Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1503 – Queen Isabella of Spain bans violence against Indians in the Americas
1944 – Aaron Copland’s ballet score “Appalachian Spring” premieres in Washington, D.C. with Martha Graham dancing lead role
1947 – Darius Milhaud’s 3rd Symphony “Hymnus Ambrosianus,” premieres in Paris
1967 – Dolly Parton releases her debut single with Porter Wagoner “The Last Thing On My Mind”
2011 – “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1” based on the book by Stephenie Meyer, directed by Bill Condon, starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson, premieres at the Rome Film Festival
2021 – World Leader agree historic corporate tax agreement of at least 15% at G20 summit in Rome

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Famous Birthdays

1739 – Grigory Potemkin, Russian military leader, statesman and favorite of Catherine the Great, born in Chizhovo near Smolensk (d. 1791)
1840 – William Graham Sumner, American sociologist (Folkways), born in Paterson, New Jersey (d. 1910)
1904 – Alfred Gradstein, Polish composer, born in Częstochowa, Poland (d. 1954)
1961 – Hans Segers, Dutch soccer goalkeeper and coach (Wimbledon), born in Eindhoven, Netherlands
1970 – James Pedro, American lightweight judoka (Olympic bronze 1992, 96), born in Danvers, Massachusetts
1979 – Yukie Nakama, Japanese actress, born in Urasoe, Okinawa, Japan

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Famous Deaths

1932 – Paul S Methuen, English baron/fieldmarshal/gov of Natal, dies at 87
1969 – George “Pops” Foster, American jazz double bassist, tuba player, and trumpeter (Louis Armstrong; Sidney Bechet; Earl Hines), dies at 77
1979 – Donna Rachele Mussolini, wife of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, dies at 89
1991 – Johan Mekkink, painter, dies
2007 – John Woodruff, American athlete (Olympic gold 1936), dies at 92
2017 – M V Sridhar, Indian cricketer (scored 366 for Hyderabad v Andhra Pradesh 1994), dies of a heart attack at 51

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Historical Events

1921 – The Link River Dam, a part of the Klamath Reclamation Project, is completed in northern California and Oregon
1932 – French liner Normandie is launched
1945 – Happy Chandler resigns as US Senator, remains as baseball commissioner
1982 – Car maker John DeLorean indicted for drug trafficking, later acquitted
1988 – First scheduled Soviet shuttle launch (postponed)
2017 – British Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton finishes a distant 9th in Mexican Grand Prix at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez; good enough to clinch his 4th F1 World Drivers Championship

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Famous Birthdays

1704 – John Byng, English admiral executed by firing squad at 52 for neglecting his duty in defence of Minorca, born in Southill, Bedfordshire, England (d. 1757)
1853 – Josephine Beall Bruce, African-American activist (NACW) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1923)
1882 – Jean Giraudoux, French writer and playwright (The Madwoman of Chaillot), born in Bellac, Haute-Vienne, France (d. 1944)
1923 – Dietrich Manicke, German composer, born in Wurzen, Saxony, Germany (d. 2013)
1937 – Sonny Osborne, American bluegrass banjo player (The Osborne Brothers – “Rocky Top”), born in Roark, Kentucky (d. 2021)
1938 – Ralph Bakshi, Krymchak-American animator and film maker (Fritz the Cat; Lord of the Rings (1978); Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures), born in Haifa, Mandatory Palestine

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Famous Deaths

1677 – Charles Coypeau Dassoucy, French poet and singer, dies at 72
1919 – A. B. Simpson, Canadian preacher (b. 1843)
1965 – Bill McKechnie, American Baseball HOF manager (World Series 1925 Pittsburgh Pirates, 1940 Cincinnati Reds) and coach (World Series 1948 Cleveland Indians), dies at 79
1979 – Ramon “Tiki” Fulwood, American funk drummer (Parliament-Funkadelic; Miles Davis), dies of stomach cancer at 35
1983 – Sten Broman, Swedish composer, dies at 81
2011 – Jimmy Savile, British entertainer and suspected sexual predator, dies at 84

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Historical Events

1619 – Japanese Keichō Embassy headed by Hasekura Tsunenaga leaves Sendai aboard the Japanese-built Date Maru galleon for Acapulco
1886 – Statue of Liberty dedicated by US President Grover Cleveland, celebrated by first confetti (ticker tape) parade in New York City
1915 – Richard Strauss’ Alpensymfonie, premieres in Berlin
1916 – Australian government holds a national referendum seeking support for the proposal of compulsory conscription; it is rejected
1959 – Jean Genet’s play “Les Negres” premieres in Paris
1995 – Breeders’ Cup Horse Racing, Belmont Park; winners: Cigar, Desert Stormer, Inside Information, My Flag, Northern Spur, Ridgewood Pearl, Unbridled’s Song

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Famous Birthdays

1703 – Antoine Deparcieux, French mathematician, born in Portes, Gard, France (d. 1768)
1930 – John Mayer, Indian violinist and composer (Indo-Jazz Fusions), born in Calcutta, Bengal, British India (d. 2004)
1948 – Telma Hopkins, American singer (Tony Orlando and Dawn – “Tie A Yellow Ribbon”), and actress (Family Matters), born in Louisville, Kentucky
1958 – Manzoor Hussain, Pakistani field hockey striker (Olympic gold 1986; World Cup gold 1978, 82; 175 caps, 86 goals), born in Sialkot, Pakistan (d. 2022)
1966 – Aris Spiliotopoulos, Greek politician
1985 – Richard Smith, American entrepreneur

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Famous Deaths

1639 – Stefano Landi, Italian composer (b. 1587)
1897 – Hercules Robinson, British colonial administrator (Ceylon, Fiji, New Zealand, South Africa), dies at 72
1929 – Bernhard von Bülow, Chancellor of the German Empire (1900-09), dies at 80
1994 – Sjlomo Goren, Polish/Israeli supreme rabbi, dies
2005 – Raymond Hains, French artist (b. 1926)
2010 – Jonathan Motzfeldt, Greenlander statesman (b. 1938)

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Historical Events

312 – Roman Emperor Constantine the Great is said to have received his famous Vision of the Cross
1946 – Georgi Domitrovs National Front wins Bulgaria elections (78%)
1950 – Paul Creston’s 3rd Symphony, “Triumph of St Joan” premieres
1962 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1985 – Anthony Carter begins NFL streak of 100+ consecutive game receptions
2001 – Breeders’ Cup Horse Racing, Belmont Park; winners: Tiznow, Johannesburg, Unbridled Elaine, Fantastic Light, Val Royal, Banks Hill, Tempera, Squirtle Squirt

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Famous Birthdays

1763 – William Maclure, Scottish-American Geologist (first geological map), born in Ayr, Scotland (d. 1840)
1932 – Jean-Pierre Cassel, French actor (Trout), born in Paris, France (d. 2007)
1938 – Elliot del Borgo, American music educator (SUNY/Crane School of Music, 1966-95) and composer (1980 Winter Olympics), born in Port Chester, New York (d. 2013)
1946 – Peter Martins, Danish dancer and choreographer, born in Copenhagen, Denmark
1964 – Mary T. Meagher, American swimmer (3 x Olympic gold 100/200m butterfly, 4x100m medley 1984; WR 100/200m butterfly 1981), born in Louisville, Kentucky
1967 – Jaren Jackson, American NBA guard and forward (Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs), born in New Orleans, Louisiana

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Famous Deaths

1955 – Clark Griffith, American Baseball HOF pitcher (MLB ERA leader 1898 Chicago Colts/Orphans) and manager (Chicago WS, NY Highlanders, Cincinnati Reds, Washington Sens [owner]), dies at 85
1966 – Nigel Haig, English cricket all-rounder (5 Tests; 1,000 runs and 100 wickets 1921, 27, 29 Middlesex), dies at 78
1977 – Peg Leg Sam [Arthur Jackson], American country blues harmonica player, singer and comedian, dies at 65
2004 – Lester Lanin, American orchestra leader (40 Beatle Hits), dies at 97
2006 – Joe Niekro, American baseball pitcher (MLB All Star 1979; NL wins leader 1979; Houston Astros; World Series 1987; NY Yankees), dies from a brain aneurysm at 61
2010 – Néstor Kirchner, Argentine politician, President of Argentina (2003-2007), dies of heart failure at 60

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Historical Events

1863 – Football Association forms in England, standardizing soccer, splitting with rugby
1916 – American sex educator Margaret Sanger arrested for obscenity (advocating birth control)
1926 – Belgium stabilizes current value of franc (5 franc becomes 1 “Belga”)
2003 – The Cedar Fire, the second-largest fire in Californian history, kills 15 people, consumes 250,000 acres (1,000 km²), destroys 2,200 homes around San Diego
2015 – 7.5 magnitude earthquake hits northern Pakistan and Afghanistan killing over 300
2018 – Longest Baseball World Series game by both innings and time; LA Dodgers beat Boston Red Sox, 3-2 in the 18th inning (7 hours, 20 mins) in Game 3 at Dodger Stadium with Max Muncy walk-off homer

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Famous Birthdays

1483 – Hans Buchner, German composer, born in Ravensburg (d. 1538)
1823 – Karl Weinhold, German sociologist (founder of Journal of the Association of Folklore), born in Dzierżoniów, Poland (d. 1901)
1916 – François Mitterrand, 21st President of France (1981-95), born in Jarnac, France (d. 1996)
1937 – Dave Gavitt, American basketball coach, formed Basketball’s Big East Conference (1979), born in Westerly, Rhode Island (d. 2011)
1952 – Abbas al-Musawi, influential Lebanese Shia cleric, and founder and leader of Hezbollah, born in Al-Nabi Shayth, Lebanon (d. 1992)
1959 – François Chau, Cambodian actor, born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia

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Famous Deaths

900 – Alfred the Great, Anglo-Saxon monarch who was King of Wessex and King of the Anglo-Saxons, dies at 50 or 51
1881 – Billy Clanton, brother of outlaw Ike Clanton, dies in the gunfight at the OK Corral at 19
1943 – Marc Aurel Stein, Hungarian-British archaeologist, dies at 80
2004 – Bobby Ávila, Mexican Baseball Hall of Fame second baseman (MLB All-Star 1952, 54, 55; AL batting champion 1954; Cleveland Indians), dies of diabetes and lung ailment at 80
2007 – Khun Sa, Burmese warlord (b. 1934)
2021 – Glen Tuckett American college basbeall coach (Brigham Young Uni 1959-76) and administrator (BYU athletic director 1976-94), dies at 93

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Historical Events

1521 – Emperor Charles V bans wooden buildings in Amsterdam
1780 – John Hancock becomes the first Governor of Massachusetts
1944 – Battle at Samar-island
1962 – American author John Steinbeck awarded Nobel Prize for Literature
1963 – Beatles begin their 1st full foreign tour in Karlstad, Sweden
1968 – Chicago recognizes Jean Baptiste Pointe de Sable as its 1st settler

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Famous Birthdays

1612 – James Graham, Marquis of Montrose “the Great Montrose”, Scottish general and poet, born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 1650)
1825 – Johann Baptist Strauss Jr., Austrian composer (Waltz King), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1899)
1843 – Gleb Uspensky, Russian author (Power of the Soil), born in Tula, Russian Empire (d. 1902)
1909 – Whitner “Whit” Bissell, American actor (Time Machine, Soylent Green, The Magnificent Seven), born in NYC, New York (d. 1996)
1929 – Peter Rohmkorf, German writer, born in Dortmund, Germany (d. 2008)
1964 – Pat Swilling, American NFL defensive end and linebacker (Oakland Raiders), born in Toccoa, Georgia

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Famous Deaths

1647 – Evangelista Torricelli, Italian physicist (inventor of barometer), dies at 39
1957 – Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany, Irish sci-fi writer (Time and Gods), dies at 79
1973 – Abebe Bikila, Ethiopian distance athlete (Olympic gold marathon 1960 WR [barefoot], 64 WR; Africa’s first WR breaking athlete in any sport), dies of a brain haemorrhage at 41
2000 – Don Brooks, American session and touring harmonica player (Waylon Jennings; Ken Burns’ “The Civil War”), dies of leukemia at 53
2013 – Bill Sharman, American Basketball HOF guard (8 × NBA All-Star; 4 x NBA C’ship; Boston Celtics) and coach (NBA C’ship 1972 LA Lakers), dies from stroke complications at 87
2019 – Chou Wen-chung, Chinese-American composer (Mode of Shang), dies at 96

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Historical Events

1596 – -26] Battle at Kerestes: Ottoman beat Austria-Hungary and Germany
1656 – Treaty of Vilnius: Russia and Poland sign anti-Swedish covenant
1940 – Protestant churches protest against dismissal of Jew civil servants
1958 – USSR lends Egypt 400 million rubles to build Aswan Dam
2012 – Hurricane Sandy makes landfall in Jamaica killing 1 person and causing over $50 million in damage
2020 – Deadliest shipwreck of the year claims 140 lives on a ship that sank with 200 migrants on board off the coast of Senegal

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Famous Birthdays

1808 – Ernst Richter, German musical theorist and composer, born in Großschönau, Saxony, Germany (d. 1879)
1908 – John Alwyne Kitching, British zoologist (d. 1996)
1936 – Bill Wyman, English rock and jazz bassist (Rolling Stones, 1962-93 – “Under My Thumb”), born in Lewisham, London
1943 – José E. Serrano, American politician (Rep-D-New York), born in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
1960 – Joachim Winkelhock, German race car driver, born in Waiblingen, West Germany
1972 – T. J. Cunningham, American NFL safety (Seattle Seahawks), born in Aurora, Colorado (d. 2019)

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Famous Deaths

1852 – Daniel Webster, US Secretary of State (1841-43, 1850-52), politician and lawyer, dies at 70
1931 – Murray Bisset, South African cricketer (South African wicket-keeper 1899 and 1910), dies at 55
1935 – Abe Landau, American gangster (henchman for Dutch Schultz), murdered at 39
1938 – Ernst Barlach, German writer and artist, dies at 68
1996 – Bruce Matthews, Australian newspaper executive who worked for Rupert Murdoch, dies at 71
2004 – James Cardinal Hickey, American Catholic archbishop (b. 1920)

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Historical Events

1888 – Pelham Bay Park in Bronx vested
1934 – Jean Piccard and Jeanette Ridlen attain record balloon height of 10.9 miles (17.5 km) over Lake Erie
1972 – Access credit cards introduced in Great Britain
1983 – 400,000 demonstrate in Brussels, against cruise missile
2008 – Joe Sakic scores his final career goal (#625) against the Edmonton Oilers
2015 – Adele releases her single “Hello” – becomes 1st song with more than a million downloads in 1st week (1.1m)

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Famous Birthdays

1516 – Charlotte of Valois, Princess of France as second daughter of King Francis I and his wife Claude, born in Château d’Amboise, France (d. 1524)
1766 – Emmanuel, marquis de Grouchy, French general and marshal, born in Paris (d. 1847)
1922 – Coleen Gray [Doris Bernice Jensen], American actress (Apache Drums, The Killing), born in Staplehurst, Nebraska (d. 2015)
1948 – Brian Ross, American Emmy and Peabody Award television journalist (NBC, 1974-94; ABC, 1994-2019), born in Chicago, Illinois
1961 – Andoni Zubizarreta, Spanish soccer goalkeeper (126 caps Spain, 4 Basque Country; FC Barcelona 301 games, Athletic Bilbao, Valencia), born in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
1962 – Doug Flutie, American College Football Hall of Fame quarterback (Heisman Trophy 1984, Boston College; Grey Cup MVP 1992, 96, 97; Pro Bowl 1998, Buffalo Bills), born in Manchester, Maryland

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Famous Deaths

1753 – Columban Praelisauer, German music director and composer, dies at 50
1868 – Cullen Whipple, American inventor (pointed screw machine), dies at 67
1989 – Armida, Mexican-American stage, vaudeville and film actress (b. 1911)
2004 – Edward Toner Cone, American pianist, composer and pedagogue, dies at 87
2005 – John Muth, American economist (b. 1930)
2016 – Tom Hayden, American civil rights and antiwar activist and politician (Rep-D-Ca), dies at 76

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Historical Events

1335 – Ex-emperor Hanazono (95th Emperor of Japan) became a Zen priest
1899 – British troops flee Dundee, Natal South Africa
1935 – PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Twin Hills CC: Johnny Revolta wins his only major title, defeating Tommy Armour, 5 and 4
1980 – 4th government of Martens forms in Belgium
2019 – Chilean president Sebastián Piñera agrees to meet opposition leaders after 15 people killed in growing nationwide protests over living costs and inequality
2020 – The National Hockey League announces the annual NHL All Star Game and the NHL All-Star Skills Competition would be postponed to no earlier than 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic

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Famous Birthdays

1847 – Jacobus Herculas de la Rey, Boer leader in the South African War (1899–1902), born in Winburg, South Africa (d. 1914)
1900 – James Hall, American actor (Hell’s Angels, Four Sons), born in Dallas, Texas (d. 1940)
1915 – Harry Hickox, Big Springs Tx, (Herb-Please Don’t Eat the Daisies)
1918 – Lou Klein, American baseball infielder (St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, Philadelphia A’s) and manager (Chicago Cubs), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1976)
1921 – Alexander Kronrod, Russian mathematician (d. 1986)
1928 – Clare Fischer, American musician, composer and arranger, born in Durand, Michigan (d. 2012)

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Famous Deaths

1674 – Gerbrand van den Eeckhout, Dutch painter, dies at 53
1847 – Sahle Selassie, Negus of Shewa
1954 – Oswald de Andrade, Brazilian author (one of the modernist Group of Five), dies at 64
1965 – Paul Tillich, German-American theologist (Courage To Be), dies at 79
1994 – David Buchan, Scottish ethno-musicologist, dies at 55
1995 – Kingsley Amis, English author (Lucky Jim), dies of injuries from a fall at 73

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Historical Events

1925 – Sidney Howards “Lucky Sam McGarver” premieres in NYC
1972 – “Man of La Mancha” closes at Beaumont Theater NYC after 140 performances
1976 – NY Knicks retire 1st number, # 19, Willis Reed
1976 – Baseball World Series: defending champions Cincinnati Reds sweep NY Yankees; beat Bombers, 7-2 in Game 4 at Yankee Stadium; MVP: Reds catcher Johnny Bench
2017 – Spanish government suspends Catalonia’s autonomy in the face of a deepening political crisis over the region’s push for independence
2018 – Train derails in Yilan County, Taiwan, killing 18 and injuring 178

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Famous Birthdays

1581 – Domenico Zampieri, Italian painter (d. 1641)
1904 – Edmond [Moore] Hamilton, American sci-fi author (Danger Planet)
1916 – Andrea Checchi, Italian actor (The Lady Without Camelias, Two Anonymous Letters), born in Florence, Tuscany (d. 1974)
1971 – Thomas Ulsrud, Norwegian curler (World C’ship gold [skip] 2014; Olympics silver 2010), born in Oslo, Norway (d. 2022)
1973 – Charlie Lowell, American Musician
1980 – Brian Pittman, American Christian rock bassist (Relient K), born in Canton, Ohio

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Famous Deaths

1805 – Horatio Nelson, British admiral and war hero, dies in Battle of Trafalgar at 47
1969 – Jack Kerouac, American novelist and poet of the Beat Generation (On the Road, Mexico Blues), dies of cirrhosis of the liver at 47
1977 – Ferit Tuzun, Turkish composer, dies at 48
1984 – Francois Truffaut, dir (Fahrenheit 451), dies of brain cancer at 52
1993 – Melchior Ndadaye, 1st Hutu President of Burundi (1993), murdered at 40
2012 – Dann Cahn, American film editor, dies of natural causes at 89

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