Category: On This Day

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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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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