Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1496 – Jews are expelled from Portugal by order of King Manuel I
1837 – Uprising under William Lyon Mackenzie in Canada
1946 – US President Harry Truman creates Committee on Civil Rights by Exec Order #9808
1978 – Sam Shepard’s “Buried Child” premieres in NYC
2004 – 93rd Davis Cup: Spain beats USA in Seville (3-2)
2021 – First known Hippos tests positive for COVID-19 at Antwerp Zoo in Belgium, with staff putting Imani (14) and Hermien (41) into isolation

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Famous Birthdays

1537 – Ashikaga Yoshiaki, 15th Japanese shōgun, born in Japan (d. 1597)
1822 – Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz, American educator and the co-founder and first president of Radcliffe College, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1907)
1891 – Alexander Rodchenko, Russian painter and photographer, born in St Petersburg (d. 1956)
1949 – Lanny Wadkins, American golfer (PGA C’ship 1977), born in Richmond, Virginia
1970 – Thomas Smith, American NFL cornerback (Buffalo Bills), born in Gates, North Carolina
1979 – Nick Stahl, American actor (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines), born in Harlingen, Texas

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Famous Deaths

1953 – Jorge Negrete [Moreno], Mexican singer and actor (The Rebel, La madrina del diablo), dies of hepatitis at 42
1955 – Paul Harvey, American actor (Spellbound, Calamity Jane, Heldorado, Jamboree), dies at 73
1973 – Robert Watson-Watt, Scottish physicist and developer of the radar and radio direction finding in WWII, dies at 81
1993 – Doug Hopkins, American guitarist and songwriter (Gin Blossoms), commits suicide using a pistol at 32
1994 – Ronald Ridout, English school textbook author (English Today), dies at 78
2016 – E. R. Braithwaite, Guyanese diplomat and writer (To Sir with Love), dies at 104

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Historical Events

1987 – Defending champion Ivan Lendl of Czechoslovakia wins 3rd straight season-ending ATP Masters Grand Prix tennis title by defeating Mats Wilander of Sweden 6–2, 6–2, 6–3 in the final at Madison Square Garden, NYC
1994 – 83rd Davis Cup: Sweden beats Russia in Moscow (4-1)
1998 – The Unity Module, the second module of the International Space Station, is launched
2014 – The United Nations warns that the world is on course for the warmest year since records began
2019 – 58 migrants drown after a boat sinks off the coast of Mauritania, with 83 saved
2021 – Mt Semeru erupts on Java island, Indonesia, killing at least 14 and injuring 56

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Famous Birthdays

1899 – Charlie Spencer, English soccer defender and manager (2 caps; Newcastle United; mgr Grimsby Town 1937-51), born in Washington, England (d. 1953)
1937 – Max Baer Jr, American actor (Jethro-Beverly Hillbillies), born in Oakland, California
1938 – Yvonne Minton, Australian-British soprano, born in Sydney, Australia
1953 – Rick Middleton, Canadian ice hockey right wing (Canada Cup gold 1984; NHL All-Star Game 1981-82, 84; Boston Bruins), born in Toronto, Ontario
1973 – Corliss Williamson, American basketball forward (NBA C’ship 2004, Detroit Pistons; NBA 6th Man of the Year 2002; NCAA Final 4 MOP 1994), born in Russellville, Arkansas
1981 – Andreas Polyzogopoulo, Greek jazz trumpet player (Heart Of The Sun), born in Samiko, Greece

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Famous Deaths

1182 – Henry, earl of Gelre/Zutphen (1141/79-82), dies
1649 – William Drummond of Hawthornden, Scottish poet, dies at 63
1893 – Heinrich Göbel, German-born mechanic and inventor, dies at 75
1976 – [Edward] Benjamin Britten, English composer (The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra; Peter Grimes), dies of heart failure at 63
1984 – John Rock, American obstetrician and gynecologist who co-developed the 1st birth control pill, dies at 94
1994 – Geoffery Rudolph Elton, historiographer, dies at 73

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Historical Events

1926 – Detective novelist Agatha Christie mysteriously disappears for 11 days
1961 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1973 – Pioneer 10 passes Jupiter (1st fly-by of an outer planet) [Dec 4-GMT]
1979 – Shadow Traffic begins broadcasting in the New York City metropolitan area.
1982 – 77°F highest December temperature ever recorded in Cleveland, Ohio
2019 – Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin announce they are stepping down from roles at parent company Alphabet, Sundar Pichai to become head of both

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Famous Birthdays

1483 – Nicolaus von Amsdorf, German reformation theologist, born in Torgau, Saxony (d. 1565)
1857 – Joseph Conrad, Polish-English novelist (Lord Jim, Heart of Darkness), born in Berdychiv, Poland (d. 1924)
1883 – Anton (Friedrich Wilhelm) von Webern, Austrian 12-tone composer, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1945)
1973 – Francisco Islas Rueda [Super Crazy], Mexican pro wrestler (WWE; NJPW, Zero-1, AJPW), born in Tulancingo, Hidalgo, Mexico
1978 – Trina [Katrina Laverne Taylor], American rapper (Glamorest Life), born in Miami, Florida
1985 – Amanda Seyfried, American actress (Mamma Mia, The Dropout), born in Allentown, Pennsylvania

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Famous Deaths

1765 – Lord John Sackville, English politician (MP Tamworth 1734-47) and cricketer (Kent CCC), dies at 52
1960 – Hermann Stephani, German organist, and musicologist, dies at 83
1976 – Mary Nash, actress (Philadelphia Story, Till the Clouds Roll By), dies at 91
1993 – Lewis Thomas, biologist, dies of cancer at 80
1997 – Violet Carlson, American Broadway actress (The Student Prince), dies at 97
2017 – John B. Anderson, American politician and 1980 Republican presidential candidate, dies at 95

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Historical Events

1907 – Association of Football Players’ and Trainers’ Union (English Professional Football Players’ Association) is formed by Charlie Roberts and Billy Meredith in Manchester, England
1972 – “Via Galactica” closes at Uris Theater NYC after 7 performances
1985 – NFL quarterback legends Dan Marino and John Elway (Denver Broncos) face each other for the first time, a 30-26 win for Marino’s Miami Dolphins (390 yards and 3 TDs)
1988 – STS-27 Atlantis launched (Secret military mission)
1988 – UN votes 151-2 (Israel and US) to move PLO debate to Geneva, Great Britain abstains
1990 – US 69th manned space mission STS 35 (Columbia 11) launches into orbit

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Famous Birthdays

1868 – Francis Jammes, French poet and writer (Jammisme), born in Tournay, Hautes-Pyrénées, France (d. 1938)
1902 – Horace Hildreth, American politician (Gov-Maine, 1945-49) and U.S. Ambassador to Pakistan (1953-57), born in Gardiner, Maine (d. 1988)
1910 – Bob Newson, South African cricket fast bowler (3 Tests, 4 wickets; Transvaal; Rhodesia), born in Sea Point, Cape Province, South Africa (d. 1988)
1960 – Rick Savage, English bass player (Def Leppard-Hysteria, Rock of Ages), born in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England
1962 – Kardam, Prince of Turnovo, eldest son of King Simeon II of Bulgaria and his wife Doña Margarita Gómez-Acebo y Cejuela, born in Madrid, Spain (d. 2015)
1968 – Lucy Liu, American actress (Ally McBeal), born in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York

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Famous Deaths

537 – Saint Silverius, Italian Pope (536-37) till deposed in March 537, starves to death in exile
1552 – Francis Xavier, Spanish Catholic missionary (b. 1506)
1748 – Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset, English politician, dies at 86
1814 – Marquis de Sade, French philosopher and writer (Justine) and where the words sadism and sadist are derived from, dies at 74
1888 – Franz Xaver Witt, German church musician, composer, and priest, dies at 54
2005 – Van Tuong Nguyen, Australian drug smuggler (hanged) (b. 1980)

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Historical Events

1824 – US House of Representatives begins to decide outcome of election deadlock between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson (Adams wins)
1974 – South Africa is awarded the Davis Cup tennis title after India refuses to travel to South Africa for the final in protest of the South African government’s apartheid policies
1984 – American tennis icon Chris Evert wins her 1,000th career professional match; beats Pascale Paradis of France 6-1, 6-7, 6-2 in the round of 16 at the Australian Open; Evert goes on to win the event
1989 – Romanian 5-time Olympic gold medal winning gymnast Nadia Comăneci arrives in NYC requesting political asylum to the United States; granted
1994 – Jim Bakker, American televangelist and convicted fraud is released from jail
2015 – After finishing the season with the largest payroll in MLB history at $298.3 million, the Los Angeles Dodgers are assigned the largest luxury tax bill ever, $43.7 million

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Famous Birthdays

1945 – Ross Edwards, Australian cricket batsman (20 Tests @ 40.37, top score 170no; 9 ODIs), born in Perth Western Australia
1954 – Bob Goen, American TV host (Wheel of Fortune, Entertainment Tonight), born in Long Beach, California
1955 – Pat Spillane, Irish Gaelic football left half forward and broadcaster (8 x All Ireland titles; Kerry), born in Templenoe, County Kerry, Ireland
1971 – Rob Waldrop, American College Football Hall of Fame defensive tackle (Outland Trophy 1993 Arizona; CFL, Toronto Argonauts), born in Atlanta, Georgia
1976 – Konerak Sinthasomphone, Jeffrey Dahmer’s victim, born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
1988 – Zoë Kravitz, American actress (Big Little Lies), daughter of Lisa Bonet and Lenny Kravitz, born in Los Angeles, California

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Famous Deaths

660 – Eligius [Eloy], French patron saint of horses, goldsmiths and metalworkers who as bishop of Tournay-Noyon spent 20 years converting the pagan population of Flanders to Christianity, dies at around 72
1925 – Vicente Arregui Garay, Spanish composer, dies at 54
1958 – Patricia “Boots” Mallory, American dancer and actress (Handle With Care), dies from chronic throat disease at 45
1970 – Frank Smailes, English cricket all-rounder (1 Test; 8 County C’ships, Yorkshire), dies at 60
1984 – Roelof Frankot, Dutch painter (b. 1911)
2019 – Shelley Morrison, American actress (General Hospital, Will and Grace), dies at 83

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Historical Events

1886 – First commercially successful AC electric power plant opens, Buffalo, NY
1924 – National Football League Championship: Cleveland Bulldogs (7-1-1) [formerly Canton] win first past the post title
1956 – 1st use of videotape on TV (Douglas Edwards and the News)
1981 – NY Yankee Dave Righetti wins AL Rookie of Year Award
2009 – Canada begins its recovery from the recession; economic growth is at 0.4% after 14 months of economic stagnation
2017 – World’s longest recorded rainbow – 8 hrs 58 min in Taipei’s Yangmingshan mountain range

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Famous Birthdays

1726 – Jacques Aliamet, French etcher and engraver, born in Abbeville, France (d. 1788)
1828 – Jedediah Hotchkiss, American topographer and cartographer, born in Windsor, New York (d. 1899)
1890 – John Tasker Howard, American composer and music historian, born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1964)
1968 – Des’ree [Desirée Annette Weeks], English singer (“Feel So High”; “You Gotta Be”; “Life”)
1971 – Heath Davis, New Zealand cricket bowler (NZ open v England 1994), born in Wellington, New Zealand
1981 – Rich Harden, Canadian baseball player

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Famous Deaths

1864 – John Adams, US Confederate brigadier general, dies in the Battle of Franklin at about 39
1967 – Patrick Kavanagh, Irish screenwriterr (Great Hunger), dies
1985 – Phil Tucker, American film director (Robot Monster), dies at 58
1993 – Bob Wolf, agent (New Kids on the Block, Larry Bird), dies
2010 – Peter Hofmann, Czech-born German operatic tenor (b. 1944)
2021 – Ray Kennedy, English soccer midfielder, forward (17 caps; Arsenal, Liverpool), dies from Parkinson’s disease at 70

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Historical Events

1830 – November Uprising: An armed rebellion against Russia’s rule beings in Poland begins
1980 – 45th Iron Bowl: Alabama beats Auburn 34-18 in Birmingham
1987 – New Orleans Saints win, assuring their 1st winning NFL season
1989 – 8th Largest wrestling crowd UFW U-Cosmos (60,000-Tokyo Dome)
1995 – CNNfn, a financial network by Turner Enterprises is launched
1997 – OPEC agrees to an increase in its production ceiling. OPEC has raised the ceiling to 27.5 million barrels per day for the first half of 1998

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Famous Birthdays

1770 – Peter Hänsel, German-Austrian violinist and composer, born in Leppe, Silesia Province (d. 1831)
1904 – Piet Ketting, Dutch pianist, conductor and composer (Glorify Kokila), born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 1984)
1908 – N. S. Krishnan, Tamil film comedian (d. 1957)
1929 – Jackie Stallone, American astrologer and mother of Sylvester Stallone, born in Washington, D.C.
1952 – Dusty Hare, English rugby union player, born in Newark-on-Trent, England
1959 – Rich Camarillo, American NFL punter, 1981-96, 5X Pro Bowl (New England Patriots, Phoenix Cardinals, and 3 other teams), born in Whittier, California

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Famous Deaths

1643 – Claudio Monteverdi, Italian composer and pioneer in development of opera (L’Orfeo,espro della Beata Vergine), dies at 76
1939 – Philipp Scheidemann, German politician (SPD) and Mayor of Kassel, dies at 74
1997 – Isabelle Kelley, American social worker credited with instigating the US Federal Food Stamp Program, dies at 80
2001 – Mic Christopher, Irish rock singer and songwriter (The Mary Janes; solo – “Heyday”;”Skylarkin'”), dies of head injury after a fall at 32
2017 – Slobodan Praljak, Bosnian Croat general and war criminal, commits suicide at 72
2019 – Seymour Siwoff, American sports statistician (president and CEO Elias Sports Bureau 1952-2019), dies at 99

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Historical Events

1901 – Gustav Mahler conducts premiere of his 4th Symphony in G, at Kaim-Saal concert hall in Maxvorstadt, Munich, Germany to mixed reviews
1938 – 4th Heisman Trophy Award: Davey O’Brien, Texas Christian (QB)
1955 – 1956 NFL Draft: Gary Glick from University of Colorado AandM first pick by Pittsburgh Steelers
1962 – Telegraph between Netherlands and Indonesia restored
1971 – CFL Grey Cup, Empire Stadium, Vancouver: Calgary Stampeders beat Toronto Argonauts, 14-11 on a slick, rain-covered field
2020 – Joe Biden injures his foot playing with his dog Major

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Famous Birthdays

1854 – Gottlieb Haberlandt, Austrian botanist, born in Mosonmagyaróvár (d. 1945)
1864 – Carel Adolph Lion Cachet, Dutch lithographer and wood carver, born in Amsterdam (d. 1945)
1967 – Anna Nicole Smith [Vickie Hogan], American model, Playboy playmate (May 1992, Playmate of the Year 1993) and tabloid fixture, born in Houston, Texas (d. 2007)
1972 – Paulo Figueiredo, Angolan footballer
1977 – Angela Stanford, American golfer (Evian C’ship 2018), born in Fort Worth, Texas
1997 – Thor! [Salden], Belgian pop singer, born in Antwerp, Belgium

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Famous Deaths

1794 – Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, Prussian-American military officer (major general of the Continental Army), dies at 64
1852 – Ludger Duvernay, French printer and newspaper publisher (b. 1799)
1859 – Washington Irving, American author (Legend of Sleepy Hollow), dies of a heart attack at 76
1867 – John Drake Sloat, 1st Military Governor of California (Union Navy), dies at 86
1983 – Christopher George, American actor (Chisum, Heist), dies of a heart attack at 52
2010 – Leslie Nielsen, Canadian actor (Spy Hard, Forbidden Planet, Naked Gun), dies of pneumonia at 84

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Historical Events

1295 – English King Edward I calls what later became known as “The Model Parliament” extending the authorities of its representatives
1956 – Al Oerter wins first of 4 consecutive men’s discus gold medals when he throws Olympic record 56.36m to lead an American medal sweep at the Melbourne Games; Fortune Gordien silver, Desmond Koch bronze
1970 – Carl Morton (18-11 for last-place Expos), receives NL Rookie of Year
1992 – Part of Vienna Hofburg destroyed by fire
2017 – North Korean ghost ship washes up Akita prefecture beach, Japan with 8 skeletons on board, 4th boat in a month
2019 – Ghana celebrates the “year of return” marking 300 years since 1st African slave sold in America, by granting 125 people citizenship in special ceremony

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Famous Birthdays

1879 – Adam Tadeusz Wieniawski, Polish composer, born in Warsaw, Russian Empire (d. 1950)
1907 – L. Sprague de Camp, American sci-fi author (Goblin Tower, Hand of Zei), born in NYC, New York (d. 2000)
1941 – Eddie Rabbitt, American songwriter (“Kentucky Rain”), and country singer (“I Love a Rainy Night”), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1998)
1944 – Trevor Ward-Davies ‘Dozy’, British rock bassist (Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich), born in Enford, Wilshire (d. 2015)
1951 – Kathryn Bigelow, American director, producer and writer (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty), born in San Carlos, California
1981 – Matthew Taylor, English footballer

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Famous Deaths

1971 – Jekabs Medinš, Latvian composer, dies at 86
1980 – F. Burrall Hoffman, American architect (b. 1882)
1982 – Filip Kutev, Bulgarian composer (State Ensemble for Folk Song and Dance), dies at 79
1985 – Harry Harvey Sr, American actor (It’s a Man’s World), dies at 84
1994 – Fernando Lopes-Graça, Portuguese composer and musicologist (b. 1906)
2015 – Gwyn Jones Francis, Welsh UK Forestry commissioner, dies at 85

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Historical Events

1476 – Vlad III Dracula defeats Basarab Laiota with the help of Stephen the Great and Stephen V Bathory and becomes the ruler of Wallachia for the third time.
1917 – NHL forms with Montreal Canadiens, Montreal Maroons, Toronto Arenas, Ottawa Senators and Quebec Bulldogs; National Hockey Association disbands
1956 – Egil Danielsen of Norway sets a new world record throw of 85.71m to win the men’s javelin gold medal at the Melbourne Olympics
1975 – US Federal jury finds Lynette Fromme guilty of attempted assassination
1979 – Intl Olympic Committee votes to readmit China after 21 years
1995 – New Zealand score 8-348 in 49 overs v India in Nagpur ODI

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Famous Birthdays

1850 – Henricus van de Wetering, Archbishop of Utrecht (1895-1929), born in Hoogland, Netherlands (d. 1929)
1873 – Fred Herd, Scottish golfer (US Open 1898), born in St. Andrews, Scotland (d. 1954)
1925 – Eugene Istomin, American pianist (Leventritt Award-1943), born in NYC, New York (d. 2003)
1939 – David White, American singer and songwriter (Danny And The Juniors – “At The Hop”: Leslie Gore – “You Don’t Own Me”), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2019)
1970 – Dave Hughes, Australian comedian (Hughesy, We Have a Problem), born in Warrnambool, Victoria
1986 – Trevor Morgan, American actor (Genius), born in Chicago, Illinois

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Famous Deaths

1326 – Hugh the younger Despenser, English knight (b. 1286)
1719 – John Hudson, British classical scholar (b. 1662)
1836 – John Loudon McAdam, Scottish engineer and road builder who created macadam road surface (asphalt), dies at 80
1966 – Harold Burrage, American RandB singer, pianist, and songwriter (“Got to Find a Way”), dies of heart failure at 35
1995 – David Briggs, American record producer (Neil Young; Nils Lofgren), dies of lung cancer at 51
2013 – Araucaria [John Galbraith Graham], British crossword compiler (The Guardian) and priest, dies at 92

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