Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1635 – Sweden and Poland sign ceasefire Treaty of Stuhmsdorf
1908 – Canada appoints a Civil Service Commission, initiating a more equitable system for selecting civil servants
1953 – “Carnival in Flanders” closes at New Century Theater NYC after 6 performances
1961 – NASA civilian pilot Joseph A Walker takes X-15 to 34,840 m
1966 – WCES TV channel 20 in Wrens, GA (PBS) begins broadcasting
1979 – Carl Yastrzemski gets his 3,000th hit off NY Yankee Jim Beattie

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Famous Birthdays

1897 – Irene Joliot-Curie, French physicist, (Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1935), born in Paris, France (d. 1956), daughter of Marie Curie
1901 – Ben Blue, Canadian actor and comedian (Accidental Family, Frank Sinatra Show), born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 1975)
1924 – Howard Curtis Nielson, American politician (Rep-R-UT, 1983-91), born in Richfield, Utah
1957 – Rachel Ward, English-Australian actress (Thorn Birds), born in Cornwell, Oxfordshire, England
1962 – Amy Yasbeck, American actress (Casey Davenport-Wings, Mask), born in Blue Ash, Ohio
1978 – Elisabetta Canalis, Italian model and actress, born in Sassari, Italy

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Famous Deaths

1012 – Guido van Anderlecht, Flemish pilgrim/saint, dies
1369 – Blanche of Lancaster, wife of John of Gaunt, dies possibly of the plague at 24 (age disputed)
1674 – Nicolaas Tulp, Mayor of Amsterdam (1654-71), dies at 80
1923 – Jules Violle, French physicist and inventor, dies at 81
1988 – Lauris Morstad, NATO commander/CEO Corning Fiberglass, dies at 71
1995 – Jeremy Brett [Peter Huggins], English actor (Sherlock Holmes), dies at 61

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Historical Events

1792 – The French Blue gem (later the Hope Diamond) is stolen with other French crown jewels from Royal storehouse in Paris during Reign of Terror
1965 – Beatles’ “Help!,” album goes #1 and stays #1 for 9 weeks
1967 – WUNF TV channel 33 in Asheville, NC (PBS) begins broadcasting
1973 – Chilean President Salvador Allende is deposed in a military coup led by general Augusto Pinochet
2001 – Attempt by passengers and crew of United Airlines Flight 93 to retake control of their hijacked plane from terrorists causes plane to crash in Pennsylvania field killing all 64 people on board
2019 – Water detected for first time on planet outside out solar system, on exoplanet K2-18b 110 light-years away, in findings published in “Nature Astronomy”

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Famous Birthdays

1771 – Mungo Park, Scottish explorer (first westerner to travel the central Niger River in Africa), born in Selkirkshire, Scotland (d. 1806)
1813 – Conrad Feger Jackson, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Alsace Township, Pennsylvania (d. 1862)
1885 – D. H. Lawrence, English poet and writer (Lady Chatterley’s Lover), born in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire (d. 1930)
1916 – Ed Sabol, American filmmaker (NFL Films), born in Atlantic City, New Jersey (d. 2015)
1930 – Saleh Selim, Egyptian football player and 10th president of the Egyptian Al-Ahly Sporting Club, born in Cairo, Egypt (d. 2002)
1935 – Arvo Pärt, Estonian composer, born in Paide, Järva County

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Famous Deaths

1973 – Neem Karoli Baba, Indian guru
1982 – Albert Soboult, French historian, dies at 68
1985 – Andrew C. Thornton II, American drug smuggler (b. 1945)
1993 – Antoine Izmery, Haitian businessman/advisor to pres Aristide, murdered
1999 – Belkis Ayón, Cuban printmaker (collography), commits suicide of at 32
2009 – Gertrude Baines, American supercentenarian and the world’s oldest living person, dies at 115

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Historical Events

1931 – Lord Cecil of British government says War was never so improbable
1949 – “Cabatgata (A Night in Spain)” closes at Broadway NYC after 76 performances
1966 – Neil Diamond has his first Billboard chart success with single “Cherry Cherry”
1985 – U.S. 7th Circuit Court rules Soviet defector Walter Polovchak can’t be forcibly returned to parents’ country if it’s deemed “not in the best interests” of underage defectors
2012 – US Open Men’s Tennis: Andy Murray of Scotland wins his first Grand Slam event; beats defending champion Novak Đoković 7-6, 7-5, 2-6, 3-6, 6-2
2019 – Novelist Margaret Atwood publishes “The Testaments”, her follow-up to “The Handmaid’s Tale”

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Famous Birthdays

1869 – Caro Roma [Carrie Northey], American composer and singer, born in California (d. 1937)
1898 – Bessie Love, American actress (Broadway Melody, Children of Damned), born in Midland, Texas (d. 1986)
1930 – Kenneth Kweku Sinaman Dadzie, Ghanian diplomat (first African Secretary-General of UNCTAD), born in Gold Coast (d. 1995),
1932 – Bo Goldman, American screenwriter (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest), born in New York City
1937 – Alun Pask, Welsh rugby union flanker (26 caps; British Lions 8 caps; Abertillery), born in Blackwood, Monmouthshire (d. 1995)
1944 – Thomas Allen, British operatic baritone singer, born in Seaham Harbour, England

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Famous Deaths

1197 – Henry II of Champagne (b. 1166)
1868 – Franz Anton Adam Stockhausen, German composer and harpist, dies at 79
1916 – Friedrich Gernsheim, German composer, dies at 77
1932 – Percy Fletcher, British composer, dies at 52
1983 – Balthazar Johannes Vorster, Prime Minister of South Africa (1966-77), dies at 67
1999 – Alfredo Kraus, Spanish tenor (b. 1927)

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Historical Events

1967 – Debra Dene Barnes (Kansas), 20, crowned 40th Miss America 1968
1972 – US Open Women’s Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Billie Jean King retains her title; beats Kerry Melville Reid of Australia 6-3, 7-5
1985 – Race riot in Birmingham, England
1993 – Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization exchange letters of mutual recognition
2018 – Arirang Mass Games begins in North Korea to mark country’s 70th anniversary featuring tens of thousands performing
2018 – Swedish General Election: no party wins a majority with far-right Sweden Democrats making gains

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Famous Birthdays

1858 – Benjamin Kidel, English Sudan (Control of the Tropics)
1908 – Cesare Pavese, Italian writer (La belle estate)
1921 – Andrzej Dobrowolski, Polish classical and experimental composer, born in Lwów, Poland (now Ukraine) (d. 1990)
1922 – Hans Dehmelt, German-born American physicist (Nobel Prize 1989), born in Gorlitz (d. 2017)
1938 – Don Hogan Charles, American photographer and first African-American photographer hired by The New York Times, born in NYC, New York (d. 2017)
1942 – Luther Simmons, American RandB singer, songwriter and producer (The Main Ingredient – “Everybody Plays The Fool”), born in New York City (d. 2016)

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Famous Deaths

1902 – Titus AJ van Asch van Wijck, Governor of Suriname (1891-97), dies at 53
1915 – A. G. Spalding, American Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher, manager and executive (NL wins leader 1871–76; co-founder of Spalding sporting goods company), dies at 66
1964 – Charles O’Neill, Canadian composer, dies at 82
1965 – Julian Antonio Carillo-Trujillo, composer, dies at 90
1991 – Joop Zwart, Dutch political activist and resistance fighter, dies at 78
2006 – Gérard Brach, French screenwriter (b. 1927)

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Historical Events

1553 – City of Lichfield, England, founded
1953 – “Carnival in Flanders” opens at New Century Theater NY for 6 performances
1968 – France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
1973 – Hank Aaron sets record of most HRs in 1 league (709)
2015 – Comedian Stephen Colbert debuts as the new host of CBS’s “The Late Show”
2015 – Pope Francis announces moves to streamline the annulment process within the Catholic Church

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Famous Birthdays

1857 – Ida Henrietta Hyde, American physiologist who invented the micro-electrode and the first woman allowed to do research at Harvard Medical School and to be elected to the American Physiology Society, born in Davenport, Iowa (d. 1945)
1912 – Leo Cherne, American economist and commentator (All Star News), born in NYC, New York (d. 1999)
1946 – Dean Daughtry, American rock keyboardist (Atlanta Rhythm Section), born in Kinston, Alabama
1959 – Daler Nazarov, Tajik composer and actor, born in Stalinabad, Tajik SSR
1972 – Phil Laak, Irish-American professional poker player, born in Dublin
1975 – John Thomas, American NBA forward (Boston Celtics), born in Minneapolis, Minnesota

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Famous Deaths

1637 – Robert Fludd, composer, dies at 63
1871 – Etienne-Joseph Soubre, composer, dies at 57
1955 – John de Young, cardinal/archbishop of Utrecht, dies at 69
1969 – Alexandra David-Néel, Belgian-French explorer and writer, dies at 100
1980 – Bruce Dooland, Australian cricket all-rounder (3 Tests; Nottinghamshire; Wisden Cricketer of the Year 1955), dies at 56
1993 – Zaki Naguib Mahmoud, Egyptian philosopher/author/diplomat, dies at 88

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Historical Events

1813 – “Uncle Sam” 1st used to refer to the US, by Troy Post of New York
1923 – Interpol forms in Vienna
1941 – US National Championship Men’s Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: 1939 champion Bobby Riggs beats Frank Kovacs 5-7, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3
1960 – Ljudmila Shevcova runs female olympic record 800m (2:04.3)
1970 – Donald Boyles sets record for highest parachute jump from a bridge, by leaping off of 1,053′ Royal George Bridge in Colorado
2008 – 25th MTV Video Music Awards: Britney Spears and Chris Brown win

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Famous Birthdays

1726 – François-André Danican Philidor, French composer and chess champion, born in Dreux, France (d. 1795)
1864 – Ernest Halliwell, South African cricket wicketkeeper (8 Tests), born in Ealing, England (d. 1919)
1914 – Graeme Bell, Australian pianist and composer, born in Richmond, Victoria, Australia (d. 2012)
1921 – Arthur Ferrante, American pianist and composer (Ferrante and Teicher – Exodus), born in NYC, New York (d. 2009)
1943 – Beverley McLachlin, Canadian jurist (17th Chief Justice of Canada), born in Pincher Creek, Alberta, Canada
1987 – Evan Rachel Wood, American actress (Thirteen), born in Raleigh, North Carolina

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Famous Deaths

1951 – María Montez [Vidal], Dominican actress known as The Queen of Technicolor (Cobra Woman, Arabian Nights), dies of heart seizure at 39
1954 – Bud Fisher, American cartoonist (Mutt and Jeff), dies at 69
1959 – Maurice Duplessis, 16th Premier of Quebec, dies at 69
1962 – Isak Dinesen [Karen Blixen-Finecke], Danish baroness and writer (Out of Africa), dies at 77
1991 – John Crosby, American columnist/detective writer dies at 79
1997 – Mobutu Sese Seko, President of Zaire (1965-97), dies at 66

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Historical Events

1863 – -7] After 59 day siege Confederate troops vacate Fort Wagner SC (1700 casualties)
1876 – Race riot in Charleston, South Carolina
1939 – World War II: The Battle of Barking Creek.
1958 – US performs nuclear test at S Atlantic Ocean
1992 – Noureddine Morceli runs world record 1500m (3:28.86)
2012 – 61 illegal immigrants die after a fishing boat capsizes off the coast of Turkey

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Famous Birthdays

1876 – Willem Adriaan Bonger, Dutch criminologist (Race and Crime), born in Amsterdam (d. 1940)
1908 – Anthony Wagner, Officer of Arms at the College of Arms in London (d. 1995)
1917 – George Mann, English cricketer, born in Byfleet, Surrey, England (d. 2001)
1926 – Claus von Amsberg, husband of Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, born in Hitzacker, Germany (d. 2002)
1955 – Carl E. Walz, American NASA astronaut (STS 51, 65, 79), born in Cleveland, Ohio
1970 – Torrance Small, American NFL wide receiver (New Orleans Saints), born in Tampa, Florida

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Famous Deaths

1780 – William Allen, Mayor of Philadelphia, dies at 76
1962 – Seiichiro Kashio, Japanese tennis player (b. 1892)
1966 – Luigi Perrachio, Italian composer, dies at 83
1997 – Philippe Rossillon, administrator, dies at 66
1999 – René Lecavalier, French Canadian sportscaster (b. 1918)
2019 – Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwean revolutionary, Prime Minister of Zimbabwe (1980-87) and 1st black President of Zimbabwe (1988-2017), dies at 95

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Historical Events

1877 – Southern blacks led by Pap Singleton settle in Kansas
1915 – Anti-war conference in Zimmerwald, Switzerland
1955 – WTTW TV channel 11 in Chicago, IL (PBS) begins broadcasting
1972 – 11 Israeli athletes taken hostage and later killed by Palestinian Black September group at the Munich Olympics
1996 – Following US cruise missile strikes on Iraq, crude oil prices rise as the market speculates when Iraq will begin exporting oil under UN Resolution 986
1997 – Orioles beat Yankes 13-9 in longest 9 inning game

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Famous Birthdays

1809 – Manuel Montt Torres, President of Chile (851-61), born in Petorca, Chile (d. 1880)
1826 – John Wisden, England cricketer (prominent Sussex player), born in Brighton, Sussex, England (d. 1884)
1827 – Goffredo Mameli, Italian poet and writer, born in Genoa, Italy (d. 1849)
1912 – John Cage, American composer (Imaginary Landscape No 1/O’O), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 1992)
1940 – Raquel Welch, American actress and singer (Myra Breckenridge; 1,000,000 BC; 100 Rifles), born in Chicago, Illinois
1954 – Frederick Kempe, American author, journalist, and executive, born in Utah

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Famous Deaths

1910 – Julian Edwards, American composer, dies at 54
1926 – Karl Harrer, German journalist and politician, founding member of the “DAP”, which would become the Nazi Party (b. 1890)
1969 – Mitchell Ayres, orchestra leader (Hollywood Palace), dies at 58
1999 – Katie Webster [Kathyrne Jewel Thorne], American boogie pianist (The Swamp Boogie Queen), dies of a heart attack at 63
2015 – [Frederick] Dennis Greene, American singer (Sha Na Na), dies from cancer at 66
2017 – Holger Czukay [Holger Schüring], German musician (Can), dies at 79

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Historical Events

1899 – 8.3 earthquake shakes Yakutat Bay Alaska
1932 – PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Keller GC: Olin Dutra wins the first of 2 major titles, beating Frank Walsh, 4 and 3
1947 – Champion Middlesex cricket batsman Denis Compton scores 101 for South of England in tour match defeat to South Africa at Lord’s; his record 17th century of the English season
1978 – Jerry Lewis’ 13th Muscular Dystrophy telethon raises $29,074,405
1979 – Iran army conquers Baneh
1981 – Newscaster David Brinkley is released by NBC

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Famous Birthdays

1932 – Bevo Francis, American basketball player (college basketball record scorer), born in Hammondsville, Ohio (d. 2015)
1951 – Judith Ivey, American actress (Lady in Red, Hello Again), born in El Paso, Texas
1962 – Ulla Tørnæs, Danish politician, born in Esbjerg, Denmark
1963 – John Vanbiesbrouck, American NHL goalie (Team USA, Florida), born in Detroit, Michigan
1966 – Bireli Lagrene, French jazz guitarist, born in Alsace, France
1979 – Kristina Krepela, Croatian actress, born in Zagreb, Croatia

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Famous Deaths

799 – Musa al-Kazim, Shia Imam, dies at 53
1960 – Alfred E Green, director (Copacabana), dies after long illness at 71
1979 – Canuplin, Filipino magician and bodabil entertainer (b. 1904)
1994 – Laurens van Deenen, Dutch biochemist, dies at 66
1997 – Aldo Rossi, Italian architect (b. 1931)
2009 – Iain Cuthbertson, Scottish actor (Guilty, Scandal, Rep, Danger UXB), dies at 79

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Historical Events

1940 – Sicherheits police bans Free masons, Rotary and Red Cross
1964 – 2nd incident that year of race riots in Singapore between Chinese and Malay, 13 people killed, 106 injured
1966 – 24th World SF Convention honors Gene Roddenberry
2001 – In just his 11th start, St. Louis Cardinals’ rookie pitcher Bud Smith no-hits the San Diego Padres, 4-0
2007 – Panama Canal’s “Third Set of Locks” expansion project begins with a huge initial explosion under Paraíso Hill that is watched by thousands of people
2017 – Governor of California Jerry Brown issues state of emergency due to La Tuna brush fire near Los Angeles

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Famous Birthdays

1902 – Mantan Moreland, American actor and comedian (Charlie Chan, Spirit of Youth), born in Monroe, Louisiana (d. 1973)
1923 – Fred Hawkins, American golfer (US Masters 1958 runner-up), born in Antioch, Illinois (d. 2014)
1923 – Herbert Binkert, German soccer striker (12 caps Saarland; FC Saarbrücken), born in Karlsruhe, Germany (d. 2020)
1935 – Dorothy Masuka, Zimbabwe-born South African jazz singer and activist, born in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia (d. 2019)
1956 – Hans-Georg Beyer, East German team handball player (Olympic gold 1980), born in Eisenhüttenstadt, Germany
1988 – Carla Suárez Navarro, Spanish tennis player (2 WTA, 6 ITF titles), born in Las Palmas, Spain

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Famous Deaths

1871 – Vaclav Horak, Czech composer, dies at 71
1962 – E. E. Cummings, American poet (Tulips and Chimneys), dies at 67
1985 – John Herbert McDowell, American composer for ballet, TV and the stage, dies at 58
2000 – Edward Anhalt, American screenwriter (Escape to Athena), dies at 86
2006 – Annemarie Wendl, German actress (Lindenstraße, Der Seitensprung), dies at 91
2007 – Carter Albrecht, American musician, dies in a gun accident at 34

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