Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1185 – The cave city of Vardzia is consecrated by Queen Tamar of Georgia
1248 – Construction of the new Cologne Cathedral in the Gothic style begins with the laying of the foundation stone by Archbishop Konrad von Hochstaden (completed 1880)
1911 – Procter and Gamble unveils its Crisco shortening
1948 – US Open Women’s Golf, Atlantic City CC: Babe Didrikson-Zaharias wins by 8 strokes from Betty Hicks
1965 – PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Laurel Valley GC: Dave Marr wins his only major title, beating Billy Casper and Jack Nicklaus by 2 strokes
1975 – Miki Takeo makes the first official pilgrimage to Yasukuni Shrine by an incumbent prime minister on the anniversary of the end of World War II.

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Famous Birthdays

1896 – Catherine Doherty, Russian-born Canadian activist, born in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia (d. 1985)
1902 – Jan Campert, Dutch resistance fighter and poet (Song the 18 dead), born in Spijkenisse, Netherlands (d. 1943)
1947 – Manley Lanier “Sonny” Carter Jr, American chemist and NASA astronaut (STS 33), born in Macon, Georgia (d. 1991)
1972 – Ken Walter, American NFL punter, 1997-2006 (Carolina Panthers, New England Patriots, and 2 other teams), born in Cleveland, Ohio
1976 – Robert Macfarlane, English nature writer, born in Halam, England
1989 – Joe Jonas, American pop singer (Jonas Brothers), born in Casa Grande, Arizona

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Famous Deaths

1576 – (Valentin) Bálint Bakfark, Hungarian lutenist, and composer, dies of the plague at about 70
1962 – Lei Feng, Chinese soldier (became a propaganda icon after his death), dies in an accident at 21
1968 – Edward Kilenyi, Sr. [Ede Kilényi], composer and teacher (Clipped Wings; Outside the Law), dies at 84
1990 – Viktor Tsoi, Russian musician (Kino), dies in a car accident at 28
1990 – Lew DeWitt, American country singer and composer (Statler Brothers – “Flowers on the Wall”), dies of Crohn’s disease complications at 52
2014 – Jerry Lumpe, American baseball player, dies at 81

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Historical Events

1782 – Suriname forbids selling slave mothers without their babies
1936 – Rainey Bethea is hanged in Owensboro, Kentucky in the last public execution in the United States
1976 – 10,000 Northern Ireland women demonstrate for peace in Belfast
1994 – Terrorist “Carlos” arrested in Khartoum, Sudan
2016 – US Senior Open Men’s Golf, Scioto CC: Gene Sauers wins by 1 stroke ahead of Miguel Ángel Jiménez and Billy Mayfair
2019 – Pakistan PM Imran Khan strongly criticizes India for revoking Kashmir’s special status and putting it under lockdown in address in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir

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Famous Birthdays

1653 – Christopher Monck, 2nd Duke of Albemarle, English statesman (d. 1688)
1880 – Fred Alexander, American tennis player (Australasian C’ship 1908, 5-time US Indoor winner), born in Sea Bright, New Jersey (d. 1969)
1913 – Paul Dean, American baseball player (St. Louis Cardinals), born in Lucas, Arkansas (d. 1981)
1928 – Lina Wertmüller [Arcangela Braueich], Italian screenwriter, film director, and 1st woman nominated for an Academy Award for Directing (Seven Beauties), born in Rome, Italy
1943 – Terry Ellis, British record producer, artist manager (Jethro Tull; Paula Cole: Baby Animals), and label executive (co-founder of Chrysalis Records) ,born in, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England
1973 – Daisuke Ishiwatari, Japanese game developer and composer, born in Johannesburg, South Africa

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Famous Deaths

1961 – Clarke Ashton Smith, sci-fi author (Lost Worlds), dies at 68
1984 – Tigran Petrosian, Soviet Armenian World Chess Champion (1963-69), dies at 55
1992 – Flora Benson, American wife of Ezra Taft Benson, President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, dies at 91
2011 – Shammi Kapoor, Indian actor and director known as the “Elvis Presley of India” (Amaran, Brahmachari, Vidhaata), dies of chronic renal failure at 79
2012 – Ron Palillo, American actor (Arnold Horshack-Welcome Back Kotter), dies from a heart attack at 63
2013 – Lisa Robin Kelly, American actress, dies at 43

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Historical Events

1923 – Gustav Stresemann becomes premier of German coalition government
1944 – Jackie Gleason-Les Tremayne show premieres on NBC radio
1953 – US President Dwight Eisenhower establishes Government Contract Compliance Committee
1977 – Randy Bachman quits band Bachman-Turner Overdrive, they then disband
1988 – US beats Jamaica 5-1 in 2nd round of 1990 world soccer cup
1997 – San Diego Padres trade Rickey Henderson to Anaheim Angels

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Famous Birthdays

1422 – William Caxton, English printer and translator, 1st to print in the English language (Histories of Troy), born in Kent, England (d. 1492) birth date disputed
1717 – Christoph Nichelmann, German composer and harpsichordist, born in Treuenbrietzen, Germany (d. 1762)
1748 – Pieter L. van de Kasteele, Dutch politician and patriot, born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 1810)
1888 – Gleb W. Derujinsky, Russian-American sculptor, born in Smolensk, Russia (d. 1975)
1926 – Fidel Castro, Cuban revolutionary, Prime Minister (1959-76) and President (1976-2008), born in Birán, Holguin Province (d. 2016)
1973 – Eric Medlen, American NHRA drag racer, born in Oakdale, California (d. 2007)

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Famous Deaths

1895 – Christian Bernhard Tauchnitz, German publisher (T Edition), dies at 79
1897 – Antonius von der Linde, Dutch German librarian, dies at 63
1900 – Collis P. Huntington, American business tycoon and railroad executive (Central Pacific Railroad, Southern Pacific Railroad), dies at 78
1973 – Ben van Eysselsteijn, Dutch playwright (Arid Earth), dies at 75
1982 – Joe Tex [Joseph Arrington Jr.], American soul musician (“Hold What You’ve Got”; “I Gotcha”), dies at 49
1992 – Jan Elburg [Joannes G], Dutch poet (Geen letterheren), dies at 72

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Historical Events

3 – Venus-Jupiter in conjunction-Star of Bethlehem
1588 – Radboud Castle on Medemblik harbor in North Holland surrenders to the Spanish army
1991 – Creditors vote to support Greyhound Bus reorganization plan
1994 – Members of the Major League Baseball Players Association go on strike leading to cancellation of World Series for only the second time in MLB history (1904); labour dispute
2016 – Italian jockey Frankie Dettori aboard Predilection rides his 3,000th British winner at Newmarket
2021 – Bennu Asteroid, size of the Empire State Building, now has 1-in-1,750 chance of hitting Earth in 2182, according to data from NASA’s OSIRIS-REX spacecraft

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Famous Birthdays

1920 – Percy Mayfield, American singer (Please Send Me Someone to Love)
1922 – Lord Colinbrook, British government minister
1925 – Robin Nicholson, English metallurgist, born in Warwickshire, England
1940 – Alexander Yossifov, Bulgarian conductor and composer (Back To The Beginning), born in Sofia, Bulgaria (d. 2016)
1960 – Laurent Fignon, French cyclist (1983 and 1984 Tour de France), born in Paris (d. 2010)
1961 – Roy Hay, British guitarist (Culture Club – “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me”)

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Famous Deaths

1812 – Jean-Joseph Rodolphe, Alsatian composer, dies at 81
1941 – Bobby Peel, English cricket all-rounder (20 Tests, 3 x 50, 101 wickets, BB 7/31; Yorkshire CCC), dies at 84
1985 – Marcel Mihalovici, Romanian-French composer, dies at 86
1990 – Dorothy Mackaill, actress (Love Affair), dies of kidney failure at 87
1999 – John Rigby Hale, British linguist and historian, dies at 75
2008 – Donald Erb, American composer known for large orchestral works, dies at 81

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Historical Events

1949 – 1st Naples-Capri swim, 17 miles (27 km) (Giovanni Gambi)
1960 – Chad declares Independence from France
1965 – “Help!” a musical comedy film featuring the Beatles released in the US
1970 – Future Baseball HOF pitcher Jim Bunning becomes 2nd Cy Young Award winner to win 100 games in both NL and AL; Phillies beat Houston 6-5 at Astrodome
1980 – Yanks Reggie Jackson hits his 400th HR off Chicago’s Britt Burns
1980 – Angola revises its constitution

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Famous Birthdays

1888 – Owen Nares [Ramsay], British actor and manager (Maiden Erleigh), born in Maiden Erlegh, Berks, England (d. 1943)
1925 – Robert Linn, American composer, born in San Francisco (d. 1999)
1927 – Raymond Leppard, British-American harpsichordist, conductor (Indianapolis Symphony, 1987-2001; BBC Northern Symphony, 1973-80), and composer (Lord Of The Flies), born in London, England
1956 – June Daugherty, American women’s college basketball coach (Boise State Uni, Uni of Washington, Washington State University), born in Columbus, Ohio (d. 2021)
1984 – Lucas Di Grassi, Brazilian racing driver
1985 – Grace Adams-Short, British reality television contestant

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Famous Deaths

1578 – Pedro Nunes [Nonius], Port mathematician/astronomer (nonius), dies
1614 – Lavinia Fontana, Italian painter, dies at 61
1868 – Halfdan Kjerulf, Norwegian composer (Brudefaerden i Hardanger), dies at 52
1868 – Thaddeus Stevens, US Radical Republican congressional leader (Rep-R-Pennsylvania 1849-53 1859-68), dies at 76
1919 – Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-American industrialist, steel tycoon, philanthropist and one of the richest Americans ever, dies of bronchial pneumonia at 83
1994 – Dorothy Grenfell Williams, radio producer and broadcaster, dies at 60

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Historical Events

1948 – Bradman scores 133* Aust v Lancashire, 216 mins, 17 fours
1954 – Sir Gordon Richards retires as a jockey with record 4,870 wins
1986 – Marquis Theater opens at 1535 Broadway NYC
1995 – Dodgers leading 2-1 in 9th forfeit game to Cards, fans become unruly
1997 – Anaheim Angels Tony Phillips arrested for purchasing cocaine
2014 – Unrest breaks out in Ferguson, Missouri after the death of African American Michael Brown by a policeman.

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Famous Birthdays

1793 – Heinrich August Neithardt, composer
1893 – Viscount Dunrossil, Scotland, Gov Gen of Australia (1959-61)
1921 – Leonard Lickorish, dir-gen (British Tourist Authority)
1949 – Gene Johnson, American country singer (Diamond Rio – “Meet in the Middle”), born in Sugar Grove, Pennsylvania
1971 – Paul Newlove, rugby league player
1997 – Kylie Jenner, American model, TV and social media personality (Keeping Up with the Kardashians), born in Los Angeles, California

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Famous Deaths

1784 – Allan Ramsay, Scottish painter, dies at 70
1896 – Otto Lilienthal, German aircraft pioneer, dies
1932 – Rin Tin Tin, American Hollywood shepherd dog (Clash of the Wolves), dies at 13
1963 – Ernst Wetter, Member of the Swiss Federal Council, dies at 85
1987 – Calvin Culver, actor (Score), dies
1995 – Fay Honey Knopp, American activist (founded a Quaker ministry for men and women in prisons), dies of complications from ovarian cancer at 76

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Historical Events

378 – Battle of Adrianople: Goth army defeats Roman forces under Emperor Valens
1726 – Netherlands signs Covenant of Hannover
1925 – Only time Babe Ruth pinch-hit for, Bobby Veach flies out
1969 – Kander and Ebbs’ musical “Zorba” closes at Imperial Theater, NYC, after 305 performances
2012 – The death toll from the Philippines’ floods rise to 70
2019 – Landslide from torrential rain kills 59 in Mon state, Myanmar, with 80,000 in emergency evacuation sites

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Famous Birthdays

1690 – Lorenzo Zavateri, Italian violinist and composer, born in Bologna (d. 1764)
1726 – Francesco Cetti, Italian Jesuit priest and scientist, born in Mannheim, Germany (d. 1778)
1872 – Archduke Joseph August of Austria, Austrian field marshal, born in Alcsút, Kingdom of Hungary, Austria-Hungary (d. 1962)
1946 – Jim Kiick, American football running back (Super Bowl 1972, 73; AFL All-Star 1968, 69; Miami Dolphins), born in Lincoln Park, New Jersey (d. 2020)
1968 – Gillian Anderson, American actress (The X-Files, Bleak House), born in Chicago, Illinois
1972 – Juanes [Juan Esteban Aristizábal], Colombian singer and songwriter, winner of 24 Latin Grammy Awards, born in Carolina del Príncipe, Antioquia, Colombia

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Famous Deaths

117 – Trajan, Roman Emperor (98-117 AD) who rebuilt Rome and expanded the empire, dies from edema at 63
1738 – Pierre Drevet, French engraver, dies at 75
1848 – Frederick Marryat, English captain and author (Mr Midshipman Easy), dies
1994 – Toby Rowland, American theatrical manager, dies at 77
2000 – John Harsanyi, Hungarian-American economist (Nobel Prize in Economics, 1994, for game theory), and educator (University of California, Berkeley, 1964-90), dies of a heart attack at 80
2014 – Edwin “Ed” Nelson, American actor (Peyton Place, A Long Came a Spider), dies of heart failure at 85

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Historical Events

1829 – French government of De Polignac forms
1860 – Queen of Sandwich Islands (Hawaii) arrives in NYC
1950 – Florence Chadwick swims English Channel (13:23)
1953 – US and South Korea initial a mutual security pact
1960 – Ivory Coast declares independence
1992 – Fermín Cacho wins Spain’s first ever Olympic gold medal in a running event when he takes out the 1,500m at the Barcelona Games

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Famous Birthdays

1571 – John Ward, English composer, born in Canterbury, England (d. 1638)
1919 – Dino De Laurentiis, producer (King Kong), born in Torre Annunziata, Italy
1976 – Tawny Cypress, American stage and screen actress (Unforgettable), born in Point Pleasant, New Jersey
1984 – Devon McTavish, American footballer
1994 – Lauv [Ari Staprans Leff]. American singer-songwriter, and record producer (“I Like Me Better”), born in San Francisco, California
1995 – Malin Reitan, Norwegian singer

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Famous Deaths

1827 – George Canning, British Prime Minister (Tory: 1827) and Foreign Secretary, dies in office at 57
1828 – Carl Peter Thunberg, Swedish naturalist, dies at 84
1982 – Hermine Heijermans, author (Snikken en Smartlapjes), dies at 80
1982 – Eric Brandon, British racing driver, dies at 62
1997 – Duncan Swift, jazz pianist, dies at 74
2003 – Maki Ishii, Japanese composer, dies at 66

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Historical Events

1927 – Peace Bridge between US and Canada dedicated
1948 – Delfo Cabrera of Argentina wins dramatic marathon in 2:34:51.6 at the London Olympics
1961 – Cosmonaut Gherman Titov circles Earth for a full day in Vostok 2
1981 – “The Washington Star” ceases all operations after 128 years of publication
1983 – Grete Waitz of Norway wins inaugural women’s marathon at the 1st world athletics championships in Helsinki, Finland
1988 – Writers guild ends its 6 months strike

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Famous Birthdays

1783 – Princess Amelia, youngest child of King George III of United Kingdom, born in Royal Lodge, Windsor (d. 1810)
1914 – Ted Moore, South African-British cinematographer (James Bond), born in Western Cape, South Africa (d. 1987)
1926 – Stan Freberg, American satirist/ad executive/cartoon voice (Bertie), born in Los Angeles, California
1963 – Patrick Kennedy, son of US President JFK (lives only 3 days)
1967 – Jason Grimsley, American baseball pitcher (California Angels), born in Cleveland, Texas
1982 – Yana Klochkova, Ukrainian swimmer, born in Simferopol, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union

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Famous Deaths

1106 – Henry IV, Roman German king and Emperor (1056/84-1105), dies at 54
1816 – Dionysius Godefridus van der Keessel, Dutch jurist (Theses Selectae, Select Theses on the Laws of Holland and Zeeland), dies at 77
1902 – Rudolf von Bennigsen, German lawyer and politician, dies at 78
1974 – Rosario Castellanos, Mexican poet (Balún Canán), dies in an electrical accident at 49
1992 – John Anderson, American actor (Psycho, Ride the High Country, Legend of Wyatt Earp), dies of heart attack at 69
1996 – Anne Kristen, actress (Truth or Dare, Rachel-Dr Finlay), dies at 59

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Historical Events

1962 – Jamaica becomes independent after 300 years of British rule
1965 – Beatles release their 5th UK album – “Help!”
1981 – Argentine ex-president Isabel Peron freed
1985 – 19th NASA Space Shuttle Mission (51-G): Challenger 8 lands at Edwards AFB
1989 – Boston Red Sox retire Baseball Hall of Fame left fielder, 1st baseman Carl Yastrezemski’s #8
1994 – Algerian Muslim fundamentalists threaten school/Universities

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Famous Birthdays

1180 – Go-Toba, 82nd Emperor of Japan, born in Kyōto, Japan (d. 1239)
1922 – Freddie Laker, CEO (Laker airlines)
1943 – Jon Postel, American computer scientist (d. 1998)
1960 – Aldo Jones [Albert Mansis], American rockabilly bassist and singer (Ben Vaughn Combo), born in Yonkers, New York (d. 2001)
1978 – Marisa Miller, American model
1995 – Amy Forsyth, Canadian actress (The Gilded Age, CODA), born in Ontario

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Famous Deaths

1666 – Tsjerk Hiddes de Vries, Dutch admiral, dies in battle at 43
1895 – George Frederick Root, American songwriter (The Battle Cry of Freedom), dies at 74
1986 – William J Schroeder, (longest-survivor with permanent artificial) heart, dies at 54, after 620 days with Jarvik VII man-made pump)
1991 – Roland Michener, 20th Governor General of Canada (1967-74), dies at 91
1996 – Muhammad al-Badr, magnate of Northern Yemen (1962), dies
2018 – Joël Robuchon, French chef, world record for Michelin stars (32), dies of cancer at 73

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