Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1933 – 1st NFL football game on a Sunday at Philadelphia’s Baker Bowl – sporting events on Sunday had been illegal on Sundays; Eagles tie Chicago Bears, 3-3
1936 – St Louis Browns sold to Donald L Barnes and William O DeWitt
1966 – 18-year-old US High schooler Robert Smith kills 5 people at Arizona’s Rose-Mar Beauty College for fame
1970 – Cyclone Bhola makes landfall in East Pakistan (Bangladesh) killing up to 500,000, making it the deadliest tropical cyclone ever recorded
1981 – Pilin Leon of Venezuela, crowned 31st Miss World
1996 – Saudi Arabian Flight 763 and Kazakhstan Airlines Flight 1907 collide in midair over Charkhi Dadri in India, killing 349 people, the third-deadliest aviation disaster in history

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1853 – Oskar Panizza, German writer (Das Liebeskonzil), born in Bad Kissingen, Bavaria (d. 1921)
1865 – Frans “Sas” van Aerschot, Flemish operetta actor (Paljas), (d. 1939)
1921 – Robert Fleming, Canadian composer, born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan (d. 1976)
1931 – Bob Crewe, songwriter and producer (“Big Girls Don’t Cry”; “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine (Anymore)”), born in Newark, New Jersey (d. 2014)
1968 – Aaron Stainthorpe, British singer (My Dying Bride), born in England, United Kingdom
1978 – Alexandra Maria Lara, Romanian-German actress, born in Bucharest, Romania

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1720 – Peter Tordenskjold, Norwegian naval hero, dies at 30
1739 – Ludwig Ernst, German composer, dies at 71
1916 – Percival Lowell, American astronomer (predicted discovery of Pluto) and founder of Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, dies of a stroke at 61
1969 – Louis van Tulder, Dutch tenor (Kantoorkruk to high C), dies at 77
1976 – Mikhail Iosifovich Gurevich, Russian aircraft designer (b. 1893)
1994 – Michael John Innes Mackintosh Stewart Innes, writer, dies at 88

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1811 – Cartagena Colombia declares independence from Spain
1957 – Demolition begins on cable car barn at California and Hyde, San Francisco
1971 – Man-made earthslide at Kawasaki Japan, kills 15
1996 – Atlanta Braves starting pitcher John Smoltz wins NL Cy Young Award; Pat Hentgen of the Toronto Blue Jays claims AL Award
2014 – An Italian appeals court overturns a manslaughter conviction against 6 scientists for failing to give adequate warning of a deadly earthquake
2020 – UK becomes the first European country to record over 50,000 Covid-19 related 50,000; 5fth country, after the US, Brazil, India, and Mexico

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1696 – Andrea Zani, Italian composer and violinist, born in Casalmaggiore, Cremona Province (d. 1757)
1731 – Carl Joseph Toeschi, German composer, born in Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany (d. 1788)
1743 – Carl Peter Thunberg, Swedish naturalist, born in Jönköping, Sweden (d. 1828)
1945 – Chris Dreja, British rock guitarist and bass player (Yardbirds – “For Your Love”), born in Surbiton, Surrey, England
1978 – Lou Vincent, New Zealand cricketer, born in Warkworth, New Zealand
1980 – Willie Parker, American football running back (Pro Bowl 2006, 07; Super Bowl 2005, 08; Pittsburgh Steelers), born in Clinton, North Carolina

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

683 – Yazid I [Yazīd ibn Mu‘āwiya Lanatullah], second Umayyad caliph (680–683), dies at 36
1968 – Janet Sobel [Jennie Olechovsky], Ukrainian-American abstract expressionist and drip-paint pioneering artist (Milky Way), dies at 75
1994 – John Volpe, American politician (61st and 63rd Governor of Massachusetts) and U.S. Secretary of Treasury (1969-73), dies at 85
1999 – Jacobo Timmerman, Argentine writer and journalist (b. 1923)
2012 – Rex Hunt, British diplomat and Governor of the Falkland Islands (1982-1985), dies at 86
2013 – Eddie McGrady, Northern Irish politician (SDLP) unseated Enoch Powell, dies at 78

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1444 – Battle at Varna, Black Sea: Sultan Murad II beats crusaders
1950 – Jacobo Árbenz elected President of Guatemala
1980 – Iraq captures southern port of Khorramshahr
2013 – Spaniard Marc Márquez wins the 2013 MotoGP World Championship to become its youngest ever winner at 20
2019 – Iranian President Hassan Rouhani announces the discovery of a new oil field with an estimated 53 million barrels of oil in Khuzestan province
2019 – Bolivian President Evo Morales resigns amid widespread protests after national election considered irregular and manipulated

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1888 – Andrej Tupolev, Russian aircraft builder, born in Pustomazovo, Russia (d. 1972)
1919 – Moise Tshombe, President of Katanga, then premier of the Congo (Zaire), born in Musumba (d. 1969)
1935 – Bernard Babior, American physician and biochemist, born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2004)
1956 – Scott Columbus, American heavy metal drummer (Manowar, 1983–91 and 1994–2008), born in USA (d. 2011)
1980 – Calvin Chen, Taiwanese singer (Fahrenhiet), born in Taipei, Taiwan
1982 – Clayton Fortune, English footballer (Bristol City), born in Forest Gate, England

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1982 – Leonid Brezhnev, Soviet Leader, General Secretary (1964-82), dies of a heart attack at 75
1990 – Mário Schenberg, Brazilian physicist and electrical engineer, dies at 76
1995 – Clairmonte Depeiaza, West Indian cricketer (world record partnership v Aust 1955), dies at 67
2010 – Dave Niehaus, American sportscaster (b. 1935)
2010 – Nicolo Rizzuto, Italian-Canadian organized crime figure, killed at his residence by a sniper at 86
2015 – Gene Amdahl, American computer scientist who designed the IBM mainframe, dies at 92

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1857 – Atlantic Monthly magazine 1st published
1900 – China has resumed nominal control of Manchuria, but in a secret agreement the Chinese governor of Manchuria grants Russia such rights as keeping troops along the railroad lines and controlling civil administration
1912 – Ottoman garrison surrenders Thessaloniki / Salonika to the Greek army (OS Oct 27)
1996 – 8th College Football Holy War: Notre Dame beats Boston College 48-21 in Chestnut Hill
1999 – TAESA Flight 725, crashes a few minutes after leaving the Uruapan airport en-route to Mexico City. 18 people were killed in the accident.
2019 – YouTubers KSI and Logan Paul’s second boxing match; KSI wins by split decision

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1879 – Milan Šufflay, Croatian historian and politician, born in Lepoglava, Croatia (d. 1931)
1903 – Leon-Etienne Duval, French prelate and cardinal of the Catholic Church in Algeria, born in Chênex, Haute-Savoie, France (d. 1996)
1909 – H. M. van Randwijk, Dutch author and founder (Vrij Netherland), born in Gorinchem, Netherlands (d. 1966)
1919 – Sol K. Bright, Hawaiian steel-guitar player, singer (Hollywaiians), and songwriter (“Hawaiian Cowboy”), born in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii (d. 1992)
1925 – Bill Bruton, American baseball outfielder (NL stolen bases leader 1953-55 Milwaukee Braves), born in Penola, Alabama (d. 1995)
1984 – French Montana [Karim Kharbouch] American rapper, born in Casablanca, Morocco

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1829 – Jean Xavier Lefevre, composer, dies at 66
1911 – Howard Pyle, American author (b. 1853)
1952 – Philip Murray, 1st president of the United Steelworkers and longest-serving president of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, dies at 66
1956 – Aino Kallas, Finnish writer (White Ship, Estonian Tales), dies at 78
2002 – William Schutz, American psychologist (b. 1925)
2012 – Bill Tarmey, English actor (Coronation Street), dies at 71

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1900 – David Beatty takes part in the successful relief of the naval brigade and is promoted to captain
1935 – “Mutiny on the Bounty” directed by Frank Lloyd and starring Charles Laughton and Clark Gable premieres in New York (Best Production/Picture 1936)
1942 – Vichy-France drops diplomatic relations with US
1988 – Arco Arena in Sacramento, California, opens, Sac Kings lose to Seattle, 97-75
2018 – CNN correspondent Jim Acosta’s White House clearance revoked after continuing to question President Donald Trump while an intern tried to wrestle the microphone off him
2018 – Mass grave of 200 people discovered on border of Somali and Oromia regions, Ethiopia, in investigation into atrocities by former regional president Abdi Mohammed

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1879 – King Baggot, American actor and director (Tumbleweeds), born in St Louis, Missouri (d. 1948)
1938 – Murtala Mohammed, Nigerian military ruler, born in Bendel State, Colonial Nigeria (d. 1976)
1967 – Frantisek Kaberle, Czech ice hockey forward (Team Czech Rep), born in Kladno, Czechia
1967 – Jay Taylor, American NFL cornerback (KC Chiefs), born in San Diego, California
1983 – Blanka Vlašić, Croatian high jumper, born in Split, Croatia
1986 – Aaron H. Swartz, computer programmer and internet activist (Demand Progress), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2013)

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1171 – Baldwin IV, Count of Hainaut (1120-71), dies at about 63
1880 – Jacob Edvard Gille, Swedish composer, dies at 66
1992 – Kees [Cornelis] Broekman, Dutch speed skater (Olympic silver 1952), dies at 65
1995 – Country Dick Montana [Daniel McLain], American rock drummer and vocalist (The Beat Farmers – “Happy Boy”), dies on stage during a performance in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada at age 40
2010 – Jack Levine, American social realist painter, dies at 95
2011 – Bil Keane, American cartoonist (The Family Circus), dies at 89

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1918 – Kurt Eisner overthrows the Wittelsbach dynasty in the Kingdom of Bavaria as a revolutionary uprising spreads throughout Germany
1929 – Museum of Modern Art opens in Hecksher Building in New York
1942 – Italian cyclist Fausto Coppi establishes world hour record 45.798km in Vigorelli, Milan, Italy
1963 – New York Yankee catcher Elston Howard is first African-American to be voted AL MVP
1997 – “Bean” film directed by Mel Smith and starring Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean opens in the US
2017 – Danica Roem becomes the first US transgender person to be elected to a state legislature in the US in North Virginia

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1955 – Detlef Ultsch, German judoka (Olympic bronze 1980), born in Sonneberg, Bezirk Suhl, East Germany
1969 – Tanya Dubnicoff, Canadian cyclist (Olympic 6th 1992, 96), born in Winnipeg, Manitoba
1970 – Morgan Spurlock, American director and documentary producer (Super Size Me), born in Parkersburg, West Virginia
1981 – Muhammad Hassan, American professional wrestler, born in Syracuse, New York
1990 – Courtney Marie Andrews, American singer-songwriter (Old Flowers), born in Phoenix, Arizona
1995 – Bethany Mota, American video blogger, born in Merced County, California

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1802 – Johann Georg Joseph Spangler, Austrian composer, dies at 50
1960 – Alvin Carter, vocalist (Carter Family), dies at 69
1967 – Juan Tomas Perez, composer, dies at 71
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
1979 – Paolo Carlini, Italian actor (It Started in Naples), dies at 53
2006 – Johnny Sain, American baseball pitcher, dies at 89

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1928 – Colonel Jacob Schick patents 1st electric razor
1939 – WGY-TV (Schenectady, NY), 1st commercial TV station, begins service
1941 – USA lends Soviet Union $1 million
1941 – Einsatz Gruppe kills 15,000 Jews of Rovno Ukraine
1950 – King Tribhuvana of Nepal flees to India
1983 – Turkey Turgut Özals Moederland party wins elections

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1753 – Mikhail Kozlovsky, Russian sculptor, born in St. Petersburg, Russia (d. 1802)
1906 – James D. Norris, American sports businessman (Chicago Black Hawks), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1966)
1955 – Maria Shriver, American newscaster (Sunday Today) and ex-wife of Arnold Schwarzenegger, born in Chicago, Illinois
1961 – Daniele Gatti, Italian conductor, born in Milan, Italy
1970 – Ethan Hawke, American actor and author (Dead Poets Society, Before trilogy), born in Austin, Texas
1982 – Sowelu, Japanese pop singer, born in Tokyo, Japan

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1795 – Jiří Antonín Benda, Czech composer and violinist, dies at 73
1922 – Morgan Bulkeley, American politician (US Senator – Connecticut 1905-11) and Baseball HOF administrator (NL President 1876), dies at 84
1997 – Annie Llewelyn-Davies, Baroness Llewelyn-Davies of Hastoe, British Labour Party politician, dies at 82
2004 – Fred Dibnah, English steeplejack and television personality, dies at 66
2007 – Sayed Mustafa Kazemi, Afghan politician, killed in a bomb attack at 47 or 48
2018 – Hugh McDowell, British cellist (Electric Light Orchestra – “Strange Magic”; “Evil Woman”), dies of cancer at 65

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1499 – Publication of the Catholicon in Treguier (Brittany). Breton-French-Latin dictionary written in 1464 by Jehan Lagadeuc was first Breton and French dictionary
1811 – El Salvador’s 1st battle against Spain for independence
1873 – Due to the fallout from the Pacific Scandal, John A. Macdonald resigns as Prime Minister of Canada
1973 – Arab producers announce 25 percent cut in oil production
1992 – “Revenge Match of the 20th century” American chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer defeats Russian Boris Spassky to win an unofficial match in Belgrade
2000 – Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie is laid to rest 25 years after his death after a funeral procession through Addis Ababa

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1885 – Will Durant, American author and historian (The Story of Philosophy, The Story of Civilization), born in North Adams, Massachusetts (d. 1981)
1911 – Roy Rogers, American cowboy actor and singer (“Happy Trails”; Roy Rogers Show), born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 1998)
1920 – Douglass North, American economist, (Nobel Prize Economic Sciences 1993), born in Cambridge, Massachusetts (d. 2015)
1930 – Clifford Irving, American novelist and investigative reporter (hoax autobiography of Howard Hughes), born in NYC, New York (d. 2017)
1951 – Tony Evers, American politician, Governor of Wisconsin (2019-), born in Plymouth, Wisconsin
1974 – Chris Sununu, American politician, Governor of New Hampshire (2017-), born in Salem, New Hampshire

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1680 – Gillis Valckenier, mayor of Amsterdam (1665..80), dies at about 57
1828 – Maria Feodorovna of Russia, second wife of Tsar Paul I of Russia, dies at 69
1860 – Carl Binder, Austrian composer, dies at 43
1989 – Barry Sadler, American singer (“Ballad Of The Green Berets”), dies from complications of being shot at 49
1990 – Herbert Berghof, Austrian actor (Belarus File, Harry and Tonto, Target), dies of heart failure at 81
1991 – Robert Maxwell, Czech-British billionaire publisher, politician and fraudster (Mirror Group, NY Daily News), drowns at sea at 68

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1501 – Philip de Blank and Juana “la Loca” depart to Spain
1929 – John L. Balderston’s play “Berkeley Square” starring Leslie Howard premieres in NYC
1981 – Beth Henley’s “Crimes of the Heart” premieres in NYC
1990 – Iraq says it is preparing for a “dangerous war”
2008 – Barack Obama becomes the first African-American to be elected President of the United States, defeating Republican candidate John McCain
2009 – Baseball World Series: NY Yankees beat Philadelphia Phillies, 7-3 in Game 6 at Yankee Stadium to win Bronx Bombers’ record 27th title; MVP: NY outfielder Hideki Matsui

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1590 – Gerard van Honthorst, Dutch painter, born in Utrecht, Netherlands (d. 1656)
1790 – Carlos Antonio López, 1st President of Paraguay (1844-62), born in Asunción, Paraguay (d. 1862)
1927 – Vittorio Fellegara, Italian composer, born in Milan (d. 2011)
1968 – Domingo Cedeno, Dominican infielder (Toronto Blue Jays), born in La Ramona, Dominican Republic
1969 – Tommy Henry, American CFL defensive back (Edmonton Eskimos)
1977 – Tonicha Jeronimo, British actress (Emmerdale), born in Jersey

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1968 – Paul JM Lindemans, Flemish agricultural engineer and author, dies at 78
1984 – Merie Earle [Ireland], American film and television character actress (The Waltons – “Maude Gormley”), dies of uremic poisoning at 95
2003 – Charles Causley, Cornish writer and poet (b. 1917)
2006 – Torolf Elster, Norwegian journalist and writer (Frihet och demokrati), dies at 95
2020 – Ken Hensley, British rock songwriter, keyboardist, and singer (Uriah Heep, 1970-80 – “Easy Livin'”; Blackfoot, 1982-84), dies at 75
2021 – (Henry) Lionel Blair [Ogus], Canadian-British choreographer, tap dancer, actor, and television presenter, dies at 92

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

644 – Umar ibn al-Khattab, second Muslim caliph, is killed in Medina by Lu’lu, an enslaved Persian captive
1937 – Howie Morenz Memorial Game, Montreal Forum: NHL All-Stars beat Montreal All Stars, 6-5
1943 – P-47D Thunderbolt shot down above North Holland
1964 – For 1st time since 1800, residents of Washington, D.C. permitted to vote
1980 – Walter Hass Jr becomes CEO of Oakland A’s
1989 – 100s of Bulgarian demonstrate in Sofia for democratic rights

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1831 – Ignatius Donnelly, American politician, writer, and amateur scientist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1901)
1863 – Eugène Samuel-Holeman, Belgian composer, born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1942)
1918 – Dean Riesner, American film and television screenwriter (Bill and Coo), born in New Rochelle, New York (d. 2002)
1934 – Derek Richardson, English cricket batsman (1 Test; Worcestershire 383 first class games), born in Hereford, Herefordshire
1938 – Jean Rollin, French director and screenwriter
1995 – Kendall Jenner, American model and TV personality (Keeping Up with the Kardashians), born in Los Angeles, California

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1787 – Robert Lowth, British Bishop of the Church of England and grammarian (A Short Introduction to English Grammar), dies at 76
1864 – Antonio Goncalves Dias, Brazilian national poet, dies at sea
1890 – Ulrich Ochsenbein, Swiss Federal Councilor (b. 1811)
1914 – Georg Trakl, Austria poet (Totentag, Cocaine Overdose), dies at 27
1929 – Olav Aukrust, Norwegian poet (b. 1883)
1986 – Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis [Edward F. Davis], American jazz saxophonist (Kenny Clarke/Francy Boland Big Band), dies of cancer at 65

More Famous Deaths »