Category: On This Day

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

More Historical Events »

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

More Famous Birthdays »

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

More Famous Deaths »

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

More Historical Events »

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

More Famous Birthdays »

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)

More Famous Deaths »

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

More Historical Events »

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

More Famous Birthdays »

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

More Famous Deaths »

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

More Historical Events »

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

More Famous Birthdays »

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

More Famous Deaths »

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

More Historical Events »

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)

More Famous Birthdays »

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

More Famous Deaths »

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

More Historical Events »

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

More Famous Birthdays »

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

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1775 – George Washington appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army, the day after Congress establishes the force
1857 – San Francisco Water Works organized
1957 – US Open Men’s Golf, Inverness Club: Dick Mayer defeats defending champion Cary Middlecoff by 7 strokes in an 18-hole playoff to win his only major title
1974 – “All the President’s Men” by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward detailing their Watergate investigation is published by Simon and Schuster in the US
1982 – Riots occur in Argentina after the country is defeated in the Falklands Island War
1992 – Erie Sailors (Fla Marlin farm team) 1st game beat Jamestown 6-5 in 13

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1908 – Sam Giancana, American mafioso, born in Chicago, Illinois
1917 – Michalis Genitsaris, Greek rebetiko singer and composer, born in Agia Sofia, Piraeus, Greece (d. 2005)
1949 – Dusty Baker, American baseball outfielder and manager (MLB All Star 1981-82; LA Dodgers; NL Manager of the Year 1993, 97, 2000), born in Riverside, California
1971 – Stuart Howell, Australian baseball pitcher (Olympics 1996)
1972 – Jean Francois Labbe, Sherbrooke, NHL goalie (Colorado Avalanche)
1983 – Laura Imbruglia, Australian singer-songwriter, born in Sydney, Australia

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1978 – Anton Roosjen, Dutch politician and NCRV-chairman, dies at 83
1989 – Maurice Bellemare, Canadian politician (b. 1912)
1994 – Manos Hadjidakis, Greek conductor, and Academy Award-winning composer (“Never On Sunday”), dies at 68
2011 – Bill Haast, American Herpetologist (b. 1910)
2014 – Casey Kasem, American radio personality (creator of American Top 40) and the voice of Shaggy on Scooby-Doo, dies from Lewy body dementia at 82
2015 – Jean Doré, Canadian politician (39th Mayor of Montreal), dies at 70

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1923 – Recording of 1st country music hit (Little Old Log Cabin in the Lane)
1968 – “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” second studio album by Iron Butterfly is released
1982 – Argentina surrenders to Great Britain, ending the 74-day Falklands Islands conflict
1989 – “You’ve Got A Friend” singer-songwriter Carole King gets a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame
2012 – The world’s first stem-cell assisted vein transplant is undertaken by Swedish doctors on a 10 year old girl
2020 – India reports surge of nearly 12,000 a day confirmed COVID-19 cases (320,922 overall), the world’s fourth-affected country, as death toll hits 9,195

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1883 – Lucien Cerfaux, Belgian New Testament scholar, born in Presles, Belgium (d. 1968)
1929 – Alan Davidson, Australian cricket all-rounder (44 Tests, 1,328 runs @ 24.59, 186 wickets, best 7/93, 42 catches; NSW), born in Lisarow, Australia (d. 2021)
1932 – Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, American pianist, arranger, jazz and classical composer (For Bird, With Love), born in Manhattan, New York (d. 2004)
1940 – Dary John Mizelle, American composer, born in Stillwater, Oklahoma
1940 – Ben Davidson, American actor (Rhino-Ball Four, Code R) and football player, born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2012)
1969 – Eugene Chung, American NFL guard (Jacksonville Jaguars, Indianapolis Colts), born in Prince George’s County, Maryland

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1544 – Antoine, Duke of Lorraine, dies at 55
1883 – Edward FitzGerald, English poet (b. 1809)
1920 – Max Weber, German sociologist, economist and historian (Ancient Judaism), dies at 56
1962 – Anna Sleasers, first Boston Strangler victim
2007 – Ruth Graham [Bell], American Christian author and wife of evangelist Billy Graham, dies at 87
2020 – Aarón Padilla Gutiérrez, Mexican soccer striker (55 caps; Pumas, Atlante, Veracruz), dies at 77

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1902 – Prussian Upper house gives 350 million marks to Poland
1973 – Garvey, Lopes, Cey and Russell play together for 1st time, set record of staying together as an infield for 8½ years (LA Dodgers)
1980 – Deborah Harry and Meat Loaf film “Roadie” premieres
1991 – The National, 1st all-sports daily newspaper, ceases publication
1995 – Björk releases her 2nd art pop solo album “Post”
2017 – Otto Warmbier returns to the US in an unresponsive state after being held in Norther Korean jail for 17 months,

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1773 – Thomas Young, British physician and physicist (light interference), born in Milverton, Somerset, England (d. 1829)
1879 – Johannes Geelkerken, Dutch theologian and vicar, born in Alkmaar, Netherlands (d. 1960)
1884 – Anton Drexler, German politician and founder of the German Worker’s Party, born in Munich (d. 1942)
1913 – Ralph Edwards, American TV host (This is Your Life), born in Merino, Colorado (d. 2005)
1941 – Tom Hallick, American actor (Search), born in Buffalo, New York
1961 – Bob Crow, English trade union leader (National Union RMT), born in Epping, Essex, England (d. 2014)

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1645 – Miyamoto Musashi, Japanese swordsman
1873 – Angelo Mariani, Italian composer, dies at 51
1995 – David Parry, British-Canadian folk musician (Friends of Fiddler’s Green), storyteller (Canadian Museum of Civilization), actor, stage director, and teacher (University of Toronto), dies of a heart attack at 53
2001 – Siegfried Naumann, Swedish conductor (Musica Nova Ensemble, 1962-77), teacher, and composer (Risposte), dies at 81
2016 – Oleg Karavaichuk, Russian pianist and composer, dies at 88
2018 – Roger Connor, American Baseball Hall of Fame 1st baseman (career HR record 138 stood for 23 years), dies of a stomach illness at 73

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

28 – Roman General Gaius Carrinas’ triumphant procession through Rome, awarded for fighting in Gaul
1442 – King Alfonso V of Aragon occupies Naples
1830 – Beginning of the French colonization of Algeria: 34,000 French soldiers land 27 kilometers west of Algiers, at Sidi Ferruch
1939 – Baseball Hall of Fame is dedicated in Cooperstown, New York
1979 – Bryan Allen flew man-powered Gossamer Albatross over English Channel in a human-powered aircraft; flight took 2 hrs, 49 min
1991 – NBA Finals: Chicago Bulls beat LA Lakers, 108-101 in Game 5 for first of 3 straight titles; MVP: Michael Jordan in his first NBA Finals appearance

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1913 – Jean Victor Allard, Canadian army general, born in Sainte-Monique-de-Nicolet, Quebec (d. 1996)
1916 – Ivan Tors, Hungarian TV producer (Sea Hunt, Flipper), born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 1983)
1937 – Vladimir Arnold, Russian mathematician (Kolmogorov–Arnold–Moser theorem), born in Odessa, Ukraine (d. 2010)
1972 – Patrick van Diemen, Dutch soccer player (FC Utrecht, NEC), born in Woerden, Netherlands
1979 – Dallas Clark, American football tight end (Super Bowl 2006; Pro Bowl, First-team All-Pro 2009; Indianapolis Colts), born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota
1997 – William Cuddy, Canadian actor (Amelia)

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1760 – Antoine Court, French minister and itinerant preacher in the Reformed church who restored Protestantism to France, dies at 69
1818 – Egwale Seyon, Emperor of Ethiopia
1936 – M. R. James, English scholar and author (Ghost Stories of an Antiquary), dies at 73
1978 – Guo Moruo, Chinese scholar and writer, dies at 85
1980 – Billy Butlin, South African-born British founder of Butlins holiday camps, dies at 80
1995 – Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, pianist, dies at 75

More Famous Deaths »