Category: On This Day

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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Historical Events

1916 – Boston Brave’s Tom Hughes 2nd no-hitter beats Pitts, 2-0
1944 – George Stinney, a 14-year-old African-American boy, is wrongfully executed for the murder of two white girls, becoming the youngest person ever executed in 20th-century America
1975 – Bucks trade Kareem Abdul-Jabber and Walt Wesley to LA for 4 players
1991 – With 3 runs in 9th, Balt ends Twins 15 game winning streak 6-5
2008 – US Open Men’s Golf, Torrey Pines GC: Tiger Woods wins his 3rd US Open and 14th major title, beating Rocco Mediate on the 1st hole of sudden-death, following a Monday 18-hole playoff
2012 – A collapse of a stage at a Toronto Radiohead concert kills one person

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Famous Birthdays

1914 – Stewart Cathie “Billy” Griffith, cricketer (140 for England, 1948)
1917 – Irving Penn, American photographer
1921 – Lord Perry of Walton, SDP/vice chancellor (Open University England)
1969 – L B Stephens, NFLer (Jacksonville Jaguars)
1970 – Cobi Jones, American soccer player
1971 – Chris Gomez, American baseball infielder (San Diego Padres), born in Los Angeles, California

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Famous Deaths

1397 – Philip of Artois, Count of Eu, French soldier (b. 1358)
1831 – Josef Schnabel, German composer, dies at 64
1858 – John Snow, English English epidemiologist, ‘Father of modern epidemiology’ studied cholera, dies of a stroke at 45
1970 – Brian Piccolo, American football player (b. 1943)
1971 – Garfield Wood, American inventor, motorboat builder and racer (world water speed record x 5; first to travel over 100 mph on water), dies at 90
2005 – Enrique Laguerre, Puerto Rican writer (La Llamarada), dies at 99

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Historical Events

1219 – Dannebrog is the flag of Denmark and the oldest national flag in the world. According to legend, it fell from the sky during the Battle of Lyndanisse (now Tallinn) in Estonia, and turned the Danes’ luck
1857 – San Francisco Water Works organized
1864 – US Congress passes legislation equalizing pay for Black soldiers
1864 – Capt Mendell begins building 640m long ponton bridge over James River, Virginia
1888 – Wilhelm II becomes Emperor of Germany
2001 – 55th NBA Championship: Los Angeles Lakers beat Philadelphia 76ers, 4 games to 1

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Famous Birthdays

1809 – François-Xavier Garneau, French-Canadian poet and historian (d. 1866)
1894 – Nikolai Chebotaryov, Ukrainian mathematician (d. 1947)
1901 – Peter Shankland, English filmmaker and historian
1908 – Sam Giancana, American mafioso, born in Chicago, Illinois
1925 – Jaime Sabines, Mexican poet (Tarumba, Maltiempes)
1926 – Basil Watts, English rugby league second rower (5 Tests Great Britain, 1 England; World Cup 1954; York RLFC), born in York, England (d. 2019)

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Famous Deaths

1768 – James Short, Scottish mathematician and manufacturer of telescopes, dies at 57
1965 – E. A. Speiser, American Bible scholar (b. 1902
1971 – Wendell Meredith Stanley, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
1996 – Ella Fitzgerald, singer, dies at 78
2008 – Stan Winston, American special effects and makeup artist, and film director (b. 1946)
2015 – Mighty Sam McClain, American soul and blues singer-songwriter, dies at 72

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Historical Events

1898 – France signs Niger Convention
1967 – USSR launches Kosmos 166 for observation of Sun from Earth orbit
1975 – USSR launches Venera 10 for Venus landing
1998 – WLAF World Bowl 6, Waldstadion, Frankfurt: Rhein Fire beats Frankfurt Galaxy, 34-10
1998 – “Comic Relief” benefit comedy show
2018 – Malaysia’s national debt reassessed at $250 billion, up from previous estimate $170 billion, 80% of gross domestic product

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Famous Birthdays

1882 – Michael Zadora, American pianist and composer, born in New York City (d. 1946)
1919 – Sam Wanamaker, American-English actor (Holocaust, Competition, Raw Deal), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1993)
1936 – Renaldo “Obie” Benson, American singer (The Four Tops), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 2005)
1958 – Eric Heiden, American speed skater (5 Olympic gold medals 1980), born in Madison, Wisconsin
1975 – Bob Nanna, American musician (Braid, Hey Mercedes, The City on Film)
1992 – Daryl Sabara, American actor

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Famous Deaths

1161 – Qinzong, last Emperor of Song Dynasty in China, dies at 61
1800 – Jean-Baptiste Kléber, French general, dies at 47
1864 – Leonidas Polk, Lt. Gen. (Confederate Army), killed in action in Battle of Pine Mt at 58
1960 – Ana Pauker-Rabensohn, Romanian Foreign Minister (1945-52), dies at 67
2008 – Rafael del Pino, Spanish entrepreneur, dies at 87
2014 – Rodney Thomas, American NFL running back, dies at 41

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