Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1727 – France and Bavaria renew secret treaty
1859 – Jules Leotard performs 1st Flying Trapeze circus act (Paris) He also designed garment that bears his name
1940 – Blizzard strikes North American midwest, 154 die (69 on boat on Great Lakes)
1960 – Coup against South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm fails
1980 – US space probe Voyager I approaches 77,000-mi (124,000 km) of Saturn
1984 – NBC premiere of “Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story”, fact based telepic of actress Saldana’s near fatal attack and its aftermath

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Famous Birthdays

1896 – Salim Ali, Indian ornithologist ‘Birdman of India’, born in Bombay, British India (d. 1987)
1915 – Roland Barthes, French literary critic (L’Empire des Signer)
1917 – Jo Stafford, American singer (You Belong to me, Never Smile Again), born in Coalinga, California (d. 2008)
1976 – Scott Mark Cameron, NZ 4x200m relay swimmer (Olympics 1996), born in Dunedin, New Zealand
1980 – Trent Acid, American professional wrestler, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1984 – Sepp De Roover, Belgian footballer, born in Geel, Belgium

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Famous Deaths

1823 – Emmanuel Aloys Förster, Bohemian composer and music teacher, dies at 75
1836 – Juan Ramón Balcarce, Argentine military leader and politician (b. 1773)
1962 – Sid Tomack, American actor (The Life of Riley, Adventures of Superman), dies from a heart ailment at 55
1987 – Roger Lewis, aviation exec (Lockheed, C Wright, Pan Am), dies at 75
1993 – Bill Dickey, American Baseball Hall of Fame catcher (11 × MLB All-Star; 14 × World Series; NY Yankees) and manager (NY Yankees), dies at 86
2013 – Allan Blank, American composer, dies at 87

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Historical Events

1811 – Cartagena Colombia declares independence from Spain
1836 – Chile declares war on Bolivia and Peru
1963 – Brian Epstein and Ed Sullivan sign a 3 show contract for The Beatles
1982 – Gas explosion in Israeli army headquarters near Tyre; kills 60
1992 – The Church of England approves the ordination of female priests
2014 – The people of Catalonia in north-eastern Spain vote in a disputed and non-binding poll on independence

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Famous Birthdays

1748 – Carlos IV (English: Charles], King of Spain (1788-1808), born in Portici, Italy (d. 1819)
1792 – Mary Anne Disraeli, English wife of Benjamin Disraeli, born in Brampford Speke, Devon, England (d. 1872)
1883 – Ernest Ansermet, Swiss conductor (Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, 1918-67). and composer (Feuilles de Printemps), born in Vevey, Switzerland (d. 1969)
1953 – Kostas Skandalidis, Greek politician, born in Kos, Greece
1956 – Ian Craig Marsh, English, rocker (The Human League, Heaven 17), born in Sheffield, England
1970 – Derry Brownson, British rock keyboardist (EMF – “Unbelievable”), born in Gloucester, England

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Famous Deaths

307 – Flavius Valerius Severus, compassionate emperor of Rome (306-07), dies
1724 – Joseph Blake, alias “Blueskin”, a highwayman known for attacking “Thief-Taker General” (and thief) Jonathan Wild at the Old Bailey, is hanged in London. (b. c. 1700)
1931 – Shibusawa Eiichi, Japanese industrialist (b. 1840)
1947 – Martin Dibelius, German theologist (That Drawer Jahwes), dies at 64
1990 – Alexis Minotis [Alexandros Minotakis], Greek actor (The Merchant of Venice, King Lear), dies at 90
1993 – H. R. Haldeman, Nixon’s White House Chief of Staff during Watergate, dies at 67

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Historical Events

1871 – Henry Morton Stanley encounters David Livingstone at Ujiji, near Lake Tanganyika in Central Africa, with the immortal words ‘Dr Livingstone, I presume?’
1959 – Corinne Rottschaeffer of the Netherlands elected Miss World
1968 – Portuguese socialist Mário Soares released from banishment in Sao Tomé under new regieme of Marcello Caetano
1988 – Orel Hershiser (23-8) is a unanimous choice as NL Cy Young Award
1989 – Germans begin demolishing the Berlin Wall
2014 – “The Hunger Games” Mockingjay – Part 1″ directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson premieres in London

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Famous Birthdays

1895 – John Knudsen Northrop, American aircraft designer (Northrop Air), born in Newark, New Jersey (d. 1981)
1918 – Oda Blinder [Yolanda Corsen], Antillean poetess (Doorstep)
1958 – Massimo Morsello, Italian fascist political singer and songwriter, born in Rome, Italy (d. 2001)
1965 – Eddie Irvine, Irish auto racer (runner-up World F1 Championship 1999), born in Newtownards, Northern Ireland
1971 – Jennifer McFalls, American softball infielder (Olympic gold 1996), born in Arlington, Texas
1985 – Giovonnie Samuels, American television actress (The Suite Life of Zack and Cody), born in San Diego, California

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Famous Deaths

1670 – Geory Horn [Hornius], theologist/historian, dies at about 50
1937 – Nikolai Batalov, Russian actor (Tretya meshchanskaya, Mother), dies from tuberculosis at 37
1992 – Chuck Connors, American author, actor (The Rifleman, Branded, Cowboy in Africa), professional basketball and baseball player, dies at 71
2001 – Ken Kesey, American author (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest), dies at 66
2006 – Gerald Levert, American singer (In My Songs) (b. 1966), dies at 40
2015 – Helmut Schmidt, Chancellor of West Germany (SPD, 1974- 82), dies at 96

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Historical Events

1330 – Battle of Posada, Wallachian voievode Basarab I defeats the Hungarian army in an ambush
1941 – Hitler threatens Clemens August, Graf von Galen and Bishop of Münster
1953 – Supreme Court rules Major League baseball exempt from anti-trust laws
1976 – UN General Assembly condemns apartheid in South Africa
1982 – Sugar Ray Leonard retires for 1st time
2004 – 38th Country Music Association Award: Kenny Chesney, Martina McBride and Keith Urban wins

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Famous Birthdays

1799 – Gustavus, Crown Prince of Sweden, born in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 1877)
1810 – Thomas Bragg, American politician, 34th Governor of North Carolina (1859-61), born in Warrenton, North Carolina (d. 1872)
1907 – Burrill Phillips, American composer (Play Ball), born in Omaha, Nebraska (d. 1988)
1929 – Severn Darden, American actor (Luv, President’s Analyst, Saturday the 14th), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1995)
1944 – Phil May, English rocker (Pretty Things), born in Dartford, Kent (d. 2020)
1963 – Fulvio Fantoni, Italian bridge player, born in Grosseto, Italy

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Famous Deaths

1918 – Guillaume Apollinaire [Kostrowitsky], French poet (Alcools) and art critic (coined the term ‘Cubism’), dies during the Spanish Flu pandemic at 38
1952 – Chaim Weizmann, Israeli statesman and Zionist leader (1st President of Israel 1949-52), dies at 77
1977 – Fred Haney, American baseball player, dies at 81
1993 – Stanley Myers, English movie composer (The Deer Hunter), dies at 63
1994 – Milton M Shorty Rajonsky Rogers, trumpeter, dies at 70
2011 – Har Gobind Khorana, Indian-American biochemist (Nobel 1968), dies at 89

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Historical Events

1520 – Stockholm Bloodbath begins: A successful invasion of Sweden by Danish forces results in the execution of around 100 people.
1861 – USS San Jacinto commanded by Charles Wilkes captures two Confederate diplomats from the British mail steamer Trent, almost causing a war between the US and the UK
1895 – German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen produces and detects electromagnetic radiation in a wavelength range today known as X-rays or Röntgen rays
1904 – Inventor and manufacturer Harvey Hubbell receives the first U.S. patent for a separable electric attachment plug
1933 – US President FDR creates Civil Works Administration
1974 – British peer the Earl of Lucan disappears and is never seen again after his nanny is found murdered in London

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Famous Birthdays

1715 – Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel-Bevern, Queen of Prussia as wife of Frederik II the Great, born in Schloss Bevern, Germany (d. 1797)
1904 – Cedric Belfrage, English writer and journalist (co-founder of National Guardian), born in Marylebone, London (d. 1990)
1921 – Gene Saks, American actor and director (One and Only, Prisoner of 2nd Ave), born in NYC, New York (d. 2015)
1937 – Dragoslav Šekularac, Serbian footballer, born in Štip, Yugoslavia (d. 2019)
1954 – Michael D. Brown, U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency director (2003-05), born in Guymon, Oklahoma
1979 – Aaron Hughes, Northern Irish footballer, born in Cookstown, Northern Ireland

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Famous Deaths

1909 – Eduard de Hartog, Dutch composer, dies at 80
1945 – August von Mackensen, German field marshal, dies at 95
1963 – Simon Jurovsky, Slovak composer and conductor, dies at 51
1991 – John Kirkpatrick, American pianist and musicologist (Charles Ives Archives), dies at 86
1999 – Leon Štukelj, Slovenian gymnast (b. 1898)
2020 – Alex Trebek, Canadian-American TV game host (High Rollers, Jeopardy), dies of cancer at 80

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Historical Events

1747 – Organgist in Netherlands revolt under Daniel Raap
1900 – Battle of Leliefontein, a battle during which the Royal Canadian Dragoons win three Victoria Crosses.
1934 – Arthur L. Mitchell, becomes first African American Democratic US congressman (Illinois)
1962 – Glenn Hall set NHL record of 503 consecutive games as goalie
1967 – St Louis Cards Orlando Cepeda is 1st unanimous NL MVP
1990 – Cleveland Indian Sandy Alomar Jr wins AL Rookie of Year, unanimously

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Famous Birthdays

1856 – Semyon Alapin, Russian chess master, born in St. Petersburg, Russian Empire (d. 1923)
1915 – Philip Morrison, American physicist, born in Somerville, New Jersey (d. 2005)
1942 – Johnny Rivers [Ramistella], American singer (“Secret Agent Man”), and record producer, born in NYC, New York
1943 – Stephen Greenblatt, American literary historian and author (The Swerve: How the World Became Modern), born in Boston, Massachusetts
1947 – Yutaka Fukumoto, Japanese professional baseball player, born in Osaka, Japan
1957 – King Kong Bundy [Christopher Pallies], American pro wrestler (WWF), born in Atlantic City, New Jersey (d. 2019)

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Famous Deaths

1893 – Constantly Lievens, Flemish missionary in India, dies at 37
1966 – Rube Bressler, Baseball player (b. 1894)
1996 – Jaja Wachuku, Nigerian Lawyer and First Foreign Affairs Minister (b. 1918)
2006 – Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, French journalist (b. 1924)
2016 – Janet Reno, first female US Attorney General (1993-2001), dies at 78
2020 – Cándido Camero, Cuban American percussionist (congo drum) and bandleader, dies at 99

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Historical Events

1850 – 1st Hawaiian fire engine
1884 – British protectorate proclaimed over southeast New Guinea
1906 – Charles Evans Hughes (R) elected NY Governor beating William Randolph Hearst
1991 – Robert M Gates, becomes 15th director of CIA
1995 – Art Modell officially announces Cleveland Browns are moving to Balt
2013 – 15 people are killed after a suicide bombing in Baghdad, Iraq

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Famous Birthdays

1892 – John Alcock, English pilot (1st non-stop flight across Atlantic Ocean), born in Stretford, England (d. 1919)
1906 – James D. Norris, American sports businessman (Chicago Black Hawks), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1966)
1909 – Henk Bijvanck, Dutch composer, born in Kudus, Java (d. 1969)
1931 – Tsvetan Tsvetanov, Bulgarian composer, born in Sofia, Bulgaria (d. 1982)
1967 – Shuzo Matsuoka, Japanese tennis star (1995 USTA/Binghampton), born in Tokyo, Japan
1978 – Taryn Manning, American actress (Hawaii Five-O), born in Falls Church, Virginia

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Famous Deaths

1597 – Infanta Catherine Michelle of Spain [Catalina Micaela de Austria], Duchess consort of Savoy (1585-97), dies at 30
1910 – Giuseppe Cesare Abba, Italian patriot and writer, dies at 72
1914 – Allessandro d’Ancona, Italian philologist (Dante), dies at 79
1989 – Dickie Goodman, American parody singer (Flying Saucer), dies at 55
1996 – Patience Edney, British nurse and communist, dies at 85
2005 – Minako Honda, Japanese singer and musical actress, dies of leukemia at 38

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Historical Events

1886 – British Open Men’s Golf, Musselburgh Links: David Brown beats fellow Scot Willie Campbell by 2 strokes
1895 – US state Utah accepts female suffrage
1912 – Bulgarian troops in Constantinople blockade drinking water
1927 – PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Cedar Crest CC: Defending champion Walter Hagen beats Joe Turnesa 1-up to win his 4th straight PGA title
1932 – Benito Mussolini frees 16,000 convicts
1989 – 19th NYC Women’s Marathon won by Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway in 2:25:30

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Famous Birthdays

1615 – Ibrahim I, 18th Ottoman Sultan (1640-48), born in Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (d. 1648)
1841 – Alexander Sergeyevich Famintsin, Russian composer, born in Kaluga, Russia (d. 1896)
1883 – Ernie Parker, Australian tennis player (Australasian C’ship 1913), born in Perth, Western Australia (d. 1918)
1913 – John McGiver, American character actor (Patty Duke Show; Jimmy Stewart Show; Fitzwilly), born in NYC, New York (d. 1975)
1924 – Ivan Rezak, Czech composer, born in Řevnice (d. 1977)
1958 – Robert Patrick, American actor (Terminator 2: Judgment Day), born in Marietta, Georgia

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Famous Deaths

1660 – Lucy Hay, Countess of Carlisle, English socialite (b. 1599)
1772 – Johannes Schmidlin, Swiss composer, dies at 50
1942 – George M. Cohan, American father of musical comedy (Phantom President, Give My Regards to Broadway), dies of cancer at 64
1972 – Reginald Owen, British actor (Mary Poppins, Sherlock Holmes), dies at 85
1996 – Lars-Ake Nilsson, diplomat, dies at 53
2012 – Charles V. Bush, African-American pioneer (1st African-American US Air Force Academy Graduate and US Supreme Court Page), dies from colon cancer at 72

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Historical Events

1921 – The Sturmabteilung or SA (the “Brown Shirts”) is formally established by Adolf Hitler
1939 – US allows “cash and carry” arms sales during WW II
1946 – United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) formed
1956 – 200,000 Russian troops attack anti-Soviet movement in Budapest, Hungary
1968 – WRDU (now WPTF) TV channel 28 in Raleigh-Durham, NC (NBC) 1st broadcast
1981 – Columbia shuttle launch scrubbed with 31 secs remaining

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Famous Birthdays

1845 – Vasudeo Balwant Phadke, Indian independence activist and revolutionary, born in Shirdhon village, Panvel taluka, Raigad district, British India (d. 1883)
1928 – Hannah Weiner, American experimental poet, born in Providence, Rhode Island (d. 1997)
1956 – James Honeyman-Scott, English rock guitarist and vocalist (Pretenders), born in Hereford, Herefordshire, England (d. 1982)
1965 – Wayne Static [Wells], American musician (Static-X), born in Muskegon, Michigan (d. 2014)
1971 – Russell Copeland, American NFL wide receiver (Buffalo Bills), born in Tupelo, Mississippi
1974 – Cedric Bixler-Zavala, American musician (At the Drive-In, The Mars Volta), born in Redwood City. California

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Famous Deaths

1411 – Khalil Sultan, ruler of Transoxonia (b. 1384)
1918 – Wilfred Owen, English soldier and anti-war poet (Anthem for Doomed Youth, Futility), killed in action at 25 during the crossing of the Sambre–Oise Canal, exactly one week before the signing of the Armistice
1973 – Karl H. Waggerl, Austria author (Green Friends), dies at 75
1986 – Zlatan Vauda, Slovene composer and conductor (RTB Children’s Choir, 1953-86), dies at 86
2005 – Milton “Milt” Holland, American drummer, percussionist, ethnomusicologist (film Tinkerbell’s tinkle, Bewitched’s nose tinkle), dies at 88
2011 – Andy Rooney, American radio and television writer (b. 1919)

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Historical Events

1791 – Battle at Wabash: Indians assault general St Clair, 637 soldiers killed
1903 – Giovanni Giolitti becomes Prime Minister of Italy; a progressive liberal, he will hold his post through most of the next decade and introduce social, agrarian and labor reforms
1955 – Scientists Carlton E. Schwerdt and Fred L. Schaffer announce they have crystallized the pure polio virus, meaning they can better determine the virus’ chemical and biological properties
1980 – After acquiring MLB’s Oakland A’s for $12.7m, Walter Haas Jr. appoints himself CEO; leads team to 4 AL West Divisional titles and 1989 World Series Championship
1987 – On Wall Street, after 5 consecutive gains, Dow Jones down 50.56
2007 – Navy beats Notre Dame 46-44 in triple overtime, ending the Fighting Irish’s NCAA Football-record winning streak against the Midshipmen at 43 games; last Navy win over Notre Dame, 35-14 in 1963

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Famous Birthdays

1736 – Christiaan Brunings, Dutch hydraulic engineer, born in Mannheim-Neckarau, Germany (d. 1805)
1841 – Johannes Eugenius Bülow Warming, Danish botanist (plant ecology, environment-organism interactions), born in Mandø, Denmark (d. 1924)
1925 – Dieter Wellershoff, German author (Minotaur)
1953 – Helios Creed, American musician (Chrome)
1953 – Kate Capshaw [Nail], American actress (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom), born in Fort Worth, Texas
1971 – Dwight Yorke, Trinidad and Tobago soccer striker (74 caps; Aston Villa, Manchester United), born in Canaan, Trinidad and Tobago

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Famous Deaths

1867 – Pieter J Jong, Dutch Zouave, dies in battle
1937 – Winthrop Ames, American theatrical director (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), dies at 66
1958 – Harry Revel, movie composer (Sitting Pretty, Gay Divorcee), dies
1988 – Henri van Praag, Dutch para-psychologist, dies
1993 – Duncan Gibbins, director (Fire With Fire), dies in California fire at 41
2015 – Ahmed Chalabi, Iraqi politician (supported US 2003 invasion), dies at 71

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