Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1706 – Battle at Fraustadt: Swedish army beats Russia and Saxon forces, one of Swedish’s Greatest victories in the Great Northern War
1864 – Miridian Campaign fighting at Chunky Creek and Wyatt, Mississippi
1915 – The French try to drive the Germans forces back into the Champagne region
1948 – Wright Flyer, 1st plane to fly, returns to US from England
1970 – 16th National Film Awards (India): “Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne” wins the Golden Lotus
1970 – Man-eating tiger is reported to have killed 48, 80 km from New Delhi

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Famous Birthdays

1879 – Sarojini Naidu, Indian freedom fighter and poet, born in Hyperbad, India (d. 1949)
1895 – Fred Essler, Austrian actor (Unsinkable Molly Brown, Saratoga Trunk), born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (d. 1973)
1944 – Sal Bando, American baseball third baseman (4 x MLB All-Star; World Series 1972, 73, 74 Oakland A’s) and executive (GM Milwaukee Brewers 1991-99), born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 2023)
1953 – Suleiman Nyambui, Tanzanian runner (world record 5k indoor), born in Tanzania
1956 – Princess Alia bint Al Hussein, Jordanian Royal Family member, born in Amman, Jordan
1974 – Jeff Duran, US radio personality, born in Arcadia, California

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Famous Deaths

1787 – Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, French statesman and diplomat, dies at 67
1959 – William Axt, American film scores composer (The Prisoner of Zenda), dies at 70
1980 – David Janssen, American actor (The Fugitive, Harry O), dies at 49
1992 – Dorothy Tree [Triebitz], American actress (Abe Lincoln in Illinois; Confessions Of A Nazi Spy; The Asphalt Jungle), dies of heart failure at 85
1995 – Azeddine Medjoubi, head Algerian nationally theater, murdered at 49
2006 – Peter Strawson, British philosopher (Oxford University), dies at 86

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Historical Events

1855 – Michigan State University established
1938 – Austrian chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg visits Adolf Hitler in Berchtesgaden
1949 – “Annie Get Your Gun” closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 1147 performances
1958 – Boston Celtic Bill Russell grabs 41 rebounds to beat Syracuse Nationals, 119-101
1962 – Bus boycott starts in Macon, Georgia
2006 – A powerful winter storm blankets the Northeastern United States dumping 1 to 2 feet of snow from Washington, D.C. up to Boston, Massachusetts. The storm dumped a record 26.9 inches of snow in New York City.

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Famous Birthdays

1778 – Franz Joseph Volkert, Austrian composer, conductor and organist, born in Vienna (d. 1845)
1857 – Bobby Peel, English cricket all-rounder (20 Tests, 3 x 50, 101 wickets, BB 7/31; Yorkshire CCC), born in Churwell, England (d. 1941)
1900 – Fred Emney, British actor (Let the People Sing, Adventures of a Private Eye, Lilac Domino), born in London, England (d. 1980)
1924 – Hans Berghuis, Dutch author/poet (3 Women, Adam)
1946 – Ajda Pekkan, Turkish singer and actress, born in Istanbul, Turkey
1965 – Brett Kavanaugh, American judge, born in Washington, D.C.

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Famous Deaths

1889 – Andrew Greenwood, English cricket batsman (2 Tests, HS 49; Yorkshire CCC), dies from tuberculosis at 41
1896 – Isaac Murphy, American jockey, 628 wins on 1,412 mounts (44.5%), dies at 35
1960 – Bobby Clark, American vaudevillian, clown and actor (in comedy act with Paul McCullough), dies at 71
1973 – Benjamin Frankel, British composer, dies at 67
2005 – Rafael Vidal, Venezuelan athlete (b. 1964)
2011 – Gino Cimoli, American baseball player, dies at 81

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Historical Events

1837 – American Physiological Society organizes in Boston
1895 – -17°F (-27.2°C) in Braemar, Grampian (UK record)
1899 – -15°F (-26°C), Washington, D.C. (district record)
1908 – Australia regain the Ashes with a 308 run cricket victory vs England
1964 – Beatles 1st live appearance in US; Washington, D.C. Coliseum
1977 – 20.2-kg lobster caught off Nova Scotia (heaviest known crustacean)

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Famous Birthdays

1377 – King Ladislas of Naples (d. 1414)
1897 – Yves de La Casiniere, French composer, born in Angers, France (d. 1971)
1908 – Vivian Fuchs, English geologist and explorer (led Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1st to cross Antarctica via South Pole), born in Freshwater, Isle of Wight (d. 1999)
1941 – Glenn Randall Jr, stuntman (Species, Mrs Soffel, Return of the Jedi)
1967 – Derek King, Canadian NHL left wing (NY Islanders), born in Hamilton, Canada
1969 – Mark Atkinson, Australian cricket wicket-keeper (Tasmanian batsman), born in Sydney, Australia

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Famous Deaths

1879 – Willem Josephus van Zeggelen, Dutch author, dies at 67
1931 – Charles Algernon Parsons, British inventor (steam turbine), dies at 76
1982 – Takashi Shimura, Japanese actor (Rashomon, 7 Samurais), dies at 76
1993 – Joy Garrett, American actress (Jo Johnson-Days of Our Lives), dies of liver failure at 47
1994 – Sorrell Booke, American actor (Boss Hogg in Dukes of Hazard), dies of colorectal cancer at 64
2017 – Harvey Lichtenstein, American head of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, dies at 87

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Historical Events

1535 – 12 nude anabaptists run through Amsterdam streets
1882 – Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s opera “Snyegurochka” premieres in St Petersburg
1927 – US President Calvin Coolidge asks for 2nd disarmament conference
1962 – Jim Beatty sets American indoor mile record (3:58.9) in LA
2014 – German alpine skier Maria Höfl-Riesch retains her Olympic combined title (Vancouver 2010) when she Nicole Hosp beats of Austria by 0.4s
2019 – 72nd British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs): “Roma” Best Film, Alfonso Cuarón Best Director, Olivia Coleman, Rami Malek best actors

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Famous Birthdays

1741 – Franz Adam Veichtner, German violinist and composer, baptized in Regensburg, Bavaria (d. 1822)
1927 – Nigel Bagnall, British field marshal
1940 – Peter Middleton, CEO (Lloyd’s)
1961 – Eva Pfaff, German tennis player (Australian Open doubles 1982 runner-up), born in Königstein im Taunus, Germany
1970 – Nobushige Kumakubo, Japanese racing driver, born in Fukushima, Japan
1981 – Holly Willoughby, British TV presenter, born in Brighton, United Kingdom

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Famous Deaths

1774 – Florian Leopold Gassmann, Bohemian composer, dies at 44
1836 – Marie-Anne Paulze Lavoisier, French chemist (worked with husband Antoine Lavoisier), dies at 78
1918 – Abdul Hamid II, 34th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1876-1909), dies at 75
1993 – Fred Hollows, New Zealand ophthalmologist (b. 1929)
2007 – Ned Austin, American character actor (b. 1925)
2022 – Nikolai Manoshin, Russian soccer midfielder (8 caps; FC Torpedo Moscow, CSKA Moscow) and manager (Somalia, Yemen, Mali), dies at 83

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Historical Events

1933 – -63°F (-53°C), Moran, Wyoming (state record)
1940 – Joe Louis beats Arturo Godoy in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
1943 – Japanese troops evacuate Guadalcanal, ending the epic World War II battle on the Solomon Islands in the Pacific
1979 – ABC airs “Heroes of Rock N Roll” special, featuring archival performances of 62 artists
1989 – Michael Manley’s Socialist Party wins Jamaica parliamentary election
2020 – Suspected militants attack and kill at least 30 people, many while sleeping in their cars in Auno, north-eastern Nigeria, kidnapping women and children

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Famous Birthdays

1871 – Howard T Ricketts, American pathologist (studied typhus fever), born in Findlay, Ohio (d. 1910)
1914 – Ernest Tubb, American country musician (“Walking the Floor Over You”), born in Crisp, Texas (d. 1984)
1937 – (Leonard) “Len” Skeat, British jazz double-bassist, born in East End, London, England (d. 2021)
1950 – Lloyd Weldon Keasor, American wrestler (Olympic silver 1976), born in Pumphrey, Maryland
1969 – Jeff Pahukoa, NFL guard/tackle (Atlanta Falcons)
1983 – Vladimira Krckova, Czech jazz-pop singer, composer (“Your Aura On My Lips”), actress, and poet, born in Valašské Meziříčí, Czech Republic

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Famous Deaths

1583 – Jeseph Sanalbo, Jewish convert in Rome, burned at stake
1751 – Henri François d’Aguesseau, Chancellor of France (1717-50), dies at 82
1938 – Truby King, pioneer of mothercraft, dies
1991 – James Cleveland, American gospel singer, dies at 59
2001 – Herbert Simon, American economist, Nobel laureate (b. 1916)
2020 – Sorrel [Doris Ernestine] Hays, American pianist and composer (The Glass Woman), dies of cancer at 78

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Historical Events

1896 – Georges Feydeau’s “Le Dindon” premieres in Paris
1972 – Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard selected to Hall of Fame
1973 – Jean Kerrs “Finishing Touches” premieres in NYC
1983 – Wayne Gretzky sets NHL all star record of 4 goals in 1 period
1990 – “60 Minutes” commentator Andy Rooney suspended by CBS for racial remarks attributed to him by a gay magazine
1993 – Suchoi-24 crashes into Tupolev passenger flight, 134 die

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Famous Birthdays

1828 – Antonio Cagnoni, Italian composer, born in Godiasco (d. 1896)
1877 – Helen Homans, American tennis player (US Nat C’ship 1906), born in Englewood, New Jersey (d. 1949)
1906 – Chester F. Carlson, American inventor (photocopy), born in Seattle, Washington (d. 1968)
1930 – Manuel Castillo, Andalusian classical pianist and composer, born in Seville, Spain (d. 2005)
1966 – Hristo Stoichkov, Bulgarian footballer
1983 – Jim Verraros, American pop singer (American Idol, 2002), born in Mount Prospect, Illinois

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Famous Deaths

1611 – Jan Huygen van Linschoten, Dutch traveller and writer (Reys-Gheschrift), dies (B. 1653)
1650 – John Adriaensz, Dutch hydraulic engineer (Haarlemmermeer), dies at about 74
1909 – Edouard Silas, Dutch composer, dies at 80
1975 – Robert Robinson, British chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1886)
1979 – Nikolay Semyonovich Tikhonov, Russian poet and writer (against Pasternak), dies at 82
1994 – Raymond Scott, American composer (Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm), dies at 85

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Historical Events

1301 – Edward of Caernarfon (later Edward II) becomes the first English Prince of Wales
1912 – 2nd Dutch 11 city skate (Coen de Koenig wins (11:40)
1943 – Shoe rationing begins in US (may purchase up to 3 more pairs in 1942)
1964 – Baskin-Robbins introduces Beatle Nut ice cream
1974 – Grenada gains independence from Britain (National Day)
1985 – Marshall U’s Bruce Morris scores a basket from 92’5″

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Famous Birthdays

1899 – Arvid Pelshe, Latvian Communist leader (First Secretary of the Latvian SSR, CPSU Politburo member), born near Zālīte, Latvia (d. 1983)
1904 – Alison Leggatt, British character actress (Day of Triffids, Cows), born in Kensington, London (d. 1990)
1925 – Marius Constant, Romanian-born French composer and conductor (founded Ars Nova), born in Bucharest, Romania (d. 2004)
1931 – Gloria Talbott, American film and television actress, sometimes known as “the Scream Queen” for her work in B-movies, born in Glendale, California (d. 2000)
1960 – James Spader, American actor (Endless Love, Wall St, Mannequin), born in NYC, New York
1968 – Peter Bondra, Lutsk Ukr, NHL right wing (Washington Capitals)

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Famous Deaths

1693 – Paul Pellisson, French writer, dies at 68
1994 – Richard Bissell, US under director of CIA (Pig’s Bay), dies at 84
2005 – Bob Turner, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1934)
2012 – Phil Bruns, American actor and writer (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman – “George Shumway”), dies of natural causes at 80
2018 – Mickey Jones, American musician and actor (Home Improvement, Justified), dies at 76
2019 – Frank Robinson, American Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder, manager (14 x MLB All-Star; NL MVP 1961; AL MVP 1966; World Series 1966, 70; Baltimore Orioles), dies of bone cancer at 83

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Historical Events

1760 – Niccolò Piccinni’s opera buffa “La buona figliuola” (The Good-Natured Girl) first performed at the Teatro delle Dame, Rome, Italy, with an all-male cast
1855 – British government of Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston forms
1911 – Great fire destroys downtown Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey)
1947 – Compton and Arthur Morris both complete dual tons in same Test Cricket
1979 – Supreme court of Lahore affirms death sentence against Premier Bhutto
2018 – Brazilian jockey Jorge Ricardo equals world record number of victories for a jockey – 12,844 in Rio de Janeiro

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Famous Birthdays

1673 – Maximilian Dietrich Freisslich, German composer, born in Immelborn, Germany (d. 1731)
1868 – Syd Callaway, Australian cricket all-rounder (3 Tests, 6 wickets, BB 5/37, HS 41; NSW CA, Canterbury [NZ]), born in Sydney, Australia (d. 1923)
1931 – Mamie Van Doren, American actress, model, singer, and sex symbol (Teacher’s Pet, The Navy vs. the Night Monsters), born in Rowena, South Dakota
1957 – Kathy Najimy, American actress and activist (Sister Act, Veronica’s Closet), born in San Diego, California
1972 – Mark Labbrook, Australian 200m/400m runner (Olympics 1996), born in Melbourne, Australia
1993 – Tinashe [Kachingwe], American actress and singer (Nightride), born in Lexington, Kentucky

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Famous Deaths

1785 – Iman Willem Falck, Dutch governor of Ceylon (1765-83), dies at 48
1896 – Abraham van Stolk, Dutch art collector, dies at 82
1963 – Abd el-Krim [Mohamed ibn Abdelkrim El-Khattabi], Moroccan political and military leader (Republic of the Rif), dies at 85
1966 – Algot Haquinius, Swedish pianist, and composer, dies at 79
2012 – Billy Bean, American jazz guitarist (John Lewis; Herbie Mann; Bud Shank), dies at 79
2015 – André Brink, South African writer (Kennis van die aand – 1st Afrikaans book banned), dies at 79

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Historical Events

1818 – Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte ascends to the thrones of Sweden and Norway
1870 – 1st motion picture shown to a theater audience, Philadelphia
1885 – News of the fall of Khartoum reaches London
1962 – French President de Gaulle calls for Algeria’s independence
1970 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1991 – Howard Stern kisses NY Giant Leonard Marshall’s ass over bet, Stern lost claiming the Giants would lose the Super Bowl

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Famous Birthdays

1804 – Johan Ludvig Runeberg, Finnish poet (Finland’s national anthem “Maamme”), born in Jakobstad, Finland (d. 1877)
1923 – Doris Bohrer [Sharrar], American WWII spy, born in Basin, Wyoming (d. 2016)
1948 – Sven-Göran Eriksson, Swedish football manager and player, born in Sunne, Sweden
1953 – Valerie Carter, American folk-rock singer-songwriter, and session vocalist, born in Winter Haven, Florida (d. 2017)
1968 – Nir Kabaretti, Israeli conductor, born in Tel Aviv, Israel
1980 – Brad Fitzpatrick, American programmer (LiveJournal), born in Iowa, United States

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Famous Deaths

1807 – Pasquale Paoli, Corsican freedom fighter, dies at 80
1892 – Emilie Flygare-Carlén, Swedish novelist (b. 1807)
1946 – George Arliss, British Academy Award-winning actor (Disraeli; Devil; Green Goddess), dies at 77
1977 – Izaak Boleslavski, Russian chess player, dies at 67
1979 – Eddie Paynter, English cricketer (20 Tests for England, avg 59.23), dies at 77
2003 – Helge Boes, American Central Intelligence Agency officer

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Historical Events

1555 – Reformer and bible translator John Roger is the first protestant martyr under Mary I, when he is burnt at the stake at Smithfield, London
1847 – 1st US telegraph company established in Maryland
1866 – Mary Baker Eddy reportedly cures her injuries by opening a bible
1973 – “No, No Nanette” closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 861 performances
2016 – Northern Irish singer-songwriter Van Morrison knighted by the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace
2020 – Charles McGee, American retired US Air Force officer and fighter pilot of the Tuskegee Airmen promoted from colonel to brigadier general

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Famous Birthdays

1808 – Josef Kajetán Tyl, Czech playwright, writer and author of the Czech national anthem (Kde domov můj), born in Kutná Hora, Bohemia, Austrian Empire (d. 1856)
1841 – Clément Ader, French aviation pioneer (d. 1926)
1903 – Edwin Denby, American dance critic and poet (Snoring in N, Horse Eats Hat), born in Tientsin China (d. 1924)
1943 – Cheryl Miller, American actress (Daktari – “Paula”; Born Free), born in Sherman Oaks, California
1960 – Siobhan Dowd, British/Irish author (d. 2007)
1961 – Denis Savard, Canadian NHL centre (Chicago Blackhawks) named one of the 100 Greatest NHL Players’ in history, born in Pointe Gatineau, Canada

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Famous Deaths

1781 – Willem Crul, British admiral (West-Indies), dies in battle during the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War at 59
1946 – Margarete Boie, writer, dies
1957 – Miguel Covarrubias, Mexican illustrator, dies
1982 – Alex Harvey, Scottish singer (The Electric Cowboys), dies of a heart attack at 46
2002 – George Nader, American actor (Robot Monster, Away All Boats), dies at 80
2013 – Donald Byrd, American jazz trumpeter (Black Byrd), dies at 80

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