Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1914 – 1st electric traffic light installed in the USA on the corner of East 105th Street and Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio
1925 – Plaid Cymru is formed with the aim of disseminating knowledge of the Welsh language, which is in danger of dying out
1951 – Armed uprising in Ambonezen Camp Middelburg
1980 – Montreal Expos Dick Williams wins his 1,000th career game as a manager in 11-5 win v Mets, for whom Doug Flynn hits MLB record tying 3 triples
1985 – Establishment of a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is announced
2019 – Australian woman Kerry Robertson confirmed as the first person to use a new assisted dying law to end her life a month earlier in Victoria

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Famous Birthdays

1301 – Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent, English politician (d. 1330)
1540 – Joseph Justice Scaliger, proposed Julian dating
1828 – Giovanni Rossi, Italian composer, born in Borgo San Donnino, Parma (d. 1886)
1950 – Holly Palance, actress (Thorn Birds, Ripley’s Believe It), born in Los Angeles, California
1978 – Kim Gevaert, Belgian sprinter
2000 – Maya Bond, American singer and musician

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Famous Deaths

1880 – Ferdinand Ritter von Hebra, Austrian physician (b. 1816)
1964 – Art Ross, Canadian hockey player and executive (b. 1886)
1972 – Harry Hylton-Foster, Speaker of the British House of Commons (b. 1905)
1994 – Audrey Langford, sInging teacher, dies at 82
1996 – Frank Marcus, German playwright and critic, dies at 68
2007 – Florian Pittiş, Romanian artist (b. 1943)

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Historical Events

1578 – Battle of Alcazarquivir, Moroccans defeat Portuguese, 10,000 killed
1789 – French Revolution: The National Constituent Assembly meets and issues the first decrees that abolish centuries of feudalism in France
1907 – Tour de France: Lucien Petit-Breton of France beats countryman Gustave Garrigou to win first of 2 Tour victories
1942 – Colonel general Jeremenko arrives in Stalingrad and welcomed by Nikita Khrushchev
1944 – British 8th Army reaches suburbs of Florence, Italy
1968 – WXTV TV channel 41 in New York-Paterson, NY (UNI) begins broadcasting

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Famous Birthdays

1873 – Damaso Berenguer, Spanish soldier and politician (122nd Prime Minister of Spain), born in San Juan de los Remedios, Cuba (d. 1953)
1884 – Henri Cornet, French cyclist who won the second Tour de France, born in Desvres, France (d. 1941)
1958 – Phil Scott, American politician, Governor of Vermont (2017-), born in Barre, Vermont
1960 – Bernard Rose, English director
1974 – Keenan Milton, Professional Skater
1985 – Mark Milligan, Australian footballer

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Famous Deaths

1265 – Simon de Montfort the younger, English Earl of Leicester, dies in battle
1639 – Juan R Alarcon y Mendoza, Mexican/Spanish playwright, dies at 58
1718 – René Lepage de Ste-Claire, lord-founder of the town of Rimouski, in New France, dies at 62
1984 – Edmond Ryan, actor (Human Monster), dies at 79 of a heart attack
1993 – Bernard Barrow, American actor (Ryan’s Hope, Louie Slavinsky-Loving), dies at 65
2009 – Blake Snyder, American screenwriter (b. 1957)

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Historical Events

1908 – French brothers Amadee and Jean Bouyssonie discover the fossil remains of a nearly complete 60,000 year-old Neanderthal man ‘Old man of La Chappelle’ at La Chappelle-aux-Saints, France
1914 – Belgium rejects demand to allow free crossing for German Army leading to their invasion hours later
1957 – British offensive against imam Galeb Ben Ali of Oman
1966 – South African government bans Beatle records
1970 – Hurricane “Celia” becomes most expensive Gulf storm in history
1974 – “Little Night Music” closes at Shubert Theater NYC after 601 performances

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Famous Birthdays

1855 – Joe Hunter, English cricket wicket-keeper (5 Tests, 11 dismissals; Yorkshire CCC), born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England (d. 1891)
1887 – Rupert Brooke, British WW I poet (Lithuania, The Soldier), born in Rugby, England (d. 1915)
1902 – Regina Jonas, German first woman rabbi, born in Berlin, German Empire (d. 1944)
1929 – Bethel Leslie, American entertainer (Capt Newman MD, Rabbit Trap), born in NYC, New York (d. 1999)
1940 – Lance Alworth, American NFL hall of famer (Charger, Cowboys), born in Houston, Texas
1984 – Sunil Chetri, Indian footballer (Bengaluru FC), born in Secunderabad, India

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Famous Deaths

1604 – Bernardino de Mendoza, Spanish military commander
1823 – Jacob Abraham de Mist, Dutch statesman, dies at 74
1973 – Richard Marshall, U.S. Army general (b. 1895)
1990 – Florida Edwards, dies of pneumonia at 79
2006 – Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Austro-British soprano (Der Rosenkavalier), dies at 90
2017 – Theodore “Ted” Stanley, American anesthesiologist and medical entrepreneur (created the fentanyl lollipop), dies at 77

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Historical Events

1914 – Belgian government receives German ultimatum
1921 – Chicago jury brings in not guilty verdict against the Black Sox
1967 – New Orleans Saints play 1st ever pre-season game, lose to LA Rams 16-7 at Anaheim Stadium
1999 – “The Sixth Sense”, starring Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, and Haley Joel Osment, premieres
2012 – American swimmer Rebecca Soni becomes first woman to win the 200m breaststroke twice with a world record 2:19.59 at the London Olympics
2013 – Carl Icahn sues computer giant Dell in an attempt to derail a buyout bid by the CEO, Michael Dell

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Famous Birthdays

1931 – Viliam Schrojf, Slovak footballer, born in Prague, Czechoslovakia (d. 2007)
1941 – Homer Banks, American singer and songwriter (Be What You Are), born in Memphis, Tennessee (d. 2003)
1945 – Joanna Cassidy [Joanna Virginia Caskey], American actress (Blade Runner, Under Fire), born in Haddonfield, New Jersey
1970 – Tony Amonte, American NHL right wing (Chicago Blackhawks, USA), born in Hingham, Massachusetts
1972 – Justyna Steczkowska, Polish singer, born in Rzeszow, Poland
1972 – Jimmy Pop, American musician (The Bloodhound Gang), born in Trappe, Pennsylvania

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Famous Deaths

1075 – John VIII Xiphilinus, theologian/patriarch of Constantinople, dies
1511 – Andrew Barton, Scottish naval leader
1611 – Kato Kiyomasa, Japanese warlord and samurai (b. 1562)
1936 – Louis Blériot, French aviator who made the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier than air aircraft, dies of a heart attack at 64
1963 – Oliver [Hazard Perry] La Farge, American anthropologist and novelist, dies at 61
1995 – Brian Smith, British sportscaster, dies

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Historical Events

1834 – Slavery abolished throughout the British Empire – Slavery Abolition Act 1833 comes into effect
1838 – Apprenticeship system abolished in most of the British Empire. Former slaves no longer indentured to former owners.
1869 – 1st voyage down Colorado River
1955 – 1st microgravity research begins
1981 – Poland premier Jagielski resigns
2014 – Indiana Pacers NBA super-star Paul George suffers a gruesome compound fracture of his lower right leg in a Team USA scrimmage

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Famous Birthdays

1555 – Edward Kelley, British spirit medium and Renaissance occultist, born in Worcester, England (d. 1597)
1659 – Antoine Mouque, Flemish composer and organist and singer, born in Ostend (d. 1723)
1889 – Walther Gerlach, German physicist who, with Otto Stern, co-discovered spin quantization in a magnetic field (Stern–Gerlach effect), born in Biebrich, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany (d. 1979)
1924 – Georges Charpak, Polish-French physicist who invented and developed subatomic particle detectors (Nobel 1992), born in Paris, France (d. 2010)
1963 – Amber Rudd, British politician, Home Secretary (2016-18), born in London, England
1973 – Les Hill, Australian actor (Underbelly), born in Randwick, Australia

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Famous Deaths

1813 – Carl Stenborg, Swedish composer, dies at 60
1895 – Heinrich von Sybel, German historian (Geschichte des ersten Kreuzzugs), dies at 77
1980 – Patrick Depailler, French Formula 1 driver (b. 1944)
1992 – Chico Alvarez, trumpeteer (Stan Kenton Orchestra), dies of cancer at 72
1996 – Tadeusz Reichstein, Polish/Swiss chemist (Nobel 1950), dies at 99
1999 – Nirad C. Chaudhuri, Indian-born writer (b. 1897)

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Historical Events

1970 – Daniel O’Hagan (19), a Catholic civilian, is shot dead by the British Army during a serious riot in the New Lodge Road area of Belfast, Northern Ireland
1992 – Hungarian swimmer Krisztina Egerszegi earns her 3rd gold medal of the Barcelona Olympics winning 200m backstroke for the 100-200 double along with 400m I/M gold
1994 – Phil Rizzuto (Yanks) and Steve Carlton (Phils) enter the Hall of Fame
2006 – Fidel Castro temporarily hands over power to brother Raúl Castro. This leads to a celebration in Little Havana (La Pequeña Habana in Spanish), Miami, Florida, where many Cuban Americans participated.
2016 – British Open Women’s Golf, Woburn: Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand wins by 3 from Mo Martin and Mirim Lee
2019 – US Federal Reserve cuts interest rates for the first time since 2008 by 0.25%

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Famous Birthdays

1887 – Hans Freyer, German sociologist and philosopher, born in Leipzig, Germany (d. 1969)
1905 – Trenchard Cox, British museum director, born in London (d. 1995)
1929 – José Santamaría, Uruguayan soccer defender (Uruguay 20, Spain 16 caps; Real Madrid), born in Montevideo, Uruguay
1933 – Cees Nooteboom, Dutch writer and journalist (Rituelen), born in The Hague, Netherlands
1969 – Richard Griffith, NFL tight end (Jacksonville Jaguars)
1979 – Jade Kwan, Hong Kong singer, born in Hong Kong

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Famous Deaths

1653 – Thomas Dudley, British colonial governor of Massachusetts, dies at 76
1895 – Richard Morris Hunt, American architect and educator, dies at 67
1977 – Stacy Moskowitz, shot to death by Son of Sam, at 20
1996 – Joan Warburton, Scottish painter, dies at 76
2001 – Friedrich Franz, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (b. 1910)
2012 – Gore Vidal, American author (Myra Breckinridge, Lincoln), dies from pneumonia at 86

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Historical Events

1914 – Austrian-Hungary and Russia proclaim general mobilization
1948 – Professional wrestling premieres on prime-time network TV (DuMont)
1965 – Milwaukee manager Bobby Bragan says his pitchers threw 75 to 80 spitballs in a 9-2 loss to the Giants
1987 – An ANC car bomb directed at the headquarters of the Wits Command in Johannesburg South Africa kills 1 person and injures 68
1988 – Jordanian King Hussein renounces sovereignity over West Bank to PLO
2000 – British Senior Open Men’s Golf, Royal County Down: Irishman Christy O’Connor Jr. successfully defends his title by 2 shots from John Bland of South Africa

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Famous Birthdays

1917 – Eddy Grove, American actor (Dragnet, The Silent Service, Medic), born in NYC, New York (d. 1995)
1928 – Eunice Muñoz, Portuguese actress (Hard Times), born in Amareleja, Portugal
1936 – Ralph Taeger, American actor (Klondike, Acapulco, Hondo), born in Richmond Hill, New York (d. 2015)
1940 – Pat Schroeder, American politician (Rep-D-Colorado, 1973-97), born in Portland, Oregon
1940 – Clive Sinclair, British computer inventor (ZX Spectrum), born in Richmond, Surrey
1966 – Irene Wan, Hong Kong actress, born in Hong Kong

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Famous Deaths

1550 – Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, English politician (b. 1505)
1655 – Sigmund Theophil Staden, German composer, dies at 47
1875 – George Pickett, American Confederate general (b. 1825)
1916 – Albert Neisser, German physician who discovered the bacterias that cause gonorrhea and leprosy, dies of septicemia at 61
1927 – Robert Marquies de Flers, French writer (Monsieur Bretonneau), dies
2007 – Bill Walsh, American Pro Football Hall of Fame coach (San Fransisco 49ers), dies of leukemia at 75

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Historical Events

1014 – Battle of Strumitsa-valley: Byzantine destroys Bulgarian armies
1696 – King Louis XIV of France and Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy sign Peace of Turin, a turning point in the War of the League of Augsburg
1906 – 4th Tour de France won by René Pottier of France
1923 – Albert Einstein speaks on pacifism in Berlin
2001 – British Senior Open Men’s Golf, Royal County Down: Australian Ian Stanley wins in a playoff with Bob Charles of New Zealand
2018 – Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party Hun Sen claims to have won all 125 seats in country’s general election with widespread criticism of a sham vote

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Famous Birthdays

1778 – Carl Borromaus Neuner, German composer, born in Munich, Bavaria (d. 1830)
1849 – Max Nordau, Austrian author and Zionist leader (d. 1923)
1955 – Dave Stevens, American illustrator
1956 – Teddy Atlas, American boxing trainer and commentator
1966 – Richard Steven Horvitz, American comic voiceactor
1979 – Karim Essediri, Tunisian footballer

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Famous Deaths

1856 – Robert Schumann, German composer (Humoresque, Neue Zeitschrift fuer Musik), dies at 46
1973 – Roger Williamson, English racing driver (b. 1948)
1992 – William Mathias, Welsh composer (wrote for 1981 royal wedding), dies at 57
1994 – Dorothy Hodgkin, British chemist who developed protein crystallography, 3rd woman to win a Nobel Prize (1964), dies of a stroke at 84
2000 – Kobie Coetsee, South African Minister of Defense (1993-94) and Minister of Justice (1980-93), dies at 69
2004 – James Hubert “Huby” Heard, American singer-songwriter (The God Squad), dies at 73

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Historical Events

1696 – De Croissy succeeds Le Plectia as French minister of Finance
1862 – Confederate forces defeated at More’s Hill, Missouri
1940 – Radio Orange begins broadcasting from London
1952 – Rogers Hornsby replaces Luke Sewell as Cincinnati Reds manager
2017 – General John Kelly appointed new Chief of Staff by US President Donald Trump
2019 – Evian Championship Women’s Golf, Evian Resort GC: South Korean Ko Jin-young wins her second major title of the season by 2 strokes from Shanshan Feng, Jennifer Kupcho and Kim Hyo-joo

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Famous Birthdays

1910 – Clive Caldwell, Australian fighter pilot who shot down 28.5 aircraft during WWII, born in Lewisham, Australia (d. 1994)
1915 – Charles Hard Townes, American Physicist and inventor (Nobel Prize 1964 for mazer-lazer principle), born in Greenville, South Carolina (d. 2015)
1930 – Jean Roba, Belgian comics author (Boule et Bill), born in Schaerbeek, Belgium (d. 2006)
1931 – Johnny Martin, Australian cricket left-arm chinaman bowler (60’s)
1949 – Randall Wallace, American screenwriter and film producer (Braveheart), born in Jackson, Tennessee
1983 – Juan Guaidó, Venezuelan politician recognized by 54 countries as the President of Venezuela but disputed with Nicolás Maduro, born in La Guaira, Vargas

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Famous Deaths

1794 – Maximilien Robespierre, French revolutionary (President of the National Convention, Member of Committee of Public Safety), executed by guillotine at 36
1940 – Richard Ohlsson, Swedish composer, dies at 66
1967 – Karl W. Richter, American Air Force pilot during Vietnam War (youngest to shoot down a MiG), shot down at 24
1976 – Lucie Mannheim, German singer and actress (39 Steps), dies at 77
1991 – Luis Aravena Munoz, Chilean singer/exiled to Netherlands, dies at 45
2013 – Rita Reys, [Maria Reijs], Dutch jazz singer, dies from a intracranial hemorrhage at 88

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Historical Events

1655 – Jews of New Amsterdam petition for a Jewish cemetery
1920 – 14th Tour de France: Belgian rider Philippe Thys becomes first to win the race 3 times
1931 – Chilean president Carlos Ibáñez forced out
1970 – L Boudreau, Earle Combs, Ford Frick, and Jesse Haines enter Baseball Hall of Fame
1992 – Nelson Mandela says a general strike will go ahead to protest for the removal of South African President F. W. de Klerk from power and for free elections
1999 – Tony Hawk is the first skateboarder to land a “900”

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Famous Birthdays

1667 – Jean Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician, born in Basel, Switzerland (d. 1748)
1879 – Jack Laviolette, Canadian ice hockey player, born in Belleville, Ontario, Canada (d. 1960)
1912 – Igor Markevitch, Russian conductor (Le Paradis Perdu), born in Kiev, Ukraine (d. 1983)
1933 – Nick Reynolds, American folk musician (The Kingston Trio), born in San Diego, California (d. 2008)
1975 – Alex Rodriguez, American MLB shortstop (14-time All Star), born in NYC, New York
1976 – Scott Mason, Australian cricketer, born in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia (d. 2005)

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Famous Deaths

1214 – Eustaes van Machelen, Flemish knight, dies in battle
1968 – Anton van Duinkerken, [Willem J M A Asselbergs], literary, dies
1985 – Smoky Joe Wood, American baseball pitcher (Boston Red Sox), dies at 95
1991 – Pierre Brunet, French figure skater pair (Olympic gold 1928, 32), dies at 89
1994 – Rosa Chacel, Spanish author, dies at 96
2007 – Roland Gaucher, French journalist, dies at 88

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