Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1568 – Battle of Heiligerlee, Groningen: Dutch rebels beat Spanish, thousands killed
1750 – Carlo Goldoni’s “Il Bugiardo” premieres in Mantua
1864 – Battle of North Anna, Virginia, 1st of 3 days of fighting
1908 – Dirigible explodes over San Francisco Bay, 16 passengers fall, none killed
1922 – Future World Heavyweight boxing champion Gene Tunney suffers his only professional defeat in 15-round unanimous points decision against Harry Greb at Madison Square Garden, NY
1922 – Walt Disney incorporates his 1st film company Laugh-O-Gram Films

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Famous Birthdays

1810 – Margaret Fuller [Ossoli], American feminist and journalist (NY Tribune), born in Cambridge, Massachusetts (d. 1850)
1910 – Benjamin “Scatman” Crothers, American singer, musician (“Television Blues”), and actor (Chico and the Man; The Shining), born in Terre Haute, Indiana (d. 1986)
1919 – Ruth Fernandez, Ponce, Puerto Rico, singer (When you Return), politician, (d. 2012)
1952 – James Mankey, rocker (Concrete Blonde)
1965 – James Hasty, NFL cornerback (KC Chiefs)
1972 – Rubens Barrichello, Brazilian formula one driver

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Famous Deaths

1691 – Adrien Auzout, French astronomer (b. 1622)
1851 – Lucas Pieter Roodbaard, architect, dies at 69
1887 – Ludwig Mathias Lindeman, Norwegian composer and organist, dies at 74
1996 – Patrick Cargill, British actor (Help!, No Wreath for the General, Hammerhead), dies of a brain tumor at 77
1998 – Andreas Liebenberg, South African military commander, dies at 60
2017 – Roger Moore, British actor (The Saint, James Bond), dies at 89

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Historical Events

1884 – 1-armed pitcher Hugh Daily fanned 13 hitters
1960 – A magnitude 9.4-9.6 earthquake strikes near the city of Valdivia in Chile, the strongest ever recorded, causing multiple tsunamis and killing 1,000-7,000 people
1976 – St Louis Cardinal Reggie Smith hits 3 HR
2004 – NHL Eastern Conference Final: Tampa Bay Lightning beat Philadelphia Flyers, 4 games to 3
2016 – The Tradition Senior Men’s Golf, Greystone GandCC: Germany’s Berhard Langer wins sixth of 13 Champions Tour majors by 6 strokes from Olin Browne
2017 – South Africa’s Western Cape province declares a drought disaster – worst for 113 years

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Famous Birthdays

1898 – René de Vos, Dutch actor and composer (Jij Bent Mijn Leven), born in Denmark (d. 1977)
1928 – T. Boone Pickens, American business person and oil tycoon (Shamrock, Mesa Petroleum Co) known as the ‘Oracle of Oil’, born in Holdenville, Oklahoma (d. 2019)
1933 – Don Estelle [Ronald Edwards], British actor and singer (It Ain’t Half Hot Mum), born in Crumpsall, Lancashire (d. 2003)
1936 – George H. Heilmeier, American engineer (helped invent LCD displays), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 2014)
1936 – M. Scott Peck, American psychiatrist and writer (The Road Less Traveled), born in NYC, New York (d. 2005)
1950 – Bernie Taupin, British singer and lyricist (writes with Elton John), born in Sleaford, Lincolnshire

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Famous Deaths

1760 – Israel ben Eliezer, Polish-born mystical rabbi (b. 1700)
1948 – Claude McKaye, Jamaican-American author (Banjo, Home to Harlem), dies at 57
1988 – Giorgio Almirante, Italian fascist (member of parliament (1948-87)), dies at 73
1995 – Robert Flemyng, British actor (The Deadly Affair, Funny Face), dies at 83
2005 – Thurl Ravenscroft, American voice actor and bass singer (Tony the Tiger, You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch), dies from prostate cancer at 91
2019 – Sultan Ahmad Shah, 7th King of Malaysia (1979-84), dies at 88

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Historical Events

1602 – Martha’s Vineyard 1st sighted by Captain Bartholomew Gosnold
1897 – Yerkes Observatory 40″ (1m) refractor used for 1st time
1945 – Australian Services win 1st Victory Test Cricket at Lord’s by 6 wickets
1978 – 118 Unification church couples wed in England
1990 – 43rd Cannes Film Festival: “Wild at Heart” directed by David Lynch starring Nicolas Cage and Laura Dern wins the Palme d’Or
2019 – Oldest and most distant gravitational waves detected from collision of two black holes with first intermediate-mass black hole ever discovered, 7 billion light years away

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Famous Birthdays

1822 – Mosby Monroe Parsons, United States officer in the Mexican–American War and brigadier general of the Confederate States Army, born in Charlottesville, Virginia (d. 1865)
1909 – François-Albert Angers, Quebec economist (d. 2003)
1940 – Tony Sheridan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist who collaborated with The Beatles, born in Norwich, England (d. 2013)
1942 – Robert C. Springer, American Army Colonel USMC/astronaut (STS-29, STS-38), born in St. Louis, Missouri
1971 – Eric Nies, American reality TV personality (MTV Real World, Grind)
1980 – Goyte [Wouter “Wally” De Backer (], Belgium Australian singer-songwriter (Someone That I Used to Know), born in Bruges, Belgium

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Famous Deaths

1650 – James Graham, Marquis of Montrose “the Great Montrose”, Scottish general, hanged at 37
1970 – Vinton Hayworth, American actor (Gen Schaeffer-I Dream of Jeannie), dies at 63
1973 – George Breakston, French-American producer, actor and director (Jungle Stampede, It Happened One Night), dies at 53
1981 – Patsy O’Hara, Irish hunger striker (b. 1957)
1988 – Sammy Davis Sr., American vaudeville dancer (Mr. Wonderful), dies at 87
1995 – Kieron Walsh, academic, dies at 46

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Historical Events

1891 – History of cinema: The first public display of Thomas Edison’s prototype kinetoscope to members of the National Federation of Women’s Club
1973 – “2 Gentlemen of Verona” closes at St James Theater NYC after 613 performances
1986 – Flintstones 25th Anniversary Celebration airs on CBS-tv
1989 – Walter McConnel, 57, is oldest to reach 27,000′ Mt Everest top
2015 – David Letterman, after 33 years, hosts the “Late Show with David Letterman” for the last time
2018 – Two cyclists attacked by a cougar, 1 dies, in North Bend, Washington State

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Famous Birthdays

1537 – Hieronymus Fabricius Ab, Aquapend Italy, physician (De Formato Foetu)
1927 – Walter Aschaffenburg, German-American composer, born in Essen, Germany (d. 2005)
1943 – Justin Cartwright, British novelist (In Every Face I Meet), born in Cape Town, South Africa (d. 2018)
1945 – Harold E Ford, (Rep-D-TN, 1975- )
1959 – Peter Greene, American producer (After Midnight), born in Brooklyn, New York
1970 – Terrell Brandon, NBA guard (Cleveland Cavaliers, Milwaukee Bucks)

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Famous Deaths

1285 – John II of Jerusalem, King of Cyprus (b. 1259)
1876 – Khristo Botev, Bulgarian poet, dies
1876 – Harold, grandson of English queen Victoria, dies at 8 days old
1946 – Jacob Ellehammer, Danish watchmaker and inventor (powered flight), dies at 74
1989 – Gilda Radner, American comedian and actress (SNL, Haunted Honeymoon), dies of ovarian cancer at 42
2011 – “Macho Man” Randy Savage, American pro wrestler (WWF/SMW/ICW), dies of a heart attack at 58

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Historical Events

1780 – About midday, near-total darkness descends on New England, now known to be caused by forest fires in Canada
1928 – 54th Kentucky Derby: Chick Lang aboard Reigh Count wins in 2:10.4
1968 – Pirate Radio Brumble of Northern England 1st heard
1972 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1999 – Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, directed by George Lucas, starring Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman and Liam Neeson is released in cinemas
2019 – 64th Eurovision Song Contest won by Duncan Laurence of the Netherlands

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Famous Birthdays

1755 – Gabriele Prota, composer
1928 – Dolph Schayes, American basketball Hall of Famer (Syracuse Nationals/Philadelphia 76ers, 1948-63) and coach (76ers, 1963-66; Buffalo Braves, 1970-72)) and coach, born in NYC, New York (d. 2015)
1954 – Rick Cerone, catcher (Yankees/Red Sox/Mets/Expos), born in Newark, New Jersey
1963 – Filippo Galli, Italian footballer
1970 – K. J. Choi, South Korean golfer (Players C’ship 2011; 8 PGA Tour titles), born in Wando, South Korea
1977 – Brandon Inge, American baseball player

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Famous Deaths

1389 – Dmitri Donskoi, Grand Prince of Muscovy (b. 1350)
1715 – Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, English poet and statesman, dies at 54
1915 – John Simpson Kirkpatrick stretcher bearer with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps at Gallipoli during World War I (b. 1892)
1970 – Tadeusz Breza, Polish writer (The Bronze Gate), dies at 64
1997 – Millie, dog of US President George H. W. Bush (Millie’s Book), dies at 12
2011 – Garret FitzGerald, Irish politician and former Taoiseach (b. 1926)

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Historical Events

1897 – Herbert Henry Dow founds Dow Chemical in Midland, Michigan
1927 – Ritz Hotel opens in Boston
1941 – Italian army in Ethiopia under general Aosta surrenders to Britain
1958 – 11th Cannes Film Festival: “The Cranes Are Flying” directed by Mikhail Kalatozov wins the Palme d’Or
1985 – 110th Preakness: Pat Day aboard Tank’s Prospect wins in 1:53.4
2014 – Swiss voters reject a $25 per hour minimum wage

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Famous Birthdays

1872 – Bertrand Russell, English mathematician and philosopher (Nobel 1950), born in Trellech, England (d. 1970)
1905 – Eric Zeisl, Austrian-American composer (Requiem Ebraico), born in Vienna (d. 1959)
1933 – Bernadette Chirac, French politician and wife of President Jacques Chirac, born in Paris, France
1940 – Pat Trimborn, South African cricket fast bowler (4 Tests, 11 wickets), born in Durban, Natal, South Africa
1965 – Ingo Schwichtenberg, German drummer (Helloween), born in Hamburg, Germany (d. 1995)
1971 – Ben Coleman, American guard/offensive tackle (Jacksonville Jaguars), born in South Hill, Virginia

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Famous Deaths

1675 – Stanisław Lubieniecki, Polish astronomer, dies at 51
1848 – William Leidesdorff, Mixed-race early Californian businessman, dies at 37
1961 – Henry O’Neill, American actor (Lady Killer, Nothing But Trouble), dies
1986 – John Bubbles Sublett, American tap dancer (Black and Bubbles), dies at 84
1996 – Kevin Gilbert, American singer, composer and instrumentalist (Toy Matinee; Tuesday Night Music Club), dies of accidental asphyxiation at 29
2007 – Pierre-Gilles de Gennes, French physicist and Nobel Prize laureate (1991), dies at 74

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Historical Events

1712 – Maximilian Emanuel of Bavaria honored as “sovereign of Netherlands”
1872 – Bohemian Club incorporated in San Francisco
1963 – US performs nuclear Test at Nevada Test Site
2004 – Massachusetts becomes the first U.S. state to legalize same-sex marriage
2015 – The Tradition Senior Men’s Golf, Shoal Creek GandCC: Jeff Maggert wins first of 2 consecutive Champions Tour majors with par on 1st playoff hole against Kevin Sutherland
2015 – “Blurryface,” 4th studio album by Twenty One Pilots is released (1st album ever to have every track gold-certified)

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Famous Birthdays

1768 – Caroline of Brunswick, Queen Consort of King George IV (1820-21), born in Brunswick, Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1821)
1866 – Erik Satie, French composer (Gymnopédies), born in Honfleur, Normandy (d. 1925)
1901 – Werner Egk, German composer (Die Zaubergeige), born in Donauwörth, Germany (d. 1983)
1928 – Vivian Moses, biotechnologist
1959 – Paul Di’anno, rocker (Iron Maiden Chingford, London V Early Vocalist
1970 – Matt Lindland, American mixed martial arts fighter

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Famous Deaths

1955 – Alan Fairfax, cricketer (10 Tests for Australia 1928-31), dies
1955 – Leslie Hylton, Jamaican cricketer and West Indies fast bowler, executed and hanged for murder at 50
1972 – Sir Gordon Lowe, British tennis player, Member of Parliament (Australasian C’ship 1915), dies at 87
1996 – Johnny “Guitar” Watson, musician, dies at 61
2010 – Yvonne Loriod, French pianist, composer (Mélopées africaines), and teacher, dies at 86
2013 – Ken Venturi, American golfer, broadcaster (US Open 1964), dies from multiple infections at 82

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Historical Events

1803 – Peace of Amiens between French Republic and Great Britain ends
1977 – TV drama “Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn”, starring Leigh McCloskey, follow up to “Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway” premieres on US network NBC, focusing on what happened to him after Dawn left L.A. to return to her hometown
1985 – Pope John Paul II arrives in Belgium
1996 – Sammy Sosa is 1st Chicago Cub to hit 2 HRs in 1 inning
2004 – Day of Mourning at Bykivnia forest, just outside of Kiev, Ukraine where during 1930s and early 1940s communist bolsheviks executed over 100,000 Ukrainian civilians
2019 – Last episode of TV sitcom “The Big Bang Theory” starring Jim Parson, Johnny Galecki and Kaley Cuoco after 12 seasons

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Famous Birthdays

1928 – Billy Martin, American baseball 2nd baseman (MLB All Star 1956; World Series 1951, 52, 53, 56; NY Yankees) and manager (World Series 1977 NY Yankees), born in Berekeley, California (d. 1989)
1931 – Denise Filiatrault, French-Canadian actress and director (The Plouffe Family), born in Montreal, Quebec
1936 – Philippe de Montebello, art exhibitionist (Treasures of Tut), born in Paris, France
1937 – Yvonne Craig, actress (Batgirl-Batman, Kissin Cousin), born in Taylorville, Illinois (d. 2015)
1940 – Gareth Roberts, chancellor (Sheffield University)
1980 – Michael Ryan, American ice hockey player and coach (Springfield Thunderbirds), born in Boston, Massachusetts

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Famous Deaths

1667 – Thomas Wriothesley, 4th Earl of Southampton, English statesman (b. 1607)
1777 – Button Gwinnet, US revolutionary leader, dies from wounds
1835 – Felicia Dorothea Hemans, poet/hymn writer, dies
1891 – Ion Brătianu, Romanian statesman (b. 1821)
1984 – Andy Kaufman, American comedian and actor (Latka-Taxi), dies of cancer at 35
2012 – Doug Dillard, American country rock musician (The Dillards, Gene Clark, Dillard and Clark) and actor (Clem-Popeye), dies of a lung infection caused by a collapsed lung at 75

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Historical Events

1935 – Pirates beat Phillies 20-5
1957 – Operation Grapple: Britain tests its first hydrogen bomb near Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean
1960 – Chic Cub Don Cardwell no-hits St Louis Cards, 4-0
1972 – “Hard Job Being God” opens at Edison Theater NYC for 6 performances
1997 – ABC News and Starwave Corp launch ABCNEWS.com
2020 – Germany, Europe’s largest economy, officially in recession due to COVID-19, as figures show economy shrank 2.2% 1st 3 months of 2020

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Famous Birthdays

1891 – Fritz Feigl, Austrian Brazilian chemist (spot tests), born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (d. 1971)
1914 – Walter “Turk” Broda, Canadian ice hockey goaltender, 5x Stanley Cup, 2x Vezina Trophy (Toronto Maple Leafs, 1935-51), born in Brandon, Manitoba (d. 1972)
1926 – [Jean-Josephat] Clermont Pépin, Canadian pianist and composer (Implosion Symphony), born in Saint-Georges, Quebec (d. 2006)
1937 – Joe Tait, American sports broadcaster (Cleveland Cavaliers [radio], Cleveland Indians [TV and radio]), born in Evanston, Illinois (d. 2021)
1949 – Wendy Pritchard, Australian women’s field hockey team manager (Olympics 1996)
1969 – Hideki Irabu, Japanese-American NPB and MLB baseball pitcher, 1988-2004 (New York Yankees, 1997-2002), born in Okinawa, Japan (d. 2011)

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Famous Deaths

1591 – Dmitry Ivanovitch, youngest son of Russian Tsar Ivan IV, murdered at 8
1801 – Louis C count Barbiano de Belgioioso, Austrian diplomat, dies at 73
1823 – Antonio Frantisek Becvarovsky, composer, dies at 69
1937 – Phillip Snowden, British politician first Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer, dies at 72
1984 – Lionel Charles Robbins, British economist, dies at 85
2009 – Wayman Tisdale, American basketball player (b. 1964)

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Historical Events

1886 – 12th Kentucky Derby: Paul Duffy aboard Ben Ali wins in 2:36.50
1975 – Dynamo Kyiv of the Soviet Union win 15th European Cup Winner’s Cup over Ferencvár osi TC of Hungary 3-0
1976 – Oil tanker Urqui Ola explodes off Spanish coast
1979 – “Kids Are All Right” rockumentary film featuring The Who premieres at the Cannes Film Festival
1988 – “Mail” closes at Music Box Theater NYC after 36 performances
1995 – LPGA Championship Women’s Golf, DuPont CC: Kelly Robbins wins her only major title by 1 stroke from defending champion Laura Davies of England

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Famous Birthdays

1707 – Antonio Teixeira, Portuguese composer, born in Lisbon, Portugal (d. after 1769)
1870 – Zygmunt Denis Antoni Stojowski, composer
1903 – Billie Dove [Lilian Bohny], American actress (Black Pirate, Stolen Bride), born in NYC, New York (d. 1997)
1912 – Marguerite Fawdry, museum curator
1916 – Del Moore, American comedian and actor (Cal-Bachelor Father), born in Pensacola, Florida (d. 1970)
1950 – Mark Blum, American actor (Worth Winning, Blind Date, Presidio), born in Newark, New Jersey (d. 2020)

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Famous Deaths

1610 – Henry IV, 1st Bourbon King of Navarra (1572-1610) and France (1589-1610), assassinated at 56
1940 – Edgar du Perron, Dutch author and poet (Land of Origin), dies at 40
1965 – Frances Perkins, American politician and 1st woman to hold cabinet-level position (Labor 1933-45), dies at 83
1991 – Aladár Gerevich, Hungarian fencer (7 Olympic gold 1932, 36, 48, 52, 56, 60), dies at 81
2006 – Stanley Kunitz, American poet (b. 1905)
2018 – Doug Ford, American golfer (PGA Championship 1955, US Masters 1957), dies at 95

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