Category: On This Day

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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Historical Events

1568 – In Netherlands, Duke of Alva declares William of Orange an outlaw
1847 – 1,500 New Mexican Indians and Mexicans defeated by US Colonel Price
1900 – Battle of Spion Kop: South African Boers defeat the British army after it attempts to cross the Tugela River and relieve the besieged city Ladysmith
2001 – Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Mandelson resigns
2006 – After losing the federal election to Stephen Harper, Paul Martin resigns as leader of the Liberal party
2013 – A Japanese Coast guard ship engages a Taiwanese activist ship in the Senkaku Islands dispute

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Famous Birthdays

1778 – Charles Ferdinand, Duke of Berry, son of French King Charles X, born in Versailles, France (d. 1820)
1820 – John Milton Thayer, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Bellingham, Massachusetts (d. 1906)
1872 – Ethel Turner, Australian author (d. 1958)
1872 – Konstantin Bogaevsky, Russian painter (d. 1943)
1948 – Elliott Abrams, American ass. secretary of state/supplied arms to the Contras, born in New York
1987 – Luis Suárez, Uruguayan football player (Barcelona, Uruguay national team), born in Salto, Uruguay

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Famous Deaths

1619 – Henry Brooke, 11th Baron Cobham, English conspirator against the rule of James I of England, dies at 54
1678 – Joan Maetsuyker, gov-gen of Neth East-Indies, dies at 72
1924 – Marie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, dies at 29
1979 – Mabel Taliaferro, actress (My Love Come Back), dies at 91
1986 – L. Ron Hubbard, American sci-fi writer (Death Quest) and founder of the Scientology cult, dies at 74
1992 – Ricky Ray Rector, American murderer (b. 1950)

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Historical Events

1945 – World War II: Karl Dönitz launches Operation Hannibal to evacuate German soldiers and civilians from Prussia by sea
1961 – Supreme Court rules cities and states have right to censor films
1976 – Ian Redpath hits his only 2 sixes in Cricket Tests, v WI Adelaide
1994 – NFC Championship, Texas Stadium, Irving: Dallas Cowboys beat San Francisco 49ers, 38-21
2011 – NFC Championship, Soldier Field, Chicago: Green Bay Packers beat Chicago Bears, 21-14
2016 – 8 museum workers from Egyptian Museum, Cairo referred for prosecution for reattaching Tutankhamun’s beard with inappropriate glue

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Famous Birthdays

1719 – John Landen, English mathematician, born in England, United Kingdom (d. 1790)
1872 – Joze Plečnik, Slovenian architect, born in Ljubljana, Slovenia (d. 1957)
1928 – Chico Carrasquel, Venezuelan baseball player, born in Caracas, Venezuela (d. 2005)
1929 – Patriarch Filaret (Mykhailo Denysenko) of Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate
1932 – James Rado [Radomski], American stage actor, playwright, director, and composer (Hair!; Rainbow), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2022)
1959 – Sandra Pisani, Australian field hockey captain (Olympic gold 1988), born in Adelaide, Australia (d. 2022)

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Famous Deaths

1888 – Eugène Marin Labiche, French playwright (The Italian Straw Hat), dies at 72
1944 – Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter (The Scream), dies at 80, bequeathing all of his work to the city of Oslo
1964 – Louis Horst, American dance choreographer and composer, dies at 80
1982 – Hope Hampton, actress (Star Dust, Lawful Larcency), dies at 83
1992 – Simon Brand, South African banker and adviser to President F. W. de Klerk, dies
1993 – Dudley Stevens, English entertainer, dies of AIDS at 57

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Historical Events

1775 – Marshal Oscar von Lubomirski expels Jews from Warsaw, Poland
1837 – Earthquake in southern Syria kills thousands
1914 – Paul Claudel’s play “L’échange” premieres in Paris
1957 – Mad Bomber (George P Metesky) accused of 30 explosions, arrested
1985 – -30°F (-34°C), Mountain Lake Bio Station, Virginia (state record)
1985 – Kelly Hu, 16, of Hawaii, crowned 3rd Miss Teen USA

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Famous Birthdays

1912 – Harry Parry, Welsh jazz clarinetist and bandleader (BBC’s Radio Rhythm Club), born in Bangor, Wales (d. 1956)
1938 – Corra Dirksen, South African rugby union winger (10 caps; Northern Transvaal), born in Vereeniging, South Africa (d. 2020)
1953 – Karen Moe, American swimmer (Olympic gold 200m butterfly 1972), born in Del Monte, Philippines
1953 – Jim Jarmusch, American director (Only Lovers Left Alive), born in Akron, Ohio
1982 – Jason Peters, American football player, born in Queen City, Texas
1984 – Ben Eager, Canadian NHL ice hockey player, 2004-15 (Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Black HAwks, and 3 other teams), born in Ottawa, Ontario

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Famous Deaths

1799 – Horace B de Saussure, Swiss physicist/geologist/alpinist, dies at 58
1852 – George Rodwell, English composer, dies at 51
1978 – Herbert Sutcliffe, English cricketer (54 Tests for England 4555 runs), dies at 83
1979 – Ali Hassan Salameh [Abu Hassan], killed by car bomb; believed to have helped mastermind massacre of 1972 Munich Olympics athletes
1997 – Irwin Levine, composer (Tie a Yellow Ribbon), dies at 58
2002 – John Shea, American 500m/1500m speed skater (Olympic gold 1932), dies at 91

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Historical Events

1864 – The Tauranga Campaign of the New Zealand Wars begins
1952 – Jawaharlal Nehru’s Congress party wins general election in India
1958 – Phillies agree to televise 78 games into NYC (doesn’t happen)
1974 – Gold hits record $161.31, silver hits record $3.97 an ounce in London
1980 – Gold hits record $850 an ounce
2001 – 58th Golden Globes: “Gladiator”, Tom Hanks, and Julia Roberts win

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Famous Birthdays

1926 – Stephen “Steve” Reeves, American professional bodybuilder, actor, and philanthropist (Hercules, Goliath, Sandokan), born in Glasgow, Montana (d. 2000)
1951 – Eric Holder, American lawyer and judge (1st African American US Attorney General 2009-2015), born in The Bronx, New York
1959 – Alex McLeish, Scottish footballer and manager
1963 – Detlef Schrempf, German-American NBA forward, 1985-2001 (Mavericks, Pacers, Supersonics), born in Leverkusen, West Germany
1985 – Adrian Lewis, English darts player (PDC World Champion 2011-12), born in Stoke-on-Trent, England
1994 – Laura Robson, British tennis player (Olympics mixed doubles silver 2012), born in Melbourne, Australia

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Famous Deaths

1831 – Achim v Arnim, writer, dies at 49
1933 – George A. Moore, Irish novelist (b. 1852)
1957 – Arthur L Bowley, English statistician/economist, dies at 87
1963 – Al St. John, American vaudeville and silent film comic (Young and Dumb),and talkie character actor billed as “Fuzzy” St. John (Outlaws of the Plains), dies of a heart attack at 70
1987 – Charles Goodell, American politician (b. 1926)
1991 – Frank Mitchell, actor (Music is Magic, Prairie Gunsmoke), dies

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Historical Events

1879 – British troops under Lord Chelmsford make camp at Isandlwana
1921 – British submarine HMS K5 (which was unusually equipped with steam turbines) sinks with 57 crew during exercises in the Bay of Biscay
1929 – 1st feature talking motion picture taken outdoors, “In Old Arizona”
1972 – Six oil exporting countries conclude meetings with Western oil companies; an agreement is reached to raise the price of crude
1983 – American gangster Roy DeMeo is found murdered in his car trunk after disappearing a few days earlier
1988 – Arizona committee opens hearing on impeachment of Gov Evan Mecham

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Famous Birthdays

1681 – Francesco Bartolomeo Conti, Italian composer and mandolin player, born in Florence, Italy (d. 1732)
1878 – Finlay Currie, Scottish actor (Quo Vadis, Ivanhoe, Avengers), born in Edinburgh (d. 1968)
1932 – Frank Arok, Yugoslavian-Australian soccer coach (Australia 1983-89), born in Kanjiža, Serbia (d. 2021)
1944 – Isao Okano, Japanese judoka (Olympic gold 1964), born in Ryugasaki, Japan
1956 – Adrian Vernon Fish, British classical composer, born in Bristol, England
1969 – Andre Cason, American sprinter, born in Virginia Beach, Virginia

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Famous Deaths

1713 – Pavao Vitezovic, Croatian historian, dies
1841 – Jørgen Jørgensen, Danish explorer and adventurer (attempted to rule Iceland), dies at 60
1971 – Broncho Billy Anderson, American actor and the 1st cowboy in a movie (The Great Train, The Lucky Dog), dies at 88
1983 – Garrincha, Brazilian footballer, dies at 49
1996 – Ellis Hillman, British Labour party politician, lecturer, and writer (London Under London), dies during heart surgery at 68
1998 – Zevulun Hammer, Israeli politician, minister and Deputy Prime Minister of Israel (1996-98), dies at 61

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Historical Events

1770 – Battle of Golden Hill (Lower Manhattan)
1885 – Battle of Abu Kru (Battle of Gubat), Sudan: British Desert Column defeat Mahdist forces: 121 British and untold Mahdists killed
1915 – Neon Tube sign patented by George Claude
1941 – British offensive in Eritrea
1992 – Nature Boy Ric Flair becomes WWF champ at Royal Rumble
2006 – Terrorist blows himself up in Tel Aviv, killing only himself but injuring 20 people, one of them seriously

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Famous Birthdays

1747 – Johann Bode, German astronomer (Titius–Bode Law), born in Hamburg, Holy Roman Empire (now Germany) (d. 1826)
1935 – [Augustus] Owsley Stanley III, American audio engineer and LSD cook who worked with the Grateful Dead, born in Kentucky (d. 2011)
1947 – Roderic “Rod” Evans, English rocker (The Maze, Deep Purple), born in Eton, Buckinghamshire, England
1971 – Jeff Juden, American baseball pitcher (Philadelphia Phillies, SF Giants), born in Salem, Massachusetts
1984 – Karun Chandhok, Indian racing driver, born in Chennai, India
1991 – Tommy Fleetwood, British golfer (US Open runner-up 2018; Ryder Cup 2018), born in Southport, England

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Famous Deaths

1576 – Hans Sachs, German composer, dies at 81
1865 – Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, French philosopher and anarchist (b. 1809)
1893 – Julius Eichberg, German composer, dies at 68
1962 – Harry “Snub” Pollard, Australian actor (Don’t Shove, Arizona Days), dies of cancer at 72
1976 – Hidetsugu Yagi, Japanese electrical engineer (b. 1886)
2020 – Kazım Ayvaz, Turkish wrestler (Olympic gold lightweight, 1964; World C’ship gold welterweight, 1958; lightweight, 1962), dies at 81

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