Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1798 – First bank robbery in the US: Bank of Pennsylvania robbed of $162,821 at Carpenter’s Hall, Philadelphia
1937 – US Housing Authority created by National Housing Act
1940 – Great Smoky Mountains National Park dedicated
1971 – Teenage debutants Chris Evert and Jimmy Connors win their first matches at the US Open Tennis Championships at Forest Hills
1990 – “Grapes of Wrath” closes at Cort Theater NYC after 188 performances
1996 – Jerry Lewis’ 31st Muscular Dystrophy telethon raises $49,200,000

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Famous Birthdays

1837 – James Harrison Wilson, American topographic engineer and Major General (Union Army), born in Shawneetown, Illinois (d. 1925)
1901 – Adolph Rupp, American college basketball coach (d. 1977)
1925 – Ronnie Stevens, actor (Rodney-Dick and Duchess), born in London, England
1927 – Tzvi Avni, Israeli composer, born in Saarbrücken, Germany
1953 – John Zorn, American musician
1980 – Dany Sabourin, French Canadian Goaltender in the National Hockey League

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Famous Deaths

1937 – Esther de Farmer-of Rich, actress (Kniertje-On hope of blessing), dies
1967 – Francis Ouimet, American golfer (US Open 1913, US Amateur 1914, 31), dies at 74
1968 – Ernest Claes, Belgian author (The White), dies at 82
1981 – Tadeusz Baird, Polish composer (Giocosa), dies at 53
1985 – Jay Youngblood, American professional wrestler
2012 – Mark Abrahamian, guitarist (Starship), dies of a heart attack at 46

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Historical Events

1914 – The last passenger pigeon, a female named Martha, dies in captivity in the Cincinnati Zoo
1971 – Australian John Newcombe becomes 1st male top-seed to lose in US Open 1st round when beaten by eventual finalist Jan Kodeš 6-2, 6-7, 6-7, 3,-6
1975 – All political parties forbidden in Bangladesh
2006 – The United States men’s basketball team is upset at the World Basketball Championships in Saitama, Japan, as the hot-shooting Greece pulls off a 101-95 semi final victory
2007 – Tyson Gay helps US win the men’s 4 x 100m relay at the world track and field championships in Osaka, Japan to join Carl Lewis and Maurice Greene as the only men to win 3 gold medals at one world meet
2019 – Co-founder and CEO of Twitter Jack Dorsey has his Twitter account hacked

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Famous Birthdays

1888 – Andrija Štampar, Croatian physician (d. 1958)
1945 – Mustafa Balel, Turkish writer
1958 – Armi Aavikko, Finnish singer (d. 2002)
1971 – Ricardo Antonio Chavira, American actor
1977 – David Albelda, Spanish footballer
1986 – Gaël Monfils, French tennis player

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Famous Deaths

1671 – Hugues de Lionne, Marquess de Berny, French ambassador to Rome, dies at 59
1912 – Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, African-British composer (Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast), dies at 37
1979 – Doris Kenyon, American silent screen actress (Alexander Hamilton), dies at 81
1983 – Henry “Scoop” Jackson, (Sen-D-Wash), dies at 71
2006 – Bob O’Connor, American politician (58th Mayor of Pittsburgh), dies at 61
2019 – Tom Collins, Canadian ice skating promoter (Champions on Ice), dies from stroke complications at 88

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Historical Events

1944 – Soviet and Romanian troops march into Bucharest
1954 – Cincinnati 1st baseman Ted Kluszewski hits 2 HRs in a 9-3 loss v Phillies; 1st Redleg to ever hit 40 MLB HRs, en route to season total 49
1968 – 68th US Golf Amateur Championship won by Bruce Fleisher
1972 – Australian swimmer Gail Neall with a world record 5:02.97 wins the 400m individual medley gold medal at the Munich Olympics
1992 – 44th Emmy Awards: Northern Exposure (best drama and drama writing),Christopher Lloyd (Road To Avalonlea) and Dana Delany (China Beach) win
1997 – Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a car crash in a road tunnel in Paris

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Famous Birthdays

1828 – George Leonard Andrews, American professor, civil engineer, and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Bridgewater, Massachusetts (d. 1899)
1931 – Noble Willingham, American actor (Walker, Texas Ranger, The Corndog Man), born in Mineola, Texas (d. 2004)
1941 – Emanuel Nunes, composer
1961 – David Chastain, heavy metal rocker (Chastain-Rule of Wasteland)
1970 – Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of Jordan, born in Kuwait City
1986 – Feng Tianwei, Singaporean table tennis player

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Famous Deaths

1590 – Floris Thin, politician/land advocate of Utrecht, dies
1741 – Johann Gottlieb Heineccius, German jurist, dies at 59
1862 – George William Taylor, US Union brigadier general, dies in battle
1979 – Sally Rand, American burlesque dancer, vedette and actress known for her ostrich feather fan and balloon bubble dances, dies at 75
1995 – David Richard Holloway, literary Editor, dies at 71
2007 – Karloff Lagarde, Mexican professional wrestler, dies at 79

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Historical Events

1590 – Tokugawa Ieyasu enters Edo Castle (Traditional Japanese date: August 1, 1590)
1860 – 1st British tram opens (Birkenhead)
1949 – Roly Jenkins (Worcs v Surrey) takes his 2nd hat-trick of the game
1957 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1965 – Section of Allalin glacier wipes out construction site at Mattmark Dam near Saas-Fee, Switzerland
1988 – France performs nuclear test

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Famous Birthdays

1818 – Alexander H. Rice, American businessman and politician, 30th Governor of Massachusetts (1876-78), born in Newton, Massachusetts (d. 1895)
1948 – Lewis Black, American stand-up comedian (Lewis Black’s Root of All Evil), born in Washington, D.C.
1977 – Elden Henson, American actor (Daredevil), born in Rockville, Maryland
1979 – Juan Ignacio Chela, Argentine tennis player, born in Ciudad Evita, Argentina
1983 – Gustavo Eberto, Argentine footballer, born in Paso de los Libres, Argentina (d. 2007)
1983 – Jonne Aaron, Finnish vocalist of the band Negative, born in Tampere, Finland

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Famous Deaths

1950 – Ralph Hancock, Welsh garden designer (Rockefeller Center), dies at 57
1963 – Guy Burgess, English-born Soviet spy, dies of acute liver failure at 52
1991 – Jean Tinguely, Swiss sculptor artist (moving objects), dies at 66
1991 – Hans Koetsier, Dutch sculptor artist (KLM-Schiphol), dies at 61
1999 – Raymond Poïvet, French comics artist (b. 1910)
2012 – Chris Lighty, music executive and manager (Violator), dies of a gunshot wound at 44

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Historical Events

1655 – Warsaw falls without resistance to a small force under the command of Charles X Gustav of Sweden during The Deluge.
1756 – England and France meet in war
1916 – Congress creates US Naval Reserve
1953 – KHSL TV channel 12 in Chico, CA (CBS) begins broadcasting
1965 – Willie Mays sets NL record for HRs in a month with his 17th of August
2014 – Riots break out in Guinea following rumours that health workers are deliberately transmitting the Ebola virus to locals

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Famous Birthdays

1632 – John Locke, English empiricist philosopher; influential Enlightenment thinker and “Father of Liberalism” (Two Treatises of Government), born in Wrington, England (d. 1704)
1756 – Jan Śniadecki, Polish mathematician and astronomer, born in Żnin, Poland (d. 1830)
1926 – Elizabeth “Betty” Lynn, American actress (The Andy Griffith Show), born in Kansas City, Missouri
1957 – Pim Kops, Dutch rock musician (Dike, Bloedend Heart)
1969 – Joe Swail, Northern Irish snooker player, born in Belfast, United Kingdom
1981 – Jay Ryan (Jay Bunyan), New Zealand actor, born in Auckland, New Zealand

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Famous Deaths

1758 – Stepan F graaf Apraksin, Russian general-fieldmarshal, dies at 56
1880 – Paul Octave Hébert, American Brigadier General and 14th Governor of Louisiana, dies at 61
1960 – Alexander Gauge, British actor (The Adventures of Robin Hood), dies at 46
1976 – Kazi Nazrul Islam, Bengali poet, musician, revolutionary and philosopher, dies at 77
1989 – Peter Scott, British naturalist and explorer, dies at 79
2007 – Pierre Messmer, French politician and Prime Minister (b. 1916)

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Historical Events

1914 – Battle of Helgoland: British fleet beats German, 1,100 killed
1941 – 8th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: Chicago Bears 37, All-Stars 13 (98,203)
1963 – Evergreen Point Floating Bridge connecting Seattle and Bellevue opens
1977 – NY Yankee Ron Guidry faces just 28 men and beats Texas Rangers 1-0
1993 – Dam breaks in Qinghai West China, 223 killed
2017 – North Korea launches missile that flies over Japan, the country’s J-Alert warning system warns people to take cover

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Famous Birthdays

865 – Rhazes [Abū Bakr Muḥammad ibn Zakariyyāʾ al-Rāzī], Persian physician, born in Ray, Persia (d. 925)
1901 – Cees Kelk, Dutch writer (Dance of Young Feet), born in Amsterdam (d. 1981)
1924 – Margaret O’Rene “Peggy” Ryan, American dancer and actress (Hawaii Five-0), born in Long Beach, California (d. 2004)
1940 – Nik Turner, English musician (Hawkwind), born in Oxford, Oxfordshire, England
1973 – Matthew John Armstrong, American actor (American Dreams), born in Chicago, Illinois
1982 – Thiago Motta, Brazilian footballer, born in São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil

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Famous Deaths

1947 – Manolete [Manuel Laureano Rodríguez Sánchez], Spanish bullfighter, dies at 30
1967 – Bruce Smith, American College Football Hall of Fame halfback (Heisman Trophy 1941, U of Minnesota; NFL: Green Bay Packers), dies of cancer at 47
1996 – Lynda Carr, educationist, dies at 50
2005 – Esther Szekeres, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1910)
2013 – Rob du Bois, Dutch composer, dies at 79
2017 – Bobby Boyd, American NFL cornerback (5 × All-Pro 1964–1968; NFL interceptions leader 1965; Baltimore Colts), dies of bladder cancer at 79

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Historical Events

1610 – Polish King Wladyslaw crowned king of Russia
1901 – US National Championship Men’s Tennis, Newport, RI: William Larned beats Beals Wright 6-2, 6-8, 6-4, 6-4 for the first of 7 US singles titles
1909 – Jack Chesbro’s final Highlander game
1958 – USSR launches Sputnik 3 with two dogs aboard
1984 – US President Ronald Reagan announces ‘Teacher in Space’ project
1997 – 54th Venice Film Festival: “Hana-bi” directed by Takeshi Kitano wins Golden Lion

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Famous Birthdays

1865 – James Henry Breasted, American Egyptologist and anthropologist, born in Rockford, Illinois (d. 1935)
1932 – Francois Glorieux, composer
1964 – Frankie Thorn, American actress
1968 – Emanual Davis, NBA guard (Houston Rockets)
1970 – Jeff Kenna, Irish footballer
1977 – Sarah Chalke, Canadian American actress (Roseanne, Scrubs), born in Ottawa, Ontario

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Famous Deaths

1521 – Josquin Des Prez, composer, dies
1651 – Jacob A Backer, painter, dies at about 43
1971 – Jim Turnesa, American golfer (PGA C’ship 1952; Ryder Cup 1953), dies of lung cancer at 58
1999 – Hélder Câmara, Brazilian Roman Catholic archbishop (b. 1909)
2003 – Jinx Falkenburg [Eugenia], American actress and well-known US cover-girl model throughout 1930s-40s, dies at 84
2007 – Driss Basri, Moroccan politician (Interior Minister 1979-99), dies at 68

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Historical Events

1939 – Croatia gets autonomous status
1970 – Minister of Home Affairs Robert Porter resigns from the Stormont government (North Ireland parliament)
1972 – Leo Durocher replaces Harry Walker as manager of Astros
1984 – Tatyana Kazankina of USSR sets 3k woman record (8:22.62) in Leningrad
2008 – Russia unilaterally recognizes the independence of the former Georgian breakaway republics Abkhazia and South Ossetia
2012 – A Legionella outbreak in Quebec City, Canada, kills 8 and infects 104

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Famous Birthdays

1884 – Earl Biggers, author (“Charlie Chan” detective series)
1914 – Julio Cortázar, Argentine writer (Blow-Up, Underground Game), born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1984)
1919 – Ronald “Ronny” Graham, American actor, director, composer, lyricist, and writer (Bob Crane Show, Chico and the Man), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1925 – Alain Peyrefitte, French politician and writer (d. 1999)
1944 – Richard A W G, English prince/duke of Gloucester
1946 – Alison Steadman, actress (Life is Sweet), born in Liverpool, England

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Famous Deaths

1712 – Sebastian Anton Scherer, German composer, dies at 80
1723 – Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch microscopist who was the first to observe bacteria and protozoa and naturalist (Philosophical Transactions), dies at 90
1946 – Jeanie MacPherson, American actress and screenwriter (b. 1887)
1971 – Francesco Santoliquido, Italian composer, dies at 88
1980 – Rosa Albach-Retty, German actress (b. 1874)
2011 – George Band, British mountaineer (b. 1929)

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Historical Events

1917 – US National Championship Men’s Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Robert Lindley Murray beats Nathaniel W. Niles 5-7, 8-6, 6-3, 6-3 for first of 2 straight US singles titles
1920 – Ethelda Bleibtrey leads an American medal sweep of the Antwerp Olympics women’s 100m freestyle with a world record swim of 1:13.6
1932 – Amelia Earhart completes transcontinental flight
1991 – Norway and Denmark recognize independence of former USSR Baltic republics
1997 – Egon Krenz, the former East German leader, is convicted of a shoot-to-kill Berlin Wall policy.
2012 – 330 people are killed as a result of conflict in the Syrian civil war

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Famous Birthdays

1868 – Nikolaos Levidis, Greek shooter, born in Corfu Island, Greece (d. 1942)
1893 – Henry Trendley Dean, American dental researcher, born in East St. Louis, Illinois (d. 1962)
1944 – Pat Martino, American jazz guitarist (2004 Guitar Player of the Year, Down Beat), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1949 – John Savage, American actor (The Deer Hunter, Maria’s Lovers), born in Old Bethpage, New York
1965 – Nate Odomes, NFL cornerback (Seattle Seahawks)
1983 – James Rossiter, British racing driver

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Famous Deaths

471 – Gennadius I, Patriarch of Constantinople (b. 458)
882 – Louis III, King of France (879-82), dies at 19
1792 – Jacques Cazotte, French writer (b. 1719)
1984 – Andy Varipapa, American ten-pin bowler (BPAA All-Star champion 1947-48), dies at 93
1995 – R B Hudmon, RandB/Soul Singer, dies at 41
2008 – Kevin Duckworth, American basketball center (NBA All Star 1989, 91; Portland Trail Blazers), dies of heart failure at 44

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Historical Events

1391 – Jews of Palma, Mallorca, massacred
1908 – Tommy Burns KOs Bill Squires in 13 for heavyweight boxing title
1936 – Australian Antarctic Territory created
1982 – KCs’ John Wathan steals 31st en route to 36 base for catcher’s record
2015 – Physicist Stephen Hawking presents a new theory on black holes at a lecture at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm
2019 – US adventurer Victor Vescovo is the first person to visit the deepest point of every ocean when he reaches Molloy Hole, in the Arctic

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Famous Birthdays

1198 – King Alexander II of Scotland, born in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland (d. 1249)
1845 – James C. Calhoun, American soldier, brother-in-law of George Armstrong Custer (d. 1876)
1880 – Miles Lampson, 1st Baron Killearn, Scottish baron and diplomat (d. 1964)
1963 – Hideo Kojima, Japanese video game director (Death Stranding), born in Setagaya, Tokyo
1977 – John Green, American author (The Fault in Our Stars) and vlogger, born in Indianapolis, Indiana
1981 – Mercedes Scelba-Shorte, American model, born in New Jersey

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Famous Deaths

1313 – Henry VII, Roman Catholic German King/emperor (1308/12-13), dies
1832 – Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot, French mathematician (b. 1796)
1954 – Getulio Vargas, President of Brazil (1930-45, 1951-54), modernizer and dictator, commits suicide at 71
1978 – Louis Prima, American musician (That Old Black Magic), dies at 67
2001 – Raymond Wilding-White, American composer, dies at 78
2013 – Julie Harris, American actress (Bell Jar, I Am a Camera, East of Eden), heart failure at 87

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