Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1913 – French Government of Louis Barthou falls due to overtime conscription
1917 – Han Yong-woon, found Zen awakening at Osean Monastery Korea
1973 – Capital Centre (USAir Arena) opens in Landover Maryland; NBA’s Washington Bullets beat Seattle SuperSonics, 98-96 in opening game; arena demolished 2002
1989 – V. P. Singh sworn in as the 8th Prime Minister of India
1992 – WQEW-AM radio replaces WQXR on 1560 in NYC
1999 – The United Kingdom devolves political power in Northern Ireland to the Northern Ireland Executive

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Famous Birthdays

1738 – Richard Montgomery, Irish General in Continental Army during American Revolutionary War, born in Swords, Dublin (d. 1775)
1884 – Ruth Draper, American actress and dramatist (The Italian Lesson), born in NYC, New York (d. 1956)
1941 – Sugar Ramos [Ultiminio Ramos], Cuban-Mexican boxer (World Featherweight champion 1963-64), born in Matanzas, Cuba (d. 2017)
1943 – Dave Munden, English rock drummer (Brian Poole and The Tremeloes), born in Dagenham, Essex, England
1954 – Huub Stapel, Dutch actor (Amsterdamned, Attic: Hiding of Anne Frank), born in Tegelen, Netherlands
1958 – George Saunders, American writer (Lincoln in the Bardo), born in Amarillo, Texas

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Famous Deaths

1552 – Francis Xavier, Spanish Catholic missionary (b. 1506)
1925 – Julio Garreta, composer, dies at 50
1935 – Albert Kessel, 1st to die in California gas chamber
1953 – Walter “Doc” Meanwell, English Basketball Hall of Fame coach (University of Wisconsin 1911–1917, 1920–1934), dies at 69
1985 – Philip Larkin, English poet and writer (North Ship, Jill), dies at 63
1990 – Robert Cummings, American actor (Love that Bob, Dial M For Murder), dies of kidney failure at 80

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Historical Events

1948 – Piet Roozenburg becomes world champion checker player
1956 – US men’s 4 x 100m relay team of Thane Baker, Leamon King, Bobby Morrow and Ira Murchison sets world record 39.60s to win the gold medal at the Melbourne Olympics; Morrow’s 3rd gold medal of the Games
1973 – 38th Iron Bowl: Alabama beats Auburn 35-0 in Birmingham
1982 – Miguel de la Madrid inaugurated as President of Mexico
2007 – T. C. Williams High School’s newly constructed basketball court is named after Earl Lloyd
2018 – British boxer Tyson Fury dominates much of the fight but survives 2 knockdowns to force a split decision draw with defending WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder at the Staples Center, Los Angeles

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Famous Birthdays

1566 – Philip, earl of Nassau-Dillenburg, gov of Ft Gorinchem/Nijmegen
1891 – Foppe G Scheltema, Dutch lawyer (wreck laws)
1922 – Geraldine McCulloug, Maywood Ill, painter/sculptor (Phoenix)
1933 – Violetta Verdy, French ballerina and teacher, born in Pont-l’Abbé, Brittany (d. 2016)
1962 – Sylvie Daigle, Canadian speed skater (Olympic gold 3k relay 1992; World C’ship gold overall x 5), born in Sherbrooke, Quebec
1968 – Anders Holmertz, Swedish swimmer (4 x Olympic silver 200m, 1 x bronze 400m 1988-96), born in Motala, Sweden

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Famous Deaths

1377 – King Magnus II of Sweden (b. 1316)
1729 – Christian Ludwig Boxberg, German composer, dies at 59
1736 – Simon van Slingelandt, Dutch grand pensionary (1727-36), dies at 72
1947 – Aleister Crowley, British occultist, founded the religion of Thelema, dies at 72
1984 – Roelof Frankot, Dutch painter (b. 1911)
2004 – Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands (b. 1911)

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Historical Events

1554 – England reconciles with Pope Julius III
1931 – His Master’s Voice and Columbia Records merge into EMI
1948 – Soviets set up a separate municipal government in East Berlin
1949 – KOTV TV channel 6 in Tulsa, OK (CBS) begins broadcasting
1956 – Milt Campbell sets Olympic record total of 7,937 points to upset fellow American and world record holder Rafer Johnson, and win the decathlon gold medal at the Melbourne Games
1988 – Cyclone lashes Bangladesh, Eastern India; 317 killed

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Famous Birthdays

1498 – Andrés de Urdaneta, Spanish Augustinian friar, sail-captain and explorer, born in Ordizia, Gipuzkoa, Crown of Castile (d. 1568)
1945 – Roger Glover, British hard rock bassist (Episode Six-Deep Purple)
1946 – Marina Abramović, Serbian American performance artist, born in Belgrade, Serbia
1970 – Robert Griffith, NFL strong safety (Minnesota Vikings)
1971 – Iván Rodríguez, MLB catcher (Texas Rangers), born in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico
1980 – Jamie Ashdown, English footballer

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Famous Deaths

1813 – Friedrich August Baumbach, German composer, dies at 60
1904 – Aldine Silliman Kieffer, American composer, dies at 64
1954 – Wilhelm Furtwängler, German conductor (b. 1886)
1976 – Fritz Rasp, actor (Diary of a Lost Girl), dies at 85
2010 – Monty Sunshine, British jazz clarinetist and bandleader (Petite Fleur), dies at 82
2013 – John Zochonis, British industrialist (PZ Cussons) and philanthropist, dies at 84

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Historical Events

1864 – 4th and last day of skirmishes at Waynesboro, Georgia
1915 – Fire destroys most of the buildings on Santa Catalina Island, California.
1951 – 1st underground atomic explosion at Frenchman Flat in Nevada
1952 – 17th Iron Bowl: Alabama beats Auburn 21-0 in Birmingham
1962 – Baseball decides to revert back to 1 all star game per year
1980 – 45th Iron Bowl: Alabama beats Auburn 34-18 in Birmingham

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Famous Birthdays

1912 – Viola Smith, American drummer and bandleader (one of the first professional female drummers), born in Mount Calvary, Wisconsin (d. 2020)
1947 – Ronnie Montrose, American rock guitarist (Montrose, Gamma), born in Denver, Colorado (d. 2012)
1962 – Sadanand Viswanath, Indian cricket wicket-keeper (v Sri Lanka 1985-86)
1968 – Pedro Martínez Aquino, Dominican pitcher (NY Mets), born in Villa Mella, Dominican Republic
1969 – Pierre van Hooijdonk, Dutch soccer player (NAC, Celtic), born in Steenbergen, Netherlands
1978 – Alessandro Fei, Italian volleyball player, born in Saronno, Italy

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Famous Deaths

1699 – Patrick Gordon, Scottish general (b. 1635)
1847 – Marcus Whitman, American physician and missionary (Oregon Trail), dies at 45
1976 – Godfrey Cambridge, American actor (Cotton comes to Harlem), dies of a heart attack at 43
1986 – Herb Vigran, actor (Vampire, Mark of Vampire), dies
1992 – Emilio Pucci, Italian fashion designer (Jackie Kennedy), dies at 78
1992 – Robert Shayne, American actor (Tora! Tora! Tora!), dies of cancer at 92

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Historical Events

1911 – Zapata proclaims Plan of Ayala Mexico
1944 – 400 Rotterdammers attack coal warehouse
1956 – Shirley Strickland de la Hunty of Australia retains her 80m hurdles Olympic title in OR 10.7s beating German Gisela Birkemeyer by just 0.2s at the Melbourne Games
1956 – Soviet runner Vladimir Kuts wraps up the Olympic middle distance double by winning the 5,000m gold medal at the Melbourne Games; runs Olympic records in both 5k and 10,000m events
1963 – The Beatles “She Loves You” unusually, returns to #1 in UK record chart and reaches 1 million copies sold
1989 – Rickey Henderson signs record $3,000,000 per year Oak A’s contract

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Famous Birthdays

1805 – John Stephens, American explorer and archaeologist (pivotal figure in the rediscovery of Maya civilization throughout Middle America), born in Shrewsbury, New Jersey (d. 1852)
1904 – James Eastland, American politician (Sen-D-Miss 1943-68), born in Doddsville, Mississippi (d. 1986)
1925 – József Bozsik, Hungarian footballer (d. 1978)
1929 – Berry Gordy, record company owner (Motown), born in Detroit, Michigan
1942 – Manolo Blahnik, Santa Cruz de La Palma Spain, shoe designer
1966 – Sam Seder, American comedian

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Famous Deaths

741 – Syrian Catholic Pope Saint Gregory III
1058 – Kazimierz I Restaurator, duke of Poland (1034-58), dies
1574 – Georg Major, German Protestant theologian, dies at 72
1954 – Enrico Fermi, Italian-American nuclear physicist (Nobel 1938), dies of stomach cancer at 53
1971 – Grantley Herbert Adams, Premier of Barbados (1953-58) and Prime Minister of the West Indies Federation (1958-62), dies at 73
1994 – Jerry Rubin, US anti-war activist (Youth Party) and businessman, dies at 56

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Historical Events

1912 – Spanish protectorate in Morocco forms
1924 – In New York City, the first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is held.
1926 – Italian and Albania sign peace treaty
1967 – Gold pool nations pledge support of $35 per ounce gold price
1967 – French President Charles de Gaulle said ‘Non!’ to British entry to the European Common Market for the second time
2017 – North Korean ghost ship washes up Akita prefecture beach, Japan with 8 skeletons on board, 4th boat in a month

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Famous Birthdays

1630 – Sigismund Francis, Archduke of Austria, born in Innsbruck, Austria (d. 1665)
1891 – Pedro Salinas, Spanish writer (Generation of 1927), born in Madrid (d. 1951)
1942 – Michael Devlin, American bass-baritone, born in Chicago, Illinois
1943 – Nicole Brossard, French Canadian poet, born in Montreal, Quebec
1970 – Patricia Zentilli, Canadian actress (Lexx), born in Kingston, Ontario
1980 – Michael Yardy, English cricketer

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Famous Deaths

1984 – Percy Norris, deputy high commissioner of India, shot dead
1987 – Babe [Floyd Caves] Herman, Brooklyn Dodgers’ slugger (.324 lifetime average), dies at 84
1995 – Simon Bailey, 1st British priest to say he had AIDS, dies at 40
2006 – Bebe Moore Campbell, American author (b. 1950)
2007 – Sean Taylor, American NFL free safety (Pro Bowl 2006, 07; All Pro 2007; Washington Redskins), dies when shot by an armed intruder at 24
2013 – Nilton Santos, Brazilian footballer, dies from a lung infection at 88

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Historical Events

1476 – Vlad III Dracula defeats Basarab Laiota with the help of Stephen the Great and Stephen V Bathory and becomes the ruler of Wallachia for the third time.
1941 – Amateur tennis champ Bobby Riggs turns pro
1955 – “Boy Friend” closes at Royale Theater NYC after 483 performances
1961 – For 2nd time in his career, St Louis’ Jerry Norton has 4 interceptions
1974 – Approximately 140 die when suspension bridge collapses in Nepal
2017 – Presidential elections held in Honduras with allegations of electoral fraud and resulting violent protests

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Famous Birthdays

1818 – Louis Lacombe, French pianist and composer, born in Bourges, France (d. 1884)
1894 – Norbert Wiener, American mathematician (discovered cybernetics), born in Columbia, Missouri (d. 1964)
1905 – Bob Johnson, American baseball player, born in Pryor, Oklahoma (d. 1982)
1920 – Paul Rodenko, Dutch poet and author (Stolen Lover), born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 1976)
1921 – Françoise Gilot, French painter, designer, and author (Life with Picasso), born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
1970 – Lorissa McComas, American actress (Lap Dancing, Vamp), born in Columbus, Ohio (d. 2009)

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Famous Deaths

1933 – Edward Julius Biedermann, American organist and composer, dies at 84
1972 – R. P. Keigwin, English academic, dies at 89
1985 – Ransom Sherman, comedian (Father of Bride), dies at 87
1987 – Thomas G Lanphier Jr, US WW II pilot, dies at 71
1993 – Mart Kempers, Dutch graphic artist and sculptor, dies at 69
1993 – Imad Aqal, Palestinian Izz-Danish al-Qassem-leader, shot to death

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Historical Events

1165 – Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa) visits Utrecht
1874 – The United States Greenback Party is established as a political party consisting primarily of farmers affected by the Panic of 1873.
1935 – International Institute for Social History (IISG) forms in Amsterdam
1981 – Failed coup by South African mercenaries in Seychelles
1986 – Oliver North’s secretary, Fawn Hall, smuggles documents out of his office
2000 – 12th Rugby League World Cup: Australia beats New Zealand 40-12

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Famous Birthdays

1752 – Johann Friedrich Reichardt, German composer, born in Königsberg, East Prussia (d. 1814)
1814 – Julius Robert von Mayer, German physician and physicist (first law of thermodynamics), born in Heilbronn, Württemberg (d. 1878)
1839 – Stanisław Duniecki, Polish composer, born in Lviv, Ukraine (d. 1870)
1901 – Tibor Serly, Hungarian violinist and composer (American Elegy), born in Losonc, Kingdom of Hungary (d. 1978)
1965 – Cris Carter, Pro Football Hall of Fame wide receiver (8 × Pro Bowl 1993–2000; First-team All-Pro 1994, 99; NFL receiving TD leader 1995, 97, 99; Minnesota Vikings), born in Troy, Ohio
1973 – Yatil Green, wide receiver (Miami Dolphins)

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Famous Deaths

1773 – Carl Hockh, German composer, dies at 66
1815 – Johann Peter Saloman, German composer and violinist, dies at 70
1989 – Frank M Thomas, actor (Behind the Headlines, M’Liss), dies
1994 – Gerard John Toorenaar, Amsterdam police commissar, dies at 69
1996 – Hugh Joseph Charles James L’Etang, medical writer, dies at 79
2002 – Karel Reisz, Czech theater director (b. 1926)

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Historical Events

1775 – Continental Congress approves resolution barring blacks from army
1835 – Texas Rangers, mounted police force authorized by Texas Provisional Government
1948 – “Bicycle Thieves”, Italian film directed by Vittorio De Sica, starring himself and Cesare Zavattini, is released (Honorary Academy Award 1950)
1950 – US infantry division conquers Chonju Korea
1956 – Americans go 1-2 in the men’s 100m final at the Melbourne Olympics; Bobby Morrow and Thane Baker both record hand-timed 10.50s but automatic timing gives gold medal to Morrow
1971 – American “Dan Cooper” hijacks plane, extorts $200,000 ransom before jumping out of plane over Washington State, never seen again

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Famous Birthdays

1642 – Anne Hilarion de Cotentin, earl of Tourville/knight/admiral/marshal
1766 – Friedrich Weinbrenner, German architect, born in Karlsruhe (d. 1826)
1815 – Grace Darling, English heroine (d. 1842)
1893 – Fern Andra [Vernal Edna Andrews], German-American actress (Eyes of the World), born in Watseka, Illinois (d. 1974)
1943 – Barry Milburn, cricketer (NZ wicket-keeper in three Tests 1969)
1950 – Damon Evans, Balt Md, American actor (The Jeffersons), born in Baltimore, Maryland

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Famous Deaths

1572 – John Knox, Scottish preacher, dies at about 67
1693 – William Sancroft, 79th Archbishop of Canterbury, dies at 76
1914 – Louis de Raet, Belgian economist/Flemish People Party, dies
1953 – George Alexander Russell, American organist, composer and the first Frick Professor of Music for Princeton University, dies at 73
1953 – Robert Lightfoot, English theologist and exegetist, dies at 70
1987 – Jehane Benoît, French Canadian culinary author (b. 1904)

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Historical Events

1577 – Water Geuzen under Captain Slope enters Amsterdam
1904 – III Summer (Modern) Olympic Games close in St Louis
1971 – Danny Murtaugh, manager of MLB world champions Pittsburgh Pirates, announces his retirement
1977 – “Jesus Christ Superstar” opens at Longacre Theater NYC for 96 performances
1991 – Evander Holyfield TKOs Bert Cooper in 7 for heavyweight boxing title
1993 – “Doggystyle” debut album by Snoop Doggy Dogg is released (Billboard Album of the Year 1994)

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Famous Birthdays

1878 – Holcombe Ward, American tennis player (US Nat C’ship 1904; President USLTA 1937-47), born in New York, NY (d. 1967)
1888 – Harpo Marx [Adolph], American actor and comedian (Marx brothers), born in NYC, New York (d. 1964)
1902 – Aaron Bank, American OSS officer and founder of the US Army Special Forces (d. 2004)
1946 – Diana Quick, English actress (Brideshead, Big Sleep, Odd Job), born in London
1978 – Kayvan Novak, English actor, born in Cricklewood, London
1991 – Anurag Kashyap, 2005 Scripps National Spelling Bee champion, born in Muzaffarpur, India

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Famous Deaths

1503 – Margaret of York (Margaret of Burgendy), wife of Charles I, Duke of Burgundy, dies at 57
1616 – Richard Hakluyt, English writer (b. 1552)
1752 – Conrad Michael Schneider, composer, dies at 79
1990 – Renate Rubinstein, German-Dutch author and columnist (Tamar), dies at 61
1992 – Rita Corday, actress (Dick Tracy vs Cueball), dies at 68
1996 – Art Porter, saxophonist, dies at 35

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