Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1718 – Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich of Russia, Peter the Great’s son, mysteriously dies after being sentenced to death by his father for plotting against him.
1911 – Nieuport sets an aircraft speed record of 83 mph (133 kph)
1934 – Germany and Poland sign non-aggression treaty
1950 – Pres Gottwald of Czechoslovakia confirms Milada Horakova’s death sentence
1983 – “Show Boat” closes at Uris Theater NYC after 73 performances
1991 – Amy Elizabeth Goodman, of California, crowned America’s Junior Miss

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Famous Birthdays

1760 – Johan I Jozef, Monarch of Liechtenstein and fieldmarshal, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1836)
1902 – Hugues Cuénod, Swiss tenor and musical educator, born in Corseaux-sur-Vevey, Switzerland (d. 2010)
1909 – Betty Askwith, British writer and biographer (d. 1995)
1919 – Lord Rawlinson, British attorney general (Ewell) (d. 2006)
1956 – Azhar Cachalia, Scottish-South African leader (United Democratic Front), born in Scotland
1973 – Aaron Jackson, American actor (Mark Winkle-California Dreams), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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Famous Deaths

1657 – Tobias Michael, German composer, dies at 65
1796 – David Rittenhouse, American astronomer, inventor, and mathematician, dies at 64
1926 – Christina Goedvolk, wife of Henry Jut, dies
1958 – Martinus Ballings, Flemish jesuit/author (Vocation), dies at 93
1987 – Glen Hall, South African cricketer (Test for South Africa 1965), commits suicide at 49
2010 – Sergio Vega, Mexican Banda singer (b.1969)

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Historical Events

1864 – Horse tramway at the Hague, opens
1961 – Baltimore and California use a record 16 pitchers in a game (8 each) in 14 inns
1977 – Roy C Sullivan of Virginia is struck by lightning for 7th time!
1983 – Udo Beyer of East Germany sets record for shot put, 22.22 m
1989 – Mets’ defense does not record a single assist in a 5-1 win over Phils
2000 – WLAF World Bowl 8, Waldstadion, Frankfurt: Rhein Fire beats Scottish Claymores, 13-10

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Famous Birthdays

1913 – Cyril Fletcher, British comedian, born in Watford, Hertfordshire, England (d. 2005)
1933 – Michelangelo Pistoletto, Italian artist (glass painter), born in Biella, Italy
1936 – B. J. Habibie, 3rd President of Indonesia (1998-99) who liberalized Indonesia’s press and political party laws, born in Parepare, South Sulawesi, Dutch East Indies (d. 2019)
1956 – Bongiwe (Bongi) Dhlomo-Mautloa, South African artist, born in Vryheid, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
1976 – Dubravka Vukotić, Montenegrin actress, born in Montenegro, Yugoslavia
1979 – La La Anthony , American TV personality (Think Like a Man, Power), born in Brooklyn, New York

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Famous Deaths

1686 – Simon Ushakov, Russian painter (b. 1626)
1861 – Abdulmejid I, 31st Sultan of Ottoman Empire, dies at 38
1971 – Charles Vildrac, French author, poet and playwright (La Brouille, Michel Auclair, Notes sur la technique poétique), dies at 88
1978 – Hussein al-Ghasjmi, president of North-Yemen, murdered
2007 – J. Fred Duckett, American sports announcer and teacher, dies at 74
2010 – Alan Plater, English playwright (b. 1935)

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Historical Events

1322 – Jews are expelled from France for 3rd time
1897 – Hail injures 26 in Topeka, Kansas
1949 – A M de Jong’s murderer, Ton van Gog, arrested in Scheveningen, Netherlands
1957 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules that obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment in Roth v. United States
1970 – Reds play final game at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field, beat Giants 5-4
2016 – NHL Draft: ZSC Lions (NLA) center Auston Matthews first pick by Toronto Maple Leafs

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Famous Birthdays

1535 – Joanna of Austria, Princess of Portugal, born in Madrid (d. 1573)
1850 – Horatio Kitchener, British General who commanded British forces during the Battle of Omdurman (Sudan) and the Second Boer War who became British Secretary of State for War during WWI (1914-16), born in Ballylongford, County Kerry, Ireland (d. 1916)
1942 – Michele Lee, American actress and singer (Karen-Knots Landing, Love Bug), born in Los Angeles, California
1973 – Ji Jin Hee, South Korean actor
1986 – Kaitlin Cullum, actress (Libby Kelly-Grace Under Fire), born in Los Angeles, California
1986 – Solange Knowles, American singer (Destiny’s Child), born in Houston, Texas

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Famous Deaths

1766 – Adrien-Maurice, 3rd duc de Noailles, French soldier (b. 1678)
1908 – Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th US President (1885-89, 93-97), dies at 71
1984 – William Keighley, American director (The Man who came to Dinner), dies of a stroke at 94
1991 – Martin Rosenblatt, actor (Splitz, Annie Hall, NY Stories), dies at 74
1992 – Tony LeMans, singer/songwriter, dies in a car crash at 29
2006 – Patsy Ramsey, mother of JonBenét Ramsey (b. 1956)

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Historical Events

1724 – Russia and Turkey sign Treaty of Constantinople
1940 – RAF bombs Schiphol, Netherlands
1962 – Larry Doby retires from Cleveland Indians to play in Japan
1967 – Jim Ryun sets mile record (3:51.1, Bakersfield CA)
1972 – US President Nixon and his Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman agree to use CIA to cover up Watergate
1993 – Lorena Gallo Bobbitt amputates husband’s John Wayne Bobbitt’s penis

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Famous Birthdays

1887 – John Finley Williamson, conductor (Westminster Choir), born in Canton, Ohio
1907 – Dercy Gonçalves, Brazilian comedienne (d. 2008)
1916 – Len Hutton, cricketer (England opener, 364 v Australia The Oval 1938)
1923 – George Russell, American jazz pianist (The Jazz Workshop) born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 2009)
1978 – Memphis Bleek, American rapper
1980 – Francesca Schiavone, Italian tennis player (French Open 2010), born in Milan, Italy

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Famous Deaths

1075 – Theoduinus, Beiers prince-bishop of Liege, dies
1801 – Bendix Friedrich Zinck, German composer, dies at 58
1988 – M Gregor-Dellin, writer, dies
1996 – George Papandreou, Prime Minister of Greece (1981-89, 1993-96), dies at 76
2001 – Yvonne Dionne, one of the Canadian Dionne quintuplets (b. 1934)
2015 – Richard “Dick” Van Patten, American actor, businessman, and animal welfare advocate (Tom Bradford in 8 is Enough), dies at 86

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Historical Events

816 – Pope Stephen IV, [V] elected to succeed Leo III
1825 – British Parliament abolishes feudalism and the seigneurial system in British North America
1942 – European broadcast première of Dmitri Shostakovich’s 7th Symphony in London conducted by Sir Henry J. Wood and the London Philharmonic Orchestra
1985 – “Grind” closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 79 performances
1989 – Business Day reports that SA is about to test an intermediate range ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads
2015 – JAMA Internal Medical Journal announces obese Americans now outnumber those just overweight

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Famous Birthdays

1680 – Ebenezer Erskine, Scottish religious dissenter (d. 1754)
1884 – James Rector, American athlete (d. 1949)
1948 – Sue Roberts, American golfer (4 LPGA titles), born in Oak Park, Illinois
1966 – Euan Anstruther-Gough-Calthorpe, English baron/multi-millionaire
1970 – Steven Page, Canadian singer (Barenaked Ladies)
1974 – Donald Faison, American actor

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Famous Deaths

1906 – Fritz Schaudinn, German zoologist (examined syphilis), dies at 34
1950 – Julio Fonseca, Costa Rican composer, dies at 65
1959 – Hermann Brill, German politician (b. 1895)
1961 – Queen Maria of Yugoslavia [Maria of Romania], Queen consort of Yugoslavia (1922-34), dies at 61
1967 – Adrian Grigor’yevich Shaposhnikov, composer, dies at 79
1991 – Cameron Miller, actor (Portrait of Claire), dies at 82

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Historical Events

1805 – Great Stone Face, or the Profile found in New Hampshire
1919 – Bauer forms German government
1921 – The UK, the Dominions, and India, become the British Commonwealth of Nations
1940 – The first successful west-to-east navigation of Northwest Passage begins at Vancouver, British Columbia
1971 – International Court of Justice asks South Africa to pull out of Namibia
1986 – “Living on Video” by Trans-X peaks at #61

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Famous Birthdays

1920 – Helen Cattanach, British Army Nursing Service (QARANC), born in Knockando, Morayshire, Scotland (d.1994)
1939 – Rubén Berríos, Puerto Rican politician, born in Aibonito, Puerto Rico
1954 – Robert Menasse, Austrian writer (Die Vertreibung aus der Hölle), born in Vienna
1972 – Billy Milner, NFL tackle (Miami Dolphins)
1978 – Jack Guzman, American actor
1985 – Lana Del Rey, American singer-songwriter (Born to Die, Ultraviolence), and model (HandM), born in NYC, New York

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Famous Deaths

756 – Emperor Shōmu, Emperor of Japan (724-749), dies at 55 or 56
1582 – Oda Nobunaga, Japanese warlord (b. 1534)
1865 – Frances Adeline Seward, wife of United States Secretary of State William H. Seward (b. 1824)
1893 – Leland Stanford, American business tycoon (Southern Pacific Railroad), 8th Governor of California and founder of Stanford University, dies of heart failure at 69
1940 – Hendrik Marsman, Dutch poet/writer/critic, drowns at 40
2001 – Souad Hosni, Egyptian actress (b. 1942)

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Historical Events

1819 – 320 ton Savannah becomes 1st steamship to cross any ocean (Atlantic)
1912 – NY Giants lead Bost Braves 14-2 into 9th, Giants win 21-12
1941 – German U-203 fails on torpedo attack on US battleship Texas
1966 – Sheila Scott completes 1st round-the-world solo flight by a woman
1977 – Menachem Begin forms Israeli government
1994 – US Open Men’s Golf, Oakmont CC: Ernie Els of South Africa wins on the second sudden-death hole to defeat Loren Roberts, after Colin Montgomerie was eliminated in an 18-hole playoff

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Famous Birthdays

1634 – Charles Emmanuel II, Duke of Savoy (1638-75), born in Turin, Italy (d. 1675)
1819 – Jacques Offenbach, German-French composer (Tales of Hoffmann), born in Cologne, Germany (d. 1880)
1868 – Helen Miller Shepard, American philanthropist who established Hall of Fame, born in Manhattan, New York (d. 1938)
1915 – Dick Reynolds, Australian rules footballer and coach (d. 2002)
1916 – William Balchin, English geographer, born in Aldershot, England (d. 2007)
1972 – Paras Mhambrey, Indian cricket pace bowler (Test v England 1996)

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Famous Deaths

1917 – James Mason Crafts, American chemist (Friedel-Crafts alkylation synthesis), dies at 78
1941 – [Stephanie] Hélène Swarth, Dutch poet (“Lonely flowers”), dies at 81
1974 – Horace Lindrum, Australian snooker and billiards player, dies at 62
1977 – Abner Biberman, American director and actor (His Girl Friday, The Leopard Man), dies at 68
1996 – Irving Krick, meteorologist, dies at 89
2007 – Trevor Henry, New Zealand Justice (b. 1902)

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Historical Events

1863 – Battle at Middleburg Virginia (100+ casualties)
1913 – Natives Land Act, Act No 27, passed in South Africa: confines Africans to hopelessly overcrowded reserves and deprives them of rights to purchase land outside the native reserves
1917 – The British Royal Family, which has had strong German ties since George I, renounces its German names and titles and adopts the name of Windsor
1938 – Paul Waner (Pirates) homers off Pete Sivess (Phillies) in DH
1978 – “Best Little Whorehouse…” opens at 46th St NYC for 1577 performances
2009 – “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” directed by Michael Bay and starring Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox is released

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Famous Birthdays

1905 – George Voskovec [Jirí Wachsmann], Czech actor (12 Angry Men, Somewhere in Time), born in Sázava, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary (d. 1981)
1942 – Willie Frazier, AFL/NFL tight end (Houston Oilers), born in El Dorado, Arkansas (d. 2013)
1944 – Chico Buarque, Brazilian musician
1965 – Luc Donckerwolke, Belgian car designer
1974 – Doug Mientkiewicz, American baseball player
1975 – Brandon Mitchell, defensive end (New England Patriots)

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Famous Deaths

1312 – Piers Gaveston, Earl of Cornwall, beheaded
1762 – Johann Ernst Eberlin, German composer, dies at 60
1844 – Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, French naturalist, dies at 72
1939 – Grace Abbott, social worker (US Children Bureau), dies at 60
1996 – Henry Ralph Carr, soldier, dies at 82
1997 – Bobby Helms [Robert Lee Helms], American country music singer (Jingle Bell Rock), dies at 63

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Historical Events

1898 – 1st amusement pier opens in Atlantic City, New Jersey
1938 – Babe Ruth is signed as a Dodgers coach for the rest of the season
1947 – Cincinnati Red Ewell Blackwell no-hits Boston Braves, 6-0
1959 – New York City premiere of the film version of Kathryn Hulme’s “The Nun’s Story”
1961 – KBMT TV channel 12 in Beaumont, TX (ABC) begins broadcasting
1999 – Hindi film “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam” premieres directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, starring Salman Khan, Ajay Devgn and Aishwarya Rai

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Famous Birthdays

1517 – Emperor Ōgimachi, 106th Emperor of Japan (d. 1593)
1868 – Miklos Horthy von Nagybanya, Hungarian admiral/regent (1910-44)
1927 – Simeon Pironkov, Bulgarian composer, born in Lom, Bulgaria (d. 2000)
1948 – Éva Marton, Hungarian operatic soprano
1952 – Carol Kane, actress (Dog Day Afternoon, Simka-Taxi), born in Cleveland, Ohio
1991 – Willa Holland, American actress (Arrow), born in Los Angeles, California

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Famous Deaths

1821 – Charles Hague, English composer, dies at 52
1973 – Roger Delgado, English actor (Doctor Who, Agent 8 3/4, Hot Enough for June), dies in a road accident at 55
1981 – Richard Goolden, British actor (Two Days to Live, School for Husbands), dies at 86
1989 – I. F. Stone, American journalist (b. 1907)
2010 – José Saramago, Portuguese writer and Nobel laureate, dies of leukemia at 87
2011 – Frederick Chiluba, 2nd President of Zambia (1991-2001), dies at 68

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Historical Events

1462 – Vlad III the Impaler attempts to assassinate Mehmed II (The Night Attack) forcing him to retreat from Wallachia
1631 – Mumtaz Mahal dies during childbirth. Her husband, Mughal emperor Shah Jahan I, then spends more than 20 years building her tomb, the Taj Mahal
1906 – International Lawn Tennis Challenge, Wimbledon: Laurence Doherty and Reginald Doherty beat Raymond Little and Holcombe Ward 3-6, 11-9, 9-7, 6-1 to give British Isles an unassailable 3-0 lead over US (ends 5-0)
1944 – Iceland dissolves its union with Denmark and declares itself a Republic
2017 – Collision at sea between U.S.S. Fitzgerald and ACX Crystal, a Philippine cargo ship kills 7 US sailors in Japanese waters
2018 – US Open Men’s Golf, Shinnecock Hills GC: Brooks Koepka wins by 1 stroke from Tommy Fleetwood for first back-to-back Open titles since 1988-89 (Curtis Strange)

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Famous Birthdays

1902 – Alec Hurwood, Australian cricketer (Australian off-spinner v WI 1930-31), born in Kangaroo Point, Queensland, Australia (d. 1982)
1908 – Enrique Peralta Azurdia, Colonel and military President of Guatemala (1963-66), born in Guatemala City (d. 1997)
1919 – Galina Ustvolskaya, Russian composer, born in Petrograd, Russia (d. 2006)
1948 – Dave Concepción, Venezuelan baseball all star shortstop (Cincinnati Reds), born in Ocumare de la Costa, Venezuela
1971 – Tripp Schwenk, American 100m/200m backstroke (Olympic silver 1996), born in Sarasota, Florida
1985 – Marcos Baghdatis, Cypriot professional tennis player

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Famous Deaths

1813 – Charles Middleton, 1st Baron Barham, English sailor and politician, dies at 86
1957 – Dorothy M. Richardson, English novelist (Pilgrimage), dies at 84
1959 – Abdul Mouse, Indonesian nationalist foreman/author, dies at about 68
1981 – Richard O’Connor, British general (b. 1889)
2007 – Gianfranco Ferrè, Italian fashion designer (b. 1944)
2015 – John David Crow, American College Football Hall of Fame back and tight end (Heisman Trophy 1957, Texas A and M; Pro Bowl 1959, 60, 62, 65; St. Louis Cardinals), dies at 79

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