Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1500 – Baglione family massacre at the “Blood Wedding” of Astorre Baglione and Lavinia Colonna in Perugia
1501 – Portuguese explorer Pedro Cabral arrives back in Lisbon after successfully discovering Brazil and returning from India
1884 – Wimbledon Men’s Tennis: 4 consecutive Wimbledon titles for William Renshaw; beats Herbert Lawford 6-0, 6-4, 9-7
1952 – 1st transatlantic helicopter flight begins
1996 – After 2,216 consecutive games at shortstop, Cal Ripkin goes to 3rd
1996 – Southern Mexico hit with 6.5 earthquake

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Famous Birthdays

1849 – Moritz Heuzenroeder, German pianist and composer who settled in Australia, born in Ottersberg, Germany (d. 1897)
1901 – John Wesley Work III, African-American composer, musicologist and scholar of African-American folklore and music, born in Tullahoma, Tennessee (d. 1967)
1913 – Abraham Sutzkever, Yiddish language poet and memoirist.
1939 – Don Kojis, American basketball forward (NBA All-Star 1968, 69; Detroit Pistons, SD Rockets, Seattle SuperSonics), born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (d. 2021)
1954 – Boris Polak, Israel, Men’s 50M Free Rifle 3 Positions (Olympic 20-1996)
1977 – Lana Parrilla, American actress

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Famous Deaths

1854 – Wincenty Studzinski, Polish violinist and composer, dies at 39
1940 – Donald Calthrop, British actor (Blackmail, Scrooge, Rome Express), dies from a heart attack at 52
1977 – Konstantin Fedin, writer, dies
1990 – Margaret Lockwood, British actress (Cast a Dark Shadow, The Lady Vanishes), dies of cirrhosis of the liver at 73
1992 – Henk van der Molen, Dutch guitarist, composer, and writer (Martine Bijl), dies
1995 – Willie George “Bill” Woodruff Sr, vocalist, dies at 66

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Historical Events

1570 – Pope Pius V introduces a standardised Roman Missal (text of the Latin mass), a reform of the Council of Trent. Will remain unchanged for 400 years.
1977 – US House establishes permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
1981 – Kevin Wade’s “Key Exchange,” premieres in London
1988 – WYHY radio offers $1M to anyone who can prove Elvis is still alive
1988 – Mike Schmidt passes Mickey Mantle with his 537th HR into 7th place
1992 – Actress Nell Carter undergoes brain surgery

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Famous Birthdays

1913 – Fritz Erler, German socialist politician (SDP), born in Berlin, Germany (d. 1967)
1926 – Harry Dean Stanton, American actor, (Lucky:Alien; Cool Hand Luke; The Godfather Part II), musician, and singer, born in West Irvine, Kentucky (d. 2017)
1952 – Bob Casale, AKA Bob 2, American Musician (Devo), (d. 2014)
1971 – Marie-Chantal Toupin, French Canadian pop singer, born in Montreal, Quebec
1971 – Joey Styles, American wrestling commentator (WWE), born in The Bronx, New York
1971 – Bubba Ray Dudley [Mark LoMonaco], American professional wrestler (WWF, WWE), born in New York City

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Famous Deaths

664 – Deusdedit of Canterbury, Archbishop of Canterbury (655-664), 1st Anglo Saxon Archbishop of Canterbury
1790 – Ernst Gideon Freiherr von Laudon, Austrian field marshal, dies at 73
1930 – William Hare Ashley, South African cricketer (Test South Africa, 7 wkts), dies at 68
1984 – Ernest Tidyman, American writer (b. 1928)
2003 – Éva Janikovszky, Hungarian novelist (b. 1926)
2021 – Jeff Labar, American glam rock guitarist (Cinderella, 1985-2014 – “Nobody’s Fool”; “Don’t Know What You Got (Till It’s Gone)”), dies at 58

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Historical Events

1900 – Phillies beat Pittsburgh 23-8
1943 – Greatest tank battle in history ends with Russia’s defeat of Germany at Kursk, almost 6,000 tanks take part, 2,900 lost by Germany
1950 – René Pleven forms French government
1978 – Albania drops diplomatic relations with People’s Republic of China
1991 – Bob Milacki and 3 other Baltimore Oriole pitchers no-hit A’s 2-0
1997 – Senior Players Championship Men’s Golf, TPC of Michigan: Larry Gilbert wins his lone career major title by 3 strokes from Isao Aoki, Bob Dickson, Jack Kiefer and Dave Stockton

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Famous Birthdays

1913 – Carolina Gisolf, Dutch high jumper (Olympic silver, 1928), born in Holland
1932 – Antonio Roma, football goalkeeper (42 caps), born in Buenos Aires, Argentina (d. 2013)
1942 – Stephen Jo Bladd, American drummer (J Geils Band – “Centerfold”; “Freeze Frame”), born in Boston, Massachusetts
1954 – Sezen Aksu, Turkish singer
1975 – Danni Boatwright, American model/beauty queen (Miss Teen USA 1992 2nd runner-up), born in Tonganoxie, Kansas
1982 – Christopher Bauman, American professional wrestler (d. 2005)

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Famous Deaths

1399 – Peter Parler, German architect (b. 1330)
1863 – John S. Bowen, American Major General (Confederate Army), dies at 32
1947 – Warwick Armstrong, cricketer (50 Tests 1901-21, 2863 runs), dies at 68
2006 – Red Buttons [Aaron Chwatt], American comedian (The Red Buttons Show), and Academy Award-winning actor (Sayonara; The Poseidon Adventure), dies from cardiovascular disease at 87
2013 – Cory Monteith, Canadian actor and musician, dies of heroin and alcohol overdose at 31
2014 – Thomas Berger, American novelist, dies at 89

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Historical Events

927 – King Aethelstan is the first southern English king to gain control of much of the north of Britain when various local kings accept his overlordship at Eamont, Cumbria
1916 – 3rd and 4th of 4 fatal Jersey Shore shark attacks occurs at Matawan Creek when epileptic Lester Stilwell (11) is dragged into a creek and Watson Fisher (24), believing Silwell had a seizure, is bitten while retrieving the body and subsequently bleeds to death
1987 – Canadian Open Women’s Golf (du Maurier Classic), Islesmere GC: Jody Rosenthal wins by 2 from Ayako Okamoto of Japan
1987 – 1st time in 20 years a delegation from USSR lands in Israel
1990 – In Soweto, South Africa, Shanty town women strip to the waist and confront bulldozers sent by authorities to demolish their homes
1998 – FIFA World Cup Final, Stade de France, Saint-Denis: Zinedine Zidane scores twice as France wins first World Cup beating Brazil, 3-0

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Famous Birthdays

1937 – Mickey Edwards, American Republican congressman (Chairman of the House Republican Policy Committee), born in Cleveland, Ohio
1944 – Denise Nicholas, American actress (Room 222, Baby I’m Back), born in Detroit, Michigan
1951 – Jamey Sheridan, American actor (Another World), born in Pasadena, California
1960 – Corynne Charby [Corinne Charbit], French model, actress and pop singer (“Pile ou face” – “Heads Or Tails”), born in Paris, France
1969 – Alan Mullally, English cricket left-arm fast bowler (19 Tests, 58 wickets; 50 ODIs, 63 wickets), born in Southend-on-Sea, England
1977 – Neil Harris, English footballer

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Famous Deaths

1693 – John Ashby, English admiral
1850 – Robert Stevenson, Scottish civil engineer (Bell Rock Lighthouse, Scotland), dies at 78
1897 – Félix Godefroid, Belgian harpist and composer, dies at 78
1995 – Alan David Marks, American concert pianist, dies of cancer at 49
2018 – Tom Gallagher, American diplomat, gay activist, and 1st Foreign Service officer to publicly come out in 1976, dies at 77
2020 – Wim Suurbier, Dutch soccer right back (60 caps; Ajax 392 games) and manager (LA Heat, TB Rowdies), dies of a cerebral haemorrhage at 75

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Historical Events

1892 – US Patent Office says Joseph Swan rather than Thomas Edison, invented the electric light carbon for the incandescent lamp
1939 – 7th All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 3-1 at Yankee Stadium, New York NY Yankee/AL maanager Joe McCarthy starts 6 Yankees
1943 – 7th day of battle at Kursk
1974 – World Football League plays 1st games
1991 – Nigeria Airways DC-8 crashes at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, killing all 261 passengers and crew on board
1995 – Shaggy releases his third studio album “Bombastic” (Grammy Award Best Reggae Album)

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Famous Birthdays

1274 – Robert the Bruce, King of Scots (1306-1329) and national hero, born in Turnberry Castle, Ayrshire (d. 1329)
1916 – Reg Varney, English actor
1932 – Billy Davis, American music producer and songwriter (“I’d Like To Buy The World A Coke”), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 2004)
1932 – Alex Hassilev, American actor and folk musician (The Limeliters), born in Paris, France
1948 – Martin Rushent, British sound engineer (Gentle Giant; Shirley Bassey), and record producer (Buzzcocks; The Human League), born in Enfield, England (d. 2011)
1956 – Sela Ward, Meridian Miss, actress (Hilary-Emerald Point NAS, Sisters)

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Famous Deaths

472 – Anthemius, Emperor of the Western Roman Empire
1914 – Julius Rodenberg [Levy], German writer (Die Deutsche Rundschau), dies at 83
1962 – Owen D. Young, American industrialist (RCA) and diplomat (Young Plan), dies at 87
1980 – Bolesław Woytowicz, Polish pianist and composer, dies at 80
1987 – Thomas F Waddell, founder (Gay Olympics), dies of AIDS at 50
2007 – Lady Bird Johnson, First Lady of the United States (b. 1912)

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Historical Events

1376 – English “Good Parliament” ends, longest-sitting parliament at that time
1627 – English fleet under George Villiers reach La Rochelle [NS=June 20]
1943 – US, British and Canadian forces invade Sicily in WW II (Operation Husky)
1956 – 650,000 US steel workers go on strike
1973 – Bahamas declares Independence from UK and adopts constitution
1980 – Willie Jones hospitalized for heat stroke with record 46.5°C temperature

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Famous Birthdays

1870 – Maurice Lugeon, Swiss geologist (nappism), born in Poissy, France (d. 1953)
1925 – Mahathir bin Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia (1981-2003 and 2018-), born in Alor Setar, Malaysia
1927 – William Smithers, American actor (Witness, Peyton Place, Attack!), born in Richmond, Virginia
1945 – Peter Michalica, Slovak violinist, born in Kremnica, Slovakia
1952 – Kim Mitchell, Canadian guitarist and singer, born in Sarnia, Ontario
1962 – Mike Saxon, American NFL punter (Minnesota Vikings), born in Whittier, California

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Famous Deaths

1875 – Henry L. Benning, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 61
1946 – Sidney Hillman, Lithuanian-American union leader (Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union; Congress of Industrial Organizations), dies of a heart attack at 59
1975 – Achiel H van Acker, Belgian premier (1945-46, 1954-58), dies at 77
1982 – Gustav MR von Koenigswald, German/Dutch paleontologist, dies at 79
1987 – John H. Hammond, American music producer, talent scout, promoter, and activist, “discovered” Billie Holiday, Teddy Wilson, Count Basie, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen, dies at 76
1992 – Albert Pierrepoint, last and longest serving British executioner (est. 433-608 executed), dies at 87

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Historical Events

1867 – An unsuccessful expedition led by E.D Young sets out to search for Dr David Livingstone (Scottish missionary and explorer)
1926 – Coup under General Sinel de Cordes in Portugal
1944 – In World War II, US troops secure Saipan as Japan falls
1951 – US President Harry Truman asks Congress to formally end state of war with Germany
1957 – 24th All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 6-6 at Sportsman’s Park, St Louis
1986 – Attorney General’s Commission on pornography links hard-core porn to sex crimes

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Famous Birthdays

1577 – Thomas West, 3rd and 12th Baron De La Warr, English Jamestown colonist and Governor of Virginia, born in Wherwell, Hampshire, England (d. 1618)
1905 – Clarence Campbell, Canadian 3rd president of the NHL (1946-77), born in Fleming, Saskatchewan (d. 1984)
1928 – Raúl Coloma, Chilean soccer goalkeeper (13 caps; Ferrobádminton, Municipal Santiago, Ferroviaros), born in Santiago, Chile (d. 2021)
1971 – Kevin Grant, British reggae-rock guitarist (Musical Youth – “Pass the Dutchie”), born in Birmingham, England
1985 – Paweł Korzeniowski, Polish swimmer
1986 – Kiely Williams, American singer and actress (Cheetah Girls), born in Alexandria, Virgina

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Famous Deaths

1903 – Alphonse François Renard, Belgian geologist, dies at 60
1951 – Harry Heilmann, American Baseball HOF outfielder (4 × AL batting champion, Detroit Tigers) and broadcaster (WXYZ), dies from lung cancer at 56
1969 – Gertrude Dixon, compiler of Shunryu Suzuki’s Zen Mind, dies
1974 – Earl Warren, Governor of California and 14th US Supreme Court Chief Justice (1953-69), dies at 83
2006 – Milan Williams, American keyboardist (Commodores – “Three Times A Lady”), dies of cancer at 58
2012 – Eugênio de Araújo Sales, Brazilian Roman Catholic cardinal, dies at 91

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Historical Events

1663 – King Charles II of England grants a charter to Rhode Island
1797 – 1st US senator (William Blount of Tennessee) expelled by impeachment
1954 – KMOX (now KMOV) TV channel 4 in Saint Louis, MO (CBS) 1st broadcast
1981 – France performs nuclear test
1984 – Wimbledon Men’s Tennis: John McEnroe defends his crown, thrashing fellow American Jimmy Connors 6-1, 6-1, 6-2
2021 – MLB Padres relief pitcher Daniel Camarena gets his first hit, in his second career at bat – a grand slam – against Washington Nationals’ Max Scherzer, in San Diego

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Famous Birthdays

1908 – Louis Jordan, American musician, songwriter and bandleader (“Caldonia”; “Choo Choo Ch’Boogie”; “Ain’t Nobody Here But Us Chickens”), born in Brinkley, Arkansas (d. 1975)
1911 – Ken Farnes, English cricket bowler (fast England in pre-WW II years), born in Leytonstone, England (d. 1941)
1944 – Jeffrey Tambor, American character actor (Larry Sanders – “Hank”; Arrested Decelopment), born in San Francisco, California
1951 – Greg T. Walker, American rock bassist (Blackfoot)
1963 – Mike Ridley, Canadian NHL center (Vancouver Canucks), born in Winnipeg, Canada
1991 – Thuso Mbedu, South African actress (Is’Thunzi), born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

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Famous Deaths

1726 – John Ker, Scottish spy, (for the British government against the Jacobites), dies in a debtors prison at 52
1913 – Louis Hémon, French novelist (Maria Chapdelaine), dies at 32
1957 – Grace Goodhue Coolidge, American First Lady (1923-29), dies at 78
1987 – Lionel Chevrier, Canadian politician (Canadian Member of Parliament), dies at 84
1999 – Pete Conrad, American astronaut (b. 1930)
2003 – Kunio Toda, Japanese composer, dies at 87

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Historical Events

1919 – Philadelphia Phillies tie MLB record of 8 steals in an innings (9th) in a 10-5 loss vs NY Giants
1923 – Cleveland Indians set an AL record 27 runs including 13 in the 6th in 27-3 win v Boston Red Sox
1972 – 7 people are killed in separate incidents across Northern Ireland
1974 – FIFA World Cup Final, Olympiastadion, Munich, Germany: Striker Gerd Müller scores 43rd minute winner as West Germany beats the Netherlands, 2-1
1980 – The Safra massacre in Lebanon
1986 – Soviet General and spy for the US Dmitri Polyakov arrested in retirement in Russia (executed 1988)

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Famous Birthdays

1586 – Thomas Howard, 21st Earl of Arundel, English statesman (d. 1646)
1926 – Nuon Chea [Lau Kim Korn], Cambodian revolutionary and Khmer Rouge leader ‘Brother Number Two’, born in Battambang, Cambodia (d. 2019)
1933 – Murray Halberg, New Zealand middle-distance runner (Olympic gold 1960), born in Eketāhuna, New Zealand
1944 – Jürgen Grabowski, German soccer midfielder/forward (44 caps West Germany; Eintracht Frankfurt 441 games), born in Wiesbaden, Germany (d. 2022)
1951 – Roz Ryan, actress (Amelia-Amen, Occupied), born in Detroit, Michigan
1967 – Alfred Jackson, American CFL receiver (BC Lions), born in Caldwell, Texas

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Famous Deaths

1572 – Sigismund II Augustus, King of Poland (1548-72), dies at 51
1663 – Thomas Baltzar, German violinist
1774 – Giuseppe Maria Carretti, Italian composer, dies at 83
1932 – Henry Eyster Jacobs, American Lutheran theologian, dies at 87
1993 – Mia Zapata, American singer with The Gits (b. 1965)
2006 – Juan de Ávalos, Spanish sculptor (b. 1911)

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Historical Events

1858 – Lyman Blake patents shoe manufacturing machine
1863 – Northern Territory passes from New South Wales to South Australia
1892 – Striking steel workers in Homestead, Pennsylvania, fire on scabs, killing 7
1957 – Harry S. Truman Library forms in Independence, Missouri
1962 – Nuclear test shot Sedan; part of Operation Plowshare
2006 – The Nathula Pass between India and China, sealed during the Sino-Indian War, re-opens for trade after 44 years

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Famous Birthdays

1753 – John H Midderigh, Rotterdam patriot, baptized
1878 – Eino Leino, Finnish poet, born in Paltamo, Finland (d. 1926)
1906 – Elisabeth Lutyens, English composer, born in London (d. 1983)
1944 – Gunhild Hoffmeister, East German 800m/1500m runner (Olympic silver 1972), born in Forst, Germany
1975 – 50 Cent [Curtis James Jackson III], American rapper and businessman, born in Queens, New York
1995 – Ludwig Ahgren, American YouTuber webcaster, and gaming commentator, born in Hollis, New Hampshire

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Famous Deaths

1858 – Jan Emmanuel Doležálek, Bohemian organist and composer, dies at 78
1952 – Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, French Canadian politician (b. 1867)
1959 – George Grosz, German cartoonist and painter (Ecce Homo), dies at 65
1974 – Carlos Isamitt, Chilean composer, dies at 87
1997 – Brun Smith, New Zealand cricket batsman (4 Tests @ 47.40), dies at 75
2010 – Harvey Fuqua, American RandB singer-songwriter (The Moonglows – “Sincerely”), producer (Marvin Gaye), and record label executive (Motown), dies of a heart attack at 80

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