Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1404 – The Act of Multipliers is passed by the English Parliament forbidding alchemists to use their knowledge to create precious metals (it was feared that if any alchemist should succeed it would bring ruin upon the state)
1874 – US troops land in Honolulu to protect the king
1911 – South Africa cricket team’s 1st win over Australia, at Adelaide
1979 – YMCA files libel suit against Village People’s “Y.M.C.A.” song
1991 – President Mário Soares of Portugal re-elected

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Famous Birthdays

1720 – Richard Hurd, English bishop and writer, born in Congreve, England (d. 1808)
1859 – Karl Bleibtreu, German author (Revolution of Literature), born in Berlin (d. 1928)
1901 – Mieczysław Żywczyński, Polish historian and priest, born in Warsaw, Poland (d. 1978)
1955 – Paul Kelly, Australian singer-songwriter (The Messengers), born in Adelaide, South Australia
1965 – Bill Bailey, British comedian (Black Books, QI), born in bath, England

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Famous Deaths

1049 – Derrick IV, Count of Holland (1039-49), dies in battle
1956 – Lyonel Feininger, German-American cartoonist and painter, dies at 84
1979 – Donny Hathaway, American gospel and soul singer-songwriter, and keyboardist (“The Ghetto”; “Where is the Love?”), commits suicide at 33
1995 – Maxwell Henley Harris, Australian poet and publisher (Critics), dies at 73
2009 – Hortense Calisher, American novelist (President of the American Academy of Arts and Letters), dies at 97

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Historical Events

475 – Basiliscus becomes Byzantine Emperor, with a coronation ceremony in the Hebdomon palace in Constantinople
1945 – US Task Force 38 destroys 41 Japanese ships in Battle of South China Sea
2006 – A stampede during the Stoning the Devil ritual on the last day at the Hajj in Mina, Saudi Arabia, kills at least 362 Muslim pilgrims
2017 – US President Barack Obama in surprise presentation awards Vice President Joe Biden with the Presidential Medal of Freedom
2019 – Missy Elliott is the first female rapper to be inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame

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Famous Birthdays

1902 – Ray Teal, American actor (Judgment at Nuremberg, Bonanza), born in Grand Rapids, Michigan (d. 1976)
1908 – José Limón, Mexican-American dancer and choreographer (The Moor’s Pavane; I, Odysseus), born in Culiacán, Mexico (d. 1972)
1934 – Mick Sullivan, English rugby league footballer, born in Pudsey, England (d. 2016)
1962 – Joe Quesada, American comic book writer, born in New York City
1992 – Mao Kobayashi, Japanese gravure idol, born in Niigata Prefecture, Japan (d. 2017)

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Famous Deaths

1959 – Edvard Eriksen, Danish-Icelandic sculptor, dies at 82
1992 – Harry van Doorn, Dutch politician (KVP/KRO-chairman/PPR/CRM), dies at 76
2007 – Alice Coltrane [née McLeod], American jazz harp, piano, and organ player (Journey in Satchidananda), dies of respiratory failure at 69
2010 – Hasib Sabbagh, Palestinian businessman and philanthropist, co-founder of Consolidated Contractors Company (b. 1920)
2025 – Claude Jarman Jr, American actor (The Yearling; Rio Grande; Inside Straight), dies at 90

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Historical Events

1944 – Crakow-Plaszow Concentration Camp established
1959 – 9th NFL Pro Bowl, LA Memorial Coliseum: Eastern Conference beats Western Conference, 28-21; MVPs: Frank Gifford, NY Giants, HB; Doug Atkins, Chicago Bears, DE
1963 – Beatles release the single “Please Please Me” / “Ask Me Why”; peaks at #2 in UK, and #3 in US
1966 – “Daktari” African adventure series premieres on CBS TV
1987 – AFC Championship, Cleveland Stadium: Denver Broncos beat Cleveland Browns 23-20 (OT)

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Famous Birthdays

1503 – Parmigianino [Girolamo Francesco Maria Mazzola,], Italian artist (Madonna with the Long Neck), born in Parma, Duchy of Milan (now Italy) (d. 1540)
1905 – John Henry Jacques, English co-operative retailer and politician, born in Ashington, Northumberland (d. 1995)
1946 – (Diana) “Naomi” Judd, American Grammy Award-winning country singer (The Judds – “Why Not Me”), born in Ashland, Kentucky (d. 2022)
1952 – Kim Hartman, British screen, stage, and radio actress (Allo Allo! – “Helga”), born in Hammersmith, London, England
1968 – Sharon Brown, American actress (Chantal-Generations), born in New York City

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Famous Deaths

1055 – Constantine IX Monomachos, Emperor of Byzantium, dies
1954 – Edgard Tytgat, Flemish painter and etcher, dies at 77
1981 – Beulah Bondi, American actress (It’s a Wonderful Life), dies at 88
2010 – Georgy Garanian, Armenian-Russian jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer, dies of cardiac arrest at 75
2013 – Aaron H. Swartz, American computer programmer, dies from an apparent suicide at 26

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Historical Events

402 – Theodosius II, aged just nine months, is proclaimed co-Augustus with his father Eastern Roman Emperor Arcadius – then the youngest to hold an imperial title
1861 – Fort Jackson and Fort Philip are taken over by LA state troops (US Civil War)
1863 – General McClernand’s Union troops surround Fort Hindman, Arkansas
1878 – US Senate proposes female suffrage
1999 – Fatboy Slim’s music single “Praise You” hits #1 in the UK

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Famous Birthdays

1843 – Frank James, American outlaw (member of the James-Younger gang), born in Clay County, Missouri (d. 1915)
1944 – Frank Sinatra, Jr., American singer and bandleader, born in Jersey City, New Jersey (d. 2016)
1952 – Scott Thurston, American session and touring guitarist, keyboardist and songwriter (Iggy Pop, 1973-79; Motels, 1982-84; Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, 1989-2017), born in Medford, Oregon
1974 – Steve Marlet, French footballer, born in Pithiviers, France
1994 – Faith Kipyegon, Kenyan athlete (Olympic gold women’s 1,500m 2016, 20; World C’ship gold 2017), born in Bomet, Kenya

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Famous Deaths

1959 – Colin Gregory, English tennis player (Australian C’ship 1929, chairman All-England Club, Wimbledon), dies at 55
2005 – Erwin Hillier, British cinematographer (b. 1911)
2015 – Michael Wright, British academic and Vice-Chancellor of Aston University (1996-2006), dies of cancer at 67
2017 – Clare Hollingworth, British war correspondent who was the first to report on the outbreak of WWII, dies at 105
2017 – (Armando) “Buddy” Greco, American jazz and pop singer (“Ooh! Look-A There, Ain’t She Pretty”; “The Lady Is A Tramp”), pianist, and television personality (Away We Go), dies at 90

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Historical Events

1903 – Frank Farrell and Bill Devery purchase the American League’s Baltimore baseball franchise for $18,000 and move it to NYC (later the NY Yankees)
1927 – Dmitri Shostakovich’ Octet opus 11 premieres in Moscow
1937 – Italian regime bans marriages between Italians and Abyssinians
1975 – Australia beat England by 171 runs in 4th Test to regain Ashes
2009 – Hopman Cup Tennis, Perth: Dominik Hrbatý beats Russia’s Marat Safin 6-7, 7-5, 7-6 for an unassailable 2-0 lead, and Slovakia’s 3rd title

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Famous Birthdays

1773 – Cassandra Austen, English watercolorist and sister of Jane Austen, born in Steventon, England (d. 1845)
1936 – Peter Fletcher, British orchestral and choral conductor, music educator and author (Roll Over Rock), born in the UK (d. 1999)
1943 – Ariel Bybee, American mezzo-soprano (Morman Tabernacle Choir; Metropolitan Opera, 1977-95), born in Reno, Nevada (d. 2018)
1959 – Mark Martin, American stock car racing driver, born in Batesville, Arkansas
1967 – Jamie Huscroft, Canadian NHL defenseman (Calgary Flames), born in Creston, British Columbia

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Famous Deaths

1843 – William Hedley, British industrial engineer (b. 1773)
1911 – Edwin Arthur Jones, American composer (Song of our Saviour), dies at 57
1989 – Bill Terry, American Baseball HOF first baseman (MLB All-Star 1933–35; World Series 1933; NL batting champion 1930; NY Giants) and manager (NY Giants 1932-41), dies at 90
1992 – Bill Naughton [William John Francis Naughton], English playwright (Alfie), dies at 81
2021 – Isaak Markovich Khalatnikov, Russian physicist, dies at 101

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Historical Events

1656 – Oldest surviving commercial newspaper, “Weeckelycke Courante van Europa”, now known as “Haarlems Dagblad”, and still in print, begins publication in Haarlem, Netherlands
1716 – Amsterdam gang leader and thief “Sjako” arrested
1948 – Queen Wilhelmina signs death sentence against Ans van Dijk for treason
1984 – AFC Championship, LA Memorial Coliseum: Los Angeles Raiders beat Seattle Seahawks, 30-14
2008 – New Jersey officially apologizes for slavery, becoming the first Northern state to do so

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Famous Birthdays

1824 – Francisco González Bocanegra, Mexican poet (Mexican national anthem), born in San Luis Potosi, Mexico (d. 1861)
1934 – Gene Freese, American MLB baseball player (Pittsburgh Pirates and 5 other teams), born in Wheeling, West Virginia (d. 2013)
1965 – Michelle Forbes [Guajardo], American actress (True Blood, Guiding Light, Star Trek: The Next Generation), born in Austin, Texas
1986 – Peng Shuai, Chinese tennis player (1st Chinese player to reach No.1 ranking – doubles with Hsieh Su-wei of Taiwan, 2014), born in Xiangtan, China
1987 – Cynthia Erivo, British Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award-winning stage and screen actress (The Color Purple; Harriet; Wicked (film)) and singer-songwriter (“Stand Up”), born in London, England

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Famous Deaths

1900 – Billy Bates, English cricket all-rounder (15 Tests, 5 x 50, 50 wickets, BB 7/28, hat-trick 1883; Yorkshire CCC), dies from pneumonia at 44
1916 – Rembrandt Bugatti, Italian sculptor (b. 1884)
1963 – Stark Young, American writer (So Red the Rose), dies at 81
1990 – Terry-Thomas [Thomas Terry Stevens], English comedian and actor (I’m All Right Jack; Private’s Progress), dies of Parkinson’s disease at 78
2007 – Arthur Cockfield ‘The Father of the Single Market, British politician ‘(European Commissioner), dies at 90

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Historical Events

1890 – African American inventor William Purvis receives a patent for the fountain pen
1956 – Indian batsman Vinoo Mankad scores 231 v NZ, 413 opening stand with Roy
1974 – Gasoline rationing begins in the Netherlands
1990 – Lynn Jennings runs world record indoor 5km indoor at 15:22.64
2001 – 27th People’s Choice Awards: Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts win (Dramatic Motion Picture) and Drew Carey and Jennifer Aniston win (TV)

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Famous Birthdays

1827 – Sandford Fleming, Scottish-Canadian engineer; introduced Universal Standard Time, born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland (d. 1915)
1948 – Steve Sheetz, American businessman, philanthropist and chief executive of Sheetz convenience stores (1984-95), born in Altoona, Pennsylvania (d. 2026)
1965 – Five for Fighting [Vladimir John Ondrasik], American soft rock-pop pianist, singer-songwriter, and record producer (“Superman (It’s Not Easy)”; “100 Years”), born in Los Angeles, California
1977 – John Gidding, American architect and TV host (Designed to Sell), born in Istanbul, Turkey
1991 – Eden Hazard, Belgian soccer midfielder (126 caps; Lille, Chelsea 245 games, Real Madrid), born in La Louvière, Belgium

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Famous Deaths

1783 – William Tans’ur, English hymnist, dies at 76
1892 – Muḥammad Tawfīq Pasha, Khedive of Egypt (1879-92), dies at 39
1974 – Charles Alfred Coulson, British chemist (theoretical), dies at 63
1980 – Sarah Selby, American actress (Tower of London), dies at 74
2015 – Tadeusz Konwicki, Polish writer (Bohin Manor) and film director, dies at 88

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Historical Events

1938 – Bronze memorial statue of explorer Henry Hudson erected in the Bronx, New York
1980 – The beginning of the first GPS epoch
2009 – Israel begins an assault on the Gaza Strip
2013 – The NHL reaches an agreement to end a 113 day lockout
2021 – North Korean leader Kim Jong-un says country’s five-year economic plan has failed at opening of a rare meeting of the Workers’ Party

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Famous Birthdays

1595 – Claude Favre de Vaugelas, Savoyard grammarian and man of letters, born in Meximieux, Duchy of Savoy (d. 1650)
1853 – Clement Reid, English geologist and paleobotanist, first to suggest a drowned land bridge between Britain and Europe (now called Doggerland), born in London (d. 1916)
1899 – Sophie-Carmen “Sonia” Eckhardt-Gramatté, Russian-Canadian pianist and composer, born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1974)
1970 – John Gerak, NFL tight end/guide (Minnesota Vikings, St Louis Rams), born in Youngstown, Ohio
1982 – Gilbert Arenas, American basketball player, born in Tampa, Florida

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Famous Deaths

1541 – Bernard van Orley, Flemish royal painter of Hungary, dies at about 52
1852 – Louis Braille, French educator and inventor of a system of reading and writing for the blind, dies of tuberculosis at 43
1958 – Josephine CMA, princess of Belgium/nun, dies at 85
1995 – Joe Slovo, Latvian-South African attorney and politician (Secretary General of SACR), dies at 68
2008 – Yunus Mahomed, South African lawyer and activist (UDF), dies at 57

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Historical Events

1781 – British naval expedition led by Benedict Arnold burns Richmond, Virginia
1970 – 23,000 Belgian mine workers strike
1972 – Largest crowd at Cleveland Arena (Cavs vs Lakers-11,178)
2020 – Iran pulls out of the 2015 nuclear deal, will not limit its uranium enrichment
2023 – Pocahontas revealed as the 12th great-grandmother of actor Edward Norton on PBS’s “Finding Your Roots”

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Famous Birthdays

1661 – Jacob Balthasar Schutz, German composer, born in the Free Imperial City of Nuremberg, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1700)
1828 – August Valentine Kautz, German-American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Baden, Germany (d. 1895)
1888 – George “Rube” Foster, American baseball pitcher (World Series 1915, 16; no-hitter 1916; Boston Red Sox), born in Lehigh, Oklahoma (d. 1976)
1939 – Bridget Parker, British equestrian 3 day event (Olympic gold 1972), born in Northumberland, England
1980 – Bennie Joppru, National Football League tight end, born in Dickinson, North Dakota

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Famous Deaths

1968 – Jean Murat, French actor (Eternal Rain, Carnival Flanders), dies at 79
1996 – Jay Arena, American pediatrician (Duke Poison Center Director, inventor of the child-proof safety cap), dies at 86
2005 – Danny Sugerman, American music manager (The Doors), dies of lung cancer at 50
2007 – Momofuku Ando, Taiwanese-Japanese inventor of instant noodles and cup noodles, dies of heart failure at 96
2024 – (Derek) “Del” Palmer, English session and touring bassist, and sound engineer (Kate Bush), dies at 71

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Historical Events

1725 – Benjamin Franklin arrives in London [OS=Dec 24 1724]
1945 – US jeep-aircraft carrier Ommaney Bay sinks after Japanese kamikaze attack
1947 – Arthur Schwartz, Ira Gershwin, and George S. Kaufman’s musical “Park Avenue” closes at the Shubert Theater, NYC, after 72 performances
1951 – Korean War: Chinese forces recapture Seoul
1987 – Sixteen die in a train crash in Chase, Maryland

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Famous Birthdays

1839 – Carl Humann, German engineer and self-made archaeologist who discovered the Pergamon altar, born in Steele, Prussia (d. 1896)
1882 – Aristarkh Lentulov, Russian artist, born in Nizhny Lomov, Russia (d. 1943)
1965 – Yvan Attal, Israeli-French actor (Love Without Pity) and director (The Accusation), born in Tel Aviv, Israel
1970 – Sean Lumpkin, American NFL safety (New Orleans Saints), born in Golden Valley, Minnesota
1998 – Liza Soberano, Filipino-American actress (Forevermore; Everyday I Love You), born in Santa Clara, California

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Famous Deaths

1729 – Joseph de Montesquiou earl d’Artagnan, French lt-general, dies at 77
1898 – Frantisek Pivoda, Czech composer, dies at 73
1955 – G. G. van der Hoeven, Dutch editor-in-chief (NRC newspaper), dies at 82
2004 – Joan Aiken, British writer of children’s books (The Whispering Mountain, The Wolves Of Willoughby Chase), dies at 79
2010 – Johan Ferrier, Surinamian politician (b. 1910)

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