Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1557 – Cuenca is founded in Ecuador
1905 – French Dufaux brothers test helicopter
1965 – 1st NL game at Houston’s Astrodome (Phillies beat Astros 2-0)
1991 – 2,500th episode of Entertainment Tonight airs
1992 – 56th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Fred Couples wins his only major title, 2 strokes ahead of 1976 champion Raymond Floyd
2019 – Melbourne captain Cameron Smith becomes highest point scorer in Australian Rugby League history; 49th minute penalty in Storm’s 18-12 win over North Queensland in Townsville takes him to 2,420; Hazem El Masri, 2,418

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Famous Birthdays

1794 – Germinal Pierre Dandelin, Belgian mathematician (geometry), born in Paris (d. 1847)
1868 – Akiyama Saneyuki, Japanese officer in the Imperial Japanese Navy, born in Matsuyama, Iyo Province, Japan (d. 1918)
1920 – H R Hewitt, CEO (Johnson Matthey)
1932 – Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lankan politician (Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka), born in Colombo, British Ceylon (d. 2005)
1979 – Mateja Kežman, Serbian footballer, born in Belgrade, Serbia
1980 – Brian McFadden, Irish singer and songwriter (Westlife), born in Dublin, Ireland

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Famous Deaths

1782 – Metastasio, Italian poet and librettist (b. 1698)
1797 – Josef Antonin Stepan, Bohemian composer, dies at 71
1864 – Thomas Green, US Confederate brigadier general, dies in battle at 50
1983 – Carl Morton, American baseball player (b. 1944)
1989 – Abbie Hoffman, yippie peace activist of the 60’s, dies at 52
2000 – Niaz Ahmed, Pakistani cricketer (1st and last East Pakistani to play Test cricket), dies at 54

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Historical Events

1814 – Napoleon Bonaparte abdicates unconditionally and he is exiled to the island of Elba in the Mediterranean
1955 – Chartered Air India plane the “Kashmir Princess” is bombed and crashes into the South China Sea in a failed assassination attempt on Zhou Enlai by a Kuomintang secret agent
1971 – “Johnny Johnson” opens/closes at Edison Theater NYC for 1 performance
1993 – 450 prisoners riot at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio, and continue for ten days, citing grievances about prison conditions and the forced vaccination of Nation of Islam prisoners (for tuberculosis)
1999 – 52nd British Film and Television Awards (BAFTAS): “Shakespeare in Love” Best Film, Peter Weir Best Director
2005 – 39th CMT Music Awards: Keith Urban, Gretchen Wilson and Kenny Chesney wins

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Famous Birthdays

1592 – John Eliot, English parliament leader, born in Port Eliot, Cornwall, England (d. 1632)
1879 – Leendert Round, Dutch sculptor (entrance Rotterdam Zoo)
1889 – Nick LaRocca, American jazz coronetist and composer (“Tiger Rag”), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1961)
1950 – Bill Irwin, American actor (My Blue Heaven, Scenes From a Mall), born in Santa Monica, California
2002 – Alexa Gerasimovich, American actress (World Trade Center), born in NYC, New York
2013 – Arrogate, American thoroughbred racehorse (Breeders’ Cup Classic, World’s Best Racehorse 2016; Pegasus World Cup, Dubai World Cup 2017), born in Clearsky Farms, Kentucky (d. 2020)

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Famous Deaths

1812 – Gottlieb Schick, German painter (Opfer Noachs), dies at 35
1895 – Julius Lothar Meyer, German Chemist, dies at 64
1908 – Henry Bird, English Chess player and author (b. 1829)
2001 – Kamal Ranadive, Indian cancer researcher (Indian Women Scientists’ Association; Indian Cancer Research Centre), dies at 83
2013 – Angela Voigt, East German long jumper (Olympic gold 1976), dies at 61
2021 – Colin Baker, Welsh soccer wing half (7 caps; Cardiff City 298 games), dies at 86

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Historical Events

1855 – Louisiana establishes 1st health board to regulate quarantine
1948 – Sir Laurence Olivier on the cover of LIFE magazine
1958 – England retains the Five Nations Rugby Championship with a 3-3 draw against Scotland at Murrayfield, Edinburgh; England’s 16th FN title
1967 – Marshal Arturo da Costa e Silva sworn in as President of Brazil
1984 – Tanzania adopts constitution
2017 – Dutch elections; Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s centre-right VVD party win 33 seats vs against 20 for right wing Geert Wilder’s Party of Freedom

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Famous Birthdays

1811 – Robert Allen, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in West Point, Ohio (d. 1886)
1824 – Jules Chevalier, French Roman Catholic priest (Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart), born in Richelieu, Touraine, France (d. 1907)
1910 – Joop Van Nellen, Dutch soccer forward (27 caps; DHC Delft), born in Delft, Netherlands (d. 1992)
1918 – Punch Imlach, Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame coach and general manager (Toronto Maple Leafs, Buffalo Sabres), born in Toronto, Ontario (d. 1987)
1957 – Park Overall, American actress (Empty Nest, Mississippi Burning), born in Nashville, Tennessee
1976 – Jennifer 8. Lee, American journalist

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Famous Deaths

1996 – Roswell Leavitt Gilpatric, American lawyer and diplomat, dies at 89
1997 – Gail Davis, American actress (Annie Oakley), dies at 71
2008 – Vytautas Kernagis, Lithuanian singer, TV shows announcer (b. 1951)
2011 – Smiley Culture [David Victor Emmanuel], British reggae singer (“Police Officer”; “Cockney Translation”), dies from a self-inflicted stab wound at 48
2018 – Edwin “Ed” Charles, American MLB third baseman (Miracle Mets-1969), dies following long illness at 84
2019 – Lam Jones, American athlete (Olympic gold 4 x 100m relay 1976) and NFL wide receiver (NY Jets 1980-86), dies of myeloma at 60

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Historical Events

1592 – “Ultimate Pi day”: on this day at 6.53am is the largest correspondence between calendar dates and significant digits of pi, since the introduction of the Julian calendar (3.14159265358)
1951 – Earthquake at Euskirchen, Germany
1972 – Muddy Waters wins his first Grammy Award, for his album”They Call Me Muddy Waters”
1978 – NFL permanently adds 7th official (side judge)
1994 – Timeline of Linux development: Linux kernel version 1.0.0 is released
1995 – 1st time 13 people in space

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Famous Birthdays

1914 – Lee Elhardt Hays, American folksinger (d. 1981)
1927 – Bill Rexford, American auto racer (NASCAR Grand National Series championship 1950, youngest Cup champion [23]), born in Conewango Valley, New York (d. 1994)
1957 – Tad Williams, American fantasy and science fiction author, born in San Jose, California
1967 – Vijay Yadav, Indian cricket wicket-keeper (1 Test, 3 dismissals, HS 30; Haryana), born in Gonda, India
1981 – Mei-Ting Sun, Chinese concert pianist, born in Shanghai, China
1982 – Kate Maberly, English actress (Secret Garden), born in Reigate, England

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Famous Deaths

1272 – Enzo of Sardinia, illegitimate son of Emperor Frederick II von Hohenstaufen who appointed him King of Sardinia (1238-49) and poet, dies in prison
1803 – Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, German poet (Der Messias), dies at 78
1883 – Karl Marx, German philosopher (Communist Manifesto), dies at 64
1957 – Evagoras Pallikarides, Cypriot freedom fighter (b. 1938)
1991 – Margery Sharp, English children’s author (The Rescuers), dies at 86
2009 – Alain Bashung, French singer, songwriter, comedian and actor, dies of cancer at 61

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Historical Events

1564 – Cardinal Granvelle flees Brussels
1963 – Two Russian reconnaissance flights over Alaska
1983 – 24th SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament: Georgia beats Alabama, 86-71
1986 – 12th People’s Choice Awards: Sylvester Stallone and Meryl Streep win (Motion Picture) and Bill Cosby, Linda Evans win (TV)
1995 – Istanbul police shoot dead 16 Alawitische demonstrators
2020 – African American Breonna Taylor shot and killed by police officers executing a no-knock warrant on her flat with a battering ram in Louisville, Kentucky

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Famous Birthdays

1822 – Moritz von Strachwitz, German poet, born in Peterwitz, Silesia (d. 1847)
1855 – Percival “Percy” Lowell, American astronomer (predicted discovery of Pluto), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1916)
1897 – William Herald, Australian swimmer (Olympic-1920), born in Glebe, New South Wales (d. 1976)
1954 – Robin Duke, Canadian actress and comedienne (SNL, SCTV, Club Paradise), born in Toronto, Ontario
1956 – Dana Delany, American actress (Colleen McMurphy-China Beach, Exit to Eden), born in NYC, New York
1962 – Terence Blanchard, American jazz trumpeter (Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers), film score composer (When The Levees Broke; Harriet), and educator, born in New Orleans, Louisiana

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Famous Deaths

624 – Abu Sufjan becomes Quraish chief and leader of Mecca after loss at Battle of Badr against Muslim forces
1778 – Charles le Beau, French historian (b. 1701)
1970 – Rick Besoyan, American singer, actor, playwright, composer and director (Little Mary Sunshine), dies of internal hemorrhages at 45
1973 – Stacy Harris, Canadian born actor (NOPD, Doorway to Danger), dies at 54
1996 – Brian Hulls, British TV news cameraman, dies at 48
2009 – James Purdy, American author (Malcolm), dies at 94

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Historical Events

1912 – Helen Hayes Theater (Little Theatre) opens at 240W 44th St, NYC
1963 – Beatles perform as a trio, at Granada Cinema, in Bedford, England, as John Lennon is ill with a cold
1969 – 120 cannabis joints found at George and Patti Harrison’s home
1987 – Ice Pairs World Championship at Cincinnati won by Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov (USSR)
1993 – Entertainment Tonight’s 3,000th show
2018 – Civilian death toll in Eastern Ghouta passes 1,000 in three weeks as Syrian government forces capture the town of Mesraba

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Famous Birthdays

1800 – Louis-Prosper Gachard, Belgian historian
1821 – John Abbott, 3rd Canadian Prime Minister (1891-92), born in Saint-Andre, Quebec (d. 1893)
1838 – William Perkin, inventor (1st artificial dye)
1918 – Elaine de Kooning, American artist (d. 1989)
1929 – Francisco Pulgar Vidal, Peruvian musicologist and composer, born in Huánuco, Peru (d. 2012)
1952 – Naomi Shihab Nye, American poet, songwriter, and novelist

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Famous Deaths

1889 – John Archibald Campbell, American jurist and Supreme Court justice (1853–61), dies at 77
1936 – David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty and British Admiral of the Fleet during World War I (Battle of Jutland), dies of heart failure at 65
1982 – Elisabeth Zernike, Dutch writer (Course of Events), dies at 90
1994 – Sandra Paretti, German/Swiss author (Drums of Winter), dies at 59
2002 – Spyros Kyprianou, Cypriot politician (b. 1932)
2010 – Lesley Duncan (Cox), British session singer (Pink Floyd; Jesus Christ Superstar), and singer-songwriter (“Love Song”; “Sing Children Sing”), dies of cerebrovascular disease at 66

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Historical Events

1862 – 12] General Stonewall Jackson evacuates Winchester Virginia Army of the Potomac. Gen Henry Halleck is named general-in-chief
1863 – 25th Grand National: George Stevens wins his 2nd GN aboard 4/1 Emblem; winning mare’s full sister Emblematic wins the following year
1919 – General strike in Germany crushed
1968 – Anti-Zionist Clandestine Radio Voice of El Assifa starts transmitting
1983 – 9th People’s Choice Awards: Burt Reynolds, Jane Fonda and Katharine Hepburn win (Motion Picture) and Tom Selleck, Linda Evans and Loretta Swit win (TV)
1993 – Men’s Figure Skating Championship in Prague won by Kurt Browning CAN

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Famous Birthdays

1876 – Carl Ruggles, American composer (Evocations), born in Marion, Massachusetts (d. 1971)
1899 – Frederick IX [Christian FFMKWG], King of Denmark (1947-72)
1910 – Robert H G Havemann, German chemist
1921 – Astor Piazzolla, Argentinian banodeonist, and composer (Tango Nuevo), born in Mar del Plata, Argentina (d. 1992)
1956 – Curtis L Brown Jr, NC, astronaut (STS 47, STS 66, 77, 85, sk:95)
1964 – Shane Richie, British actor (EastEnders, Flushed Away), born in Harlesden, London

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Famous Deaths

1826 – Gervais-François Couperin, French composer, dies at 66
1874 – Charles Sumner, American politician, Senator Massachusetts (1851-74) and anti-slavery advocate, dies at 63
1941 – Walford Davies, English composer, dies at 71
1956 – Sergey Nikiforovich Vasilenko, Russian opera composer, dies at 83
1995 – Frank Fidler, English artist, dies at 84
1996 – Vince Edwards, American actor, director, and singer (Ben Casey, The Devil’s Brigade, Matt Lincoln, Firehouse), dies of cancer at 67

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Historical Events

1661 – French King Louis XIV ends office of premier
1874 – Purdue University (Indiana) admits its 1st student
1906 – Europe’s worst mining accident when a coal dust explosion kills 1,060 at Courrieres, France
1910 – Pittsburgh Courier begins publishing
1973 – Morocco adopts constitution
1991 – 12th Big East Men’s Basketball Tournament: Seton Hall beats Georgetown, 74-62

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Famous Birthdays

1810 – John McCloskey, 1st American cardinal and Archbishop of New York, born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1885)
1885 – Hans Luther, German politician and German Chancellor (1925-6), born in Berlin (d. 1962)
1892 – Eva Turner, British operatic soprano, born in Werneth, Oldham, England (d. 1990)
1898 – Cyrus “Cy” Kendall, American actor (Tarzan’s New York Adventure, Mysteries of Chinatown), born in St Louis, Missouri (d. 1953)
1905 – Rene Bernier, Belgian composer, born in Saint-Gilles (d.1984)
1939 – Irina Press, Soviet 80m hurdles runner and pentathlete (Olympic gold 1960, 64), born in Kharkiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (d. 2004)

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Famous Deaths

1391 – Tvrtko I first king of Bosnia (b. 1338)
1819 – Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, German philosopher and writer, dies at 76
1949 – James Rector, American athlete (b. 1884)
1951 – Kijūrō Shidehara, Japanese politician and diplomat, Prime minister of Japan (1945-46), dies at 78
1975 – Léopold Samuel, Belgian composer, dies at 91
1977 – Pieter Jan Bouman, Dutch sociologist and historian, dies at 74

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Historical Events

1804 – Georges Cadoudal, Breton royalist who plotted to overthrow Napoleon in the Pichegru Conspiracy, arrested
1861 – Us Confederate currency authorized – $50, $100, $500, $1,000
1936 – Babe Ruth turns down Reds to make a comeback as a player
1947 – US Men’s Figure Skating championship won by Richard Button
1948 – Provisionary Indonesian government installed in Batavia
2013 – Bernard Hopkins defeats Tavoris Cloud to win IBF light heavyweight title

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Famous Birthdays

1213 – Hugh IV, Duke of Burgundy, French crusader, born in Villaines-en-Duesmois, France (d. 1271)
1918 – Marguerite Chapman, American actress (The Seven Year Itch, Spy Smasher, Flight to Mars), born in Chatham, New York (d. 1999)
1937 – Bernard Landry, Premier of Quebec (2001-2003), born in Saint-Jacques, Quebec, Canada
1952 – William Kirby Cullen, American actor (How the West Was Won), born in Santa Ana, California
1979 – Oscar Isaac, Guatemalan-American actor (Scenes From a Marriage), born in Guatemala City, Guatemala
1982 – Paul Ballard, English television presenter, born in Essex

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Famous Deaths

1895 – Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, Austrian writer (Masochism), dies at 59
1941 – Carlos Pedrell, Uruguayan guitarist and composer, dies at 62
1994 – John Harrison, South African correspondent (BBC), dies at 48
1995 – Ruud van den Hende, Dutch sports reporter, dies at 63
2012 – Lord Wedderton of Charlton, British academic and politician, dies at 84
2021 – Roger Mudd, American Emmy and Peabody Award-winning journalist and TV news anchor (CBS Weekend News; NBC Evening News; Meet The Press), dies of kidney failure at 93

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Historical Events

1722 – Afghan monarch Mir Mahmud occupies Persia
1801 – British drive French forces from Abukir, Egypt
1917 – Russian “February Revolution” begins in earnest with protests celebrating International Woman’s Day and riots in St Petersburg over food rations and conduct of the war [OS=Feb 23]
1943 – US Ladies’ Figure Skating championship won by Gretchen Merrill
1961 – Jean Kerr’s “Mary, Mary” premieres in NYC
1993 – Katharine Hepburn released from the hospital after exhaustion

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Famous Birthdays

1862 – Joseph Lee, Father of Playgrounds movement, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1937)
1916 – John W. Seybold, American economist and computer typesetting pioneer, born in Newburgh, Indiana (d. 2004)
1917 – A Marja [ATE Mooy], Dutch literary (Shreds on the River)
1937 – Pamela McEvoy-Johnston, psychotherapist-board member (WIC)
1947 – Don Brooks, American session and touring harmonica player (Waylon Jennings; Ken Burns’ “The Civil War”), born in Dallas, Texas (d. 2000)
1957 – Ruth Wysocki, American 800m/1500m runner, born in Alhambra, California

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Famous Deaths

1702 – John de Baen, portrait painter/etcher, buried at 69
1855 – William Poole, Infamous member of New York City’s Bowery Boys gang, dies of a gunshot wound at 33
1945 – Jan Beekes, resistance fighter, executed at 26
1996 – Jack Churchill, British Army commando, dies at 89
1999 – Mary Margaret “Peggy” Cass, American actress, comedian, game show panelist and announcer (To Tell The Truth), dies at 74
2006 – Brian Barratt-Boyes, New Zealand heart surgeon (b. 1924)

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