Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1775 – Angelo Braschi chosen as Pope Pius VI
1852 – Great Ormond St Hospital for Sick Children, London, admits 1st patient
1932 – As a member of gold medal winning US 4-man bobsleigh team at Lake Placid, Eddie Eagan (boxing gold Antwerp 1920) becomes only Olympian to win gold medals at both summer and winter Games in different sports
1958 – Sjafroeddin Prawiranegara forms anti-government of Middle Sumatra
1996 – NFL coaching maestro Bill Belichick is fired by Cleveland, finishing his Browns coaching career with a record of 36-44
2018 – Denver’s Serbian center Nikola Jokić records fastest triple double in NBA history (14 minutes, 33 seconds) in the Nuggets’ 134-123 win at Milwaukee; Jokić finishes with 30 points, 17 assists, 15 rebounds

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Famous Birthdays

1620 – Francois Charpentier, French scholar and archaeologist, born in Paris, France (d. 1702)
1760 – Jean-Francois Le Sueur, French composer during the revolution, born in Drucat-Plessiel, France (d. 1837)
1823 – Li Hung-Tshang, Chinese rebel leader/viceroy of Tsheli Canton
1931 – W K Reid, British ombudsman
1937 – Gregory Mcdonald, American author
1947 – David Brown, American guitarist (Santana), born in NYC, New York (d. 2000)

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Famous Deaths

1503 – Henry Deane, Archbishop of Canterbury (1501-03), dies
1847 – Germinal Pierre Dandelin, Belgian mathematician (geometry), dies at 52
1988 – Neil R. Jones, American sci-fi writer (Space War, Twin Worlds), dies at 78
2005 – Pierre Bachelet, French singer and songwriter (b. 1944)
2009 – Joe Cuba, Puerto-Rican musician (b. 1931)
2012 – Charles Anthony [Caruso], American tenor, dies from kidney failure at 82

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Historical Events

1689 – English parliament places Mary Stuart and Prince William III on the throne
1934 – NHL Ace Bailey Benefit Game: Toronto beats All-Stars 7-3 in Toronto
1980 – Soviet cross-country skier Nikolay Zimyatov wins first of 3 gold medals at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics when he takes out 30k event; also wins relay and 50k gold
1981 – Stardust Disaster: A fire in a Dublin nightclub kills 48 people
1989 – African National Congress (ANC) opens office in Amsterdam
1992 – Cease fire in Somalia begins

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Famous Birthdays

1701 – Enrique Florez, Spanish historian, born in Valladolid, Spain (d. 1773)
1932 – Alexander Kluge, German author and film director (Yesterday Girl), born in Halberstadt, Province of Saxony
1942 – Margaret Wright, chief commissioner (Guide Association)
1943 – Bob Murphy Jr, American golfer (PGA C’ship 1970 runner-up; 11 Senior PGA Tour titles), born in Brooklyn, New York
1945 – Ladislao Mazurkiewicz, Uruguayan soccer goalkeeper (36 caps; Atlético Mineiro), born in Piriápolis, Uruguay (d. 2013)
1987 – David Wheater, English footballer, born in Redcar, United Kingdom

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Famous Deaths

1676 – Abraham Bosse, French engraver and artist
1989 – Vincent Crane [Cheesman], British rock Hammond organist, and songwriter (The Crazy World of Arthur Brown – “Fire”), dies of deliberate painkiller overdose at 45
1991 – Carlo L. Golino, Italian-American scholar, dies at 77
1993 – Buddy Pepper, composer, dies of heart failure at 70
2015 – Alan Howard, British actor (Royal Shakespeare Company), dies at 77
2015 – Pamela Cundell, British stage and screen character actress (Dad’s Army – “Mrs. Fox”), dies at 95

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Historical Events

1575 – Henry III of France is crowned at Rheims
1895 – Moving picture projector patented
1955 – KRCG TV channel 13 in Jefferson City, MO (CBS) begins broadcasting
1983 – 33rd NBA All-Star Game, The Forum, Inglewood, CA: East beats West, 132-123; MVP: Julius Erving, Philadelphia 76ers, F
1985 – Polish police arrests 7 Solidarity leaders
1996 – Howard Stern announces he will be making the film “Private Parts”

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Famous Birthdays

1805 – David Dudley Field II, American lawyer, law codifier, born in Haddam, Connecticut (d. 1894)
1820 – (Albert) Béla Kéler, Hungarian composer, and conductor, born in Bártfa, Kingdom of Hungary (now Bardejov, Slovakia) (d. 1882)
1867 – Harold Mahony, Scottish tennis player (Wimbledon 1896), born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 1905)
1936 – Leamon King, Tulare California, 4X100m relayer (Olympic gold 1956)
1967 – Eddie Pye, American baseball infielder (LA Dodgers), born in Columbia, Tennessee
1976 – Dave Padden, Canadian musician (Annihilator), born in Canada

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Famous Deaths

1693 – Johann Kaspar von Kerll, German composer, dies at 65
1724 – Francisco Jose Coutinho, composer, dies at 43
1845 – Henrik Steffens, Norwegian-German philosopher, dies at 71
1987 – M L “Curly” Page, cricketer (NZ Test capt 1933), dies
1994 – Theo Bitter, Dutch painter/set designer, dies at 79
2017 – Seijun Suzuki, Japanese cult film director, dies at 93

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Historical Events

1962 – Bus boycott starts in Macon, Georgia
1964 – US male Figure Skating championship won by Scott Allen
1964 – End of Richie Benaud’s 63-Test cricket career in drawn 5th Test v South Africa in Sydney
1965 – Nuclear test at Pacific Ocean
2001 – NEAR Shoemaker spacecraft touchdown in the “saddle” region of 433 Eros becoming the first spacecraft to land on an asteroid.
2018 – Portait paintings of Barack Obama by Kehinde Wiley and Michelle Obama by Amy Sherald are unveiled at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery

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Famous Birthdays

1913 – Pedro Gastao de Orleans e Braganca, grandson of Emperor Pedro I
1926 – Paul Hamlyn, English publisher/multi-millionaire (Octopus)
1944 – Marian “Moe” Bandy, American country vocalist (Just Good Ol’ Boys), born in Meridian, Mississippi
1972 – Dulip Samaraweera, Sri Lankan cricketer (Sri Lankan Test opening batsman 1993-), born in Colombo, Sri Lanka
1983 – Lavinia Meijer, Dutch harpist (Metamorphosis / The Hours), born in South Korea
1991 – Faisal bin Hamad Al Khalifa, prince of Bahrain, born in Riffa, Bahrain (d. 2006)

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Famous Deaths

1712 – Marie-Adélaïde of Savoy, mother of Louis XV of France, dies at 26
1728 – Agostino Steffani, Italian-German diplomat and composer, dies at 73
1763 – Pierre de Marivaux, French writer (b. 1688)
1979 – Jean Renoir, French film director (Madame Bovary, Nana, Grand Illusion) and actor (Rules of the Game), dies at 84
1997 – Walter Ritchie, British sculptor (Man’s Struggle), dies at 77
2016 – Johnny Lattner, American College Football Hall of Fame halfback (Heisman Trophy 1953, Notre Dame; Pro Bowl 1954, Pittsburgh Steelers), dies from mesothelioma at 83

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Historical Events

1889 – Meiji constitution of Japan adopted; 1st Diet convenes in 1890
1896 – Oscar Wilde’s “Salome” premieres in Paris
1922 – US intervention army leaves Honduras
1968 – Jeffrey Kramer survives 76-m jump, Washington Bridge, Hudson River New York
1968 – Madison Square Garden III closes Madison Square Garden IV opens (NYC)
1979 – Iran’s premier Bakhtiar resigns, Ayatollah Khomeini seizes power

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Famous Birthdays

1847 – Thomas Edison, American inventor (lightbulb, phonograph, motion picture camera), born in Milan, Ohio (d. 1931)
1873 – Feodor Chaliapine, Russian author/novelist (Pages from My Life)
1943 – Iain Cameron, British brigadier
1969 – Joe Valerio, American NFL outside corner/tackle (KC Chiefs), born in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania
1971 – Damian Lewis, British actor, born in St John’s Wood, London
1975 – Andrew “Andy” Lally, American sports car and stock car racing driver, born in Northport, New York

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Famous Deaths

824 – Paschal I, Italian Pope (817-24), dies
1894 – Pasqual Juan Emilio Arrieta y Corera, composer, dies at 70
1961 – Kate Carew [Mary Williams], American caricaturist, dies at 91
1989 – George O’Hanlon, american actor and director (Bop Girl, Zamba), dies at 71
1991 – Oscar Nitzchke, German architect (Alcoa building, Centre Pompidou), dies at 90
2004 – Ryszard Kukliński, Polish colonel and Cold War spy for NATO, dies at 73

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Historical Events

1912 – Hobbs and Rhodes make 323 cricket opening stand v Aust at MCG
1920 – Baseball outlaws all pitches involving tampering with ball
1960 – Charles Ives’ “Lincoln, the Great Commoner” premieres
1968 – “Spooky” by Classics IV hits #3
1989 – Test Cricket debut of Aaqib Javed, Pak v NZ age 16 years 189 days
1990 – Perrier Water pulls product from shelf due to benzine in water

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Famous Birthdays

1862 – W H “Gobo” Ashley, cricketer (7 wkts in 1 Test for South Africa 1889)
1906 – Henry Phelps Brown, British historian and economist, born in Calne (d. 1994)
1927 – Viscount Cowdray, British financier/multi-millionaire
1951 – Bob [Robert] Iger, American entertainment executive (CEO of The Walt Disney Company), born in NYC, New York
1971 – Louie Spicolli [Louis Mucciolo Jr.], American wrestler, born in San Pedro, California (d. 1998)
1976 – Kev Brown, American rapper and hip hop producer, born in Landover, Maryland

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Famous Deaths

1126 – William IX, Duke of Aquitaine and poet, dies at 54
1774 – Florian Leopold Gassmann, Bohemian composer, dies at 44
1822 – Albert Casimir, Duke of Teschen and Governor of the Austrian Netherlands, dies at 83
1997 – Milton Cato, 1st Prime Minister of San Vincent and the Grenadines (1979-84), dies at 82
2011 – Trevor Bailey, English cricket all-rounder, writer and broadcaster (61 Tests, top score 134, 132 wickets; BBC), dies in a fire in his retirement flat at 87
2013 – Eugenio Trias, Spanish philosopher, dies at 70

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Historical Events

1554 – Battle at London: Sir Thomas Wyatt defeated and his rebellion against Queen Mary crushed
1934 – Balkan Entente alliance forms (Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey and Romania)
1969 – 1st flight of the Boeing 747 jumbo jet
1979 – Nigeria amends constitution
1990 – Spacecraft Galileo flies by Venus at an altitude of 10,000 miles (16,000 km) in a gravity assist maneuver to gain speed on its way to Jupiter
2020 – Solar Orbiter probe attached to an Atlas rocket lifts off from Cape Canaveral

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Famous Birthdays

1789 – Franz Xaver Gabelsberger, German inventor of the stenography (d. 1849)
1911 – William Darby, American WWII Army officer (d. 1945)
1927 – Norman Adams, painter/ceramic sculptor
1929 – Bill Barrett, (Rep-R-Nebraska)
1951 – Jay Inslee, American politician, Governor of Washington (2013-), Rep-D-Washington (1993-5, 1999-2012), born in Seattle, Washington
1978 – Daniel Mann, British television commentator

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Famous Deaths

1817 – Franz Wilhelm Tausch, composer, dies at 54
1957 – Miklos Horthy von Nagybanya, Hung admiral/regent (1920-44), dies at 88
1973 – Vasiliki Maliaros, Greek actress (b. 1883)
1984 – Yuri Andropov, General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (1982-84) and KGB Chief (1967-82), dies of total renal failure at 69
1996 – Charles Henry “Harry” Urwin, trade unionist, dies at 80
2008 – Scott Halpin, a one time drummer of The Who.

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Historical Events

1690 – Lord Halifax resigns as Lord Privy Seal
1920 – Swiss men vote against women’s suffrage
1927 – Belgian-Swiss treaty signed
1936 – Pandit Jawaharlal succeeds Mahatma Gandhi as chairman of India Congress Party
1960 – US Congress opens hearings looking into payola
1974 – TV sitcom “Good Times”, spin-off from “Maude”, starring Esther Rolle, John Amos, and J.J. Walker, premieres on CBS TV

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Famous Birthdays

1700 – Daniel Bernoulli, Dutch-Swiss mathematician, and physicist (10 time French Award), born in Groningen, Netherlands (d. 1782)
1896 – Orville Caldwell, American actor (Patsy, French Doll, Last Warning), born in Oakland, California (d. 1967)
1914 – Bert Haas, American baseball player, born in Naperville, Illinois (d. 1999)
1944 – Sebastião Salgado, Brazilian documentary photographer
1952 – Nancy Lord, American physician and Libertarian VP candidate (1992), born in New York City
1974 – Seth Green, American actor and producer (Family Guy; Austin Powers), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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Famous Deaths

1587 – Mary, Queen of Scots [Mary Stuart], Queen of Scotland (1560-87), beheaded at 44
1691 – Carlo Rainaldi, Italian architect and composer, dies at 79
1957 – John von Neumann, Hungarian-American mathematician and astronomer (Bocher Award 1938), dies at 53
1973 – Herbie Taylor, South African cricket batsman and captain (42 Tests; 2,936 runs @ 40.77; 7 x 100s), dies at 83
2011 – Tony Malinosky, American baseball player (b. 1909)
2021 – David Egerton, English rugby union #8 (7 caps; Bath Rugby) and broadcaster (BBC), dies from COVID-19 at 59

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Historical Events

1639 – Academie Française begins Dictionary of French Language
1928 – 1st solo flight from England to Australia takes off from Croydon, piloted by Australian aviator Bert Hinkler (arrives 15 ½ days later)
1940 – Walt Disney’s second feature length movie, “Pinocchio” premieres (NYC)
1965 – US begins regular bombing and strafing of N Vietnam
1971 – Switzerland votes for national women’s suffrage in a referendum
1995 – Last day of Test Cricket cricket for Graham Gooch and Mike Gatting

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Famous Birthdays

1875 – Walter Courvoisier, composer
1896 – Harold Hoffman, (Gov-NJ), born in South Amboy, New Jersey
1919 – Jock Mahoney [Jacques Joseph O’Mahoney], American actor and stuntman (Dallas, Yancy Derringer, Day of Fury), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1989)
1958 – Matt Ridley, British science writer
1958 – (Manuel) Mijares, Mexican Latin-pop, folk, and Mariachi vocalist (Maria Bonita), born in Mexico City, Mexico
1971 – Marvin Graves, CFL quarterback (Montreal Alouettes)

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Famous Deaths

1609 – Ferdinand I, cardinal/ruler of Toscane, dies
1857 – Félix de Merode, Earl of Merode, Belgian minister of War and Finance, dies at 65
1931 – Ion Vidu, Romanian composer and conductor, dies at 67
1948 – Red McKenzie, American jazz singer (played comb-with-tissue-paper), dies at 48
1990 – Alfredo M. Santos, First Four-star General of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, World War II hero (b. 1905)
2021 – Pedro Gomez, American sports journalist (ESPN 2003-21), dies at 58

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Historical Events

1862 – General Ulysses S. Grant captures Fort Henry in Tennessee
1894 – Bottle opener patented by William Painter
1900 – The Battle of Vaal Krantz, South Africa (Boers vs British army)
1943 – 1st Spitfire in action above Darwin, Australia, Mu Ki-46 shot down
1971 – James Saunders (22), a member of the IRA, is shot and killed by the British Army during a gun battle near the Oldpark Road, Belfast
2002 – 52nd Berlin International Film Festival: “Spirited Away” and “Bloody Sunday” win the Golden Bear (tie)

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Famous Birthdays

1838 – Yisrael Meir Kagan [Chofetz Chayim], Belarusian rabbi, born in Dzyatlava, Belarus (d. 1933)
1929 – Oscar Sambrano Urdaneta, Venezuelan writer, born in Boconó, Venezuela (d. 2011)
1949 – Richie Zisk, American retired baseball player and pro scout (Chicago Cubs), born in Brooklyn, New York
1963 – Mike Hough, Canadian NHL left wing (Florida Panthers), born in Montreal, Quebec
1969 – Tim Sherwood, English footballer and manager, born in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire
1971 – Peter Tchernyshev, Russian dance skater (with Naomi Lang), born in St Petersburg, Russia

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Famous Deaths

1740 – Clement XII [Lorenzo Corsini], Italian Pope (1730-40) who despite ill health and total blindness (1732) unsuccessfully stemmed decline of papal influence, dies at 87
1793 – Carlo Goldoni, Italian playwright and librettist (Belisario, Servant of Two Masters), dies at 85
1976 – Ritwik Ghatak, Bengali filmmaker (Titash Ekti Nadir Naam), dies at 50
1989 – Chris Gueffroy, East German attempted defector (b. 1968)
2012 – Janice Voss, American astronaut (shuttle radar topography mission), dies from breast cancer at 55
2020 – Jan Liberda, Polish soccer forward (35 caps; Polonia Bytom), dies at 83

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