Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1574 – France begins 5th “holy war” against Huguenots
1822 – Boston, Massachusetts, is incorporated as a city
1921 – 1st US transcontinental air mail flight arrives in NYC from San Francisco
1999 – Hip Hop artist Eminem releases his first major record album ‘The Slim Shady LP’ (Grammy 2000 – Rap album)
2020 – African American Ahmaud Arbery shot to death after being chased down by two white men in Brunswick, Georgia. Video of the killing emerges in May, prompting arrests.
2020 – First major COVID-19 outbreak in Europe in Italy with 152 cases and three deaths, prompting emergency measures, locking down 10 towns in Lombardy

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Famous Birthdays

1938 – Sylvia Chase, newscaster (ABC Weekend News, 20/20), born in Saint Paul, Minnesota
1953 – Satoru Nakajima, Japanese racing driver
1965 – Robert “Bob” Ferguson, American politician (Democratic Party) and Attorney General of Washington, born in Seattle, Washington
1973 – Lars-Olof Johansson, Swedish musician (The Cardigans), born in Huskvarna, Sweden
1973 – Jack Case, American artist
1994 – Dakota Fanning, American actress (I Am Sam, Man of Fire), born in Conyers, Georgia

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Famous Deaths

1669 – Lieuwe van Aitzema, Dutch historian (Matters of State and War), dies at 68
1930 – Horst Wessel, German nazi lyricist (Fahne Hoch), dies at 22
1937 – Claude Buckenham, cricketer (21 wkts in 4 Tests for Eng 1909-10), dies
1987 – Esmond Knight, British actor (Hamlet, Sleeping Murder), dies from a heart attack at 80
1992 – Jacquelyn Hyde, American actress (Dark, House of Terror), dies at 61
1994 – Stuart Berger, doctor (Immune Power Diet), dies from obesity at 40

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Historical Events

1888 – “Father of American Golf” John Reid first demonstrates golf on a Yonkers cow pasture to friends
1915 – Germany begins “unrestricted” submarine war
1932 – Purple Heart (the Badge of Military Merit) award reinstituted
1941 – Roy Harris’ “Ballad of a Railroad Man” premieres
1972 – US President Richard Nixon, meets with Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai in Beijing
1973 – US and China agree to establish liaison offices in Beijing and Washington, D.C.

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Famous Birthdays

1773 – Matthijs Ignatius van Bree, Belgian painter of historical subjects, born in Antwerp (d. 1839)
1822 – Adolf Kussmaul, German physician (stomach pump, Kuszmaul disease), born in Graben (d. 1902)
1918 – Sid Abel, Canadian NHL hockey player (1948-49 Hart Trophy), born in Melville, Saskatchewan (d. 2000)
1926 – (Alan) “Bud” Yorkin, American film and television producer and director (Divorce American Style; All in the Family; Sanford And Son), born in Washington, Pennsylvania (d. 2015)
1939 – George Haslam, British avant-garde jazz baritone saxophonist, and tárogató player, born in Preston, Lancashire, England
1969 – Thomas Jane, American actor, born in Baltimore, Maryland

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Famous Deaths

1897 – Charles Blondin, French acrobat and tight rope walker, dies at 72
1921 – Salim Al-Mubarak Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait (b. 1864)
1968 – Omer CFL Tulippe, Belgian geographer, dies at 71
1976 – Florence Ballard, American pop and RandB singer (The Supremes, 1959-67 – “Buttered Popcorn”; “Where Did Our Love Go”), dies of a heart attack at 32
1996 – Helmut Schoen, Germany football coach (manager of West Germany (1964-1978, 1974 World Cup), dies at 80
1997 – Albert Shanker, American labor leader (Amer Fed of Teachers), dies at 68

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Historical Events

1795 – Freedom of worship established in France under constitution
1902 – Dr. Harvey Cushing, 1st US brain surgeon, performs his 1st brain operation
1909 – John Galsworthy’s “Strife” premieres in London
1965 – Civil rights activist and Muslim minister Malcolm X is shot dead by Nation of Islam followers at Audubon Ballroom in New York City
1969 – 1st launching of heavy N-1 rocket at Baikonur Kazakhstan (explodes)
2017 – Plane crashes into shopping centre in Essendon, Melbourne, Australia killing the five people on board

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Famous Birthdays

1909 – Hans Erni, Swiss painter and sculptor, born in Lucerne, Switzerland (d. 2015)
1917 – Tadd Dameron, American jazz pianist, composer (“If You Could See Me Now”; “Lady Bird”), arranger (Count Basie, Jimmie Lunceford, Dizzy Gillespie, Billy Eckstine) and band leader, born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 1965)
1940 – Peter McEnery, English actor (Game is Over, Moonspinners), born in Walsall, England
1955 – Kelsey Grammer, American actor, comedian, director and activist (“Frasier Crane” in Cheers and Fraiser), born in Saint Thomas, Virgin Islands
1966 – Bronwen Booth, English actress (Andy-One Life to Live, Eternal Evil), born in London, England
1978 – Kumail Nanjiani, Pakistani American comedian, actor and writer (The Big Sick, Silicon Valley), born in Karachi, Pakistan

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Famous Deaths

1513 – Julius II, Italian Pope (1503-13) and patron of Michelangelo, Bramante and Raphael, dies at 69
1918 – Neltje Blanchan, American nature writer, dies at 52
1919 – Habibullah Khan, Emir of Afghanistan (1901-19), murdered at 46
1996 – Morton Gould, American pianist, conductor, and theatrical, screen, and concert composer (Pulitzer Prize, 1956 – Stringmusic), dies at 82
2012 – Eiko Ishioka, Japanese Costume designer, dies from pancreatic cancer at 74
2016 – Pascal Bentoiu, Romanian composer, dies at 88

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Historical Events

1953 – August A. Busch buys St. Louis Cardinals MLB club from Fred Saigh for $3.75 million; pledges not to move the team from St. Louis, Missouri
1975 – USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1980 – Soviet cross-country skier Nikolay Zimyatov wins his 2nd gold medal of the Lake Placid Winter Olympics as part of the 4 x 10k relay; also wins 30k and 50k gold
1981 – James Sanford equals 50m indoor world record (5.61 sec)
2010 – On the Portuguese Atlantic island of Madeira heavy rain causes floods and mudslides, leaving at least 32 deaths in the worst disaster on the history of the archipelago.
2013 – Estonia becomes the first country to establish a national system of fast chargers for electric cars

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Famous Birthdays

1745 – Henry James Pye, English poet, British Poet Laureate (1790-1813), born in London (d. 1813)
1896 – Henri de Lubac, French Jesuit cardinal and theologist (“new theology” movement that influenced Second Vatican Council), born in Cambrai, France (d. 1991)
1926 – Cameron Rusby, British Vice-Admiral
1927 – Sidney Poitier, Bahamian-American actor, first black actor to win Oscar for Best Actor (‘Lillies in the Field’ – 1963; To Sir With Love”; “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”), director (Stir Crazy), civil rights advocate, and diplomat, born in Miami, Florida (d. 2022)
1928 – Donald Longmore, British cardiac surgeon
1954 – Anthony Stewart Head, actor (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

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Famous Deaths

1810 – Johann Friedrich Kranz, German composer, dies at 57
1937 – Barlow Carkeek, Australian cricket wicket-keeper (6 Tests, 6 dismissals; Victoria), dies when struck by a car at 58
1980 – Joseph Banks Rhine, American parapsychologist (Extra-Sensory Perception), dies at 84
2002 – Stephen Longstreet, American writer (All or Nothing), dies at 94
2007 – F. Albert Cotton, American chemist, dies at 76
2013 – Antonio Roma, Argentinian footballer, dies at 80

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Historical Events

1771 – French astronomer Charles Messier adds M46-M49 to his catalog (galactic clusters in Puppis and Hydra and galaxy in Virgo)
1819 – British explorer William Smith discovers the South Shetland Islands, and claims them in the name of King George III
1945 – US 5th Fleet launches invasion of Iwo Jima against the Japanese with 30,000 US Marines
1985 – Canned and bottled Cherry Coke introduced by Coca-Cola
1992 – In a blockbuster NHL trade, Pittsburgh Penguins send Mark Recchi, Brian Benning and LA’s 1st round 1992 pick (Jason Bowen) to the Philadelphia Flyers for Kjell Samuelsson, Rick Tocchet and Ken Wregget
2014 – Death toll in Ukraine reaches 26 after Government crackdown on protesters

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Famous Birthdays

1920 – Jaan Kross, Estonian writer (d. 2007)
1923 – Donald Lybbert, American composer (Zap; Lines for the Fallen), and educator (Hunter College, 1954-80), born in Cresco, Iowa (d. 1981)
1940 – [William] Smokey Robinson, American soul singer-songwriter (The Miracles – “You Really Got A Hold On Me”; “Tears Of A Clown”; “My Girl”), born in Detroit, Michigan
1979 – Mariska [Anna Maria Rahikainen], Finnish rapper, born in Helsinki, Finland
1981 – Ronnie Arniell, Canadian professional wrestler
1993 – Victoria Justice, American Actress (The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody, Lola Martinez in Nickelodeon show Zoey 101)

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Famous Deaths

1545 – Pierre Brully [Peter Brulius], Calvinist minister, burned to death for teaching Protestant doctrine in Tournai
1878 – Charles-François Daubigny, French painter of the Barbizon school, dies at 61
1948 – Bob Groom, American baseball pitcher (Washington Senators; no-hitter 1917 St. Louis Browns), dies at 63
1957 – Maurice Garin, Italian-born French road bicycle racer (winner of Tour de France in 1903), dies at 85
1993 – Michael Morrison, actor (Caleb-As the World Turns), dies at 33
1994 – Derek Jarman, English filmmaker (The Tempest), artist and gay rights activist, dies of AIDS at 52

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Historical Events

1896 – Cave of Winds at Niagara Falls goes almost dry for first time in 50 yrs
1957 – Dedan Kimathi, a Kenyan freedom fighter is executed by the British colonial government.
1967 – Softball pitcher Eddie Feigner strikes out 6 straight major leaguers
1980 – East German cross country skier Barbara Petzold wins first of 2 gold medals at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics in women’s 10k; also takes gold as part of 4 x 5k relay team
1992 – American amateur astronomer Peter Collins discovers Nova Cygni 1992, observed from Boulder, Colorado
2022 – Johannes Thingnes Bø of Norway wins his 4th biathlon gold medal of the Beijing Winter Olympics when he takes out the men’s mass start

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Famous Birthdays

1770 – Johann Christian Heinrich Rinck, German composer, born in Elgersburg (d. 1846)
1867 – Hedwig Courths-Mahler, German Romantic novelist whose novels sold 80 million copies (Warbride), born in Nebra (d. 1950)
1909 – Wallace Stegner, American novelist and critic (Pulitzer-1972 for Angle of Repose), born in Lake Mills, Iowa (d. 1992)
1936 – Jozef Vengloš, Slovak soccer manager (Australia, Czechoslovakia, Malaysia, Fenerbahçe, Aston Villa, Celtic, Slovakia), born in Ružomberok, Slovakia (d. 2021)
1955 – Miles Tredinnick, English playwright, born in Warrington, United Kingdom
1967 – Colin Jackson, Welsh 100m hurdler (Olympic silver 1988), born in Cardiff, Wales

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Famous Deaths

1546 – Martin Luther, German theologian and key figure in the Protestant Reformation, dies at 62
1743 – Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici, last of the Medicis (b. 1667)
1957 – Dedan Kimathi, Kenyan freedom fighter, dies by execution at 36
1963 – Monte Blue, American silent film actor (Apache), dies of a heart attack at 73
1980 – Gale Robbins [Betty Gale Murphy], American singer and actress (Fuller Brush Girl, Mr Hex), dies of lung cancer at 58
1996 – Jack Thieuloy, French writer, dies at 64

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Historical Events

1621 – Myles Standish is elected as the first commander of the Plymouth Colony
1905 – Frances Willard becomes 1st women honored in National Statuary Hall
1954 – WAST (now WNYT) TV channel 13 in Albany-Troy, NY (NBC) 1st broadcast
1995 – Colin Fergusson found guilty of killing 6 people on the Long Island Rail Road in NY
1995 – Tiger Manager Sparky Anderson takes unpaid leave due to baseball strike
2021 – South Africa, Africa’s worst-affected country begins COVID-19 vaccinations with the one-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine in Cape Town

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Famous Birthdays

1796 – Philipp Franz von Siebold, German physician (d. 1866)
1821 – Lola Montez, Irish dancer and courtesan, born in Grange, Ireland (d. 1861)
1850 – Anton Urspruch, German composer, born in Frankfurt (d. 1907)
1895 – Anita Stewart, American silent film actress (South of Hell Mountain), producer, and mystery novelist, born in Brooklyn, NYC (d. 1961)
1913 – Oskar Danon, Yugoslav conductor (Belgrade Opera, 1944-65), born in Sarajevo, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Bosnia and Herzegovina) (d. 2009)
1963 – Larry the Cable Guy [Daniel Lawrence Whitney], American comedian (Blue Collar Comedy Tour), born in Pawnee City, Nebraska

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Famous Deaths

1841 – Ferdinando Carulli, Italian classical guitar composer (Méthode, Op. 27), dies at 71
1924 – Henry Bacon, American architect (Lincoln Memorial), dies at 57
1976 – Jean Servais, Belgian actor (Le Plaisir, Every Man is My Enemy), dies from heart failure at 65
1982 – Lee Strasberg, Austrian acting coach and actor (The Godfather: Part II, Somewhere in the Night), dies at 80
2013 – Mindy McCready, American country singer, commits suicide by gunshot at 37
2019 – Ethel Ennis, American jazz singer (If Women Ruled The World), dies of a stroke at 86

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Historical Events

1512 – Battle at Valeggio: French troops beat Venetianen
1559 – Pope Paul IV calls for deposition of sovereigns supporting heresy
1916 – The German ambassador in Washington announces that Germany will pay an indemnity for American lives lost on the Lusitania
1931 – Extreme right wing politician Pehr Evind Svinhufvud becomes President of Finland
1952 – Ian Craig makes NSW cricket debut aged 16 years 249 days (NSW record)
2016 – Former French President Nicholas Sarkozy is placed under investigation for campaign funds

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Famous Birthdays

1868 – Wilhelm Schmidt, German anthropologist and linguist (Anthropos), born in Hörde, Germany (d. 1954)
1900 – Vincent Coleman, American actor (For the Freedom of Ireland, Salome), born in Louisiana (d. 1971)
1934 – Harold “Hal” Kalin, American singer (Kalin Twins), born in Port Jervis, New York (d. 2005)
1945 – Julio Morales, Uruguayan soccer striker (24 caps; Racing Montevideo, Nacional, Austria Wien), born in Montevideo, Uruguay (d. 2022)
1971 – Marco Sas, Dutch soccer player (NAC)
1980 – Agim Kaba, American actor and film producer

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Famous Deaths

1823 – Pierre-Paul Prud’hon, French Romantic painter and draughtsman – allegorical paintings and portraits, dies at 64
1907 – Giosuè Carducci, Italian writer and Nobel Prize Laureate 1906 regarded as the official national poet of modern Italy, dies at 71
1932 – Ferdinand Buisson, French pacifist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1841)
1944 – Edmund von Borck, German composer, dies fighting in Italy in WWII at 37
1966 – Hendrik Tilanus, Dutch artillery officer and political leader (CHU 1939-63), dies at 81
1987 – Dmitri Kabalevsky, Russian pianist and composer (In the Fire), dies at 82

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Historical Events

1799 – 1st US printed ballots authorized, Pennsylvania
1895 – 23 cm (9 inches) of snow falls on New Orleans
1986 – National Assembly of the Philippines proclaims Ferdinand Marcos President for six more years after rigged elections against Corazon Aquino, supercharging the EDSA people power revolution
1987 – 29th Daytona 500: Bill Elliott leads for 104 of 200 laps including the last 3; had won pole with record speed of 210.364 mph
1995 – Burundi premier Anatole Kanyenkiko resigns
2009 – 58th NBA All-Star Game, US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ: West beats East, 146-119; MVPs: Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers, F; Shaquille O’Neal, LA Lakers, C

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Famous Birthdays

1885 – Richard Würz, German composer, and music critic, born in Munich, Germany (d. 1965)
1921 – Radha Krishna Choudhary, Indian historian and writer (d. 1985)
1923 – Justice Drake, British justice
1937 – Terry Everett, American politician (Rep-R-Alabama 1993-2009), born in Dothan, Alabama
1947 – John Adams, American composer (Nixon In China), born in Worcester, Massachusetts
1979 – Kaj-Erik Eriksen, Canadian actor (Quarantine), born in Vancouver, British Columbia

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Famous Deaths

1503 – Henry Deane, Archbishop of Canterbury (1501-03), dies
1891 – Claudius W. Sears, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 74
1994 – Maria Britneva, Russian actress (A Room with a View, Maurice), dies of heart failure 72
2005 – Samuel Francis, American journalist (b. 1947)
2010 – Art Van Damme, American jazz accordionist (Chicago Jazz), dies at 89
2022 – P. J. O’Rourke, American journalist and satirist (Parliament of Whores; National Lampoon), dies of lung cancer at 74

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Historical Events

1912 – Arizona was admitted to the Union as the 48th state
1921 – Little Review faces obscenity charges for publishing “Ulysses,” in New York
1936 – Karl Schäfer of Austria wins his 2nd consecutive men’s figure skating Olympic gold medal at the Garmisch-Partenkirchen Winter Games in Germany
2005 – Seven people are killed and 151 wounded in a series of bombings by suspected Al-Qaeda-linked militants that hit the Philippines’ Makati financial district in Metro Manila, Davao City, and General Santos City.
2010 – America’s Cup: Team USA defeats Alinghi 2-0 to win in Spain
2014 – Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta resigns after less than a year in office

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Famous Birthdays

1572 – Hans Christoph Haiden, German composer, organist and poet (d. 1617)
1858 – Joseph Thomson, Scottish geologist and early African explorer (Thomson’s Gazelle), born in Penpont, Dumfries, Scotland (d. 1895)
1903 – Fritz Büchtger, German composer, educator, and modern music proponent (Association for Contemporary Music; Studio for New Music), born in Munich, Germany (d. 1978)
1926 – Alfred Körner, Austrian soccer striker (47 caps; Rapid Wien), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 2020)
1945 – Gregory Hines, American actor and dancer (White Nights, Taps), born in NYC, New York (d. 2003)
1977 – Elmer Symons, South African motorcycle racer, born in Ladysmith, South Africa (d. 2007)

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Famous Deaths

1760 – François Colin de Blamont, French composer, dies at 69
1922 – Heikki Ritavuori, Finnish lawyer and politician (Minister of the Interior), assassinated at 41
1929 – Tom Burke, American athlete (Olympic gold 100m, 400m 1896), dies at 53
1990 – Jean Wallace [Walasek], actress (Big Combo), dies of hemorrhage at 66
1998 – Claude Prey, French composer, dies at 72
2003 – Dolly the sheep, first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell, dies young from a progressive lung disease aged 6

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