Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1704 – 1st successful US newspaper; published in Boston by John Campbell
1924 – Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures and Louis B Mayer Co merged to form Metro Goldwyn Mayer (MGM)
1925 – NY Yankee Babe Ruth has ulcer surgery
1945 – Benito Mussolini flees from Salò to Milan
1981 – Isle Potvin’s 3 playoff power-play goals tie NHL record vs Oilers
1997 – John Bell aged 115 receives a new pacemaker

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Famous Birthdays

1715 – Johann Wolfgang Kleinknecht, German composer, born in Ulm, Germany (d. 1786)
1918 – William Holden [Beedle], American actor (The Blue Knight, Sunset Boulevard, Sabrina, The Bridge on the River Kwai), born in O’Fallon, Illinois (d. 1981)
1950 – Bruce McNall, American former NHL team owner, born in Arcadia, California
1955 – Rob Bolland, Dutch singer and guitarist (Bolland and Bolland), born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa
1968 – Prince Maurits of Orange-Nassau, van Vollenhoven, eldest son of Princess Margriet of the Netherlands and Pieter van Vollenhoven, born in Utrecht, Netherlands
1973 – Kenneth Carlsen, Danish tennis star, born in Copenhagen, Denmark

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Famous Deaths

1297 – Willem van Afflighem, Flemish poet/abbot St Truiden, dies at about 86
1714 – Philipp Heinrich Erlebach, German composer, dies at 56
1937 – Yi Sang, Korean author and poet (Dying Words, Wings, Child’s Bone), dies of tuberculosis in a Japanese prison camp at 26
1945 – Hannie Schaft, Dutch communist resistance fighter known as the “Girl with red hair”, executed at 24
1976 – Henrik Dam, Danish biochemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1895)
1987 – Cornelius Van Til, Dutch philosopher and Christian apologist, dies at 91

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Historical Events

1870 – Vaudeville Theatre Strand opens in London
1935 – Babe Ruth’s 1st NL game, for Boston Braves, included a HR
1953 – British royal yacht Britannia launched by Queen Elizabeth II
1970 – Protestant Unionist Ian Paisley wins seat formerly held by Terence O’Neill in the Stormont (North Ireland Parliament)
1985 – “Grind” opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 79 performances
2018 – Kendrick Lamar is the first rapper and non classical or jazz musician to win the Pulitzer Prize for music with his album “Damn”

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Famous Birthdays

1909 – Herman Uyttersprot, Flemish literature historian, born in Denderbelle (d. 1967)
1951 – Mordechai Ben David, American Jewish singer, born in Brooklyn, New York
1953 – Jay O. Sanders, American actor (Meeting Venus, V I Warshawski), born in Austin, Texas
1968 – Grace Kim, South Korean-American tennis star, born in South Korea
1971 – Natasha Zvereva, Belarusian tennis ace (18 Grand Slam double titles), born in Minsk, Belarus
1982 – Boris Diaw, French basketball player, born in Cormeilles-en-Parisis, France

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Famous Deaths

1113 – Sviatopolk II of Kiev, Russian prince (b. 1050)
1860 – Carolina, duchess of Berry/daughter of crown prince of Naples, dies
1947 – Rudolf Höss, German commandant of the Auschwitz concentration camp, dies at 45
1989 – Tawfieq Yusuf Awwaad, Lebanese writer, dies
2002 – Robert Urich, American actor (b. 1946)
2011 – Gerry Alexander, West Indian cricket wicket-keeper (25 Tests, top score 108, 90 dismissals), dies at 82

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Historical Events

1861 – Federal army (75,000 volunteers) mobilized by US President Abraham Lincoln (US Civil War)
1901 – Pope Leo XIII issues an allocution deploring hostile actions against the Roman Catholic Church throughout Europe
1955 – Ray Kroc opens first McDonald’s Inc. fast food restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois
1974 – 78th Boston Marathon: Neil Cusack of Ireland takes men’s race in 2:13:39; American Miki Gorman women’s winner in 2:47:11
2013 – Boston Marathon bombings: 3 people are killed and 183 injured after two explosions near the finish line
2015 – Laureus World Sports Awards, Shanghai Grand Theatre, Shanghai, China: Sportsman: Novak Đoković; Sportswoman: Genzebe Dibaba; Team: German Men’s National Football team

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Famous Birthdays

1588 – Claudius Salmasius [Claude Saumaise], French linguist, born in Semur-en-Auxois, France (d. 1653)
1829 – Mary Harris Thompson, 1st American woman surgeon, born in Fort Ann, New York (d. 1895)
1873 – Juliette Atkinson, American tennis player (US Nat C’ship 1895, 97-98), born in Rahway, New Jersey (d. 1944)
1888 – Florence Bates, American actress (Moon and Sixpence, Love Crazy, San Antonio), born in San Antonio, Texas (d. 1954)
1940 – Robert Walker Jr, American actor (Ceremony, Ms Don Juan, Ensign Pulver), born in NYC, New York
1962 – Surjit Bindrakhia, Punjabi Bhangra singer, born in Bindrakh, Punjab

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Famous Deaths

1761 – William Oldys, English antiquarian and bibliographer, dies at b64
1866 – William Jackson of Masham, English composer and organist, dies at 51
1870 – Emma Willard, American women’s rights activist and educator who founded the 1st school for women’s higher education in the US, dies at 83
2002 – Damon Francis Knight, American sci-fi author (CV, Beyond the Barrier), dies at 79
2008 – Benoît Lamy, Belgian film director, dies at 62
2015 – Jonathan Crombie, Canadian actor (Anne of Green Gables), dies of a brain hemorrhage at 48

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Historical Events

1849 – Hungary declares itself independent of Austria with Louis Kossuth as its leader
1914 – Stacy G Carkhuff patents non-skid tire pattern
1944 – Greek Colonel Venizelos forms government
1959 – (Robert) Taft Memorial Bell Tower dedicated in Washington, D.C.
1967 – Red Sox rookie Billy Rohome comes within 1 strike of a no hitter at
1972 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army explodes twenty-four bombs in towns and cities across Northern Ireland

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Famous Birthdays

1832 – James Hewett Ledlie, American civil engineer and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Utica, New York (d. 1882)
1945 – Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaoi, 8th Prime Minister of Samoa
1946 – Patrick Fairley, Scottish guitarist (Marmalade – “Ob La Di, Ob La Da”)
1965 – Tom Dey, American film director
1967 – Alain Côté, French Canadian ice hockey player
1969 – Vebjørn Selbekk, Norwegian journalist (Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy), born in Trondheim, Norway

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Famous Deaths

1279 – Boleslaus of Greater Poland
1655 – Johann Erasmus Kindermann, German composer, dies at 39
1764 – Peder [Nielsen] Horrebow, Danish astronomer, dies at 84
1949 – Joseph A Cushman, US paleontologist, dies at 68
1990 – Peter Dunn, actor (Invaders from Mars) dies
1993 – Sam Ntombani, ANC-secretary in Soweto South-Africa, shot to death

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Historical Events

989 – Battle at Abydos: Byzantine emperor Basilius II beats Bardas Phocas
1911 – The US House of Representatives votes to institute direct elections of senators to Congress, a step towards direct democracy
1945 – Canadian army liberates Teuge and Assen, Netherlnds, from Nazis
1962 – Stan Musial scores his 1,869th run, a new NL record
1979 – Longest doubles ping-pong match ends after 101 hours
1997 – Travis Fryman homers off R Hernandez in both games of double header 1st time since 1961 that 2 doubleheaders are played in the same city Giants vs Mets and Oakland A’s vs Yankees in NY

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Famous Birthdays

1799 – Ludwig Rellstab, German music theorist, born in Berlin (d. 1860)
1830 – Eduard Lassen, Belgian-Danish composer, born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 1904)
1873 – Theodore F. Morse, American composer, born in Washington D.C. (d. 1924)
1897 – Werner Voss, German World War I flying ace, born in Krefeld, Germany (d. 1917)
1942 – Ataol Behramoğlu, Turkish poet and writer, born in Çatalca, Istanbul Province, Turkey
1965 – Patricio Pouchulu, Argentine architect, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina

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Famous Deaths

1612 – Sasaki Kojirō, Japanese samurai, dies at 27
1695 – Jean de la Fontaine, French poet (Fables), dies at 73
1880 – Robert Fortune, Scottish botanist, dies at 67
1978 – Paul McGrath, American actor (Witness, No Time for Love), dies at 74
1997 – Dorothy Frooks, American author and military figure, dies at 101
2005 – [Salvador] Tutti Camarata, American composer and producer (Vic Damone Show), dies at 91

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Historical Events

1654 – Ordinance of Union between England and Scotland passed by the Council of State
1907 – Belgium government of De Stain de Naeyer resigns
1946 – LPGA Titleholders Championship Women’s Golf, Augusta CC: Louise Suggs wins her first major title by 2 strokes from Eileen Stulb
1957 – USSR performs atmospheric nuclear test
1959 – France Observator reports torture practice by French army in Algeria
2016 – Breakthrough Starshot: Scientists and internet entrepreneurs, including Yuri Milner, Stephen Hawking and Mark Zuckerberg, announce interstellar project to send robot spacecraft to Alpha Centauri

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Famous Birthdays

1838 – John Shaw Billings, American librarian and surgeon, born in Allensville, Switzerland County, Indiana (d. 1913)
1852 – Ferdinand von Lindemann, German mathematician (Proving π is a transcendental number), born in Hannover, German Confederation (d. 1939)
1939 – Alan Ayckbourn, English playwright and director, born in London, England
1956 – Herbert Grönemeyer, German singer (Mensch, Spruenge), born in Göttingen, Germany
1956 – Doris Baaten, Dutch actress (Sesame Street, Fien), born in Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
1964 – Amy Ray, American singer and songwriter (Indigo Girls), born in Decatur, Georgia

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Famous Deaths

1687 – Ambrose Dixon, Virginia Colony pioneer
1898 – Elzéar-Alexandre Taschereau, Roman catholic archbishop of Quebec (b. 1820)
1942 – Johannes E Akkeringa, Dutch painter/etcher, dies at 80
1961 – Philippine “Pine” Belder, [Mary de Klerk], actress, dies at 93
1972 – C W Ceram, [Kurt Marek], German/American writer (1st American), dies at 57
2013 – Michael France, American screenwriter, dies from complications from diabetes at 51

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Historical Events

1079 – Bishop Stanislaus of Krakow is executed by order of Bolesław II of Poland
1895 – Anaheim completes its new electric light system
1941 – Germany blitzes Coventry, England
1961 – Austrian 4th and last government of Raab resigns
1963 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1993 – 450 prisoners riot at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, Ohio, and continue for ten days, citing grievances about prison conditions and the forced vaccination of Nation of Islam prisoners (for tuberculosis)

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Famous Birthdays

1916 – Dan Fortmann, American football guard (Chicago Bears), born in Pearl River, New York (d. 1995)
1927 – Domenico Guaccero, Italian composer, born in Palo de Colle, Italy (d. 1984)
1951 – Robbie House, American rocker (Snuff)
1966 – Lisa Stansfield, English pop singer (Around the World), born in Manchester, England
1966 – Mark Higgs, American football running back (Arizona Cardinals), born in Owensboro, Kentucky
1973 – Reggie Tongue, American football safety (KC Chiefs), born in Baltimore, Maryland

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Famous Deaths

1034 – Romanus III Argyrus, Byzantine emperor (1028-34), assassinated by wife at 66 or 67
1853 – Louis Emmanuel Jadin, French composer, dies at 124
1908 – Henry Bird, English Chess player and author (b. 1829)
1967 – Donald Sangster, Jamaican prime-minister (b. 1911)
2006 – Proof, American rapper (D12) (b. 1973)
2019 – Monkey Punch [Kazuhiko Kato], Japanese manga cartoonist (Lupin III), dies of pneumonia at 81

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Historical Events

1845 – More than 1,000 buildings damaged by fire in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1874 – British Open Men’s Golf, Musselburgh Links: Mungo Park wins first title by 2 strokes from Tom Morris Jr
1944 – “Patrolling the Ether” is shown on 3 TV stations simultaneously
1953 – “House of Wax” 1st color 3-D movie, premieres in New York
1968 – “George M!” opens at Palace Theater NYC for 435 performances
2019 – New species of human announced named Homo luzonensis, 3ft tall, remains dated 50-60,000 years old found in cave on island of Luzon, Philippines

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Famous Birthdays

1704 – Benjamin Heath, English classical scholar, born in Exeter, Devon, England (d. 1766)
1880 – Frances Perkins, American politician and 1st woman to hold cabinet-level position (Labor 1933-45), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1965)
1916 – Alfie Bass [Abraham Basalinsky], British actor (Moonraker, Are You Being Served), born in London, England (d. 1987)
1936 – Michael Naylor, English insurance broker (Endsleigh Insurance), born in Croydon (d. 1995)
1980 – Sean Avery, Canadian ice hockey player, born in North York, Ontario, Canada
1983 – Ryan Merriman, American actor (The Ring Two), born in Choctaw, Oklahoma

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Famous Deaths

1825 – Paul-Louis Courier, (Mere), French writer/interpreter, dies at 53
1961 – Irene Warfield, silent screen actress (Satan Sanderson), dies at 65
1995 – Gunter Guillaume, German politician, dies
2007 – Dakota Staton, American jazz singer, dies at 76
2010 – Maria Kaczyńska, Polish economist and First Lady of Poland, is killed in the crash of a Polish Air Force Tu-154 at 67
2013 – Jimmy Dawkins, American electric blues musician, dies at 76

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Historical Events

1691 – French troops occupy Mons
1783 – Tippu Sahib drives out British from Bednore, India
1914 – Tampico incident – US ship crew arrested in Mexico
1941 – PGA establishes Golf Hall of Fame
2013 – 37 people are killed and 850 are injured after a magnitude 6.1 earthquake strikes Iran
2019 – Wolves have returned to the Netherlands after 140 years claim ecologists

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Famous Birthdays

1865 – Charles Proteus Steinmetz, German-American electrical engineer (development of alternating current), born in Breslau, Province of Silesia, Prussia (d. 1923)
1883 – Renzo Bossi, Italian composer, born in Como (d. 1965)
1884 – Franco Vittadini, Italian composer, born in Pavia, Italy (d. 1948)
1904 – Lyle Latell, American actor (Not of the Earth, Dick Tracy’s Dilemma, Sky Dragon), born in Alma, Iowa (d. 1967)
1965 – Mark Pellegrino, American actor (Lucifer-Supernatural), born in Los Angeles, California
1965 – Jay Wesley Neill, American convicted mass murderer (d. 2002)

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Famous Deaths

491 – Zeno, Eastern Roman Emperor (474-75, 476-91), dies at 66
1557 – Michael Agricola, Finnish theologist/church reformer/bishop, dies
1807 – John Opie, English painter (The Murder of Rizzio), dies at 46
1936 – Ferdinand Tönnies, German sociologist and philosopher, dies at 80
1997 – Helene Hanff, author (84 Charing Cross Road), dies at 80
1999 – Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara, Niger politician and general, assassinated at 49

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Historical Events

1866 – Italy and Prussia ally against Austria-Hungary.
1924 – South African State pass the Industrial Conciliation Act No 11: provides for job reservation, excluded blacks from membership of registered trade unions, prohibited registration of black trade unions
1943 – Stanley Cup Final, Boston Garden, Boston, MA: Detroit Red Wings beat Boston Bruins, 2-0 for a 4-0 series sweep and their 3rd SC Championship
1967 – 12th Eurovision Song Contest: Sandie Shaw for United Kingdom wins singing “Puppet on a String” in Vienna
1991 – “I Hate Hamlet” opens at Walter Kerr Theater NYC for 88 performances
1995 – Oliver McCall beats Larry Holmes in 12 for heavyweight boxing title

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Famous Birthdays

1908 – Neil Lawson, British high court judge
1928 – Leah Rabin, wife of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin (d. 2000)
1929 – Walter Berry, Austria singer/ex husband of Christa Ludwig
1943 – Carol Lavell, Fairfax Vt, equestrian dressage (Olympic bronze 1992, 96)
1973 – Khaled Badra, Tunisian footballer
1979 – Alexi Laiho, Finnish guitarist and singer (Children of Bodom, Sinergy, Kylähullut)

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Famous Deaths

1857 – Mangal Pandey, Indian Sepoy (soldier) in the 34th Bengal Native Infantry (B.N.I.) regiment of the British East India Company, hanged at 29
1897 – George Garrett, English composer, dies at 62
1898 – William Polk Hardeman, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 81
1986 – Yukiko Okada, Japanese idol singer, dies at 18
1996 – Charles Donald Adams, singer, dies at 67
1996 – Basil Hembry, farmer/campaigner, dies at 80

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