Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1723 – Cornelis Steenoven elected archbishop of Utrecht
1918 – Dover Patrol overthrows Germany U-boat in East Sea
1936 – MLB pitcher Carl Hubbell’s 1st start of season is his 17th straight win for the new York Giants
1953 – “Shane”, directed by George Stevens and based on the 1949 novel by Jack Schaefer, starring Alan Ladd and Jean Arthur, is released
1982 – The 8-bit personal home computer the Sinclair ZX Spectrum is released (goes on to sell 5 million worldwide)
1987 – 28 construction workers killed in an apt collapse in Bridgeport, Connecticut

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Famous Birthdays

1775 – J. M. W. Turner, English landscape painter (Shipwreck, Rain, Steam and Speed), born in Covent Garden, London (d. 1851)
1924 – Arthur Frackenpohl, American composer, arranger, and pedagogue (Natural Superiority of Music), born in Irvington, New Jersey (d. 2019)
1961 – Terry Gordy, American professional wrestler, born in Chattanooga, Tennessee (d. 2001)
1963 – Magnús Ver Magnússon, Icelandic powerlifter (World’s Strongest Man 1991, 94, 95, 96), born in Egilsstaðir, Iceland
1979 – Yana Gupta, Czech actress and author (How To Love Your Body And Get The Body You Love), born in Brno, Czechoslovakia
1987 – Emily Fox, American cupstacking champion, born in Highlands Ranch, Colorado

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Famous Deaths

1151 – Queen Adeliza of England, 2nd wife of Henry I (b. 1103)
1611 – Martin Ruland the Younger, German physician and alchemist, dies at 41
1702 – Margaret Fell, English founder of the Religious Society of Friends known as the “mother of Quakerism,” dies at about 87
1885 – William Henry Holmes, English composer, dies at 73
1970 – Herb Shriner, American humorist and TV host (Herb Shriner Show), dies at 51
2013 – Robert W. Edgar, American businessman and politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania’s 7th district), dies from a heart attack at 69

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Historical Events

1671 – King Charles II sits in on English parliament
1838 – English steamship “Sirius” docks in NYC after crossing the Atlantic, first transatlantic steam passenger service
1903 – American Power Boat Association forms
1924 – Hague Chambers of Commerce forms
1943 – RAF shoots down 14 German transport planes over Mediterranean Sea
1981 – Dodgers rookie Fernando Valenzuela tosses his 3rd shutout in 4 starts

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Famous Birthdays

1856 – [Marie] Louise Hens, Flemish actress (Two Orphans) (d. 1939)
1868 – Archduchess Marie Valerie of Austria, 4th and last child of Franz Joseph I of Austria and Elisabeth of Bavaria, born in Ofen (Buda), Austria-Hungary (d. 1924)
1910 – Norman Steenrod, American mathematician (algebraic topology), born in Dayton, Ohio (d. 1971)
1945 – Robert Key, British Conservative Party politician (MP for Salisbury), born in Plymouth, Devon, England
1946 – Louise Harel, Quebec politician and City Councillor for Maisonneuve–Longue-Pointe, born in Sainte-Thérèse-de-Blainville, Quebec
1978 – Jason Stollsteimer, American singer (The Von Bondies)

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Famous Deaths

1776 – Johann Adolph Scheibe, German music theorist and composer, dies at 67
1908 – Ellison Capers, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 70
1929 – Henry Lerolle, French painter, dies at 80
1962 – Vera Reynolds, American actress (Dragnet Patrol, Lawless Woman), dies at 62
1974 – Tjalie Robinson [Jan Boon], Dutch East Indies writer and journalist (Tong Tong), dies at 63
1995 – Maggie Kuhn, American activist and co-founder (Gray Panthers), dies at 89

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Historical Events

1862 – Ellen Price Wood’s “East Lynne” premieres in Boston
1924 – 28th Boston Marathon won by Clarence DeMar for the third consecutive year in 2:29:40.2; 4th race victory
1952 – BOAC begins 1st passenger service with jets (London-Rome route)
1954 – Georgi Malenkov becomes premier of USSR
1970 – The Principality of Hutt River (previously Hutt River Province) secedes from Australia – it remains unrecognised by Australia or other nations
1976 – USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR

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Famous Birthdays

1838 – John Muir, Scottish naturalist and discoverer (glaciers in High Seirras), born in Dunbar (d. 1914)
1917 – Emanuel Vardi, Jerusalem Israel, violist, SD Symph 1978-82)
1935 – Charles Grodin, Pitt, actor, Woman in Red, Lonely Guy, Heartbreak Kid)
1970 – Glen Hansard, Irish singer-songwriter and actor (Falling Slowly), born in Ballymum
1972 – Gwendal Peizerat, French ice dancer
1980 – Vincent Lecavalier, Canadian hockey player

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Famous Deaths

1652 – Pietro Della Valle, Italian composer, dies at 66
1971 – Edmund Lowe, American actor (Black Sheep, Good Sam, Dillinger, Hot Pepper), dies at 81
1986 – Salah Jaheen, Egyptian poet and cartoonist, dies at 55
1987 – Edith S Green, (Rep-D-Ore), dies at 77
1993 – Hal Schumacher, baseball pitcher, dies at 82
2007 – Parry O’Brien, American shot putter (Olympic golds 1952, 1956, silver 1960), dies at 75

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Historical Events

1898 – US Assay Office in Deadwood, South Dakota opens
1944 – Dutch Communist Party resistance fighter John Postma sentence to death
1967 – A Globe Air Bristol Britannia turboprop crashes at Nicosia, Cyprus, killing 126.
1990 – 8 2/3 inning perfect game pitched by Brian Holman of Oakland A’s is spoiled by a home run hit by Ken Philips
1992 – 100th episode of American sitcom “Murphy Brown” airs
1997 – “Present Laughter” closes at Walter Kerr Theater NYC

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Famous Birthdays

1908 – Lionel Hampton, American jazz vibraphone player and actor, born in Louisville, Kentucky (d. 2002)
1920 – Ronald Speirs, American Army officer (CO of Easy Company), born in Edinburgh, Scotland (d. 2007)
1943 – John Eliot Gardiner, English conductor, born in Fontmell Magna, Dorset
1946 – Gordon Smiley, American racecar driver, born in Omaha, Nebraska (d. 1982)
1964 – Andy Serkis, English actor (Gollum in Lord of the Rings), born in London, England
1964 – John Carney, American football placekicker (San Diego Chargers), born in Hartford, Connecticut

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Famous Deaths

1314 – Clement V [Bertrand Got], pope (1305-14) moved papacy to Avignon, dies
1765 – Abigail Williams, American accuser in the Salem witch trials (b. 1674)
1935 – Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon, English fashion designer, dies at 71
1995 – Tessie O’Shea, Welsh stage and screen entertainer, dies at 81
2003 – Bernard Katz, German-born Australian biophysicist (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1970), dies at 82
2008 – VL Mike, American Rapper (b. 1976)

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Historical Events

1874 – Barracks on Alcatraz Island destroyed in fire
1916 – Italians troops conquer Col di Lana at Merano
1928 – Japanese troops occupies Sjantung-schiereiland
1992 – “4 Baboons Adoring the Sun” closes at Beaumont NYC after 38 performances
1994 – “Illmatic” debut studio album by US rapper Nas is released
2021 – New Zealand and Australia open a travel bubble between the two countries after more than a year of border closures

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Famous Birthdays

1874 – Ernst Rüdin, Swiss-German psychiatrist, geneticist, and eugenicist, born in St. Gallen, Switzerland (d. 1952)
1883 – Richard von Mises, Austrian scientist and mathematician (probability theory), born in Lemberg, Austria-Hungary (d. 1953)
1892 – Germaine Tailleferre, French composer (Le Marin du Bolivar), born in Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, Val-de-Marne, France (d. 1983)
1920 – Frank Fontaine, American comedian (Crazy Guggenheim), born in Cambridge, Massachusetts (d. 1978)
1960 – Roger Merrett, Australian rules footballer
1970 – Luis Miguel, Puerto Rican-Mexican spanish singer (Me Gustas Tal Como Eres), born in San Juan, Puerto Rico

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Famous Deaths

1560 – Philipp Melanchton (Schwazerd), church reformer, dies at 63
1840 – Jean-Jacques Lartigue, Roman catholic bishop of Montreal (b. 1777)
1889 – Warren De La Rue, astronomer/chemist, dies
1994 – Larry Davis, American blues singer and guitarist, dies at 57
2012 – Valeri Vasiliev, Soviet ice hockey defenceman (2x Olympic gold, dies at 62
2015 – Roy Mason [Baron Mason of Barnsley], British defense secretary and Labour MP, dies at 91

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Historical Events

1874 – David Livingstone, African explorer, buried in Westminster Abbey
1921 – Philip James Barry’s “Punch for Judy” premieres in NYC
1950 – 1st opening night-game, Cards beat Pirates, 4-2
1977 – Alex Haley author of “Roots” awarded Pulitzer Prize
1979 – Major Haddad declares South-Lebanon independent
2007 – The Supreme Court of the United States upholds the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act in a 5-4 decision

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Famous Birthdays

1786 – Franz Xaver Schnyder von Wartensee, Swiss composer, born in Lucerne, Switzerland (d. 1868)
1875 – Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić, Croatian writer (The Brave Adventures of Lapitch), born in Ogulin, Croatian Military Frontier, Austria-Hungary (d. 1938)
1913 – Kent Kennan, American composer, born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (d. 2003)
1926 – Günter Meisner, German actor (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, Between Wars, Adolf Hitler, Quiller Memorandum), born in Bremen, Weimar Republic (d. 1994)
1934 – James Drury, American actor (The Virginian), born in NYC, New York (d. 2020)
1965 – Rob Stenders, Dutch radio discjockey (Stenders Latevermaak and RobRadio), born in Oisterwijk, Netherlands

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Famous Deaths

1853 – William R. King, American politician (Vice President 1853), dies at 67 one month after his inauguration
1921 – Earnest [Bachigaloupi] Tourniaire, Dutch actor (Inkwartiering, Kloris and Roses), dies at 70
1963 – Meyer Jacobstein, American politician, dies at 83
1967 – Karl Miller, German soccer defender (12 caps; Dresdner SC), dies at 53
2002 – Wahoo McDaniel, American football player and professional wrestler, dies at 63
2011 – Olubayo Adefemi, Nigerian footballer, dies at 25

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Historical Events

1797 – Sir Ralph Abercromby attacks San Juan, Puerto Rico, one of the largest invasions of Spanish territories in America
1905 – 9th Boston Marathon won by Fred Lorz in 2:38:25.4
1964 – “Cafe Crown” opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 3 performances
1966 – 100th international soccer match between Netherlands and Belgium (3-1)
1970 – Paul McCartney’s 1st solo album “McCartney” is released
2019 – Beyoncé releases a live album of her 2018 Coachella performance on the same day as her Netflix documentary “Homecoming”

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Famous Birthdays

1902 – Anton Beuving, Dutch lyricist (Ketelbinkie), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands d. 1977)
1918 – William Holden [Beedle], American actor (The Blue Knight, Sunset Boulevard, Sabrina, The Bridge on the River Kwai), born in O’Fallon, Illinois (d. 1981)
1931 – Joyce Molyneux, British chef and author
1948 – Jan Hammer, Czech-American composer (Escape from TV, Miami Vice), born in Prague, Czechoslovakia
1966 – Vikram [Kennedy John Victor], Indian actor (I), born in Madras, Tamil Nadu
1988 – Takahiro Moriuchi, Japanese singer-songwriter and musician (One Ok Rock), born in Tokyo, Japan

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Famous Deaths

1427 – John IV, Duke of Brabant, dies at 23
1696 – Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, French writer (b. 1626)
1799 – Richard Jupp, English architect (East India House) (b. 1728)
1967 – Giorgio Cesana, Italian coxswain (Olympic gold 1906), dies at 75
1985 – Ilona Bodden, writer, dies
1989 – Charles Lampkin, dies

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Historical Events

1521 – Martin Luther arrives at the Diet of Worms assembly
1948 – Organization for European Economic Cooperation (EEC) forms in Paris
1980 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1987 – Michael Jordan becomes the second NBA player in history to score 3000 points in a season
2013 – 37 people are killed by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in Khash country, Iran
2014 – South Korean ferry MV Sewol sinks on route Incheon to Jeju, 304 drown, mostly students. National controversy erupts over rescue efforts and actions of crew and owner.

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Famous Birthdays

1915 – Gerard McLarnon, British-Irish actor and writer (The Wrestler’s Honeymoon), born in Clitheroe, Lancashire (d. 1997)
1931 – Piet de Visser, Dutch politician (PvdA), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 2012)
1964 – Dave Pirner, American rocker (Soul Asylum), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota
1974 – Xu Jinglei, Chinese actress, singer and director, born in Beijing, China
1974 – Mat Devine, American singer (Kill Hannah), born in Norwalk, Connecticut
1984 – Claire Foy, English Actress (The Crown), born in Stockport, England

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Famous Deaths

1865 – Robert C. Tyler, US Confederate brigadier general, dies during the Battle of West Point, at 32
1929 – Abraham van Stolk Jzn, Dutch art collector, dies at 57
1968 – Edna Ferber, American author and playwright (American Beauty, Cimarron), dies at 82
1988 – Warde Donovan, dies at 72
1992 – Andy Russell, American drummer and vocalist (Your Hit Parade), dies of stroke at 72
2019 – Jörg Wolfgang Demus, Austrian classical pianist and composer, dies at 90

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Historical Events

1853 – Protestant church questions king Willem III RC bishops
1895 – Josephine Blatt (US) makes hip-and-harness lift of 3564 lb (record)
1927 – Yankees slugger Babe Ruth hits #1 of MLB record season 60 HRs; tees off on A’s Howard Ehmke in 1st inning of New York’s 6-3 win over Philadelphia
1928 – Alioto’s on Fisherman’s Wharf (San Francisco) forms
1952 – Stanley Cup Final, Olympia Stadium, Detroit, MI: Detroit Red Wings beat Montreal Canadiens, 3-0 for a 4-0 series sweep
1966 – KHET TV channel 11 in Honolulu, HI (PBS) begins broadcasting

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Famous Birthdays

1829 – Mary Harris Thompson, 1st American woman surgeon, born in Fort Ann, New York (d. 1895)
1889 – A. Philip Randolph, American labor leader (Railroad Porter’s Union), born in Crescent City, Florida (d. 1979)
1921 – Georgy Beregovoy, Soviet cosmonaut (Soyuz 3), born in Fedorivka, Poltava Oblast, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (d. 1995)
1928 – Richard Evans, British diplomat, ambassador to the People’s Republic of China (1984-88), born in England (d. 2012)
1955 – Enith Salle Brigitha, Dutch 100m/200m swimmer (Olympic bronze 1976), born in Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles
1971 – Rich McKenzie, NFL linebacker (Cleveland Browns)

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Famous Deaths

1607 – Cornelius Kilianus, Flemish translator and poet, dies at ~78
1632 – George Calvert, English politician and coloniser, dies at 52
1942 – Joshua Pim, Irish tennis player (Wimbledon 1893-94), dies at 72
1990 – Henry Kendrick, American actor (Raising Arizona) dies at 56
2017 – Allan Holdsworth, British guitarist, dies at 70
2019 – Don Perry, Canadian NHL coach (LA Kings 1982-84), dies at 89

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Historical Events

1939 – John Steinbeck novel “The Grapes of Wrath” published
1949 – International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg’s last judgment
1961 – US element 103 (Lawrencium) discovered
1971 – Supreme Court upheld busing as means of achieving racial desegregation
1996 – 60th US Masters Tournament, Augusta National GC: Englishman Nick Faldo wins his 3rd Masters and 6th and final major title, 5 strokes ahead of Greg Norman of Australia
2007 – 160th Grand National: 33–1 shot Silver Birch, ridden by Robbie Power, edges out McKelvey to win by three-quarters of a length

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Famous Birthdays

1527 – Abraham Ortelius, Flemish cartographer and dealer in maps, books, and antiquities (Theatrum orbis terrarum), born in Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1598)
1809 – George Willem Vreede, Dutch lawyer and politician, born in Tilburg, Netherlands (d. 1880)
1905 – Slinger Nitschke, Australian cricket batsman (S Aus and Test), born in Adelaide, South Australia (d. 1982)
1906 – Hunter Johnson, American composer, born near Benson, North Carolina (d. 1998)
1913 – Jean Fournet, French conductor, born in Rouen, France (d. 2008)
1929 – Paavo Berglund, Finnish violinist and conductor (Helsinki Chamber Orchestra; Finnish RSO, 1956-72), born in Helsinki, Finland (d. 2012)

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Famous Deaths

1574 – Christoffel Palts, German general strategist, dies in battle
1888 – William Fiske Sherwin, American composer, dies at 62
1930 – Vladimir Mayakovsky, Russian poet (Ode to Revolution), dies at 36
1996 – Manuel A “Manny” Greenhill, record producer, dies at 80
2000 – Phil Katz, American computer programmer (Zip file format), dies from the effects of alcoholism at 37
2013 – Colin Davis, English conductor (NY Met 1967-71), dies at 85

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