Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1918 – American Jewish Congress holds its 1st meeting
1953 – WJHG TV channel 7 in Panama City, FL (NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting
1961 – Adolf Eichmann is sentenced to death for war crimes in Israel
1973 – American kidnap victim John Paul Getty III freed after ransom paid by oil tycoon grandfather John Paul Getty
1983 – 3 Kansas City Royals (Willie Wilson, Willie Aikens, and Jerry Martin) suspended due to cocaine usage
2017 – Pakistani teenager Ahed Tamimi filmed slapping Israeli officers during protest, arrested 4 days later

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Famous Birthdays

1860 – Niels Ryberg Finsen, Danish-Farosese physician and phototherapist (Nobel Prize for Medicine 1903 for treatment for Lupus), born in Tórshavn, Faroe Islands (d. 1904)
1888 – Artturi Leinonen, Finnish journalist and writer (Kati), born in Ylihärmä, Finland (d. 1963)
1892 – J. Paul Getty, American oil magnate and billionaire (Getty Oil), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota (d. 1976)
1899 – Harold Abrahams, British athlete (Olympic gold 100m, silver 4x100m 1924; depicted in film “Chariots of Fire”), born in Bedford, England (d. 1978)
1930 – Edna O’Brien, Irish novelist and short story writer (Girl with Green Eyes, Casualties of Peace), born in Tuamgraney, County Clare, Ireland
1960 – Doug Phelps, American singer (Ky Headhunters – Davy Crockett), born in Leachville, Arkansas

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Famous Deaths

1816 – Joseph Franz Maximilian Lobkowitz, Bohemian aristocrat and composer, dies at 44
1855 – Jacques Charles François Sturm, French mathematician (b. 1803)
1896 – John GR Acquoy, Dutch theologian and church historian, dies at 67
1952 – Potti Sreeramulu, Indian revolutionary known as the Father of Andhra for conducting a 56 day hunger strike in support of a separate Telugu-speaking state, fasts to death at 51, sparking rioting and 3 days later Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to declare an intention to form Andhra Pradesh state
1953 – Ed Barrow, American Baseball HOF manager (World Series 1918 Boston Red Sox) and executive (10 x World Series NY Yankees), dies at 85
2009 – Carolyn DeZurik, American country and polka singer and yodeler (The Cackle Sisters; Prairie Ramblers; The Polka Chips), dies at 90

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Historical Events

1793 – 1st state road authorized, Frankfort, Kentucky, to Cincinnati
1849 – 1st chamber music group in US gives their 1st concert in Boston
1920 – Jack Dempsey KOs Bill Brennan in 12 for heavyweight boxing title in NYC
1977 – Dutch war criminal Pieter Menten sentenced in Amsterdam to 15 years
1978 – China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor, PRC
1978 – “Ballroom” opens at Majestic Theater NYC for 116 performances

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Famous Birthdays

1881 – Katherine MacDonald, American actress and film producer (Stranger Than Fiction, The Infidel), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 1956)
1917 – June Taylor, American choreographer, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2004)
1941 – Ellen Willis, American journalist and feminist, born in NYC, New York (d. 2006)
1968 – Jamie Crysdale, CFL corner (Calgary Stampeders), born in Calgary, Alberta
1984 – Chris Brunt, Northern Irish footballer, born in Belfast
1985 – Nonami Takizawa, Japanese gravure idol and actress, born in Saitama prefecture, Japan

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Famous Deaths

1077 – Agnes of Poitou, German Empress and wife of Emperor Henry III, dies at 52
1715 – Thomas Tenison, Archbishop of Canterbury, dies at 79
1760 – Kacic Miosic, Croatian poet (Razgovar Ugodni Naroda Slovinskoga), dies at 56
1788 – Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German composer, dies at 74
1914 – Giovanni Sgambati, Italian pianist and composer, dies at 73
1989 – Andrei Sakharov, Russian nuclear physicist and an activist for disarmament, peace and human rights (Nobel 1975), dies of a heart attack at 68

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Historical Events

1966 – Test debut of Clive Lloyd, v India Bombay, 82 and 78
1991 – Ricky Pierce (Seattle) ends NBA free throw streak of 75 games
2012 – Japan scrambles fighter jets in response to a Chinese plane in the Senkaku Islands dispute
2012 – A car bombing in Qatana, outside Damascus, kills 16 people and injures 12
2015 – 81st Heisman Trophy Award: Derrick Henry, Alabama (RB)
2018 – US Senate passes non-binding “war powers resolution” against long-term ally Saudi Arabia

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Famous Birthdays

1770 – John Clarke-Whitfeld, English organist and composer, born in Gloucester, England (d. 1836)
1797 – Heinrich Heine, German poet and lyricist (Schubert, Liszt), born in Düsseldorf, Germany (d. 1856)
1835 – Phillips Brooks, American Episcopal bishop and composer (Little Town of Bethlehem), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1893)
1897 – Drew Pearson, American newscaster (Drew Pearson), born in Evanston, Illinois (d. 1969)
1977 – Sascha Kindred, British Paralympic swimmer, born in Münster, Germany
1983 – Matt Deis, American bassist (All That Remains), born in Peterborough, New Hampshire

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Famous Deaths

1126 – Henry IX, the Black, Duke of Bavaria (1120-26), dies
1837 – Herman of Alaska, Russian Orthodox hermit (b. 1756)
1919 – Amintore Galli, Italian composer, dies at 74
1958 – Ahmed Mukhtar Baban, premier of Iraq, executed
1983 – Alexander Schmemann, Orthodox Christian priest and theologian (b. 1921)
1993 – Charles JB Jonckheere, Flemish poet/writer: Ogentroost, dies at 87

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Historical Events

1897 – Rudolph Dirks’ 1st “The Katzenjammer Kids” cartoon strip appears in NY Journal
1900 – National Negro Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing”, composed
1948 – Malayan Emergency: Batang Kali Massacre – 14 members of the Scots Guards stationed in Malaysia allegedly massacre 24 unarmed civilians and set fire to the village.
1963 – Kenya (formerly British East Africa) declares independence from UK
1966 – “A Man for All Seasons” based on the play by Robert Bolt, directed by Fred Zinnemann and starring Paul Scofield premieres in New York (Best Picture 1967)
1992 – 58th Heisman Trophy Award: Gino Torretta, U of Miami (QB)

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Famous Birthdays

1902 – Howard Koch, American playwright and screenwriter, born in NYC, New York (d. 1995)
1913 – Hal Dickinson, American singer (Modernaires), born in Buffalo, New York (d. 1970)
1931 – Ali-Akbar Sa’idi Sirjani, Iranian writer and journalist, born in Sirjan, Kerman (d. 1994)
1937 – Philip Ledger, British organist, composer, conductor, and academic (King’s College Cambridge), born in Bexhill-on-Sea, England (d. 2012)
1938 – Joel Chadabe, American electronic music composer, born in NYC, New York (d. 2021)
1968 – Chris Walsh, American NFL wide receiver (Minnesota Vikings; sues NFL over head injuries 2011), born in Cleveland, Ohio

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Famous Deaths

1889 – Robert Browning, English poet (Ring and Book), dies at 77
1914 – Watkins Lewis Africa American lynched in Shrevport, Louisiana
1992 – Jasu Patel, Indian cricket spin bowler (7 Tests, 29 wickets, BB 9-69 v Aust 1959; Gujarat), dies at 68
2002 – Jay Wesley Neill, American convicted mass murderer, dies at 37
2019 – Brian Muller, New Zealand rugby union prop (14 caps; Taranaki), dies at 77
2020 – John le Carré [pen name for David Cornwell], English novelist (The Spy Who Came in from the Cold), dies at 89

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Historical Events

1730 – Voltaire’s tragedy “Brutus” premieres in Paris
1958 – Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso) gains autonomy from France
1968 – Northern Ireland Prime Minister Terence O’Neill sacks Home Affairs Minister, William Craig
1990 – US 69th manned space mission STS 35 (Columbia 11) returns from space
2007 – Two car bombs go off at the Constitutional Court building in Algiers and the United Nations office. An estimated 45 people are killed in the bombings.
2017 – Attempted suicide terrorist bomb attack in New York wounds 3, bomb fails to fully detonate

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Famous Birthdays

1843 – Robert Koch, German pioneering bacteriologist (TB, cholera, Nobel Prize 1905), born in Clausthal, Hanover (d. 1910)
1912 – Carlo Ponti, Italian film producer (Marriage Italian Style, Doctor Zhivago), born in Magenta, Lombardy (d. 2007)
1948 – Chester Thompson, American session and touring drummer and percussionist (Frank Zappa; Genesis; Chester Thompson Trio), born in Baltimore, Maryland
1954 – Vicki Randle, American singer-songwriter, born in San Francisco, California
1964 – Cosy Sheridan, American singer (The Pomegranate Seed), born in Concord, New Hampshire
1989 – Kellie Harrington, Irish boxer (lightweight Gold Medal 2021 Tokyo Olympics), born in Dublin, Ireland

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Famous Deaths

1610 – False Dmitry 2, Tsar of Russia, murdered
1756 – Maria Amalia of Austria, Holy Roman Empire Empress as the spouse of Emperor Charles VII, dies at 55
1918 – Ivan Cankar, Slovene author, poet, novelist and playwright (Erotika, The Bailiff Yerney and His Rights), dies of pneumonia at 42, a complication of the Spanish flu
2004 – Arthur Lydiard, New Zealand running coach, dies at 87
2007 – Ashleigh Aston Moore, Canadian child actress (Now and Then), dies of a drug overdose at 26
2014 – Hans Wallat, German opera conductor, dies at 85

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Historical Events

1923 – Polish government of Grabski forms
1926 – 1st radio broadcast in the Sprinfield area (WCBS)
1963 – Leonard Bernstein premieres his Third Symphony “Kaddish” with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, in Tel Aviv, Israel
1986 – Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel accepts 1986 Nobel Peace Prize
1993 – “Doom” pioneering first-person shooter video game is uploaded onto the internet by id Software
2013 – Uruguay becomes the first country to legalize the growth, sale, and use of marijuana

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Famous Birthdays

1872 – Johann Babtist Thaller, German composer, born in Röhrmoos, Germany (d. 1952)
1891 – Leonie “Nelly” Sachs, German-Swedish poet and playwright (O the Chimneys – Nobel Prize for Literature 1966), born in Berlin, Germany (d. 1970)
1893 – Walter Rein, German composer, born in Stotternheim (d. 1955)
1935 – Terry Allcock, English footballer (Norwich City), born in Leeds, England
1939 – Barry Cunliffe, English archaeologist and university professor, born in Portsmouth, England
1965 – (Joseph) “J” Mascis, American rock singer and guitarist (Dinosaur Jr), born in Amherst, Massachusetts

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Famous Deaths

1736 – António Manoel de Vilhena, Portuguese ruler of Malta (b. 1663)
1831 – Thomas Johann Seebeck, German physicist (Seebeck effect), dies at 61
1992 – Bernard Reichel, Swiss composer, dies at 91
1994 – Alexander Wilson, Canadian athlete (b. 1905)
1997 – Jake Carey, American actor (Rock Rock Rock!, Go, Johnny, Go!), dies at 71
2005 – Eugene McCarthy, American politician (Sen-D-Minn) and presidential candidate, dies of parkinsons at 89

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Historical Events

1931 – Japanese army attacks Chinese province of Jehol
1949 – NFL merges with AAFC; Cleveland Browns, San Francisco 49ers and Baltimore Colts join league intact, other teams in New York and Los Angeles are merged with existing units
1961 – Tanganyika gains independence from Britain, takes name Tanzania – with Ukuru (Freedom) Torch lit on the summit of Mt Kilimanjaro
1967 – Nicolae Ceaușescu becomes President of Romania (overthrown in 1989)
1968 – KRNE TV channel 12 in Merriman, NB (PBS) begins broadcasting
1974 – Johnson Grigsby freed after 66 years in jail in Indiana

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Famous Birthdays

1787 – John Dobson, English architect, born in High Chirton, North Shields, England (d. 1865)
1899 – Howard Freeman, American actor (Studio One, Double Dynamite), born in Helena, Montana (d. 1967)
1934 – Alan Ridout, British composer, born in West Wickham, England (d. 1996)
1944 – Bob O’Connor, American politician (Mayor of Pittsburgh, 2006), born in Greenfield, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 2006)
1953 – John Malkovich, American actor (The Killing Fields; Dangerous Liaisons), born in Christopher, Illinois
1973 – Stacey Abrams, American politician, lawyer and voting rights activist, born in Madison, Wisconsin

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Famous Deaths

1544 – Teofilo Folengo, Italian macaronic poet, dies at 53
1798 – Johann Reinhold Forster, German botanist (naturalist on James Cook’s second Pacific voyage), dies at 69
1814 – Jose Angel Lamas, Venezuelan composer, dies at 39
1940 – Maletti, Italian general, dies in battle
1992 – Vincent Gardenia, Italian-American actor (Bang the Drum Slowly, Moonstruck, Little Shop of Horrors), dies of a heart attack at 71
2021 – Demaryius Thomas, American football wide receiver (Super Bowl 2015; 4 × Pro Bowl; Denver Broncos), dies at 33

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Historical Events

1914 – Boers rebelling against the British in South Africa suffer several defeats, with one of their leaders, General Beyers, accidentally drowning
1952 – French troops shoot on demonstrators at Casablanca, 50 die
1963 – Frank Sinatra, Jr is kidnapped at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe (Nevada)
1972 – United Airlines crashes at Chicago’s Midway Airport killing 45
1990 – Indians agree to a lease new ballpark in Gateway (Jacobs Field)
2018 – US President Donald Trump announces John Kelly will be stepping down as White House Chief of Staff at the end of the year

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Famous Birthdays

1795 – Peter Andreas Hansen, Danish-German astronomer (Hansen hypothesis), born in Tønder, Schleswig, Denmark (d. 1874)
1905 – Charles Cushing, American composer, born in Oakland, California (d. 1982)
1908 – John Volpe, American politician (61st and 63rd Governor of Massachusetts) and U.S. Secretary of Treasury (1969-73), born in Wakefield, Massachusetts (d. 1994)
1942 – Bobby Elliott, British rock drummer (The Hollies), born in Burnley, Lancashire
1949 – Mary Gordon, American author
1959 – Jim Yong Kim, South Korean-American physician, anthropologist and President of the World Bank, born in Seoul, South Korea

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Famous Deaths

1907 – Oscar II Frederick, King of Sweden (-1907)/Norway (-1905), dies
1940 – George Exton Lloyd, Anglican Bishop and theologian (b. 1861)
1952 – Charles Lightoller, English second officer on the Titanic (b. 1874)
1958 – Tris Speaker, American Baseball HOF outfielder (World Series 1912, 15, 20; AL MVP 1912; career batting average .345 [6th all-time]; Cleveland Indians) and manager (Cleveland Indians 1919-26), dies at 70
1982 – Harald Riedewald, Suriname attorney, murdered
1984 – Luther Adler, American actor (D.O.A., The Desert Fox), dies at 81

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Historical Events

1741 – Elisabeth Petrovna becomes Tsarina of Russia
1916 – David Lloyd George replaces resigning H. H. Asquith as British Prime Minister
1937 – Russian chess player Alexander Alekhine recaptures his final world title from Dutch grand master Max Euwe by a large margin (+10−4=11)
1978 – Islander’s Mike Bossy’s 1st career hat trick
1996 – Space Shuttle STS 80 (Columbia 21), lands
2007 – The Hebei Spirit oil spill began in South Korea after a crane barge being towed by tug collided with the very large crude carrier, Hebei Spirit.

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Famous Birthdays

1860 – Joseph Cook, 6th Prime Minister of Australia, born in Silverdale, Staffordshire, England (d. 1947)
1863 – Felix Calonder, Swiss politician (Free Democratic Party), born in Scuol, Switzerland (d. 1952)
1878 – Akiko Yosano, Japanese poet (Tangled Hair), born in Sakai, Ōsaka, Japan (d. 1942)
1971 – Ben Atkins, American fencer-epee (Olympics 1996), born in NYC, New York
1987 – Aaron Carter, American singer, rapper and songwriter, born in Tampa, Florida (d. 2022)
1989 – Nicholas Hoult, English actor (The Favourite; Tolkien; Peter III-The Great), born in Wokingham, England

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Famous Deaths

1881 – Julius FA Bahnsen, German philosopher (Tragic as Weltgesetz), dies at 51
1946 – Sada Yacco, Japanese stage actress (b. 1871)
1984 – Jeanne Cagney, American stage, screen, and radio actress (Lion is in the Streets; Quicksand; Yankee Doodle Dandy), dies of lung cancer at 65
1990 – Peter Mieg, Swiss composer, dies at 84
1990 – Reinaldo Arenas, Cuban poet and novelist (Pentagonia), dies at 47
2019 – Ron Saunders, English soccer striker (Portsmouth) and manager (Manchester City, Aston Villa, Birmingham City), dies at 87

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Historical Events

1060 – Béla I of Hungary is crowned king of Hungary
1957 – AFL-CIO votes to expel Teamsters (readmitted in October 1987)
1975 – Balcombe Street Siege: for 6 days, four Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers hold two hostages at an apartment in London, England
1991 – “Les Miserables” opens at Circustheater, Scheveningen
2002 – “Adaptation” directed by Spike Jonze, starring Nicolas Cage and Meryl Streep premieres
2010 – Record price for a printed book when a first edition of “The Birds of America” by John James Audubon auctioned at Sotheby’s, London, England, for £7,321,250

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Famous Birthdays

1887 – Lynn Fontanne, British actress (Peter Pan; The Guardsman), born in Woodford, Essex, England (d. 1983)
1896 – Ira Gershwin, American lyricist (“Embraceable You”; “I Got Rhythm”; “They Can’t Take That Away From Me”), born in NYC, New York (d. 1983)
1930 – Wojciech Zabłocki, Polish fencer (4 x World C’ship gold team; Olympic silver team sabre 1956, 60; bronze 1964), born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 2020)
1943 – Mike Smith, British rock singer and keyboardist (Dave Clark Five – “Glad All Over”), born in London, England (d. 2008)
1949 – Doug Marlette, American editorial cartoonist (Kudzu), born in Greensboro, North Carolina (d. 2007)
1986 – Matt Niskanen, American NHL player (Philadelphia Flyers), born in Virginia, Minnesota

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Famous Deaths

1550 – Pieter Coecke van Aelst, Flemish painter, dies at 48
1562 – Jan van Scorel, Dutch painter and architect, dies at 67
1746 – Lady Grizel Baillie, Scottish songwriter (b. 1665)
1991 – Ann Sorg Coston, actress (Anna-Aldrich Family), dies at 62
1994 – AJ Bronkhorst, vicar/theologist (Reform The Netherlands), dies at 80
2020 – Jack Scarbath, American College Football Hall of Fame quarterback (Uni of Maryland; Washington Redskins, Pittsburgh Steelers), dies at 90

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