Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1176 – Murder attempt by “Assassins” on Saladin near Aleppo
1746 – Russia and Austria sign treaty of cooperation
1766 – Istanbul earthquake with estimated magnitude of 7.1, causes widespread extensive damage, followed by a significant tsunami
1947 – 1st US ballistic missile fired
1960 – Tsunami generated by a magnitude 9.4-9.6 earthquake in Chile strikes Hilo, Hawaii at 01:04 AM, severely damaging virtually all coastal towns between the 37th and 44th parallels
1961 – 1st revolving restaurant (Top Of The Needle in Seattle) opens

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1897 – Marcelle Meyer, French contemporary classical (Les Six) and Baroque revivalist (Bach; Rameau) concert pianist, born in Lille, France (d. 1958)
1941 – Martha Langbein, German athlete (Olympic silver 1960), born in Heidelberg, Germany
1955 – Iva Davies, Australian rock guitarist and vocalist (Icehouse), born in Wauchope, New South Wales, Australia
1959 – [Steven] Morrissey, British rock vocalist (The Smiths), born in Davyhulme, Lancashire
1976 – Christian Vande Velde, cyclist (Olympics 1996), born in Chicago, Illinois
1978 – Ginnifer Goodwin, American actress

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1939 – Ernst Toller, German playwright, commits suicide at 45
1965 – Christopher Stone, first disc jockey in the United Kingdom (b. 1882)
2005 – Julia Randall, American poet (b. 1924)
2011 – Ze’ev Wolfgang Steinberg, Israeli violist and composer, dies at 92
2013 – Henri Dutilleux, French composer (Tout un monde lointain, L’arbre des songes), dies at 97
2017 – (Granville) “Mickey” Roker, American jazz drummer (Art Farmer; Milt Jackson; Dizzy Gillespie), dies suffering from diabetes and lung cancer at 84

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1881 – American Red Cross founded by Clara Barton
1886 – 14th Preakness: S Fisher aboard Bard wins in 2:45
1943 – Fastest 9 inning AL baseball night game (89 mins), Chicago White Sox beat visiting Washington Senators, 1-0
1968 – Nuclear-powered sub USS Scorpion, with 99 men, reported missing and is later found at the bottom of the ocean off Azores
1971 – Chelsea win 11th European Cup Winner’s Cup against Real Madrid 2-1 in Athens (replay)
1987 – Xignals PC Board BBS begins in Alabama

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1680 – Frederich Karl Erbach, German composer, born in Odenwald (d. 1731)
1850 – Giuseppe Mercalli, Italian volcanologist (d. 1914)
1903 – Pedro Aramburu, Argentine army leader, President and Dictator of Argentina (1955-58), born in Río Cuarto, Argentina (d. 1970)
1923 – Bettye Danoff, American golfer (co- founder LPGA Tour), born in Dallas, Texas (d. 2011)
1941 – Ronald Isley, American singer (Isley Brothers – “Twist and Shout”; “This Old Heart Of Mine”), born in Cincinnati, Ohio
1985 – Mark Cavendish MBE, British road cyclist (UCI Road World C’ships 2011; Points classification winner Tour de France 2011, 21; Giro d’Italia 2013; Vuelta a España 2010), born in Douglas, Isle of Man

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1254 – Conrad IV, King of Germany, Jerusalem and Sicily, dies at 26
1481 – Christian I, king of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, dies at 55
1719 – Pierre Poiret, French mystic, dies at 73
1790 – Thomas Warton, English critic and poet (Pleasures of Melancholy) British Poet Laureate (1785-90), dies at 62
1915 – Leonid Gobyato, Russian general (designed the portable mortar), dies in combat at 40
1996 – Mary Perot Nichols, American journalist, dies at 79

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1972 – “Different Times” closes at ANTA Theater NYC after 24 performances
1978 – 3 PFLP members kill a police officer near El Al airlines in Orly Airport, Paris
1980 – Drummer Peter Criss quits rock band Kiss
1989 – 114th Preakness: Pat Valenzuela aboard Sunday Silence wins in 1:53.8
1990 – Hubble Space Telescope sends its 1st photographs from space
1995 – CBS News fires co-anchor Connie Chung

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1547 – Melchior Bischoff, German composer, born in Pößneck, Germany (d. 1614)
1883 – Paul Arntzenius, Dutch painter, graphic artist and etcher, born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 1965)
1905 – Harry Campion, statistician/founder (British Central Statistical Office)
1911 – Annie M G Schmidt, writer (Fam Doorsnee, Jip and Janneke)
1930 – Robert Bunyard, Commandant (British Police Staff College)
1990 – Josh O’Connor, English actor (The Crown), born in Southampton, England

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1648 – Władysław IV Vasa, King of Poland (1632-48), dies of kidney stones at 52
1713 – Thomas Sprat, English writer (b. 1635)
1782 – William Emerson, British mathematician (b. 1701)
1961 – Josef “Pips” Priller, German fighter ace (b. 1915)
1988 – Harry Babasin, American jazz bassist and cellist (Dodo Marmarosa Trio), and archivist (Los Angeles Theaseum), dies of emphysema at 67
1999 – Robert Rhodes James, British politician historian (Gallipoli), dies at 66

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

715 – St Gregory II begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1973 – “Smith” opens at Eden Theater, NYC: runs for 17 performances
1976 – Senate establishes permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
1990 – “Elvis” TV Drama about early life of Elvis Presley last airs on ABC
1993 – Boeing 727 crashes into mountain at Medellin Colombia, kills 132
2021 – BBC investigation finds their 1995 Princess Dianna interview was secured through ‘deceitful behavior’ by journalist Martin Bashir

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1771 – Rahel Varnhagen von Ense-Levin, German literary hostess, born in Berlin, Prussia (d. 1833)
1925 – Guy Provost, French Canadian actor (d. 2004)
1930 – Hans Kox, Dutch composer (Dorian Gray; Symphony No. 4 – “Tasmanian”), and educator, born in Arnhem, Netherlands (d. 2019)
1939 – Tomasz Sikorski, Polish minimalist composer (Solitude of Sounds), born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 1988)
1951 – Dick Slater, American professional wrestler
1983 – Jessica Fox, British actress

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1795 – Josiah Bartlett, American physician and statesman (signed US Declaration of Independence), dies at 65
1845 – Maria EJ Versfelt, mistress of general Moreau/marshal Ney, dies at 68
1898 – William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (Liberal: 1868-74, 1880-86, 1892-94), dies of heart failure at 88
1903 – Arthur Shrewsbury, English cricket batsman (23 Tests [7 captain]; 1277 runs @ 35 47; Nottinghamshire), dies at 47
1904 – Auguste Molinier, French historian (b. 1851)
1994 – Henry Morgan, American comedian and TV panelist (I’ve Got a Secret, Arena), dies of cancer at 74

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1900 – Britain proclaims protectorate over Kingdom of Tonga
1918 – TNT explosion in chemical factory in Oakdale, Pennsylvania, kills 200
1974 – Novelty song “The Streak” by Ray Stevens hits #1
1986 – David Goch finishes swimming 55,682 miles in a 25-yd pool
1997 – “King David” opens at New Amsterdam Theater NYC
2008 – NHL Eastern Conference Final: Pittsburgh Penguins beat Philadelphia Flyers, 4 games to 1

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1886 – Ole Windingstad, Norwegian composer (The Tide), born in Sandefjord, Norway (d. 1959)
1918 – Massimo Girotti, Italian actor (Last Tango in Paris, In the Name of the Law), born in Mogliano, Marche, Italy (d. 2003)
1919 – Margot Fonteyn, English ballerina considered the 1st lady of British Ballet (Giselle), born in Reigate, England (d. 1991)
1929 – John Nicolaas Block, Dutch aviation pioneer (Martinair, Transavia, Air Holland), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1994)
1958 – Ray Donaldson, NFL center (Dallas Cowboys), born in Rome, Georgia
1967 – Karl Dunbar, American NFL defensive tackle (Arizona Cardinals), born in Opelousas, Louisiana

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1918 – Toivo Kuula, Finnish composer, dies after being shot in a quarrel at 34
1922 – Charles Louis Alphonse Laveran, French physician (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1907), dies at 76
1926 – Lucien Herr, French intellectual and librarian (École Normale Supérieure), dies at 62
1995 – Elisha Cook Jr, American actor (Maltese Falcon, Shane, Magnum PI), dies at 91
2003 – Barb Tarbox, Canadian anti-smoking crusader, dies at 42
2013 – Steve Forrest, American actor (SWAT), dies at 87

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1933 – Vidkun Quisling and Johan Bernhard Hjort form Nasjonal Samling, the national-socialist party of Norway
1948 – Soviet Union recognizes Israel
1959 – Sanctuary of Christ the King inaugurated, a 28 meter (92 ft) high monument and shrine overlooking Lisbon, Portugal by sculptor Francisco Franco de Sousa
1973 – Five British Army soldiers are killed by a Provisional Irish Republican Army booby-trap bomb in Omagh, County Tyrone
1992 – LPGA Championship Women’s Golf, Bethesda CC: Betsy King wins her 5th major title, 11 strokes ahead of runners-up JoAnne Carner, Liselotte Neumann and Karen Noble
1996 – Venezuelan Alicia Machado, aged 18, crowned 45th Miss Universe

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1803 – Robert Smith Surtees, British novelist (Jorrocks’s Jaunts and Jollities), born in The Riding, England (d. 1864)
1889 – Alfonso Reyes, Mexican writer (Simpatías y diferencias) and diplomat (Higenia Cruel), born in Monterrey, Mexico (d. 1959)
1943 – Vicky Moscholiou, Greek singer (d. 2005)
1945 – Bhagwat Chandrasekhar, Indian cricketer (brilliant Indian leggie 1964-79), born in Mysore, Karnataka
1966 – Mark Schmocker, US team handball goalie (Olympics 1996)
1971 – Bill Lindsay, Big Fork, NHL left wing (Florida Panthers)

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1809 – Leopold Auenbrugger, Austrian physician (invented percussion as a diagnostic technique), dies at 86
1838 – René Caillé, French explorer and the first European to return alive from the town of Timbuktu, dies at 38
1947 – George William Forbes, Prime Minister of New Zealand (b. 1869)
2000 – Donald Coggan, 101st Archbishop of Canterbury (1974-80), dies at 90
2007 – Lloyd Alexander, author (b. 1924)
2014 – Gerald Edelman, American biochemist (Nobel 1972), dies from natural causes at 84

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1860 – -18] Chicago: Republican convention selects Abraham Lincoln as candidate
1916 – 41st Preakness: Linus McAtee aboard Damrosch wins in 1:54.8
1932 – Yanks 4th straight shutout to equal record set by Cleveland and Boston
1938 – 1st animal breeding society forms (NJ)
1941 – Italian army under Aosta surrenders to Britain at Amba Alagi, Ethiopia
1981 – 106th Preakness: Jorge Velásquez aboard Pleasant Colony wins in 1:54.6

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1659 – Campegius Vitringa, Dutch theologist
1917 – Geraint Jones, Welsh conductor and organist, born in Porth, Wales (d. 1998)
1949 – Rick Reuschel, pitcher (NY Yankees)
1961 – Kevin McDonald, Canadian comedian and actor
1969 – Tucker Carlson, American television commentator (Tucker Carlson Tonight), born in San Francisco, California
1974 – Adam Richman, American TV personality (Man v Food), born in Brooklyn, New York

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1669 – Reyer Anslo, writer/poet, dies at about 42
1768 – Cornelis Writer, fleet supervisor, dies at about 81
1910 – Henri E Cross [Delacroix], French painter, dies at 53
1944 – Leone Sinigaglia, Italian composer, dies at 75
2000 – William Ferris, American composer and conductor (William Ferris Chorale, 1971-2000), dies while conducting a rehearsal of Verdi’s Requiem at 63
2021 – Rildo da Costa Menezes, Brazilian soccer defender (38 caps; Santos, CEUB, New York Cosmos), dies at 79

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1856 – 2nd San Francisco Vigilance Committee organized
1897 – The Scientific-Humanitarian Committee is founded in Berlin by Magnus Hirschfeld, the first-ever LGBT rights organization
1918 – 43rd Preakness: Johnny Loftus aboard War Cloud wins in 1:53.6
1941 – Joe DiMaggio starts 56-game hitting streak; Yanks lose 13-1
2010 – Jessica Watson at age 16 becomes the youngest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around the world
2018 – Taliban forces attack and claim to has seized control of the western city of Farah, Afghanistan

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1893 – Stanley Lupino, English comic (Cheer Up; Over She Goes), born in London (d. 1942)
1907 – Sukhdev Thapar, Indian freedom fighter (d. 1931)
1911 – Herta Oberheuser, Nazi doctor (d. 1978)
1939 – Brian Hartley, British mathematician (group theory) (d. 1994)
1961 – Melle Mel [Melvin Glover], American rapper (Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five), born in The Bronx, New York
1965 – Dan Stryzinski, NFL punter (Atlanta Falcons)

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1740 – Ephraim Chambers, English encyclopaedist (b. 1680)
1948 – Edward Flanagan, American priest and founder of Boys Town (b. 1886)
1952 – Italo Montemezzi, Italian composer (L’amore dei tre re), dies at 76
1987 – Wynne Gibson, actor (Night After Night, Aggie Appleby), dies
1992 – Barbara Lee, American singer (Chiffons, He’s So Fine), dies at 44
1996 – Claus Bremer, German dramatist, dies at 71

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1842 – Illustrated London News; the world’s first illustrated weekly newspaper, begins publication
1921 – Mussolini’s fascists obtain 29 parliamentary seats in Italian elections
1927 – Cap Arcona is launched at the Blohm and Voss shipyard in Hamburg
1948 – Golda Meir (Meyerson) is one of the signatories of Israel’s independence declaration
1951 – Ernie Kovacs Show, TV Variety debut on NBC
1970 – NYC local newspaper “Our Town” begins publishing

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1900 – Edgar Wind, German art historian (d. 1971)
1916 – Lance Dossor, British-born concert pianist (d. 2005)
1948 – Walter Olkewicz, actor (Last Resort, Wizards and Warriors), born in Bayonne, New Jersey
1972 – Chad Cascadden, American NFL linebacker, 1995-99 (New York Jets), s), Two Rivers, Wisconsin
1973 – Natalie Appleton, Canadian pop singer (All Saints -“Never Ever”), born in Mississauga, Ontario
1975 – Salim Iles, Algerian swimmer

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1863 – Emile Racine Gauthier Prudent, composer, dies at 46
1938 – Jacobus C J “Jacques” Hermans, actor (Ghetto), dies at 81
1940 – Eddy [Charles E] du Platform, writer/poet, dies
1983 – Roger J. Traynor, American judge (b. 1900)
1991 – Aladár Gerevich, Hungarian fencer (7 Olympic gold 1932, 36, 48, 52, 56, 60), dies at 81
1996 – Qazaleh Alizadeh, writer, dies at 48

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1874 – Pope Pius IX encyclical “On Greek-Ruthenian rite”
1876 – Amersfoort-Zutphen railway in the Netherlands opens
1877 – Caesar Franck’s symphonic poem “Lesson Eolides” premieres
1882 – Toba indians kill 20 members of French expedition in Argentina, including explorer Jules Nicolas Crevaux
1966 – US Federal education funding is denied to 12 school districts in the South because of violations of the 1964 Civil Rights Act
2004 – The final episode of “Frasier” on NBC is watched by 33 million people

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1928 – Jim Shoulders, American champion rodeo cowboy, born in Tulsa, Oklahoma (d. 2007)
1941 – Senta Berger, Austrian stage and screen actress (Cast a Giant Shadow), born in Vienna, Austria
1947 – Robert “Rab” Noakes, Scottish folk-country singer-songwriter (“Turn A Deaf Ear”), born in St Andrews, Fife
1954 – Johnny Logan [Seán Sherrard], Irish celtic-pop singer and songwriter (“Hold Me Now”), born in Frankston, Australia
1966 – Darius Rucker, American rock singer (Hootie and the Blowfish – “Only Wanna Be With You”), born in Charleston, South Carolina
1993 – Debby Ryan, American actress (The Suite Life on Deck), born in Huntsville, Alabama.

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1864 – Junius Daniel, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 35
1866 – Nikolai Brashman, Russian mathematician, dies at 69
1971 – Valerian Mikhaylovich Bogdanov-Berezovsky, Russian composer, dies 67
1982 – Gara Garayev [Kara Karayev], Soviet-Azerbaijani composer (Seven Beauties), dies at 64
2002 – Valeri Lobanovsky, Ukrainian footballer and manager (b. 1939)
2021 – Nelson Marcenaro, Uruguayan soccer defender (8 caps; Mundialito 1980; Progreso, Portuguesa, Peñarol, Emelec), dies from a heart attack at 68

More Famous Deaths »