish pirate legend, hanged at London’s Execution Dock at about 56
1941 – Slavko Osterc, Slovenian composer (Iz Satanovega Dnevnika (From Satan’s Diary); Illusions), and pedagogue, dies at 45
1996 – Patrick Cargill, British actor (Help!, No Wreath for the General, Hammerhead), dies of a brain tumor at 77
2008 – David Mitton, British television director (b. 1939)

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Historical Events

1690 – San Francisco De Los Tejas Mission founded by the Spanish on San Pedro Creek – first Spanish mission in East Texas (later relocated)
1930 – Yankees’ future Baseball Hall of Fame 1st baseman Lou Gehrig becomes first to hit 3 HRs three times as NY outscores Philadelphia A’s, 20-13; teams combine for then-record 10 homers
1939 – Germany’s Adolf Hitler and Italy’s Benito Mussolini sign the “Pact of Steel” formalizing the 1936 alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis
1957 – South Africa’s government approves race separation in universities
1965 – Mad Dog Vachon beats Igor Vodic in Omaha, to become NWA champ
1974 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

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Famous Birthdays

1821 – Alfred Sully, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1879)
1924 – Charles Aznavour [Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavourian], French-Armenian singer (Monsieur Carnavel; She; Tin Drum), born in Paris, France (d. 2018)
1940 – E. A. S. Prasanna, Indian cricketer (one of India’s big four spinners), born in Bangalore, Kingdom of Mysore, British India
1973 – Julian Tavarez, Santiago Dom Rep, pitcher (Cleveland Indians)
1977 – Dre Bly, American Football Player
1989 – Christian Sands, American jazz pianist and composer, born in New Haven, Connecticut

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Famous Deaths

748 – Empress Genshō of Japan (b. 680)
1455 – Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, English commander (killed in battle) (b. 1406)
1856 – Jacques-Nicolas-Augustin Thierry, French historian, dies at 61
1880 – Heinrich von Gagern, German liberal politician, dies at 80
1885 – Victor Hugo, French author (Hunchback of Notre Dame, Les Miserables), dies at 83
1910 – Jules Renard, French writer (Le plaisir the rompre), dies at 46

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Historical Events

1979 – Dan White convicted of the voluntary manslaughter of San Francisco mayor George Moscone and openly gay councilor Harvey Milk. The conviction on a lesser charge outraged the gay community and led to the White Night riots.
1979 – Stanley Cup Final, Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec: 4 consecutive titles for Montreal Canadiens; beat NY Rangers, 4-1 for a 4 games to 1 series win
1983 – David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” single goes #1
2005 – 50th Eurovision Song Contest: Helena Paparizou for Greece wins singing “My Number One” in Kiev
2018 – Truckers begin a 10 strike in Brazil, blocking roads in protest at the price of diesel leading to country-wide shortages
2019 – More than 600 people, 75% children, identified as HIV in a month in Sindh province, Pakistan, thought to be due to use of infected needles

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Famous Birthdays

1843 – Louis Renault, French lawyer, born in Autun, France (d. 1918)
1901 – Horace Heidt, American orchestra leader (Swift Show Wagon), born in Alameda, California (d. 1986)
1909 – François-Albert Angers, Quebec economist (d. 2003)
1932 – Gabriele Wohmann, German writer, born in Darmstadt (d. 2015)
1967 – Rogel Nachum, Israeli Men’s triple jumper (Olympics 1996)
1987 – Ashlie Brillault, American actress (Lizzie Guire), born in San Francisco, California

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Famous Deaths

987 – Louis V, last Carlovingians King of France (966-987), dies
1686 – Otto von Guericke, German scientist, inventor, and politician, dies at 83
1894 – Emile Henry, French anarchist (b. 1872)
1968 – Doris Lloyd, English American actress (Oliver Twist), dies of heart strain at 71
1975 – Boris Klyuzner, Russian Soviet composer, dies at 65
1990 – Moelvi Mohammed Farouk, Indian spiritual leader, murdered

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Historical Events

1926 – Thomas Edison says Americans prefer silent movies over talkies
1930 – 1st airplane catapulted from a dirigible, Charles Nicholson, pilot
1956 – Atomic fusion (thermonuclear) bomb dropped from plane at Bikini Atoll
1986 – Christy Fichtner, 23, (Texas), crowned 35th Miss USA
1994 – Bobcat Goldthwait charged with misdemeanors for fire on The Tonight Show
2018 – President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela wins a second term in an election marked by boycotts and accusations of vote rigging

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Famous Birthdays

1754 – Hans Gram, Danish-born American composer (d. 1804)
1895 – R. J. [Reginald Joseph] Mitchell, English airplane designer (Supermarine Spitfire), born in Butt Lane, England (d. 1937)
1937 – Dave Hill, American golfer (13 PGA Tour titles), born in Jackson, Michigan (d. 2011)
1965 – Bruno Marie-Rose, French runner (world record 200 m indoor)
1966 – Mindy Cohn, American actress (The Facts of Life – “Natalie”), born in Los Angeles, California
1981 – Rachel Platten, American singer-songwriter (“Fight Song”), born in New York City

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Famous Deaths

1597 – Dutch commander Matthijs Heldt, dies in battle
1751 – Domingo Miguel Bernaube Terradellas, Spanish composer, dies at 38
1875 – Amalia of Oldenburg, Queen of Greece, German born consort of King Otto of Greece, dies at 58
1910 – Jean-Baptiste Theodore Weckerlin, French composer, dies at 88
1932 – Bipin Chandra Pal, Indian nationalist and freedom fighter, dies at 73
1994 – Vivien John, English painter and daughter of Augustus John, dies at 79

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Historical Events

1585 – Spain confiscates English ships
1892 – National Society of Colonial Dames of America founded
1953 – Nuclear explosion in Nevada (fall-out in St George, Utah)
1973 – “Daisy A Day” by Jud Strunk hits #14
1982 – Sophia Loren jailed in Naples, Italy for tax evasion
1999 – Lazio of Italy win 39th European Cup Winner’s Cup against Mallorca of Spain 2-1 in Birmingham

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Famous Birthdays

1927 – John Thompson, American football executive (GM Seattle Seahawks 1976-82; NFL Executive of the Year 1978), born in South Bend, Washington (d. 2022)
1934 – James Charles Lehrer, news anchor (McNeil-Lehrer Report), born in Wichita, Kansas
1953 – Dawud M. Mu’Min, American convicted murderer (d. 1997)
1953 – Shavarsh Karapetyan, Soviet Armenian finswimmer
1955 – Ed Whitson, pitcher (NY Yankees, San Diego Padres)
1992 – Sam Smith, British singer-songwriter (“Stay With Me”), born in London, England

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Famous Deaths

1895 – Jose Marti y Perez, Cuban poet (Versos sencillos) essayist and politician (fought for independence from Spain), dies fighting the Battle of Dos Rios at 42
1998 – Dorothy Donegan, American boogie-woogie, swing jazz, and classical pianist, and vocalist, dies of cancer at 76
1999 – Jonathan “Candy” Candido, American actor and radio performer (Peter Pan; The Great Mouse Detective), dies at 85
2007 – Dean Eyre, New Zealand politician (b. 1914)
2021 – Joey Cathcart, American rock guitarist (Nelson – “Love and Affection”), dies of brain cancer at 53
2021 – Alix Dobkin, American folk and feminist singer-songwriter (Lavender Jane Loves Women), dies of a brain aneurysm and stroke at 80

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Historical Events

1765 – Fire destroys a large part of Montreal, Quebec
1864 – Battle of Yellow Bayou, Louisiana (Bayou de Glaize, Old Oaks)
1871 – Warren Wagon Train raid: Native American Comanche and Kiowa warriors attack a corn train led by Henry Warren near Graham, Texas, killing 7 waggoners. William T. Sherman pursues and captures 3 leaders, Satanta (White Bear), Satank (Sitting Bear) and Addo-eta ( Big Tree).
1974 – India becomes the sixth nation to explode an atomic bomb
1980 – Mount St Helens erupts in Washington state, causing the largest landslide in history, killing 57 people and costing $1 billion in damage
1990 – Edmonton right wing Jari Kurri sets record for scoring in a Stanley Cup Finals game with 3 goals and 2 assists in 7-2 win at Boston Garden

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Famous Birthdays

1871 – Franiska [Franny] zu Reventlow, German writer and feminist, born in Husum, Germany (d. 1918)
1926 – Dirch Passer, prolific Danish actor (Going for Broke; Mig og mafiaen), born in Østerbro, Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 1980)
1951 – James Stephens, American actor (Paper Chase, Devil’s Island), born in Mount Kisco, New York
1956 – James Moginie, Australian rock musician, and songwriter (Midnight Oil – “Beds Are Burning”; “Blue Sky Mine”), born 64)
Kalamunda, Western Australia, Australia
1971 – Karyn Bye-Dietz, American ice hockey forward (Olympic Gold-1998 and Silver-2002), born in River Falls, Wisconsin
1971 – Desiree Horton, American helicopter pilot/television reporter, born in North Hollywood, California

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Famous Deaths

1410 – Rupert, King of Germany (1400-10), dies at 58
1956 – Maurice Tate, English cricket all-rounder (39 Tests, 155 wickets, 1 x 100, 5 x 50), dies at 60
1967 – Richard Ainley, British actor (I Dood It, As You Like It, Above Suspicion), dies from barbiturate poisoning at 56
1985 – Tex Terry, American actor (Apache Rose, Timberjack), dies at 82
2004 – Lincoln Kilpatrick, American actor (BJ-Leslie Uggams Show), dies at 72
2014 – Jerry Vale [Gennaro Vitaliano], American pop singer (“Arriverderci Roma”; “Have You Looked Into Your Heart”), dies at 83

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Historical Events

1527 – Pánfilo de Narváez departs Spain to explore Florida with 600 men, by 1536 only 4 are still alive
1648 – Emperor Ferdinand III defeats Maximilian I of Bavaria
1673 – Louis Jolliet and Jacques Marquette begin exploring Mississippi
1964 – First Tim Horton’s coffee and donut shop opens in Hamilton, Ontario by NHL player Tim Horton
1970 – Hank Aaron becomes 9th player to get 3,000 hits
2015 – 22nd Billboard Music Awards: Taylor Swift wins top artist and 7 other awards

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Famous Birthdays

1758 – John St Aubyn, British fossil collector, born in Golden Square, London (d. 1839)
1873 – Dorothy M. Richardson, English novelist (Pilgrimage), born in Abington, Berkshire (d. 1957)
1898 – A. J. Casson, Canadian painter (member of Group of Seven), born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 1992)
1926 – Tenniel Evans, British actor and clergyman (10 Rillington Place, My Brother’s Keeper), born in Nairobi, Kenya (d. 2009)
1931 – [Walter] Dewey Redman, American jazz saxophonist, born in Fort Worth, Texas (d. 2006)
1969 – Paige Turco, actress (Melanie-Guiding Light), born in Boston, Massachusetts

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Famous Deaths

1916 – Boris Borisovich Galitzine, Russian physicist (b. 1862)
1917 – Belva Ann Lockwood, American attorney (1st lady to argue in Supreme Court), dies at 86
1936 – Panagis Tsaldaris, twice Greek prime minister (b. 1868)
1944 – Félix Éboué, French colonial administrator, dies at 60
2010 – Yvonne Loriod, French pianist, composer (Mélopées africaines), and teacher, dies at 86
2010 – Walasse Ting, Chinese-American painter (b. 1929)

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Historical Events

1571 – German astronomer Johannes Kepler, by his own calculations, is conceived at 4:37 AM
1605 – Camillo Borghese elected to succeed Pope Leo XI, becomes Pope Paul V
1914 – Ewing Field baseball park opens near Masonic Street, San Francisco. Relocated a year later.
1940 – Nazis forbid non-professional auto workers
1968 – Earthquake kills 47 in Japan
1983 – Chinese American architect I. M. Pei is awarded the Pritzker Architecture Prize in New York

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Famous Birthdays

1824 – Levi Parsons Morton, American ambassador and politician (R) (Vice President of the United States 1889-93, Governor of New York 1895-96), born in Shoreham, New York (d. 1920)
1904 – Hugh Plaxton, Canadian ice hockey left wing (Olympic gold 1928; Montreal Maroons) and politician (House of Commons of Canada 1935-40), born in Barrie, Ontario (d. 1982)
1916 – Adriana Caselotti, voice of Snow White in Disney’s animated film, born in Bridgeport, Connecticut (d. 1997)
1946 – Roger Earl, British drummer (Foghat – “Slow Ride”), born in Hampton Court Palace, London, England
1972 – Keith Burns, American NFL linebacker (Denver Broncos-Super Bowl 32), born in Greeleyville, South Carolina
1975 – Tonéx, American singer

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Famous Deaths

1265 – Saint Simon Stock, English saint (b. 1165)
1835 – Felicia Dorothea Hemans, English-Welsh poet (“The boy stood on the burning deck”, “The stately homes of England”), dies of dropsy at 41
1971 – Barney Stanley, Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame forward (Stanley Cup 1915, Vancouver Millionaires; coach Chicago Black Hawks 1927-28), dies at 77
1983 – Carel Brons, Dutch composer, dies at 52
2001 – Brian Pendleton, English musician (The Pretty Things) (b. 1944)
2020 – Tony Yates, American college basketball point guard (National C’ship 1961, 62; Cincinnati Bearcats) and head coach (Cincinnati 1983-89), dies at 82

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Historical Events

1941 – British attack Halfaya-pass and Fort Capuzzo in Egypt and Libya
1960 – KHVO TV channel 13 in Hilo, HI (ABC) begins broadcasting
1961 – Pope John XXIII publishes encyclical Mater et Magistra
1981 – SCTV Network 90, sequel to Second City Television, debuts on NBC
1982 – 107th Preakness: Jack Kaenel aboard Aloma’s Ruler wins in 1:55.4
2007 – 42nd Academy of Country Music Awards: Kenny Chesney, Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley win

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Famous Birthdays

1773 – Klemens von Metternich, Austrian leading statesman (Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs 1809-48, host Congress of Vienna 1814-15), born in Coblenz, Archbishopric of Trier (d. 1859)
1903 – Maria Reiche, German-born mathematician and archaeologist (d. 1998)
1914 – Norman “Norrie” Paramor, British composer, arranger, pianist, bandleader, and record producer (Cliff Richard: The Shadows; Helen Shapiro), born in London, England (d. 1979)
1922 – Enrico Berlinguer, Italian communist/Secretary-General (CPI) [or May 25]
1931 – James Mitchell, American session baritone saxophone (The Memphis Horns; Stax Records), born in Memphis, Tennesee (d. 2000)
1980 – Josh Beckett, American baseball player

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Famous Deaths

1855 – Jan Mazereeuw, Frisian farmer/sect leader, dies at 75
1899 – Francisque Sarcey, French writer (Le Temps), dies at 70
1996 – Claus Bremer, German dramatist, dies at 71
1996 – George Tindley, American soul singer and songwriter, dies at 58
2003 – June Carter Cash, American Grammy Award-winning country singer (The Carter Family; Johnny Cash Show), songwriter (“Ring Of Fire”), and actress, dies from complications after heart valve replacement surgery at 73
2021 – Fred Martinelli, American College Football Hall of Fame coach (Ashland University 1959-93), dies at 92

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