Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1886 – 1st US alternating current power plant starts, Great Barrington, Massachusetts
1945 – Erich Honnecker and Erich Hanke flee Nazis
1951 – Trial of Julius Rosenberg and his wife Ethel Rosenberg begins for providing top-secret information to the Soviet Union
1967 – Former union leader Jimmy Hoffa enters Lewisburg Federal Prison
1974 – An unnamed Italian industrialist loses a record $1,920,000 at roulette over 5 hours in Monte Carlo Casino
1994 – Referendum in Moldova results in the electorate voting against possible reunification with Romania.

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Famous Birthdays

1918 – Howard McGhee, American be-bop jazz trumpeter, born in Tulsa, Oklahoma (d. 1987)
1941 – Ann Winterton, British MP
1951 – Gerrie Knetemann, Dutch road cyclist (World Road Race Champion 1978; Amstel Gold Race 1974, 85), born in Amsterdam, New Holland (d. 2004)
1962 – Alison Nicholas, English golfer (US Open 1997), born in Gibraltar
1971 – Roger Salkeld, pitcher (Cincinnati Reds), born in Burbank, California
1977 – Marcus Thames, American baseball player

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Famous Deaths

1836 – Davy Crockett, American frontiersman, adventurer and politician, killed at the Battle of the Alamo at 49
1878 – Julius Caesar, English cricket batsman (first English tours to North America 1859-60, Australia and NZ 1864-5; Surrey CCC), dies from dropsy at 47
1962 – Rezső Kókai, Hungarian pianist, composer, musicologist, and pedagogue, dies at 56
1984 – Ian Cromb, New Zealand cricketer (5 Tests for NZ, 123 runs, 8 wkts), dies at 78
1994 – Tengiz Abuladze, Soviet Georgian filmmaker (Repentence), dies at 70
1996 – Stanley Booth-Clibborn, British Anglican Bishop of Manchester, dies at 71

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Historical Events

1820 – Dutch city of Leeuwarden forbids Jews to go to synagogues on Sundays
1912 – Italian forces are the first to use airships for military purposes, using them for reconnaissance behind Turkish lines.
1935 – 1st premature baby health law in US (Chicago)
1936 – Spitfire makes its 1st flight (Eastleigh Aerodrome in Southampton)
1985 – 38th British Film and Television Awards (BAFTAs): “The Killing Fields” Best Film, Wim Wenders Best Director
1994 – PBA National Championship won by David Traber

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Famous Birthdays

1870 – Frank Norris, journalist and writer (McTeague, Octopus), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1902)
1897 – Soong Mei-ling [Madame Chiang Kai-shek], Chinese political figure and First Lady of the Republic of China (1948-75), born in Shanghai (d. 2003)
1922 – James Noble, American actor (Benson, 1776, Airplane II: The Sequel), born in Dallas, Texas (d. 2016)
1939 – Terry Curry, English multi-millionaire
1942 – Felipe González, Prime Minister of Spain, 1982-96, born in Seville
1946 – Richard Bell, Canadian musician (Full Tilt Boogie Band), born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 2007)

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Famous Deaths

1576 – Don Luis de Requesens y Zuniga, viceroy of Neth (1573-76), dies at 70
1611 – Shimazu Yoshihisa, Japanese warlord and samurai (b. 1533)
1873 – Marie-Alexis Castillon de Saint-Victor, French composer, dies at 34
1955 – Antanas Merkys, President of Lithuania (b. 1888)
1991 – Trijntje Jansma-Boskma, oldest person in Netherland, dies at 109
2018 – Kjerstin Dellert, Swedish opera singer, dies at 92

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Historical Events

1863 – Territory of Idaho established
1925 – US President Coolidge’s inauguration broadcast live on 21 radio stations
1968 – Orbiting Geophysical Observatory 5 launched
1979 – US Voyager I photo reveals Jupiter’s rings
1980 – Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) comes to power, winning the parliamentary election in Zimbabwe, making Mugabe Zimbabwe’s first black prime minister
2019 – US Democrats announce a wide-ranging corruption investigation into President Donald Trump

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Famous Birthdays

1900 – Herbert Biberman, American screenwriter (d. 1971)
1931 – Wally Bruner, American broadcast journalist (ABC News), and TV host (What’s My Line?, 1968-72), born in Ames, Iowa (d. 1997)
1936 – Jim Clark, Scottish auto racer (Indianapolis 500 1965; F1 World Champion 1963, 65), born in Kilmany, Fife, Scotland (d. 1968)
1948 – James Ellroy, American crime writer (L.A. Confidential), born in Los Angeles, California
1962 – Brant Ian Woodward, New Zealand trap shooter (Olympics 1996), born in Hurstville, New Zealand
1966 – Grand Puba [Maxwell Dixon], American rapper (Grand Nubian), born in New Rochelle, New York

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Famous Deaths

1866 – Alexander Campbell, Irish-American clergyman and Founder of Disciples of Christ, dies at 77
1915 – William Willett, British inventor of Daylight Saving Time, dies of influenza at 58
1945 – Mark Sandrich [Goldstein], American film director, writer and producer (The Gay Divorcee; Top Hat; Holiday Inn), dies of a heart attack at 44
1977 – Toma Caragiu, Romanian actor (b. 1925)
2009 – George McAfee, American football player, NFL halfback (Chicago Bears), dies at 90
2011 – Arjun Singh, Indian politician (b. 1930)

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Historical Events

1638 – Duke Bernard of Saxe-Weimar occupies Rheinfelden
1821 – American tailor and inventor Thomas L. Jennings (30) receives US patent for his “dry-scouring” process. the forerunner of today’s modern dry-cleaning
1959 – San Francisco Giants rename their stadium Candlestick Park
1962 – British Antarctic Territory forms
1985 – “Moonlighting” with Cybill Shepard and Bruce Willis premieres on ABC TV in the US
1991 – United Airlines 737 crashes near Colorado Springs, kills 25

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Famous Birthdays

1886 – (Reginald Owen) R.O. Morris, British composer and music teacher, born in York, England (d. 1948)
1920 – James Doohan, Canadian actor (Star Trek), born in Vancouver, British Columbia (d. 2005)
1933 – Alfredo Landa, Spanish actor (The Crach, Sinatra), born in Pamplona, Spain (d. 2013)
1940 – Germán Castro Caycedo, Colombian writer and journalist
1951 – Lindsay Cooper, British bassoonist, oboe player, and composer (Henry Cow; News from Babel), born in Hornsey, North London, England (d. 2013)
1981 – Sung Yu Ri, South Korean singer and actress

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Famous Deaths

1965 – Carlo Gatti, Italian musicologist (Verdi), dies at 88
1988 – Lois Wilson, American silent and sound screen actress (Miss Lulu Bett; The Great Gatsby; The Covered Wagon: Bright Eyes), dies of pneumonia at 72
1993 – Carlos Montoya, American flamenco guitarist (Suite Flamenco 1966), dies at 89
2004 – Cecily Adams, American actress and casting director (b. 1958)
2012 – Leonardo Cimino, Italian-American actor (The Monster Squad, V, Dune, Waterworld, Hudson Hawk), dies from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease at 94
2012 – Alex Webster, American football coach (NY Giants), dies at 80

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Historical Events

1121 – Dirk VI becomes count of Holland
1903 – Martha Washington Hotel, catering to women only, opens in NYC
1941 – World War II: First German military units enter Bulgaria after it joined the Axis Pact.
1946 – Kingman Douglass becomes deputy director of CIA
1959 – Ceremony to mark the start of construction of the Sydney Opera House at Bennelong Point, Sydney
1970 – American Airlines’ 1st flight of a Boeing 747

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Famous Birthdays

1481 – Franz von Sickingen, German knight, born in Bad Münster am Stein-Ebernburg, Germany (d. 1523)
1908 – Fyodor Matveyevich Okhlopkov, Yakut-born Soviet sniper (d. 1968)
1917 – John Gardner, English classical composer, born in Manchester, England (d. 2011)
1963 – Tanyu Kiryakov, Bulgarian pistol shooter (Olympic gold 10m air pistol 1988, 50m pistol 2000), born in Ruse, Bulgaria
1970 – Alexander Armstrong, British comedian, TV presenter and baritone singer (Armstrong and Miller, Pointless), born in Rothbury, Northumberland
1982 – Henrik Lundqvist, Swedish ice hockey goaltender (Olympic gold 2006; NHL Vezina Trophy 2012; NY Rangers), born in Åre, Sweden

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Famous Deaths

986 – Lotharius, King of France (954-86), dies at 44
1797 – Horace Walpole, British horror writer (Castle of Otranto), dies at 79
1822 – Friedrich Christian Hermann Uber, composer, dies at 40
1868 – Carl Eberwein, German composer and violinist, dies at 81
1970 – Marc-Aurèle Fortin, Quebec painter (b. 1888)
1975 – Jean Kurt Forest, German composer, dies at 65

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Historical Events

1780 – Pennsylvania becomes 1st US state to abolish slavery (for newborns only)
1886 – The Anglo-Chinese School in Singapore is founded by Bishop William Oldham.
1953 – KTNT (now KSTW) TV channel 11 in Tacoma-Seattle, WA (IND) begins
1974 – Watergate grand jury indicts 7 presidential aides
1980 – Commonwealth Trade Union Council established
1999 – Daryll Cullinan scores South African cricket record 275no in the drawn 1st Test against New Zealand at Eden Park, Auckland; Gary Kirsten 128

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Famous Birthdays

1924 – Donald “Deke” Kent Slayton, Sparta Wisc, Major USAF/astro (Apollo 18)
1933 – Joan Hackett, American stage and screen actress (Will Penny; Only When I Laugh; Mourning Becomes Electra), born in East Harlem, NYC (d. 1983)
1952 – Steven Barnes, American writer
1966 – Paul Hollywood, English baker and TV judge (The Great British Bake Off), born in Wallasey, England
1974 – Mark-Paul Gosselaar, actor (Zack-Saved by the Bell)
1990 – Harry Eden, English actor, born in Old Harlow, Essex

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Famous Deaths

1244 – Gruffydd ap Llywelyn Fawr, son of Welsh leader Llywelyn the Great, dies trying to escape from the Tower of London (b. 1200)
1788 – Orazio Mei, Italian organist, and composer, dies at 56
1859 – Josef Theodor Krov, Bohemian composer, singer and teacher, dies at 61
1928 – Jacob Adolf Hägg, Swedish composer, dies at 77
1932 – Frank Teschemacher, American jazz clarinetist and alto-saxophonist, killed in a car accident at 25
2022 – Warner Mark [McPherson], American country music singer-songwriter (Sittin’ on a Rock (Cryin’ in a Creek)); Talkin’ to the Wall), dies at 86

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Historical Events

1784 – John Wesley charters Methodist Church
1933 – Pacifist and anti fascist writer Carl Von Ossietzky arrested, sent to Esterwegen-Papenburg concentration camp
1959 – Chicago Cardinals trade running back Ollie Matson to the LA Rams for an unprecedented 9 players
1981 – Calvin Murphy (Hou), sets NBA record with 78 consecutive free throws
1993 – 7th American Comedy Award: Jerry Seinfeld
2005 – Lebanon’s pro-Syrian prime minister, Omar Karami, resigns amid large anti-Syria street demonstrations in Beirut.

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Famous Birthdays

1820 – John Tenniel, English cartoonist and illustrator (Punch, Alice in Wonderland), born in London, England (d. 1914)
1865 – Arthur Symons, Welsh poet and critic (co-founder Savoy magazine), born in Milford Haven, Wales (d. 1945)
1957 – Ian Stanley, British rock keyboardist and songwriter (Tears For Fears, 1981-87 – “Shout”; “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”), born in Bath, England
1982 – Natalia Vodianova, Russian supermodel, born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia
1986 – Alex Tanas, Canadian pop-reggae drummer (Magic! -“Rude”), born in Toronto, Ontario
1996 – Karsten Warholm, Norwegian athlete (Olympic gold 400m hurdles WR 45.94 2021; World C’ship gold 2017, 19), born in Ulsteinvik, Møre og Romsdal, Norway

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Famous Deaths

1929 – Clemens Freiherr von Pirquet, Austrian artist (React of P), dies at 54
1956 – Emile Buisson, French murderer executed (b. 1902)
1963 – Rajendra Prasad, Indian independence activist and 1st President of India (1950-62), dies at 78
1977 – Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, American comedian and actor (The Jack Benny Program), dies at 71
1986 – Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden (1969-76, 1982-86), assassinated at 59 while walking home from the cinema with his wife
1986 – William Dollar, American ballet dancer and choreographer, dies at 79

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Historical Events

1919 – American Association for Hard of Hearing forms (NYC)
1959 – Chicago Cards trade running back Ollie Matson to LA Rams for 9 players
1967 – Rio de la Plata Treaty
1968 – CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite delivers a scathing editorial on America’s chances of winning the Vietnam War
1970 – NY Times (falsely) reports US army has ended domestic surveillance
1998 – Britain’s House of Lords agrees to end 1,000 years of male precedence by giving a monarch’s first-born daughter the same claim to the throne as any first born son

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Famous Birthdays

1691 – Edward Cave, English editor and publisher (Gentlemen’s Magazine, coined term “magazine”), born in Newton, England (d. 1754)
1832 – Alfred Pollard Edward, Civil War journalist, (d. 1872)
1921 – András Szőllősy, Hungarian composer, and musicologist (cataloged works of Béla Bartók), born in Orăştie, Hungary (d. 2007)
1947 – Ashley Woodcock, Australian cricketer (one Test Aust v NZ 1974, only knock 27), born in Adelaide, Australia
1960 – Stoney Jackson, American actor (White Shadow, Insiders), born in Richmond, Virginia
1970 – Matthias Lechner, German art director, born in Mannheim, Germany

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Famous Deaths

1906 – Samuel Pierpont Langley, American astronomer and pioneer aviator, dies at 71
1945 – HJ Lochtman, Dutch chaplain/resistance fighter, dies in Bergen-Belsen
1989 – Paul Oswald Ahnert, German astronomer, dies at 91
1994 – Harold Acton, English-Italian historian and art collector, dies at 84
2010 – Madeleine Ferron, French Canadian writer, dies at 87
2016 – George Kennedy, American actor (Cool Hand Luke, Naked Gun films), dies at 91

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Historical Events

1869 – Franz Schubert’s Symphony number 4, “The Tragic”, premieres
1918 – Stands at Hong Kong Jockey Club collapse and burn, killing 604
1923 – Italian nationalist and fascists merge (blue-shirts and black-shirts)
1933 – Golden Gate Bridge groundbreaking ceremony held at Crissy Field
1940 – US Air Defense Command forms at Mitchel Field, LI, NY
1991 – NY-NJ Knights (WLAF) players 1st come together

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Famous Birthdays

1837 – Charles Woeste, Belgian count, Minister of Justice, born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1922)
1880 – Lionel Logue, Australian speech therapist who treated King George VI (The Kings Speech), born in Adelaide (d. 1953)
1917 – Robert Taft Jr, American politician (Sen-R-Ohio), born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 1993)
1946 – Bobby “Bingo” Smith, American NBA star (Cleveland Cavaliers), born in Memphis, Tennessee
1970 – Meeno Peluce, Dutch actor (Bad News Bears), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands
1981 – Kertus Davis, American auto racer (competition director NASCAR team JD Motorsports), born in Gaffney, South Carolina

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Famous Deaths

1650 – Claude Favre de Vaugelas, Savoyard grammarian and man of letters, dies at 65
1883 – Alexandros Koumoundouros, Greek politician, Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1817)
1933 – Princess Thyra, daughter of Christian IX of Denmark (b. 1853)
1990 – Maurine Stuart, Zen teacher (head of Cambridge Buddhist Association), dies
2016 – Andy Bathgate, professional ice hockey player (New York Rangers, 1958 NHL MVP), dies at 83
2017 – Robert Allworth, Australian composer (A Different Time, A Different Place), dies at 74

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Historical Events

1862 – First Legal Tender Act 1862 is passed by the US Congress, authorizing the United States Note (greenback) into circulation, the first fiat paper money that was legal tender in America
1940 – 1st televised (W2XBS, NYC) hockey game (Rangers vs Canadians)
1957 – US Supreme Court decides 6-3, baseball is only antitrust exempt pro sport
1963 – Beatles release their 1st US single – “Please Please Me”
1971 – P Zindel’s “And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little” premieres in NYC
2021 – Chinese President Xi Jinping claims the country has eradicated extreme poverty (earning less than US$620 a year), though many observers remain skeptical about the accuracy of Chinese data due to widespread corruption and lack of transparency

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Famous Birthdays

1868 – Anthony John Blok, Dutch lawyer (strafproces), born in Hees, Netherlands (d. 1934)
1902 – Oscar Cullmann, French-Swiss Lutheran theologist (Das Petrusproblem), born in Strasbourg, Germany (d. 1999)
1918 – Bobby Riggs, American tennis player (“The Battle of the Sexes”, US Open 1939, 41), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 1995)
1934 – Robert Neame, British brewer (Shepherd Neame)
1947 – Doug Yule, American bassist and singer (Velvet Underground, 1968-73), born in Mineola, Long Island, New York
1986 – Danny Saucedo [Grzechowski], Swedish pop singer-songwriter (“Play It for the Girls”; E.M.D. – “Jennie Let Me Love You”), born in Stockholm, Sweden

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Famous Deaths

779 – Walburgis, Anglo-Saxon abbess and saint (Walpurgis Night), dies
1851 – Ferdinand Simon Gassner, Austrian composer, dies at 53
1957 – Mark Aldanov, Russian-French writer and critic (Novy Zhurnal), dies at 70
1967 – Walter “Fats” Pichon American jazz pianist, singer, and big bandleader, dies at 60
2013 – C Everett Koop, American pediatric surgeon, health administrator and 13th US Surgeon General (1982-89), dies at 96
2016 – Tony Burton, American actor (Rocky films) and boxer, dies at 78

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