Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1798 – US passes Alien Act allowing president to deport dangerous aliens
1894 – Boer leader Paul Kruger meets British High Commissioner, Sir Henry Loch, on Pretoria station in South Africa and accompanies him to his hotel to discuss the grievances of the Uitlanders (Foreigners)
1967 – KPBS TV channel 15 in San Diego, CA (PBS) begins broadcasting
1973 – John Dean begins testifying before Senate Watergate Committee
1996 – The Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia kills 19 U.S. servicemen
1998 – New building for The British Library at Kings Cross, designed by Colin St John Wilson, is opened by Queen Elizabeth II in London

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Famous Birthdays

1328 – William Montacute, 2nd Earl of Salisbury, English military leader, born in Donyatt, Somerset, England (d. 1397)
1860 – Gustave Charpentier, French opera composer (Louise), born in Dieuze, France (d. 1956)
1937 – Marabel Morgan, American author (The Total Woman), born in Crestline, Ohio
1940 – Mary Beth Peil, American actress and singer (Mirrors, Dawson’s Creek, The Stepford Wives), born in Davenport, Iowa
1970 – Roope Latvala, Finnish musician (Children of Bodom), born in Helsinki, Finland
1988 – Therese Johaug, Norwegian cross-country skier (Olympic gold 4 x 5k relay 2010, 10k, 15k, 30k 2022; 14 x World C’ship gold), born in Os, Røros, Norway

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Famous Deaths

1673 – Charles de Batz-Castelmore, Comte d’Artagnan, Captain of the Musketeers under Louis XIV of France (b. 1611)
1830 – Ephraim McDowell, American physician and surgeon (pioneered abdominal surgery), dies at 58
1948 – William C. Lee, U.S. general ‘Father of the US Airboure’, dies at 53
1956 – Ernest J. King, US fleet admiral, Chief of Naval Operations, dies at 77
1987 – Boudleaux Bryant, American country music and pop songwriter (“Rocky Top”; “Love Hurts”; “Bye Bye Love”), dies at 67
2002 – Jean Corbeil, Canadian politician (b. 1934)

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Historical Events

1529 – Zürich and Catholic cantons sign Peace of Kappel
1914 – King Peter I of Serbia names son Alexander the Prince-regent
1923 – Pope Pius XI speaks against allies occupying Ruhrgebied
2009 – Glastonbury Festival in Pilton, England opens: Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band, and Blur headline; other performers include Fleet Foxes, Tom Jones, Spinal Tap, Lady Gaga, and The Script
2010 – “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse”, based on the book by Stephenie Meyer, directed by David Slade, starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, premieres in Los Angeles
2010 – In the longest match in tennis history, American John Isner defeats Nicolas Mahut of France at Wimbledon after 11 hours, 5 minutes of play over 3 days

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Famous Birthdays

1930 – Herbert C Klein, American businessman, and politician (US House of Representatives (D) – New Jersey, 1993-95), born in Newark, New Jersey
1945 – George Pataki, American politician (Gov-R-NY, 1995-2006), born in Peekskill, New York
1967 – Janez Lapajne, Slovenian film director
1976 – Louisa Leaman, English author
1978 – Luis García, Spanish footballer
1987 – Arturo Lupoli, Italian footballer, born in Brescia, Italy

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Famous Deaths

803 – Higbald, Bishop of Lindisfarne monastery
1916 – Victor Chapman, French-American pilot renowned during WW1 (1st American pilot to die in WW1), succumbs to wounds at age 26
1956 – Earl Morris, American archaeologist (Aztec Ruins National Monument), dies at 66
1959 – Lou Bandy [Lodewijk Ferdinand Dieben], Dutch revue-artist (Life Ain’t Bad), commits suicide at 69
1991 – Rufino Tamayo, Mexican painter, dies at 91
2007 – Chris Benoit, Canadian professional wrestler (b. 1967)

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Historical Events

1585 – Spanish army under Tassis beats Amerongen Staatse troops
1940 – After conquering France, Adolf Hitler visits Paris and views the Eiffel Tower and the grave of Napoleon Bonaparte
1944 – Thomas Mann becomes a US citizen
1967 – US Senate censures Thomas J Dodd from Connecticut (D). for misusing campaign funds
1973 – World Court condemns French nuclear tests in the Pacific
2019 – Turkey’s ruling AK party lose the re-run of Istanbul’s mayoral election to Ekrem Imamoglu of the Republican People’s Party

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Famous Birthdays

1799 – John Milton Bernhisel, American physician (d. 1881)
1907 – Dercy Gonçalves, Brazilian comedienne (d. 2008)
1910 – Jean Anouilh, French dramatist (Antigone, The Lark), born in Bordeaux, France (d. 1987)
1950 – Sally Geeson, actress (Bless This House), born in Sussex, England
1976 – Emmanuelle Vaugier, Canadian actress (CSI:NY; Lost Girl), born in Vancouver, British Columbia
1978 – Frédéric Leclercq, French bassist (DragonForce)

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Famous Deaths

1888 – Emil Naumann, German composer, dies at 60
1991 – Antonio Jacinto, Angolan poet, dies at 66
1996 – Elbert Parr Tuttle, lawyer/judge, dies at 98
2006 – Harriet, Galápagos tortoise (b. 1830)
2006 – Aaron Spelling, American television producer (Charlie’s Angels, Dynasty), dies at 83
2015 – Magali Noël [Guiffray], French actress and singer, dies at 83

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Historical Events

1745 – Bonnie Prince Charles sails to Scotland
1915 – BMT, then Brooklyn Rapid Transit, begins subway service
1932 – NL finally approves players wearing numbers
1958 – LPGA Western Open Women’s Golf, Kahkwa CC: Patty Berg wins back-to-back WO titles; beats runner-up Beverly Hanson by 4 strokes
1976 – Stephen Schwartz’ musical “Godspell” opens at Broadhurst Theater, NYC; runs for 527 performances
2018 – Eurozone countries agree debt relief deal for Greece, signalling end to the country’s economic crisis

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Famous Birthdays

1871 – William McDougall, British psychologist and polymath (d. 1938)
1884 – James Rector, American athlete (d. 1949)
1932 – Prunella Scales, British actress (Fawlty Towers, A Question of Attribution), born in Sutton Abinger, Surrey
1936 – Dick Huddart, English rugby league second rower (16 Tests Great Britain; St. Helens, St. George), born in Flimby, Cumberland, England (d. 2021)
1948 – Todd Rundgren, American rock singer-songwriter (“We Gotta Get You A Woman”; “Hello It’s Me”; “Bang The Drum All Day”), multi-instrumentalist and producer (The Tubes; XTC; Grand Funk Railroad), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1973 – Lacy Goranson, actress (Becky-Roseanne), born in Evanston, Indiana

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Famous Deaths

1885 – Mahdi [Muhammad Ahmed], Sudanese music reviewer, dies
1933 – Henry Birkin, British racing driver (Bentley Boys), dies at 36
1936 – Moritz Schlick, Austrian philosopher assassinated at 54 by former student Johann Nelböck
1940 – Wladimir Köppen [Vladimir Köppen], German Meteorologist and Climatologist who developed the Köppen climate classification system for the regions of the world, dies at 93
2007 – Erik Parlevliet, Dutch field hockey player (b. 1964)
2008 – Dody Goodman, American comedienne (Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman – “Martha Shumway”; Max Duggan), dies at 93

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Historical Events

1788 – The population of Vizille, France, demands local parliament
1824 – Greek War of Independence: Egyptian forces capture Psara in the Aegean Sea
1853 – Envelope-folding machine patented by Russell Hawes in Worcester, Massachusetts
1919 – Social Democrat Gustav Bauer forms a German government
1923 – Marcus Garvey sentenced to 5 years for using mail to defraud
2005 – Billy Corgan releases “TheFutureEmbrace”, his first solo album

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Famous Birthdays

1900 – Gunnar Ek, Swedish composer and musician, born in Asarum Blekinge (d. 1981)
1912 – Mary McCarthy, American novelist (Group), born in Seattle, Washington (d. 1989)
1944 – Tony Scott, English film director and producer (Top Gun; Revenge: Days of Thunder), born in Northumberland, England (d. 2012)
1950 – Joey Kramer, American hard rock drummer (Aerosmith – “Walk This Way”), born in The Bronx, NYC, New York
1969 – Donovan Osborne, Amercian pitcher (St Louis Cardinals), born in Roseville, California
1970 – Pete Rock, American rapper/producer, born in The Bronx, New York

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Famous Deaths

223 – Liu Bei, Emperor of Shu Han (b. 161)
1907 – Lena Rice, Irish tennis player (Wimbledon 1890), dies of tuberculosis at 41
1980 – Bert Kaempfert, German orchestra leader and songwriter, dies of a stroke at 56
1987 – Madman Muntz, American entrepreneur, businessman, electrical engineer, TV commercial actor (b. 1914)
1995 – Tristan Jones, British sailor and author, dies at 71
2013 – Edgeworth Blair “Elliott” Reid, American actor (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes), dies from heart failure at 93

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Historical Events

1779 – Battle of Stono Ferry fought near Charleston, South Carolina (American Revolutionary War)
1919 – Treaty of Versailles: Germany ends incorporation of Austria
1919 – 150 die at the Teatro Yaguez fire, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
1953 – LPGA Western Golf Open Women’s Golf, Capital City Club: Louise Suggs defeats Patty Berg, 6 and 5 in the final
1960 – Floyd Patterson KOs Ingemar Johansson in 5 for heavyweight boxing title
1976 – Carol Fugate, Starkweather accomplice, is paroled

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Famous Birthdays

1674 – Nicholas Rowe, English poet and playwright (Tamerlane), Poet Laureate (1715-18), born in Little Barford, Bedfordshire (d. 1718)
1717 – Jacques Saly, French sculptor, born in Valenciennes, France (d. 1776)
1723 – Theophilus Lindsey, English theologian and clergyman, born in Middlewich, Cheshire (d. 1808)
1733 – Betty Washington, younger sister of George Washington, born in Westmoreland County, Colony of Virginia (d. 1797)
1743 – Anna Laetitia Barbauld, English poet and writer of hymns (Life! I Know Not What Thou Art), born in Kibworth Harcourt, Leicestershire, England (d. 1825)
1952 – John Goodman, American actor (Dan Conner on Roseanne, Babe), born in St Louis, Missouri

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Famous Deaths

1947 – Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, American gangster who created casinos in Las Vegas, shot dead in Beverly Hills at 41
1948 – George Frederick Boyle, Australian-American composer, dies at 61
1950 – Claude Jennings, cricketer (Aust opening bat in 1912 Triangular), dies
1953 – Hendrik de Man, sociologist (Belgian Working people Party), dies at 67
1995 – Henry Iliffe Cozens, English Royal Air Force pilot, dies at 91
2002 – Tinus Osendarp, Dutch runner (b. 1916)

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Historical Events

1286 – Rabbenu Mir of Rothenbur imprisoned in fortress of Ensisheim
1940 – German 7th Armoured division under command of Rommel occupies Cherbourg
1944 – French troops free Elba
1963 – Greek government of Pipinolis forms
1990 – Grupo Carso, S.A. de C.V., founded by Carlos Slim is listed on the Mexico Stock Exchange
2006 – Stanley Cup Final, PNC Arena, Raleigh, NC: Carolina Hurricanes beat Edmonton Oilers, 3-1 for a 4-3 series victory; Hurricane’s first Championship

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Famous Birthdays

1301 – Prince Morikuni, 9th shōgun of the Kamakura shogunate of Japan, born in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan (d. 1333)
1898 – James Joseph Sweeney, American Catholic prelate, born in San Francisco, California (d. 1968)
1905 – George Voskovec [Jirí Wachsmann], Czech actor (12 Angry Men, Somewhere in Time), born in Sázava, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary (d. 1981)
1906 – Ernst Chain, German-British chemist and bacteriologist (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1945 – for his work on penicillin), born in Berlin, German Empire (d. 1979)
1914 – Morgan Morgan-Giles, British Naval officer and politician (d. 2013)
1977 – Peter Warrick, American NFL running back (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), born in New Orleans, Louisiana

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Famous Deaths

1542 – Leo Jud[ae], Swiss pastor/church reformer
1857 – Alexander Twilight, American politician and minister, first African American to graduate and hold political office, dies at 61
1867 – Maximilian I of the Mexican Empire is executed by firing squad in Querétaro, Querétaro at 34
1984 – Sunny Johnson, American actress (Flashdance), dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at 30
2007 – Terry Hoeppner, American football coach (b. 1947)
2013 – Bojidar Dimov, Bulgarian pianist and composer (Die Hochzeit von Susa), dies at 61

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Historical Events

1264 – The Parliament of Ireland meets at Castledermot in County Kildare, the first definitively known meeting of this Irish legislature
1898 – US Open Men’s Golf, Myopia Hunt Club: Scotsman Fred Herd easily wins by 7 strokes from countryman Alex Smith; first 72-hole US Open
1983 – “Pump Boys and Dinettes” closes at Princess Theater NYC after 573 performances
1986 – De Havilland Twin Otter and Bell 206 helicopter collide, kills 25
1991 – SF Giant pitcher Dave Dravecky’s cancerous left arm is amputated
2016 – Soyuz capsule returns to Earth 1st British International Space Station astronaut Tim Peake, Russian Yuri Malenchenko and American Timothy Kopra after 186 days

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Famous Birthdays

1915 – Victor Legley, Belgian violinist, composer, and educator (Brussels Conservatory, 1949-80), born in Hazebrouck, France (d. 1994)
1920 – Ian Carmichael, British actor (Private’s Progress, I’m All Right Jack), born in Hull, England (d. 2010)
1925 – Rex Collings, English publisher (Rex Collings), (d. 1996)
1926 – Eva Bartok, Hungarian-born actress (Crimson Pirate), born in Kecs kemet, Hungary (d. 1998)
1942 – Roger Ebert, American film critic (Pulitzer Prize 1975), born in Urbana, Illinois (d. 2013)
2006 – Countess Zaria of Orange-Nassau, Jonkvrouwe van Amsberg

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Famous Deaths

1588 – Anna van Nassau, daughter of William the Silent and his second wife, Anna of Saxony and wife of William Louis, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg, dies at 24
1669 – Abraham Crijnssen, Swiss admiral, conquered Suriname, dies
1921 – Eduardo Acevedo Díaz, Uruguayan writer (Nativa, Lanza y Sable), dies at 70
1955 – Willy Burkhard, Swiss composer, dies at 55
2008 – Tasha Tudor, American illustrator and children’s books author (Pumpkin Moonshine, Corgiville Fair), dies at 92
2017 – Lord Joffe [Joel Goodman Joffe], South African-born British lawyer (instructing solicitor for Nelson Mandela’s defence team) and businessman, dies at 85

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Historical Events

1864 – -18] Confederate troops pull back out Solves/lost Mt, Georgia
1901 – The College Board introduces its first standardized test, the forerunner to the SAT
1915 – The League to Enforce Peace is organised at Independence Hall in Philadelphia with William Howard Taft as president; its program anticipates the League of Nations
1954 – CIA exile army lands in Guatemala. Organised by John Foster Dulles and United Fruit Co.
1988 – Soyuz TM-5 launches
1991 – South Africa abolishes last of its apartheid laws

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Famous Birthdays

1823 – John Henry Hobart Ward, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in NYC, New York (d. 1903)
1832 – William Crookes, English chemist and physicist (Crookes-pipe, thallium), born in London (d. 1919)
1895 – Slavko Osterc, Slovenian composer, born in Veržej, Slovenia (d. 1941)
1909 – Ralph E. Winters, Canadian film editor, born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 2004)
1914 – John Hersey, American author (Hiroshima, Bell for Adano, Wall), born in Tientsin, China (d. 1993)
1981 – Amrita Rao, Indian Bollywood actress (Vivah)

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Famous Deaths

1898 – Edward Burne-Jones, English Pre-Raphaelite painter and designer, dies at 64
1906 – Harry Nelson Pillsbury, American chess player, dies at 33
1973 – Luis Van Rooten, Mexican-born, American actor, author and translator (One Man’s Family), dies at 66
1974 – Yadavendra Singh, cricketer (Yuvraj of Patiala, Test for India), dies
2010 – Andy Ripley, English rugby union #8 (24 caps; British Lions 1974), dies from prostate cancer at 62
2020 – György Kárpáti, Hungarian water polo player (Olympic gold 1952, 56, 64), dies at 84

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Historical Events

1779 – US General Anthony Wayne captures Stony Point, New York, inflicting heavy losses on the British
1956 – 88th Belmont: David Erb aboard Needles wins in 2:29.8
1956 – US Open Men’s Golf, Oak Hill CC: Cary Middlecoff wins his second Open title, 1 stroke ahead of runners-up Julius Boros and Ben Hogan
1960 – President Eisenhower cancels trip to Japan
1967 – The first Montreux Jazz Festival is held in Switzerland, created by Claude Nobs
1978 – Film “Grease” opens, starring John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, based on the 1971 musical

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Famous Birthdays

1738 – Mary Katharine Goddard, American printer and publisher (d. 1816)
1917 – Katharine Graham, American newspaper publisher (Washington Post), born in NYC, New York
1950 – Jesse Dizon, American actor (Ramon-Operation Petticoat), born in Oceanside, California
1951 – Roberto Durán, Panamanian boxer (4-weight world champion), born in El Chorrillo, Panama
1962 – Wally Joyner, American baseball player
1970 – Cobi Jones, American soccer player and commentator ( Los Angeles Galaxy.), born in Detroit, Michigan

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Famous Deaths

1626 – Christian the Younger, German Protestant military leader during the Thirty Years’ War, dies at 26
1969 – Karl Schiske, Austrian composer, dies at 53
1970 – Elsa Triolet [Ella Kagan], Russian-French writer and Resistance fighter, dies at 73
1970 – Heino Eller, Estonian composer, dies at 83
2008 – Mario Rigoni Stern, Italian writer, World War II veteran and Nazi concentration camp survivor (b. 1921)
2017 – Stephen Furst, American actor (Animal House, St. Elsewhere) dies from diabetes complications at 63

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