Category: On This Day

Historical Events

842 – Charles II and Louis the German sign treaty
1130 – Jewish Cardinal Pietro Pierleone elected as anti-pope Anacletus II
1862 – Galena, 1st US iron-clad warship for service at sea, launched, Connecticut
1970 – “Gantry” closes at George Abbott Theater NYC after 1 performance
1971 – 13th Daytona 500: Richard Petty wins his 3rd Great American Race; goes on to win the inaugural Winston Cup title
1981 – Stardust Disaster: A fire in a Dublin nightclub kills 48 people

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Famous Birthdays

1911 – Willem J Kolff, Dutch/US internist/inventor (Artificial Kidney)
1948 – Wally Tax, Dutch guitarist
1958 – Grant Thomas, Australian rules footballer
1963 – Enrico Colantoni, Canadian actor, born in Toronto, Ontario
1963 – John Marzano, American baseball catcher (Seattle Mariners), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1971 – Tommy Dreamer, US professional wrestler, born in Yonkers, New York

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Famous Deaths

1317 – Marguerite of France, queen of Edward I of England (b. 1282)
1857 – Johannes Bernardus van Bree, Dutch violinist/composer/conductor, dies at 56
1885 – Jules Vallès, French writer (b. 1832)
1992 – Angelique Pettyjohn, actress (Biohazard), dies of cancer at 48
1993 – Buddy Pepper, composer, dies of heart failure at 70
2015 – Philip Levine, American poet (1995 Pulitzer prize), dies at 87

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Historical Events

1575 – Henry III of France is crowned at Rheims
1934 – The Soviet steamship Cheliuskin sinks in the Arctic Ocean.
1935 – Bruno Hauptmann found guilty of kidnap and murder of Lindbergh infant. He proclaimed his innocence to the end.
2009 – Unix time passed 1,234,567,890 seconds February 13, 2009 at exactly 23:31:30 (UTC).
2011 – 53rd Grammy Awards: Need You Now, Esperanza Spalding wins
2017 – US President Donald Trump accepts the resignation of national security adviser Michael Flynn over his dealings with Russia

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Famous Birthdays

1768 – Édouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier, French marshal (d. 1835)
1837 – Valentin de Zubiaurre y Unionbarrenechea, composer
1925 – Gene [Eugene] Ames, singer (Ames Brothers), born in Malden, Massachusetts (d. 1997)
1927 – Harry Wich, Dutch set designer
1938 – Oliver Reed, English actor (Big Sleep), born in London, England (d. 1999)
1976 – Martin Sastre, Uruguayan artist, born in Montevideo, Uruguay

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Famous Deaths

1629 – Girolamo Giacobbi, composer, dies at 61
1905 – Konstantin Savitsky, Russian painter (Travellers in Auvergne), dies at 60
1943 – William Walraven, Dutch journalist and writer (Neglected Grouser), dies at 55
1964 – Werner Heyde, German psychiatrist, one of the main organizers of Nazi Germany’s T-4 Euthanasia Program, dies at 61
1968 – Ildebrando Pizzetti, Italian composer, dies at 87
2000 – James Cooke Brown, American author and inventor (b. 1921)

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Historical Events

1876 – Al Spalding opens his sporting good shop
1925 – Estonia bans communist Party
1962 – Bus boycott starts in Macon, Georgia
1982 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1997 – Fred Goldman says he will settle for a signed murder confession from O.J. Simpson in lieu of his $20.5 million judgement
2007 – A gunman opens fire in a mall in Salt Lake City, killing 5 people in the Trolley Square shooting.

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Famous Birthdays

1775 – Louisa Adams, US First Lady (1825-29), born in London (d. 1852)
1914 – Arvid Pardo, Maltese diplomat, a.k.a “Father of the Law of the Sea Conference”, born in Rome, Italy (d. 1999)
1919 – Forrest Tucker, American actor (F Troop, Dusty Trail, The Crawling Eye), born in Plainfield, Indiana (d. 1986)
1961 – Jim Harris, Canadian author, environmentalist, and politician, born in Toronto, Ontario
1963 – Brent Jones, NFL tight end (SF 49ers), born in Santa Clara, California
1968 – Gregory Charles, French-Canadian performing artist, born in Montreal, Quebec

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Famous Deaths

1804 – Immanuel Kant, German philosopher (Zum ewigen Frieden), dies at 79
1945 – Antonio Villa-Real, Filipino jurist (b. 1880)
1969 – Johanna Tourniaire, Dutch actress (Potasch and Perlemoer), dies at 80
1995 – Terence Beckles, pianist/teacher, dies at 82
1995 – Rachid Mimouni, Algerian author (L’Honneur de la Tribu), dies at 49
2011 – Elizabeth “Betty” Garrett, American actress, comedian, singer and dancer (All in the Family), dies of an aortic aneurysm at 91

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Historical Events

1543 – Battle at Wayna Daga: Ethiopian and Portuguese troops beat Muslim army
1855 – Kassa Hailu is crowned Tewodros II, Emperor of Ethiopia, by Abuna Salama III in a ceremony at the church of Derasge Maryam
1903 – US Congress adopts the Expedition Act, which authorizes the Attorney General to ‘expedite’ anti-trust cases through the courts, reflecting growing popular support for President Theodore Roosevelt’s “trust busting” campaign
1922 – Influential arts festival Semana de Arte Moderna (Modern Art Week) opens in São Paulo – the beginning of Modernism in Brazil
1938 – Steve Casey beats Lou Thesz in Boston, to win National Boxing Association world heavyweight title
1977 – 20.2-kg lobster caught off Nova Scotia (heaviest known crustacean)

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Famous Birthdays

1649 – William Carstares, Scottish minister (d. 1715)
1932 – Jerome Lowenthal, pianist/prof (Jerusalem Academy of Music), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1934 – Mel Carnahan, American politician (d. 2000)
1941 – Sergio Mendes, jazz/pop musician (Brazil ’66/’77/’88)
1944 – Michael G. Oxley, American politician (Rep-R-OH, 1981-2007), born in Findlay, Ohio (d. 2016)
1977 – Mike Shinoda, American musician (Linkin Park, Fort Minor), born in Agoura Hills, California

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Famous Deaths

641 – Heraclius, emperor of Byzantium (610-641), dies at about 65
1868 – Leon Foucault, discovers 1st physical proof of Earth’s rotation, dies at 48
1931 – Charles Algernon Parsons, British inventor (steam turbine), dies at 76
1945 – Al Dubin, Swiss-American songwriter (Tiptoe Thru The Tulips), dies at 53
1982 – Takashi Shimura, Japans actor (Rashomon, 7 Samurais), dies at 76
1986 – Frank [Patrick] Herbert, American sci-fi author (Dune), dies at 65

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Historical Events

1525 – Albert of Prussia pledges a personal oath to Sigismund I and is invested with the duchy for himself and his heirs
1961 – AFL’s LA Chargers move to San Diego
1963 – US male Figure Skating championship won by Thomas Litz
1989 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1992 – Bonnie Blair wins 1992 Olympics 1st gold medal for USA
2005 – His Royal Highness Charles, Prince of Wales announces engagement to Camilla Parker Bowles

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Famous Birthdays

1821 – William Read Scurry, (Confederate Army Brigadier General, (d. 1864))
1884 – Herbert Hordern, cricketer (pioneering leggie for Aust and Philadelphia)
1890 – Boris Pasternak, Russian novelist and poet (Doctor Zhivago, Nobel 1958), born in Moscow, Russia (d. 1960)
1898 – Judith Anderson [Frances Margaret Anderson], Australian actress (Laura, Rebecca, Tycoon), born in Adelaide, South Australia (d. 1992)
1927 – Nigel Bagnall, British field marshal
1962 – Cliff Burton, American bass guitarist (Metallica), born in Castro Valley, California (d. 1986)

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Famous Deaths

1134 – Robert III/II Curthouse, Duke of Normandy, dies
1918 – Ernesto Teodoro Moneta, Italian pacifist, Nobel Prize Laureate, dies at 84
1977 – Grace Mary Williams, composer, dies at 70
1985 – Johnny Mokan, baseball player (b. 1895)
2003 – Ron Ziegler, White House press secretary to Richard Nixon (b. 1939)
2012 – Jeffrey Zaslow, American author and columnist, dies in a car accident at 53

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Historical Events

1574 – Louis of Nassau ends siege of Maastricht
1871 – Federal fish protection office authorized by US Congress
1906 – Natal proclaims state of siege in Zulu uprising
1922 – World War Foreign Debt Commission is established by Congress to settle the problem of Allied war and postwar loans
1964 – 1st appearance of the Beatles on the “Ed Sullivan Show” draws 73.7 million viewers
1966 – Dow-Jones Index hits record 995 points

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Famous Birthdays

1533 – Shimazu Yoshihisa, Japanese samurai (d. 1611)
1735 – Adriaan Kluit, Dutch historian
1897 – Charles Edward Kingsford-Smith, pioneer Australian aviator
1931 – Josef Masopust, Czech footballer
1954 – Mary Jo Duffy, American comic book writer and editor
1971 – Johan Mjällby, Swedish footballer

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Famous Deaths

1961 – Grigory Levenfish, Russian International chess grandmaster, dies at 70
1969 – [George] Gabby Hayes, actor (Albuquerque, Colorado), dies at 83
1977 – Gaus, an orangutan who lived to be 59
1995 – J. William Fulbright, American senator from Arkansas, known for opposition to the Vietnam War), dies at 89
2001 – Reginald Marsh, British actor (Sicilians, It Happened Here), dies at 74
2008 – Jazeh Tabatabai, Iranian avant-garde painter, poet and sculptor. (b. 1931)

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Historical Events

1943 – Red Army recaptures Kursk
1948 – V Winter Olympic Games close at St Moritz, Switzerland
1986 – The crime film “A Better Tomorrow”, starring Yun Fat Chow, premieres in Hong Kong
2013 – 16 people are killed and 27 are wounded by a market bombing in Kalaya, Pakistan
2014 – Ole Einar Bjørndalen equals the Winter Olympics medal record with 12
2019 – Washington’s Governor Jay Inslee declares a state emergency after heavy snowfall

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Famous Birthdays

1807 – Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, English sculptor and naturalist (d. 1889)
1883 – Joseph A Schumpeter, Austria/US economist/minister of finance
1906 – Artur Balsam, Polish/US pianist (Begeleidde Menuhin, Milstein)
1944 – Sebastião Salgado, Brazilian documentary photographer
1949 – Brooke Adams, American actress (Cynthia-OK Crackerby, Body Snatchers), born in NYC, New York
1960 – Linda Fratianne, figure skater (Olympic silver 1980), born in Los Angeles, California

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Famous Deaths

1245 – Johannes de Rupella/de la Rochelle, French theologist, dies
1725 – Peter the Great [Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov], Tsar of Russia (1682-1725) dies of uremia at 52
1910 – Hans Jæger, Norwegian writer and political activist (b. 1854)
1993 – Douglas Heyes, director/writer (Kitten with a Whip), dies at 73
1994 – Jacob Firet, Dutch theologist (Agogic Moment), dies at 70
2013 – James DePreist, American conductor, dies at 76

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Historical Events

1944 – Germans launch counteroffensive at Anzio, Italy
1945 – London, Washington and Moscow discuss final phase of World War II
1968 – Arthur Miller’s play “Price” premieres in NYC
1969 – Al-Fatah-leader Yasser Arafat becomes president of PLO
1973 – North Ireland’s United Loyalist Council hold a one-day strike, loyalist paramilitaries forcibly try to stop people going to work
1974 – Mel Brooks’ film “Blazing Saddles” opens in movie theaters starring Cleavon Little and Gene Wilder

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Famous Birthdays

1655 – Jean-Francois Regnard, French comedy writer (Slave in Algeria)
1804 – John Deere, American blacksmith and manufacturer (founded Deere and Company), born in Rutland, Vermont (d. 1886)
1814 – Gardner Quincy Colton, American lecturer who was the first to use nitrous oxide as an anesthetic in dentistry, born in Georgia, Vermont
1877 – Julius Curtius, German minister of Foreign affairs (1929-..)
1958 – Michele Drake, La Jolplaymate (May, 1979), born in Los Angeles, California
1969 – Bucky Richardson, US football quarterback (Houston Oilers)

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Famous Deaths

1317 – Robert, Count of Clermont, French founder of the House of Bourbon (b. 1256)
1920 – Aleksandr Vasilevich Kolchak, Russian military commander, dies at 45
1990 – Dom Heider Camara, nonviolent/human rights Bishop of Brazil, dies
1996 – Isian Kehinde I K Dairo, musician/academic, dies at 65
1999 – Hussein ibn Talal, King of Jordan (1952-99), dies at 63
2015 – Dean Smith, American actor and relay runner (Olympic gold 1952), dies at 83

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Historical Events

1820 – First 86 African American immigrants sponsored by the American Colonization Society start a settlement in present-day Liberia
1928 – A woman dubbed Anna Anderson [possibly Franziska Schanzkowska] arrives in NYC, using the alias “Anastasia Tschaikovsky” claims to be Grand Duchess Anastasia, daughter of Tsar Nicholas II
1929 – Rudy Vallee records single “Deep Night”
1975 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1995 – Darryl Strawberry suspended from baseball for 60 days
2018 – Brazilian jockey Jorge Ricardo equals world record number of victories for a jockey – 12,844 in Rio de Janeiro

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Famous Birthdays

1900 – Roy Smeck, American musician, born in Reading, Pennsylvania (d. 1994)
1908 – Edward Lansdale, United States Air Force Officer, born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 1987)
1912 – Eva Braun, German mistress and wife of Adolf Hitler, born in Munich, Germany (d. 1945)
1945 – Bob Marley, Jamaican reggae musician (Exodus, One Love), born in Nine Mile, Saint Ann, Jamaica (d. 1981)
1949 – Mike Batt, British director, actor, composer, and former Deputy Chairman (British Phonographic Industry), born in Southampton, England
1976 – Tanja Frieden, Swiss snowboarder, born in Bern, Switzerland

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Famous Deaths

1917 – Édouard Drumont, French anti-semite journalist, dies at 72
1927 – Daniel François Scheurleer, Dutch musicologist and banker, dies at 71
1961 – Archibald T Davison, American musicologist and composer, dies at 77
1981 – Hugo Montenegro, American film music composer (b. 1925)
1991 – Danny Thomas, comedian (Jazz Singer), dies of a heart attack at 79
2007 – Willye White, American athlete (Olympic silver long jump 1956, 4x100m relay 1964; Sports Illustrated 100 greatest women athletes of 20th century), dies of pancreatic cancer at 67

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Historical Events

1933 – Marinus van der Lubbe passes Dutch German boundary
1938 – Hans Engnestangen skates world record 500m (41.8 sec)
1941 – Dutch Premier De Geer returns from Lisbon to Netherlands
1942 – Braves get Tommy Holmes from Yanks for Buddy Hassett and Gene Moore
1980 – Egyptian parliament votes to end boycott of Israel
2017 – Romanian government scraps corruption degree after 6 days of mass demonstrations

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Famous Birthdays

1878 – André Citroën, French automobile pioneer (d. 1935)
1937 – Stuart Damon, American actor (Alan Quartermaine-General Hospital), born in Brooklyn, New York
1941 – Stephen J. Cannell, American TV producer (The Rockford Files, The A-Team, 21 Jump Street) and writer, born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2010)
1943 – Ivan Alexandrovich Tcherepnin, composer
1947 – Mary Louise Cleave, American engineer and NASA astronaut (STS 61-B, STS 30), born in Southampton, New York
1964 – Laura Linney, American actress (The Truman Show, Mystic River), born in Manhattan, New York

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Famous Deaths

1721 – James Stanhope 1st earl of Stanhope, English general, dies at 47
1967 – Herman Teirlinck, Belgian writer (Jokaste against God), dies at 87
1984 – Manès Sperber, Austrian-French writer (Like a Tear in the Ocean: A Trilogy), dies at 78
1995 – Doug Mcclure, US rodeo rider/actor (Trampas-Virginian), dies at 59
2012 – Sam Coppola, American actor (Saturday Night Fever), dies at 79
2019 – Dakshayani ‘Gaja Muthassi, elephant ‘granny’ Indian elephant, oldest in captivity, dies in Kerala at 88

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