Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1809 – Territory of Illinois organizes (including present-day Wisconsin)
1894 – 1st US steel sailing vessel, Dirigo, launched at Bath, Maine
1916 – Tristan Tzara publishes the Dada manifesto in Zurich, Switzerland
1929 – Revolutionary Socialist Party forms in Amsterdam
1975 – Billy Herman, Earl Averill, and Bucky Harris elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
1982 – Columbia Shuttle moves to Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center (Florida) for mating for STS-3 mission

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Famous Birthdays

1736 – Johann Georg Albrechtsberger, Austria organist and composer (trained Beethoven), born in Klosterneuburg Austria-Hungary (d. 1809)
1824 – George Thomas “Tige” Anderson, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Covington, Georgia (d. 1901)
1824 – Ranald MacDonald, Canadian-born Scottish educator and interpreter (d. 1894)
1919 – (Eugene) “Snooky” Young, American jazz trumpeter who mastered the plunger mute, born in Dayton, Ohio (d. 2011)
1959 – Molly Killingbeck, Jamaica, 4X400m relayer (Olympic silver 1984)
1971 – Eric Owens, Danville VA, outfielder (Cincinnati Reds)

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Famous Deaths

1116 – King Coloman of Hungary (b. 1070)
1919 – Maria Theresa of Austria-Este, Queen of Bavaria, dies at 69
1979 – Jody Gilbert, American actress (Willard, Shaggy, Blonde Dynamite), dies at 62
2009 – Max Neuhaus, American classical musician and experimental percussionist (sound sculptures), dies of cancer at 69
2015 – William Thomas McKinley, American composer and jazz pianist, dies at 76
2018 – Leon “Ndugu” Chancler, American pop, funk and jazz session and touring drummer, (Michael Jackson -“Billie Jean”; George Duke; Herbie Hancock), composer, and producer, dies of prostate cancer at 65

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Historical Events

1119 – Guido di Borgogna elected Pope Callistus II
1869 – James Oliver invents removable tempered steel plow blade
1962 – USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1972 – Lefty Gomez, Ross Youngs and William Harridge selected for Baseball Hall of Fame
1973 – Richard Helms, ends term as 8th director of CIA; succeeded by James R Schlesinger (until July)
1992 – IRS and Willie Nelson settle on $9M tax bill (of $16.7M)

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Famous Birthdays

1522 – Lodovico Ferrari, Italian mathematician (d. 1565)
1926 – Miguel Cardinal Obando y Bravo, 1st Cent American cardinal (Nicaragua)
1968 – Sean Elliott, NBA forward (San Antonio Spurs)
1970 – Roar Strand, Norwegian footballer
1975 – Ieroklis Stoltidis, Greek footballer
1983 – Alex Westaway, British rock singer (Gunship; Fightstar), born in Northamptonshire, England

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Famous Deaths

1688 – Abraham Duquesne, French naval officer (b. 1610)
1970 – Jaroslav Vogel, Czech composer and conductor, dies at 76
1980 – William H. Stein, American biochemist (Nobel 1972), dies at 68
1981 – Louise Lorraine, actress (Adventures of Tarzan), dies
1988 – Clive Epstein, British music artist manager, and brother of Brian Epstein, dies at 51
2005 – Max Schmeling, German boxer (world heavyweight champion 1930-32), dies at 99

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Historical Events

1862 – Ralph Waldo Emerson and Charles Sumner meet with President Abraham Lincoln at The White House, Washington
1937 – Stapleton, Staten Island, becomes a customs-free port
1948 – Important South African anti-apartheid novel “Cry the Beloved Country” by Alan Paton is published in the US
1975 – “Men on the Moon” closes at Little Theater NYC after 5 performances
2009 – Australian Open Men’s Tennis: Spanish ace Rafael Nadal wins his first Australian title; beats Roger Federer 7-5, 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2
2013 – 26 people are killed after a fireworks truck explodes and causes a highway to collapse in Henan, China

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Famous Birthdays

1635 – Marquard Gude, German archaeologist and classical scholar famous for his collection of Greek and Latin inscriptions, born in Rendsburg, Holstein (d. 1689)
1801 – Adolf Fredrik Lindblad, Swedish lieder and classical composer, born in Skänninge, Sweden (d. 1878)
1920 – Kenneth Bond, former vice-chairman
1955 – Virginia Leng, British equestrian rider (World C’ship individual 1986; Olympic silver x 2, bronze x 2 1984, 88), born in Malta
1971 – Michael C. Hall, American actor (Dexter, Six Feet Under), born in Raleigh, North Carolina
1984 – Lee Thompson Young, American actor, born in Columbia, South Carolina (d. 2013)

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Famous Deaths

1981 – Nils Geirr Tveitt, Norwegian composer, dies at 72
1986 – Dick James [Leon Vapnick], British dance band vocalist and Beatles’ music publisher (Northern Songs), dies of a heart attack at 65
1992 – Irving Kaufman, American federal judge (Rosenberg Case), dies at 81
2003 – Kalpana Chawla, American astronaut (STS 87) and the first woman of Indian descent to go to space, dies in Space Shuttle Columbia disaster at 40
2003 – Michael P. Anderson, American astronaut and member of the STS-107 Mission (Space Shuttle Columbia disaster), dies at 43
2007 – Ahmad Abu Laban, Danish Muslim leader, dies at 60

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Historical Events

1679 – Jean-Baptiste Lully’s opera “Bellerophon” premieres at the Palais-Royal in Paris
1982 – NFL Pro Bowl, Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI: AFC beats NFC, 16-13; MVPs: Co-MVPs: Kellen Winslow, San Diego Chargers, TE; Lee Roy Selmon, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, DE
1988 – Super Bowl XXII, Jack Murphy Stadium, San Diego, CA: Washington Redskins beat Denver Broncos, 42-10; MVP: Doug Williams, Washington, QB
1990 – Jushin “Thunder” Liger beats Naoki Sano to become New Japan IWGP champ
2012 – Leonard Cohen releases his album “Old Ideas”, becomes No.1 in 10 countries
2013 – 36 people are killed and 126 are injured in an explosion at Torre Ejecutiva Pemex, Mexico

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Famous Birthdays

1902 – Julian Steward, American anthropologist (cultural ecology), born in Washington D. C. (d. 1972)
1916 – Frank Parker, American tennis player (4-time Grand Slam winner), born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (d. 1997)
1946 – Subroto Guha, Indian cricketer (right arm swing bowler for India 1967-69), born in India
1960 – Grant Morrison, British comic book author, born in Glasgow, United Kingdom
1971 – Patrick Kielty, Northern Irish comedian, born in Dundrum, United Kingdom
1972 – Reinier Robbemond, Dutch soccer player (Dordrecht ’90), born in Dordrecht, Netherlands

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Famous Deaths

1615 – Claudio Aquaviva, Italian Jesuit priest (5th Superior General of the Society of Jesus), dies at 71
1974 – Harry Baum, actor (Crime and Punishment), dies at 58
1976 – Buster Brown, American blues singer and harmonica player (Fannie Mae), dies at 64
1999 – Shohei Baba, Japanese professional wrestler
2004 – Eleanor Holm, American 100m backstroke swimmer (Olympic gold 1932), dies at 90
2018 – Anne Gillis [Alma Conner], American actress (Faline-Bambi, Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Little Men), dies at 90

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Historical Events

1818 – John Keats composes his sonnet “When I Have Fears”
1933 – Australian Championships Women’s Tennis, Melbourne: Joan Hartigan Bathurst beats Coral McInnes Buttsworth 6-4, 6-3
1956 – Australian Championships Women’s Tennis: Mary Carter Reitano beats fellow Australian Thelma Coyne Long 3-6, 6-2, 9-7 for her 1st Australian singles title
1977 – 8th (final) part of “Roots” is most-watched US entertainment show ever (100 million)
1982 – WBC super welterweight champion Wilfred Benitez of Puerto Rico defeats boxing legend Roberto Durán of Panama in a 15-round unanimous decision at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas
1982 – US female Figure Skating championship won by Rosalynn Sumners

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Famous Birthdays

1911 – Roy Eldridge, American jazz trumpet player (Gene Krupa, Artie Shaw), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 1989)
1912 – Barbara Tuchman, American historian and author (Pulitzer, Guns of August), born in New York (d. 1989)
1938 – Marlies van Alcmaer [Smal], Dutch actress and director (Bridge too Far)
1944 – Lynn Harrell, American cellist, born in New York City, New York (d. 2020)
1951 – Trevor Laughlin, Australian cricketer (Australian all-rounder 1978-79), born in Nyah West, Australia
1994 – Amelia Dimoldenberg, English comedian and journalist (Chicken Shop Date), born in London, England

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Famous Deaths

1649 – Charles I, King of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1625-49), beheaded for treason by Parliament at 48
1703 – Kiva Yoshinaka, Japanese retainer for the Shogun, murdered in the revenge of the 47 rōnin
1867 – Emperor Kōmei of Japan (b. 1831)
1945 – William Busch, British composer, dies at 43
1956 – Jane Seymour [Marjorie S Fitz-patrick], Canadian-American actress (Tom, Dick and Harry, Young Mr Bobbin), dies at 62
1963 – Francis Poulenc, French pianist and composer (Concert champêtre; Les Biches), dies of a heart attack at 64

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Historical Events

1840 – First Governor of New Zealand and co-author of the Treaty of Waitangi Captain William Hobson arrives in the Bay of Islands, NZ
1966 – Neil Simons, Coleman and Fields’ musical “Sweet Charity” premieres at Palace Theater in NYC for 608 performances
1968 – Australian Championships Women’s Tennis: American Billie Jean King beats home favourite Margaret Court 6-1, 6-2 for her 13th Grand Slam singles title
1972 – 5th ABA All-Star Game: East 142 beats West 115 at Louisville, Kentucky
1974 – 1974 NFL Draft: Ed Jones from Tennessee State first pick by Dallas Cowboys
2019 – US Postal Service suspends deliveries to ten states due to severity of the polar vortex

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Famous Birthdays

1632 – Johann Georg Graevius, German classical scholar and critic (d. 1703)
1937 – Bobby Scott, American composer, arranger and jazz singer (“He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”), born in Mt Pleasant, New York (d. 1990)
1950 – Jody Scheckter, South African auto racer (World F1 Champion 1979), born in East London, South Africa
1955 – John Tate, American heavyweight boxer (Olympic bronze 1968)
1975 – Sara Gilbert, American actress (Darlene Conner-Roseanne), born in Santa Monica, California
1985 – Rag’n’Bone Man [Rory Charles Graham], English singer-songwriter (Human), born in Uckfield, England

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Famous Deaths

1993 – Michel Renault, French ballet dancer (Giselle), dies at 65
2004 – Otto Wilhelm Fischer, Austrian actor (Helden, Ich suche dich), dies of kidney disease at 88
2011 – Milton Babbitt, American mathematician, composer of serial and electronic music (Correspondences), and teacher (Princeton; Juilliard), dies at 94
2015 – Colleen McCullough, Australian author (Tim, Indecent Obsession, The Thorn Birds), dies at 77
2021 – Grady Gaines, American jazz, blues, and RandB tenor saxophonist (Little Richard; Sam Cooke, James Brown, Jackie Wilson), dies at 86
2022 – Rashid Byramji, Indian thoroughbred trainer (3,170 winners/230 classics; Elusive Pimpernel 22/23 starts; Squanderer 18/19 starts; Indian Derby x 10), dies at 88

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Historical Events

1760 – Pownal, Vermont created by Benning Wentworth as one of the New Hampshire Grants
1881 – Battle at Laing’s Neck Natal: Boers beat superior powered British
1904 – 1st college sports letters given to Seniors who played on University of Chicago’s football team are awarded blankets with letter “C” on them
1929 – Australian Championships Men’s Tennis: Englishman Colin Gregory wins his only Grad Slam title, beating Richard Schlesinger of Australia 6-2, 6-2, 5-7, 7-5
1978 – Ted Nugent autographs a fan’s arm with his knife
1991 – David Boon completes ninth Test century, 121 v England at Adelaide

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Famous Birthdays

1540 – Ludolph van Ceulen, German mathematician (d. 1610)
1884 – Jean Felix Piccard, Swiss scientist, explorer and balloonist (1st flight into stratosphere, by balloon), born in Basel, Switzerland (d. 1963)
1932 – Thomas J. Bliley Jr., American politician (Rep-R-VA, 1981-2001), born in Chesterfield County, Virginia
1940 – Carlos Slim, Mexican business magnate (América Móvil) once ranked as the richest person in the world, born in Mexico City, Mexico
1943 – Dick Taylor, English rock guitarist (The Pretty Things – “S.F. Sorrow”), born in Dartford, England
1966 – Rob Clayton, American rock drummer (Jody Grind), born in Atlanta, Georgia (d. 1992)

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Famous Deaths

1393 – Earl of Joigny, burned at royal ball in Paris
1868 – Adalbert Stifter, Austrian author (Witiko), commits suicide at 62
1896 – Joseph Barnby, composer, dies at 57
1965 – Jef van Durme, Belgian composer, dies at 57
1997 – Pietro Cavallero, bandit, dies at 68
2005 – Karen Lancaume, French actress (suicide) (b. 1973)

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Historical Events

1915 – US Marines occupy Haiti
1939 – First flight of the Lockheed P-38 Lightning
1944 – Siege of Leningrad lifted by the Soviets after 880 days and more than 2 million Russians killed
1963 – Sam Rice, Eppa Rixey, Elmer Flick, and John Clarkson elected to Baseball Hall of Fame
1992 – “Crazy He Calls Me” opens at Walter Kerr Theater NYC for 7 performances
1997 – 24th American Music Awards: Toni Braxton and Alanis Morissette win

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Famous Birthdays

1889 – Balthasar van der Pol, Dutch physicist (Comparison of Van der Pol), born in Utrecht , Netherlands (d. 1959)
1912 – E. R. Braithwaite, diplomat and writer (To Sir with Love), born in Georgetown, British Guiana (d. 2016)
1929 – Gastón Suárez, Bolivian novelist (d. 1984)
1948 – Kim Gardner, English rock bassist (Ashton, Gardner and Dyke), born in London (d. 2001)
1954 – Joko Ninomiya, Japanese martial artist, born in Yawatahama, Ehime, Japan
1970 – Carlos Javier Bernardo, Dutch prince

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Famous Deaths

1540 – Angela Merici, Italian religious educator, founder of the Ursuline Order of nuns, and Roman Catholic saint, dies at 65
1927 – Georgios Grivas, Cyprus-born general in the Greek Army
1972 – Richard Courant, German-American mathematician, dies at 84
2000 – Mae Faggs Starr, American athlete, 4x100m runner (Olympic gold 1952), dies at 67
2006 – Roger Durham Hannay, American composer and teacher, dies at 75
2017 – Benny Barth, American session and touring jazz drummer, dies at 86

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Historical Events

1929 – Rube Goldberg’s “The Inventions of Professor Lucifer Gorgonzola Butts, A.K.,” cartoon series first published in “Colliers Weekly”
1959 – KOKH TV channel 25 in Oklahoma City, OK (IND/PBS) begins broadcasting
1991 – Houston guard Vernon Maxwell is 4th NBAer to score 30 pts in a quarter
1997 – Super Bowl XXXI, Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, LA: Green Bay Packers beat New England Patriots, 35-21; MVP: Desmond Howard, Green Bay KR
2003 – Australian Open Men’s Tennis: Andre Agassi of the US wins his 8th and last Grand Slam title; beats Rainer Schuttler of Germany 6-2, 6-2, 6-1
2018 – Residents left without heat in -27C in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan after boiler breaks in main power station

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Famous Birthdays

1813 – Juan Pablo Duarte, Dominican founding father (d. 1876
1857 – Trinley Gyatso, 12th Dalai Lama, born in Tibet (d. 1875)
1924 – Warren Frank Benson, American composer (The Leaves Are Falling), and educator (Eastman School, 1967-1993), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 2005)
1925 – Paul Newman, American actor (Hud, Hombre, Hustler), auto racer and team owner (Newman/Haas Racing) and charity food company founder (Newman’s Own), born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 2008)
1932 – Ronald Allison, British author/broadcaster
1964 – Cathy Podewell, American actress (Cally Harper Ewing-Dallas), born in Evanston, Illinois

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Famous Deaths

1870 – Cesare Pugni, Italian composer, dies at 67
1920 – Matthias Enzberger, German minister of finance, murdered
1974 – Wiktor Labunski, Polish-American composer, dies at 78
1975 – Lubov Orlova, Russian actress (Moscow Laughs; Man of Music; Tanya), dies at 74
2007 – Gump Worsley, Canadian ice hockey player, dies at 77
2021 – Jozef Vengloš, Slovak soccer manager (Australia, Czechoslovakia, Malaysia, Fenerbahçe, Aston Villa, Celtic, Slovakia), dies at 84

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Historical Events

1802 – Napoleon Bonaparte elected president of Italian (Cisalpine) Republic
1906 – Del Valle Inclans “El Marqués de Bradomin” premieres in Madrid
1941 – Pope Pius XII elevates the Apostolic Vicariate of the Hawaiian Islands to the dignity of a diocese. It becomes the Roman Catholic Diocese of Honolulu.
1955 – US and Panama sign canal treaty
1970 – Dark comedy film “M*A*S*H”, directed by Robert Altman, starring Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould, and based on novel by Richard Hooker, premieres (Palme d’Or 1970)
2013 – Initial GDP figures for the fourth quarter of 2012 show the UK economy shrank by 0.3% raising fears of a triple dip recession

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Famous Birthdays

1640 – William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire, English polymath and aristocrat, born in Handsworth, England (d. 1707)
1736 – Joseph-Louis Lagrange, Italian mathematician and astronomer (number theory, celestial mechanics), born in Turin, Italy (d. 1813)
1814 – Francis Harrison Pierpont, American lawyer and politician (Union), born in Morgantown, West Virginia (d. 1899)
1900 – Yojiro Ishizaka, Japanese writer, born in Hirosaki, Japan (d. 1986)
1931 – Harold Lloyd Jr., American actor, singer and son of famous silent film actor Harold Lloyd, Sr. (Frankenstein’s Daughter), born in Beverly Hills, California (d. 1971)
1987 – Maria Kirilenko, Russian tennis player, born in Moscow, Russia

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Famous Deaths

1910 – Leon Walras, French economist (School of Lausanne), dies at 75
1933 – William Faulkes, British organist, transcriber and composer, dies at 59
1949 – Emil Axman, Czech composer, dies at 61
1972 – Erhard Milch, German field marshal (b. 1892)
1998 – Mohammad Yusuf Khan, prime minister of Afganistan in (1963-65), dies
2016 – Concepcion Picciotto, American peace activist (longest political protest in US history, outside The White House), dies at 80

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