Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1640 – English Long Parliament forms
1883 – US Supreme Court decides federal courts have no jurisdiction over Native American tribal Council (Ex parte Crow Dog)
1886 – Friars of Tilburg arrives on Curacao
1930 – Bank of Italy is renamed the Bank of America
1968 – Oregon voters elect lawyer Bob Packwood (36) as their US Senator

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Famous Birthdays

1799 – William Sprague III, American politician (U.S. Senator from Rhode Island 1842-44)), born in Cranston, Rhode Island (d. 1856)
1910 – Richard Hurndall, British actor (Doctor Who, The Inheritors, It’s Murder But Is It Art), born in Darlington, Durham, England (d. 1984)
1928 – Nick Holonyak Jr., American electrical engineer and inventor of the first visible light-emitting diode, born in Zeigler, Illinois (d. 2022)
1962 – Gabe Newell, American computer programmer, businessman and co-founder of Valve Corporation (Half-Life, Steam), born in Colorado
1973 – Ben Fogle, British broadcaster and author (Channel 5, BBC), born in London, England

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Famous Deaths

1913 – Hans Bronsart von Schellendorf, Prussian pianist, composer and music director (Royal Theatre of Hanover, 1867-87), dies at 83
1944 – Jack Miner, Canadian naturalist and conservationist, dies at 79
2002 – Jonathan Harris [Charasuchin], American stage and screen character actor (The Bill Dana Show – “Mr. Phillips”; Lost In Space – “Dr Zachary Smith”), dies at 87
2009 – Francisco Ayala, Spanish novelist (b. 1906)
2011 – Bob Forsch, American MLB baseball pitcher, 1974-1989 (St. Louis Cardinals, Houston Astros), dies of a thoracic aortic aneurysm at 61

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Historical Events

1920 – Westinghouse radio station in East Pittsburgh, KDKA begins broadcasting, with presidential and local election returns
1954 – Strom Thurmond is the 1st US Senator elected by write-in vote, representing South Carolina
1996 – Miami Heat’s Pat Riley becomes eighth coach to win 800 games in 97-95 win at Indiana; milestone accomplished 2 weeks shy of his 15th coaching anniversary, faster than any coach in NBA history
2004 – George W. Bush is re-elected as President of the United States, defeating Democrat candidate John Kerry
2012 – Breeders’ Cup Horse Racing, Santa Anita Racetrack; Day 1 winners: Hightail, Calidoscopio, Flotilla, Beholder, Zagora, Royal Delta

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Famous Birthdays

1846 – Antonio Peña y Goñi, Spanish composer, born in San Sebastián, Spain (d. 1896)
1902 – Marius Holtrop, Dutch economist and President of Netherlands Bank (DNB), 1946-67, born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1988)
1956 – Dale Brown, American aviator and novelist, born in Buffalo, New York
1977 – Randy Harrison, American actor (Justin Taylor in “Queer as Folk US”), born in Nashua, New Hampshire
1980 – Kim So-yeon, South Korean actress (Iris, The Penthouse: War in Life), born in Seoul, South Korea

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Famous Deaths

472 – Olybrius, emperor of Western Roman Empirre (April-November. 472), dies of dropsy at about 41 (born c. 430)
1845 – Chretien Urhan, French violinist and composer, dies at 55
1993 – P A Jacob Mees, Dutch banker (Mees and Hope), dies at about 86
2010 – Clyde King, American baseball pitcher (Brooklyn Dodgers, Cincinnati Redlegs), manager (SF Giants, Atlanta Braves, NY Yankees) and executive (GM NY Yankees 1984-86), dies at 86
2015 – Raul Rekow, American percussionist and conguero (Santana, 1976-2013), dies of cancer at 61

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Historical Events

1922 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk takes Constantinople from Mehmed VI, proclaiming the Republic of Turkey and bringing an end to the Ottoman Empire
1938 – German colonel-general Gerd von Runstedt retires
1941 – Yugoslav nationalist force the Chetniks attacks Tito’s partisans in Uzice, Yugoslavia
1947 – First Aloha Week Parade held in Hawaii
1996 – Shaquille O’Neil makes his Hollywood debut as Los Angeles Lakers beat Phoenix Suns, 96-82 at the Forum, Inglewood; O’Neil scores 23 points and pulls down 14 rebounds in 35 minutes

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Famous Birthdays

1923 – Edward de Jongh, Antillian author (The Arch), born in Ambon, Dutch East Indies (d. 2007)
1924 – Robert Rapoport, American social anthropologist, born in Brockton, Massachusetts (d. 1996)
1958 – Jim Steinmeyer, American inventor and designer of magical illusions, born in Oak Park, Illinois
1961 – Petr Pavel, Czech military officer and politician (Czech Republic President, 2023- ), born in Planá, Czechoslovakia (now Czech Rebublic)
1963 – Billy Gunn [Monty Sopp], American professional wrestler (WWE Raw, TNA iMPACT! Wrestling), born in Orlando, Florida

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Famous Deaths

1835 – William Motherwell, Scottish poet and civil servant, dies at 38
1956 – Pietro Badoglio, 41st Prime Minister of Italy (1943-44) and Italian General (1922-43), dies at 85
1962 – Ricardo Rodríguez, Mexican auto racer (youngest F1 driver ever to race for Ferrari), dies in practice accident at 20
1964 – Henry “Doc” Carlson, American Basketball Hall of Fame collegiate coach (University of Pittsburgh, 1922-53: 367–248 [.597]), originated figure 8 play, dies at 70
2011 – Dorothy Howell Rodham, Mother of US First Lady, Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, dies at 92

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Historical Events

1888 – Scottish vet John Boyd Dunlop patents pneumatic bicycle tyre
1969 – Eastside race riot in Jacksonville, Florida
1993 – Brian Friel’s stage drama “Wonderful Tennessee” closes at Plymouth Theater, New York City, after 9 performances
2003 – A bankruptcy court approves MCI’s reorganization plans, essentially clearing the telecommunications company to exit bankruptcy
2018 – In a landmark verdict, the Pakistani Supreme Court acquits a Christian woman of blasphemy against the prophet Mohammed after eight years on death row

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Famous Birthdays

1875 – Seerp Anema, Dutch poet and writer (From Holland’s Coasts; Modern Art and Degeneration), born in Barradeel, Minnertsga, Nethelands (d. 1961)
1883 – Anthony Wilding, New Zealand tennis player (Wimbledon 1910-13), born in Christchurch, New Zealand (d. 1915)
1950 – Antonio Taguba, US Army Major General, born in Manila, Philippines
1964 – Marco van Basten, Dutch soccer striker (58 caps; Ajax, AC Milan) and manager (Netherlands 2004–08, Ajax, Heerenveen, AZ), born in Utrecht, Netherlands
1978 – Zachary Knighton, American actor (Happy Endings), born in Alexandria, Virginia

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Famous Deaths

1664 – William Frederick of Nassau-Dietz, Dutch Stadtholder of Friesland, dies as the result of an accident with a pistol at 51
1959 – Jean Cabannes, French physicist who worked on optics, discovered Cabannes-Daure effect, dies at 75
2010 – Maurice Lucas, American basketball forward (NBA C’ship 1977 Portland Trail Blazers; NBA All-Star 1977–79, 83; ABA All-Star 1976 Kentucky Colonels), dies at 58
2011 – Manfred Mayrhofer, Austrian Indo-European philologist (Indo-Iranian languages), dies at 85
2020 – Marius Žaliūkas, Lithuanian soccer centre back (25 caps; Hearts, Leeds, Rangers), dies from motor neurone disease at 36

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Historical Events

1961 – Soviet Union tests a 58-megaton hydrogen bomb named Tsar Bomba, the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated
1988 – Brazilian McLaren driver Ayrton Senna wins the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, his record 8th Grand Prix win of the season, and clinches his first Formula 1 World Drivers’ Championship
1992 – MTA begins installing automated fare collection turnstiles in New York City
1997 – Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona announces his retirement from football on his 37th birthday
2014 – Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks win the 2014 Japan Series

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Famous Birthdays

1576 – Enrico Caterino Davila, Italian writer (Storia delguerre civili Francia), born in Padua, Italy (d. 1631)
1840 – William Graham Sumner, American sociologist (Folkways), born in Paterson, New Jersey (d. 1910)
1917 – Bobby Bragan, American baseball manager (Pittsburgh Pirates, Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves) and utility (Philadelphia Phillies, Brooklyn Dodgers), born in Birmingham, Alabama (d. 2010)
1942 – Sven-David Sandström, Swedish composer (Jeppe: The Cruel Comedy), born in Motala, Sweden (d. 2019)
1954 – T. Graham Brown, American country music singer (“Come As You Were”), born in Arabi, Georgia

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Famous Deaths

1912 – Jan Karol Gall, Polish conductor and composer of mostly vocal pieces (Mizerna, cicha), dies at 55
1972 – Alan Roth, American orchestra leader (Milton Berle Show), dies at 68
2002 – William Mitchell, British physicist, dies at 77
2006 – Clifford Geertz, American anthropologist (symbolic anthropology), dies at 80
2018 – María Irene Fornés, Cuban-American playwright (Fefu and Her Friends, Enter the Night), dies at 88

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Historical Events

1910 – 1st Israeli kibbutz Deganya Alef, is founded at Umm Juni, Ottoman Empire
1939 – NHL Babe Seibert Memorial Game: All-Stars beat Montreal 5-3
1942 – Branch Rickey is named president and general manager of Brooklyn Dodgers
2006 – Lula da Silva is elected President of Brazil, defeating Geraldo Alckmin in the second round
2008 – The 10th-century Archimedes Palimpsest, featuring lost works of Archimedes, is made freely available on the web 10 years after being bought by an unknown tech figure

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Famous Birthdays

1934 – (Willem) “Pim” Jacobs, Dutch jazz pianist, composer (with wife Rita Reys – Marriage in Modern Jazz), and TV presenter (Music for Everyone), born in Hilversum, Netherlands (d. 1996)
1940 – Galen Weston, English-Canadian multi-millionaire industrialist, born in Marlow, England
1941 – Brian Yuile, New Zealand cricket all-rounder (17 Tests, 34 wickets, 1 x 50; Central Districts), born in Palmerston North, New Zealand
1944 – Fausto Leali, Italian entertainer, born in Nuvolento, Brescia, Italy
1980 – Ben Foster, American actor (Hell or High Water, 3:10 to Yuma), born in Boston, Massachusetts

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Famous Deaths

1911 – Joseph Pulitzer, Hungarian-American publisher (St Louis Post-Dispatch, NY World) and Democratic politician whose bequest founded the Columbia School of Journalism and the Pulitzer Prize, dies at 64
1936 – Ramiro de Maeztu, Spanish writer (Don Quixote and Celestine), dies at 61
1992 – Adrienne Canivez, wife of Victor of Vriesland, dies
1996 – J. Edward Day, 55th U.S. Postmaster General (1961), dies at 82
2005 – Lloyd Bochner, Canadian actor (Point Blank, Dynasty, Batman), dies of cancer at 81

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Historical Events

1848 – The railroad between Barcelona and Mataró, the first in Spain, opens
1974 – Luna 23 is launched and lands on the Moon
2019 – EU agrees to another Brexit extension to January 31, 2020
2021 – Researchers announce the name of a new human ancestor, Homo bodoensis, from Africa, dating to the Middle Pleistocene about half a million years ago, as a direct ancestor of modern humans
2024 – UK records its lowest-ever fertility rate of 1.44 children per woman in 2023, with 591,072 births in England and Wales, the lowest in 172 years

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Famous Birthdays

1897 – Hans Speidel, German army officer (WWI, WWII), involved in the 20 July Plot to kill Adolf Hitler (19440, and NATO-supreme commander (1957-64), born in Metzingen, Kingdom of Württemberg, German Empire (d. 1984)
1930 – John Mayer, Indian violinist and composer (Indo-Jazz Fusions), born in Calcutta, Bengal, British India (d. 2004)
1946 – Wim Jansen, Dutch soccer utility (65 caps; Feyenoord 415 games) and manager (SC Lokeren, Feyenoord, Celtic), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 2022)
1959 – Neville Henry, British rock saxophonist (Blow Monkeys – “Wicked Ways”), born in England
1965 – Luigi Miraglia, Italian Latinist, born in Naples, Italy

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Famous Deaths

1568 – Ashikaga Yoshihide, 14th Japanese shōgun of the Ashikaga shogunate (1564-8), dies at 30 (b. 1538)
1852 – Gerhard Moritz Roentgen, Dutch industrialist (founder of Fijenoord dockyard), dies at 57
1986 – John Braine, English novelist (Life at the Top), dies at 64
1991 – Sylvia Fine (Kaye), American lyricist (“Knock on Wood”, “The Five Pennies”), composer, Peabody Award and Emmy Award television producer (Musical Comedy Tonight), and wife of Danny Kaye, dies of emphysema at 78
2012 – Jack Dellal, British property investor and multi-millionaire (Allied Commercial Holdings), dies from natural causes at 83

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Historical Events

1867 – Giuseppe Garibaldi marches on Rome for the second time
1925 – Water skis are patented by Fred Waller
1946 – Georgi Domitrovs National Front wins Bulgaria elections (78%)
1961 – David Diamond’s Symphony No. 8 premieres with the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Leonard Bernstein
2020 – Baseball World Series: LA Dodgers beat Tampa Bay Rays, 3-1 in Game 6 at Globe Life Field, Arlington to win first title in 32 years; MVP: Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager

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Famous Birthdays

1927 – Edward Keinholz, American artist and sculptor, born in Fairfield, Washington (d. 1994)
1946 – Peter Martins, Danish dancer and choreographer, born in Copenhagen, Denmark
1950 – Fran Lebowitz, American author and actress (Resident Alien), born in Morristown, New Jersey
1972 – Maria Mutola, Mozambican 800m runner (Olympic bronze 1996), born in Lourenço Marques, Mozambique
1978 – Vanessa-Mae [Vanakorn Nicholson], Singaporean-British violinist and Olympic alpine skier, born in Singapore

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Famous Deaths

1617 – Ralph Winwood, English politician (b. 1563)
1833 – Ferdinand Franzl, composer, dies at 66
1933 – Meir Shapira, rabbi/organizer (Daf Yomi), dies
1962 – Fatso Marco, American actor and comedian (Milton Berle Show), dies at 56
1999 – Lois Collier [Madelyn Earle Jones], American actress (A Night in Casablanca; Boston Blackie; Slave Girl), dies of Alzheimer’s disease at 80

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Historical Events

1858 – Hamilton Smith patents rotary washing machine in Pittsburgh
1947 – The British military occupation ends in Iraq
1972 – Guided tours of the former prison at Alcatraz by the National Park Service begin
1978 – Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat named joint winners of 1978 Nobel Peace Prize
1978 – Independent Counsel Act is signed into law.

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Famous Birthdays

1818 – Stefano Golinelli, Italian pianist and composer, born in Bologna, Papal States (d. 1891)
1934 – Hans-Joachim Rödelius, German electronic and ambient music composer, keyboardist, and synthesizer player (Cluster; Harmonia), born in Berlin, Germany
1948 – Marshall Colt, American actor (Eric-Lottery), born in New Orleans, Louisiana
1975 – Katja Riipi, Finnish ice hockey left wing (Olympics bronze 1998), born in Sodankylä, Finland
1980 – Cristian Chivu, Romanian footballer, born in Reșița, Romania

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Famous Deaths

1580 – Anna of Austria, fourth wife of Philip II of Spain, dies at 30
1944 – William Temple, English Archbishop of Canterbury, dies at 63
1945 – Paul Pelliot, French Sinologist and Orientalist best known for his explorations of Central Asia and his discovery of many important Chinese texts among the Dunhuang manuscripts, dies at 67
1971 – Robert Gordon, American silent film actor (Hearts and Spangles; King of the Pack), dies at 76
1984 – Laurie Langenbach, Dutch author, singer-songwriter (Ahora Maxda), dancer, and feminist activist, (Woman Power), dies of cervical cancer at 37

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Historical Events

1925 – Rightist German ministers disavows Treaty of Locarno
1941 – 16,000 Jews massacred in Odessa, Ukraine
1950 – Dutch NSB leader C van Gelderen sentenced to life
1955 – Tappan sells the first microwave oven
1960 – Cuba nationalizes all remaining US businesses

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Famous Birthdays

1926 – Galina Vishnevskaya, Russian soprano opera singer (Britten’s “War Requiem”), born in Leningrad, Russia (d. 2012)
1969 – Josef Beránek, Czech ice hockey center (Olympic Gold 1998; Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks, Philadelphia Flyers), born in Litvinov, Czech Republic
1980 – Ilana Goldfogel, American pairs skater (with partner Erik Schulz), born in Denver, Colorado
1990 – Mirim Lee, South Korean golfer (ANA Inspiration 2020), born in Seoul, South Korea
2000 – Iris Law, British social media personality and model (Burberry SS24, Versace Eyewear 2024), born in London

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Famous Deaths

1047 – Magnus I Godhi, king of Norway/Denmark (1035-47), dies
1415 – Robert of Bar, Count of Marle, French knight, dies in the Battle of Agincourt at 24 or 25 [birthday uncertain]
1968 – Rudolf Forster, Austrian actor (Threepenny Opera), dies at 83
1992 – Adelino Da Palma Carlos, Prime Minister of Portugal (1974), dies
2013 – Hal Needham, American stuntman known for “Smokey and the Bandit” and “The Cannonball Run”, dies from cancer at 82

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