Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1925 – Alban Berg’s first opera “Wozzeck” premieres with the Berlin State Opera in Berlin, Germany
1944 – Beginning of Liese-Aktion: Germany tries to recruit Dutch men for the Germany labor force
1969 – “Leaving on a Jet Plane” single sung by Peter, Paul and Mary, written by John Denver, hits #1 on US Billboard’s Hot Top 100
1975 – WCPR (Brooklyn New York pirate radio station) begins broadcasting on 1620 AM
1988 – Spanish General strike to protest austerity measures

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Famous Birthdays

1895 – George VI, King of the United Kingdom (1936-52), born in Norfolk, England (d. 1952)
1901 – Paul I, King of Greece (1947-64), born at Tatoi Palace in Parnitha, Kingdom of Greece (d. 1964)
1927 – Koss Rietkerk, Dutch internal minister (VVD) (1982-86), born in Boskoop, Netherlands (d. 1986)
1927 – Richard Cassilly, American tenor, born in Washington, D.C. (d. 1998)
1975 – Tamecka Dixon, American WNBA guard (LA Sparks), born in Linden, New Jersey

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Famous Deaths

1417 – John Oldcastle, English nobleman and pro-protestant Lollard leader, whom Shakespeare based his Falstaff character on, hanged for heresy at 39
1998 – Annette Strauss, American philanthropist, dies at 74
2012 – Kenneth Kendall, British broadcaster (BBC News, Treasure Hunt), dies from a stroke at 88
2017 – Lones Wigger, American competitive rifle shooter (Olympic gold/silver-1964, 72), dies at 80
2017 – Yú Guāngzhōng [Yu Kwang-chung], Taiwanese poet, essayist, and translator (Nostalgia), dies from respiratory failure at 89

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Historical Events

1930 – French government of André Tardieu falls for the second time
1997 – 63rd Heisman Trophy Award: Charles Woodson, Michigan (CB)
2013 – “Beyoncé” 5th studio album by Beyoncé is released
2014 – Fatou Bensouda, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, criticizes UN Security Council for its lack of action over war crimes in the Darfur region of Sudan
2018 – Apple announces new $1 billion campus in Austin, Texas and expansion in other US cities

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Famous Birthdays

1941 – Elizabeth Pochoda, American journalist who helped revitalize Vanity Fair magazine, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2025)
1950 – Heather North, American actress (The Barefoot Executive; voice of Velma in “Scooby-Doo”), born in Pasadena, California (d. 2017)
1961 – Irene Sáez, Venezuelan beauty queen crowned Miss Universe 1981 and politician, born in Chacao, Miranda, Venezuela
1967 – NeNe Leakes (née Linnethia Johnson), American television personality (The Real Housewives of Atlanta), actress, and fashion designer, born in Queens, New York City
1991 – Dermot Kennedy, Irish singer-songwriter (“Power Over Me”; “Giants”), born in Rathcoole, County Dublin, Ireland

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Famous Deaths

1204 – Maimonides [Moses Ben Maimon], Sephardic Jewish philosopher, astronomer and physician (Mishneh Torah), dies in Cairo at 69
1978 – Frits Slomp, Dutch pastor and resistance fighter (aided people in hiding during WWII), dies at 80
1987 – Peter Birch, American dancer, choreographer (Jane Froman’s USA Canteen), and director (Captain Kangaroo), dies of a heart attack at 65
1997 – Harry Glaß, German ski jumper (Olympic bronze 1956), dies at 67
2007 – Mark Partridge, Rhodesian politician

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Historical Events

1969 – Comedy film “The Magic Christian”, starring Peter Sellers and Ringo Starr premieres in London, England
1991 – Tampa Bay Buccaneer Dexter Manley retires after failing drug test
2000 – US Supreme Court releases its 5-4 decision in Bush v. Gore, settling the recount dispute in Florida’s 2000 presidential election in George W. Bush’s favor, thus handing him the presidency over Al Gore
2020 – Chinese leader Xi Jinping says the country will reduce its carbon intensity by 65% by 2030
2021 – Dutchman Max Verstappen wins Formula 1 Drivers’ C’ship for Red Bull with a controversial last lap win over Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton in the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP

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Famous Birthdays

1887 – Kurt Magnus Atterberg, Swedish composer, born in Gothenburg, Sweden (d. 1974)
1928 – Chinghiz Aitmatov, Soviet-Kyrgyz author and best-known figure in Kyrgyzstan’s literature (Jamila), born in Kirghiz ASSR, Soviet Union (d. 2008)
1941 – Terry Kirkman, American rock vocalist, songwriter, and keyboardist (The Association – “Windy”; “Cherish”), and later substance abuse counselor, born in Salina, Kansas (d. 2023)
1952 – Ajit De Silva, Sri Lankan cricket spin bowler (4 Tests), born in Ambalangoda, Sri Lanka
1959 – Krishnamachari Srikkanth, Indian cricketer (big-hitting Indian opener), born in Madras, India

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Famous Deaths

1788 – Joseph Gibbs, English composer and organist, dies at 88
1912 – Luitpold, Prince Regent of Bavaria (regent for nephews King Ludwig II and King Otto), dies at 91
1965 – Johnny Lee, American actor (Song of the South, The Amos ‘n’ Andy Show), dies from a heart attack at 67
1970 – Doris Blackburn, Australian politician (Member of the Australian Parliament for Bourke), dies at 81
1998 – Lawton Chiles, U.S. Senator from Florida (1971-89) and Governor of Florida (1991-98), dies at 68

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Historical Events

1477 – Duchess Maria of Burgundy ends the ‘Great Privilege’ in states of The Netherlands
1948 – WMC TV channel 5 in Memphis, Tennessee (NBC) begins broadcasting
1969 – Libya adopts constitution
1993 – 59th Heisman Trophy Award: Charlie Ward, Florida State (QB)
2000 – 66th Heisman Trophy Award: Chris Weinke, Florida State (QB)

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Famous Birthdays

1882 – Max Born, German physicist (quantum mechanics, Nobel 1954), born in Breslau, Germany (d. 1970)
1954 – Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson, Icelandic rock guitarist (Dense Time), and electronic engineer, born in Reykjavík, Iceland
1966 – Terry Sharpe, Irish rocker (The Adventures, Starjets-Starjets), born in Belfast, Northern Ireland
1987 – Natalia Gordienko, Moldovan singer and dancer, born in Chișinău, Moldova
1988 – Tim Southee, New Zealand cricketer, born in Whangarei, New Zealand

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Famous Deaths

1582 – Fernando Alvarez de Toledo, Spanish noble and diplomat (governor of the Netherlands (1567–1573)), dies at about 75
1884 – Samuel Greene, American naval commander inboard USS Monitor during the Battle of Hampton Roads, commits suicide at 45
1938 – Christian Lous Lange, Norwegian pacifist and internationalist (Nobel Peace Prize 1921), dies at 69
1968 – Nadine Riga, American actress, dies of cerebral hemorrhage at 59
2024 – Mamiya Michio, Japanese composer (Narukami; Grave of the Fireflies), dies at 95

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Historical Events

1718 – Laurence Eusden is appointed British Poet Laureate under George I
1899 – Delta Sigma Phi fraternity founded at City College of New York, to spread “the principles of friendship and brotherhood among college men, without respect to race or creed.”
1946 – German/Swiss novelist Hermann Hesse wins the Nobel Prize in Literature “for his inspired writings which, while growing in boldness and penetration, exemplify the classical humanitarian ideals and high qualities of style”
1958 – The first domestic passenger jet flight using a Boeing 707, with National Airlines flying a leased Pan Am 707 from New York to Miami
1981 – The United Nations General Assembly approves Pakistan’s proposal for establishing nuclear free-zone in South Asia.

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Famous Birthdays

1588 – Isaac Beeckman, Dutch scientist and philosopher, born in Middelburg, Netherlands (d. 1637)
1897 – Karl H. Waggerl, Austria writer (Power of Love), born in Bad Gastein, Austria (d. 1973)
1925 – Jean Byron [Imogene Audette Burkhart], American actress (The Patty Duke Show), born in Paducah, Kentucky (d. 2006)
1941 – Fionnula Flanagan, Irish actress (Rich Man Poor Man), born in Dublin, Ireland
1974 – Meg White, American drummer (The White Stripes), born in Grosse Point Farms, Michigan

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Famous Deaths

1917 – Mackenzie Bowell, 5th Prime Minister of Canada (1894-96), dies of pneumonia at 93
1951 – Algernon Blackwood, English novelist (The Willows), dies at 82
1992 – Dan Maskell, English tennis commentator (b. 1908)
1997 – Gershon Kingsley [Götz Ksinski], German-American composer, electronic music pioneer, and Moog synthesizer player (Popcorn), dies at 97
1999 – Lex Goudsmit, Dutch actor (Fiddler on the Roof, Thomas en Senior op het spoor van Brute Berend), dies at 86

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Historical Events

1974 – Howard Cosell briefly interviews rocker John Lennon, and Frank Gifford chats with California governor Ronald Reagan, during halftime of Monday Night Football broadcast from the Coliseum in Los Angeles, California
1988 – Premiere of fact based crime drama film “Mississippi Burning”
2016 – South Korean MPs vote to impeach President Park Geun-hye
2019 – US officials “deliberately misled” the public on progress of the Afghanistan war, hid that it was a lost cause, according to The Washington Post analysis of the “Afghanistan Papers”
2023 – 89th Heisman Trophy Award: Jayden Daniels, LSU (QB)

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Famous Birthdays

1787 – John Dobson, English architect, born in High Chirton, North Shields, England (d. 1865)
1902 – Rab Butler, British politician who favoured appeasement, born in Attock Serai, British India (d. 1982)
1904 – Roger Wolcott Sperry, American neurobiologist (1981 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, work with split-brain research), born in Hartford, Connecticut (d. 1994)
1965 – Brad Savage, American actor (Red Dawn), born in Livonia, Michigan
1974 – Wendy Dillinger, American female soccer player and coach, born in St. Charles County, Missouri

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Famous Deaths

1674 – Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, English statesman, lawyer, chief advisor to Charles I, and Lord Chancellor to Charles II, dies at 65
1775 – Pietro Gnocchi, Italian sacred music composer, choir director Brescia Cathedral, 1723-33 and 1762-75), priest, historian, and geographer, dies at 86
2004 – David Brudnoy, American radio personality (b. 1940)
2014 – José Feghali, Brazilian concert pianist (Van Cliburn Gold Medalist, 1985), takes his own life at 53
2023 – Frank Wycheck, American football tight end (Pro Bowl 1998, 99, 2000; Washington Redskins, Houston/Tennessee Oilers-Titans), dies after a fall at 52

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Historical Events

1925 – George S. Kaufman and Irving Berlin’s musical “The Cocoanuts” starring the Marx Brothers opens at the Lyric Theatre, NYC; runs for 276 performances
1973 – 39th Heisman Trophy Award: John Cappelletti, Penn State (RB)
1974 – Soyuz 16 returns to Earth
2007 – 73rd Heisman Trophy Award: Tim Tebow, Florida (QB)
2022 – Canadian pop singer Celine Dion reveals via Instagram that she has been diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS), a rare neurological disorder

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Famous Birthdays

1741 – Maximilien Gardel, French ballet dancer and choreographer (Menuet Reine), born in Mannheim, Electorate of the Palatinate, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1787)
1822 – Luther Prentice Bradley, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in New Haven, Connecticut (d. 1910)
1965 – Carina Lau, Hong Kong actress and singer (Days of Being Wild), born in Suzhou, China
1967 – Ron George, American linebacker (Minnesota Vikings), born in Heidelberg, Germany
1989 – Drew Doughty, Canadian hockey defenseman (Stanley Cup 2012, 14 LA Kings; Olympic gold 2010, 14; Norris Trophy 2016), born in London, Canada

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Famous Deaths

1625 – Christina of Holstein-Gottorp, Queen consort of Sweden as the wife of King Charles IX, dies at 52
1680 – Henry Pierrepont, 1st Marquess of Dorchester, English politician (b. 1606)
1989 – Hans Hartung, German-French painter, dies at 85
2008 – Oliver Postgate, English animator, puppeteer and writer, dies at 83
2021 – Lars Høgh, Danish soccer goalkeeper (8 caps; OB 603 games) and GK coach (Denmark, Brøndby IF), dies from pancreatic cancer at 62

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Historical Events

1703 – Great storm of 1703 hits Southern England – thousands killed, Royal Navy losses 13 ships and around 1,500 seamen
1924 – German election (Social Democrats win, Nazis and Communists lose)
1941 – The Imperial Japanese Navy, with 353 planes, attacks the US fleet at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii, killing 2,403 people
1964 – George Harrison changes his music publishing company’s name from Mornyork to Harrisongs
2020 – Australian states celebrate “Freedom Day” easing COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria and New South Wales

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Famous Birthdays

1557 – Girolamo Trombetti [Cavallari], Italian singer, trombonist, composer (Sustinuimus pacem), and maestro di cappella (San Giovanni de Monti, 1591-1628), baptized in Bologna, Papal States (d. 1628)
1830 – Luigi Cremona, Italian mathematician (grafostatica), born in Pavia, Italy (d. 1903)
1935 – Jean-Claude Casadesus, French conductor (Orchestre national de Lille, 1976-2016), born in Paris, France
1954 – Bertín Osborne, Italian entertainer, born in Madrid, Spain
1988 – Emily Browning, Australian actress (Ghost Ship), born in Melbourne, Australia

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Famous Deaths

1498 – Alexander Hegius, German humanist and pioneering teacher of Erasmus and Pope Adrian VI, dies at about 65
1775 – Charles Saunders, British admiral, First Lord of the Admiralty, dies at about 60
1956 – Huntley Gordon, Canadian actor, dies at 77
1996 – Jose Donoso, Chilean writer (The Place Without Limits), dies at 72
2019 – Denis Lalanne, French sports journalist (‘Le grand combat du XV de France’; ‘Rugbymania: French flair attitude’), dies at 93

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Historical Events

1060 – Béla I is crowned King of Hungary in Székesfehérvár
1969 – Oscar Brown, Jr’s musical “Buck White”, starring Muhammad Ali, closes at George Abbott Theatre, NYC, after 7 performances
1990 – Baseball player “Shoeless” Joe Jackson’s signature sells for $23,100 at auction
2008 – 4th ACC Championship Game: Virginia Tech beats #18 Boston College, 30-12
2017 – Skirball wildfire near Los Angeles closes the Interstate 405 as thousands forced to evacuate

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Famous Birthdays

1822 – John Eberhard Faber, German-American pencil manufacturer and built 1st large-scale pencil factory in US, born in Stein Bavaria, Germany (d. 1879)
1919 – Willis Whitfield, American physicist and inventor of the clean room, born in Rosedale, Oklahoma (d. 2012)
1949 – Peter Willey, English cricketer (England batsman late 70’s early 80’s), born in Sedgefield, County Durham, England
1955 – Steven Wright, American stand-up comedian (Steven Wright Live), born in Cambridge, Massachusetts
1971 – Naozumi Takahashi, Japanese singer and voice actor, born in Ōshū, Iwate Prefecture, Japan

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Famous Deaths

1959 – Len Doyle, American actor (Harrington-Mr District Attorney), dies at 66
1983 – Lucienne Boyer, French singer (Parlez-moi d’amour), dies at 82
1989 – Frances Bavier, American Emmy Award-winning stage and screen actress (The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry, RFD – “Aunt Bee”), dies of congestive heart failure at 86
1995 – James Reston, American journalist (New York Times), dies at 86
1997 – Eliot Daniel, American composer (I Love Lucy theme), dies at 89

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Historical Events

1914 – CFL Grey Cup, Varsity Stadium, Toronto: Toronto Argonauts win first Championship; beat U of Toronto Blues, 14-2
1941 – Soviet anti-offensive in Moscow drives out Nazi army
1982 – Dutch judoka Ingrid Berghmans retains judo’s world championship
1991 – “Catskills on Broadway” opens at Lunt-Fontanne NYC for 452 performances
2006 – Audrey Hepburn’s Givenchy little black dress from film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” is auctioned for charity for a record £467,200 ($923,187) at Christie’s, London

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Famous Birthdays

1855 – Clinton Hart Merriam, American zoologist and ornithologist, born in New York City (d. 1942)
1901 – Hanns Jelinek, Austrian composer, born in Vienna (d. 1969)
1936 – James Lee Burke, American writer (Dave Robicheaux series), born in Houston, Texas
1960 – Brian Bromberg, American jazz bass player (You Know That Feeling), born in Tucson, Arizona
1969 – Morgan J. Freeman, American film director (Hurricane Streets), born in Long Beach, California

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Famous Deaths

1955 – Paul Harvey, American actor (Spellbound, Calamity Jane, Heldorado, Jamboree), dies at 73
1958 – Ferdinand Bruckner [Theodor Tagger], Austrian-German playwright (Races), dies at 67
1979 – Sonia Delaunay, Russian-born French artist (Orphism), dies at 94
1991 – Jill Browne, dies at 54
2024 – Bill Melton, American baseball third baseman. 1968-77 (MLB All-Star and AL home run leader, 1971; Chicago White Sox, and 2 other teams) and broadcaster,1998-2020 (NBC, Comcast, Chicago White Sox), dies at 79

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