Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1890 – Capt Guillaume of Kerckhoven marches into Boma Congo
1949 – WERD, 1st black-owned radio station, opens in Atlanta
1970 – “Coco” closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 333 performances
2001 – San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds Is walked for the 171st time in 11-8 win at Houston; breaks Babe Ruth’s 1923 MLB single-season record for walks
2012 – Miguel Cabrera goes 0 for 2 in a 1-0 Tigers win v Royals to end the season as MLB’s first Triple Crown winner since Carl Yastrzemski in 1967; leads AL with .330 average, 44 homers and 139 RBI
2013 – Chinese President President Xi Jinping announces plans for a ‘21st Century Maritime Silk Road’, linking China to Southeast Asia and the Mediterranean (Belt and Road Initiative / One Belt One Road) while in Indonesia

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Famous Birthdays

1881 – Ludomir Michał Rogowski, Polish composer, born in Lublin, Poland (d. 1954)
1938 – Tereza Kesovija, Croatian singer, born in Konavle, Kingdom of Yugoslavia
1951 – Jack Grondin, rock drummer (.38 Special)
1951 – Dave Winfield, American Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder (12-time All Star), born in St. Paul, Minnesota
1954 – Dennis Eckersley, American Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher (AL Cy Young Award 1992; AL MVP 1992; Oakland A’s), born in Oakland, California
1963 – Marion Peck, American artist and painter

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Famous Deaths

1653 – Mark Zuesius Boxhorn, Dutch historian, dies at 41
1703 – Pieter van Wooden, Amersfoorts rebel leader, beheaded
1838 – Black Hawk (chief), Leader of the Sauk Native American tribe (b. 1767)
1862 – Pleasant Adam Hackleman, Union brigadier general, dies in battle at 47
2002 – John Weitz, American author and fashion designer (Friends in High Places), dies at 79
2017 – Jalal Talabani, Iraqi-Kurdish politician and President of Iraq (2005-2014), dies at 83

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Historical Events

1614 – French King Louis XIII declared an adult at 13
1919 – 1st edition “Volkskrant” (People’s newspaper) published in Neth
1920 – Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates play first and only MLB triple header in the 20th century; Reds win the first two games, 13-4 and 7-3; Pirates avoid the sweep in the finale, 6-0
1950 – 1st strip of Charlie Brown, “Li’l Folks”, later “Peanuts”, by Charles M. Schulz published in seven nationwide papers
1968 – St. Louis pitcher Bob Gibson establishes a new Baseball World Series mark by striking out 17 batters as the Cardinals beat Detroit, 4-0 in Game 1 of the Fall Classic
2009 – “Stan Lee Day” declared by County of Los Angeles and the City of Long Beach

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Famous Birthdays

1833 – William Corby, American Catholic priest and President of the University of Notre Dame, born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 1897)
1839 – Hans Thoma, German painter, born in Bernau, Black Forest (d. 1924)
1895 – Louis Lebeer, Dutch art historian, born in Mechelen, Belgium (d. 1986)
1911 – Jack Finney, American sci-fi and thriller author (The Body Snatchers, Time and Again), born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (d. 1995)
1954 – Greg Jennings, American country singer (Restless Heart-Wheels), born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
1973 – Maria Wetterstrand, Swedish politician

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Famous Deaths

1707 – Anne Jules duke the Noailles, marshal of France (huguenot), dies at 57
1961 – Reggie Spooner, English cricket batsman (10 Tests; dual cricket/rugby union international), dies at 80
1970 – Bo Linde, Swedish composer, dies at 37
1973 – Paavo Nurmi, Finnish middle and long distance runner (9 Olympic gold 1920, 24, 28), dies of Atherosclerosis at 76
1999 – Heinz G. Konsalik, German novelist (b. 1921)
2006 – Tamara Dobson, American actress (b. 1947)

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Historical Events

1908 – Henry Ford introduces the Model T car (costs $825)
1948 – Radio Denmark begins transmitting
1950 – Philadelphia Phillies clinch NL pennant on Dick Sisler’s 3-run home run in a season ending 4-1 win v Brooklyn Dodgers; Phillies first pennant since 1913
1953 – KJEO TV channel 47 in Fresno, CA (CBS/ABC) begins broadcasting
1978 – Comoros adopts constitution
1986 – New Zealand’s Labour Government introduces a Goods and Services Tax (GST), adding 10% to the cost of most goods and services

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Famous Birthdays

1893 – Cliff Friend, American pianist and songwriter, born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 1974)
1930 – Naimatullah Khan, Pakistani politician
1945 – Donny Hathaway, singer-songwriter (Where is the Love), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1979)
1969 – Zach Galifianakis, American actor (The Hangover, Birdman), born in Wilkesboro, North Carolina
1970 – Gam Wu-seong, South Korean actor
1975 – Kim Suna, Korean actress

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Famous Deaths

1570 – Frans Floris, Flemish painter (b. 1520)
1693 – Pedro Abarca, Spanish theologian (b. 1619)
1770 – Louis-Gabriel Guillemain, composer, dies at 64
1929 – Lee Richmond, American baseball pitcher (first ever MLB perfect game, 1880), dies at 72
1936 – Oscar Da Costa, West Indian cricket all-rounder (5 Tests), dies at 29
2009 – V. M. Muddiah, Indian cricket spin bowler (2 Tests), dies from stroke complications at 80

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Historical Events

1626 – Battle between King Bethlen Gabor and Earl Mansfeld-Wallenstein ends
1818 – Congress of Aken: Russia, Austria, Prussia, France and England
1942 – Admiral Chester Nimitz’s B-17 finds Guadalcanal using National Geographic map
1958 – USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
1979 – Milwaukee Brewers lose 5-0 ending 213 straight games without a shutout
1985 – Howard Stern gets fired from WNBC AM (NY)

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Famous Birthdays

1879 – Ernst Isler, Swiss organist and critic, born in Zurich (d. 1944)
1917 – Yuri “Petrovich” Lyubimov, USSR, director (Taganka)
1920 – Ghazar Saryan, composer
1936 – James R Sasser, (Sen-D-Tenn, 1977- )
1946 – Claude Vorilhon, founder of Raelism, a ufo religion
1949 – Michel Tognini, Vincennes France, astronaut (Soyuz TM-15, sk: STS 93)

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Famous Deaths

1865 – Samuel David Luzzatto, Italian-Jewish scholar, dies at 65
1888 – Catherine Eddowes, English woman murdered by Jack the Ripper at 45
1921 – Oskar Panizza, German writer (Das Liebeskonzil), dies at 77
1987 – Robert Schollum, Austrian composer, dies at 74
1994 – Roberto Viola, Argentine general/president (1981), dies at 69
2017 – Monty Hall, Canadian-American TV game show host (Let’s Make a Deal), dies at 96

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Historical Events

219 – Batavian soldiers consecrate altar on Hercules Magusanus Rome
1848 – Battle of Pákozd: Hungarian forces defeat Croats at Pákozd; the first battle of the War of Independence
1920 – Babe Ruth sets then home run season record at 54
1958 – “Texan” debuts on CBS-TV
1979 – “Lonesome Loser” by Little River Band peaks at #6
1984 – “Drive” by Cars peaks at #3

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Famous Birthdays

1402 – Ferdinand, the Saint, Portuguese slave of Fez/saint
1547 – Miguel de Cervantes y Saavedra, Spanish author (Don Quixote), born in Alcalá de Henares, Habsburg Spain (d. 1616)
1898 – Trofim Lysenko, Soviet biologist and agronomist, born in Karlovka, Ukraine, Russian Empire (d. 1976)
1928 – Lord Avebury [Eric Reginald Lubbock], English politician (Liberal MP for Orpington 1962-70)
1934 – Mihály Csíkszentmihályi, Psychology professor
1966 – Hersey Hawkins, NBA guard (Seattle Supersonics, Olympic bronze 1988)

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Famous Deaths

1927 – Arthur Achleitner, German writer, dies at 69
1927 – Willem Einthoven, Dutch physiologist and inventor of the electrocardiodiogram (Nobel Prize in Medicine 1924), dies at 67
1937 – Ray Ewry, American track and field athlete (8 Olympic golds 1900, 04, 08), dies at 63
1959 – Bruce Bairnsfather, cartoonist, dies
1962 – Patrick Corry, developed self-rotating rock drill, dies in the Bronx
1967 – Ludwig Donath, Austrian actor (Torn Curtain, Sirocco, Jolson Sings Again), dies of leukemia at 67

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Historical Events

1066 – William the Conqueror invades England landing at Pevensey Bay, Sussex
1923 – Radio Times 1st published
1932 – 1932 Baseball World Series opens with the Chicago Cubs vs. NY Yankees (6-12)
1955 – 1st World Series color TV broadcast on NBC-TV (Yanks beat Dodgers)
1957 – “Honeycomb,” by Jimmie F. Rodgers hits #1
1969 – Minnesota vs Baltimore, gains 530 yards passing!

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Famous Birthdays

1926 – Jerry Clower, Amite County Miss, country comedian (Nashville on Road)
1946 – Helen Shapiro, Bethnal Green London, rock vocalist
1950 – Brian Keenan, Irish author (An Evil Cradling), born in Belfast, Northern Ireland
1961 – Yordanka Donkova, Bulgaria, 100m hurdler (world record)
1964 – Janeane Garofalo, American comedienne (SNL, Truth about Cats and Dogs), born in Newton, New Jersey
1984 – Melody Thornton, American singer and dancer

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Famous Deaths

1911 – Louis Pincoffs, Dutch businessman and politician (1st-Chamber), dies
1938 – Charles Duryea, American inventor (Duryea Motor Wagon Company, first auto built in the US), dies at 76
1948 – E. J. Ratcliffe, English stage and screen actor, dies at 85
1993 – Alexander A. Drabik, American soldier (b. 1910)
2002 – Patsy Mink, U.S. Congresswoman (b. 1927)
2013 – Jonathan Fellows-Smith, South African cricket all-rounder (4 Tests), dies at 81

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Historical Events

1940 – Yankees, lose to A’s and eliminated from pennant for 1st time since 1935
1983 – Tim Raines is 1st since Ty Cobb to steal 70 and drive in 70 runs
1988 – Canadian Finn class sailor Lawrence Lemieux abandons race 5 to assist injured competitor after being in 2nd place; selfless act is awarded with the Pierre de Coubertin medal
1989 – Oakland wins AL West and SF wins NL West title
1992 – ASPCA stops Santeria ceremony in Bronx halts sacrifice of 42 animals
2008 – CNSA astronaut Zhai Zhigang becomes the first Chinese person to perform a spacewalk while flying on Shenzhou 7.

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Famous Birthdays

1862 – Louis Botha, 1st Prime Minister of South Africa (1910-19), born in Greytown, South Africa (d. 1919)
1931 – Freddy Quinn, Austrian singer
1939 – Nicholas Haslam, English interior designer, born in Amersham
1961 – Irvine Welsh, Scottish writer
1976 – Jason Phillips, American baseball player
1983 – Shermon Tang, Hong Kong actress

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Famous Deaths

1641 – Francois van d’aerssen, mister of Sommelsdijk and diplomat, dies at 69
1891 – Ivan Goncharov, Russian author (b. 1812)
1915 – Conrad T van Deventer, Dutch jurist/MP (liberal), dies at 57
1940 – Walter Benjamin, German/French literature critic/writer, dies at 48
1991 – Oona Chaplin, daughter of Eugene O’Neill and wife of Charlie Chaplin, dies at 66
2007 – Kenji Nagai, Japanese photojournalist (b. 1957)

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Historical Events

1872 – The first Shriners Temple (called Mecca) was established in New York City.
1933 – Sidney Kingsley’s “Men in White” premieres in NYC
1950 – Because of forest fire in Br Columbia, blue moon appears in England
1961 – “From the Second City” opens at Royale Theater NYC for 87 performances
1973 – Turkey’s state of siege ends (after 2½ years)
1994 – Switzerland bans racist propaganda

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Famous Birthdays

1406 – Thomas de Ros, 8th Baron de Ros, English soldier and politician, born in Belvoir, Leicestershire (d. 1430)
1711 – Richard Grenville-Temple, 2nd Earl Temple, English politician, born in London (d. 1779)
1897 – Victor Otto Stomps, German writer and publisher, born in Krefeld, Germany (d. 1970)
1927 – Robert Blackburn, Irish educationist (International Baccalaureate Organisation), born in Kilkenny, Ireland (d. 1990)
1952 – Predrag Miletić, Serbian actor, born in Niš, Serbia
1984 – Thore Schölermann, German actor, born in Iserlohn, Germany

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Famous Deaths

1371 – Vlkasin, Hungarian general/co-king of Serbia, dies
1904 – Lafcadio Hearn, American author (Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan), dies at 54
2000 – Richard Mulligan, American actor (Soap, Empty’s Nest, Big Bus), dies at 67
2004 – Marianna Komlos, professional wrestling valet (b. 1969)
2008 – Marc Moulin, Belgian musician and journalist (b. 1942)
2011 – Bob Cassilly, American Artist and Founder of the St. Louis City Museum (b. 1949)

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Historical Events

1654 – England and Denmark sign trade agreement
1930 – Zoe Akins’ “Greeks Had a Word for it” premieres in NYC
1960 – For 1st time since 1927, Pirates clinch NL pennant
1980 – Jerry Mumphrey joins Ozzie Smith, and Gene Richards to steal 50 bases this year for Padres
1988 – American sprinter Florence Griffith Joyner wins women’s 100m in Olympic record 10.54; beats team mate Evelyn Ashford by 0.29; 1st leg of sprint double at Seoul Games
1994 – Oliver McCall TKOs Lennox Lewis in 2 for heavyweight boxing title

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Famous Birthdays

1766 – Armand-Emmanuel, Duc de Richelieu, Prime Minister of France (1815-18, 1820-21), born in Paris (d. 1822)
1823 – Thomas John Wood, American Major General (Union Army), born in Munfordville, Kentucky (d. 1906)
1862 – Leon Boellmann, French organist and composer (Variations Symphoniques), born in Ensisheim, France (d. 1897)
1896 – Roberto Gerhard, Spanish Catalan composer, born in Valls, Catalonia, Spain (d. 1970)
1949 – Jerry Costello, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois), born in East St. Louis, Illinois
1977 – Wil Nieves, Puerto Rican baseball player

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Famous Deaths

1617 – Emperor Go-Yozei of Japan (b. 1617)
1840 – Jacques-Etienne-Joseph-Alexandre Macdonald, Duc de Tarente, soldier
1900 – Félix-Gabriel Marchand, premier of Québec (b. 1832)
1953 – Dimitur Poljanov [Popov], Bulgaria poet (Iron Verses), dies at 76
2012 – Andy Williams, American singer, dies from bladder cancer at 84
2016 – Jean Shepard, American country singer (Ozark Jubilee), dies of Parkinson’s disease at 82

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Historical Events

1789 – President George Washington nominates John Jay for 1st Chief Justice
1919 – Babe Ruth sets season homer mark at 28 off of Yankee Bob Shawkey
1948 – Mildred Gillars (Axis Sally), an American broadcaster employed by the Third Reich in Nazi Germany to proliferate propaganda during World War II, pleads not guilty to eight chargs of treason in Washington, D.C.
1988 – West German swimmer Michael Gross wins 200m butterfly in Olympic record 1:56.94 at the Seoul Games; third career gold medal
1992 – Toronto’s Dave Winfield, 40, is oldest player to reach 100-RBI
2017 – Plastic polystyrene rubbish discovered for first time only 1,000 miles from the north pole by international team of scientists

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Famous Birthdays

1898 – Charlotte van Pallandt, Dutch sculptress, born in Arnhem, Netherlands (d. 1997)
1945 – Catherine Burns, American actress (Last Summer, One Life to Live, Catcher), born in NYC, New York
1962 – Jack Dee, British comedian ( I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue), born in Bromley, England
1964 – Rafael Palmeiro, 1st baseman (Baltimore Orioles), born in Havana, Cuba
1966 – Paul Michael Valley, American actor (Ryan Harrison-Another World), born in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin
1967 – Roland Jansen, soccer player (Willem II)

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Famous Deaths

1707 – Vincenzo da Filicaja, Italian poet (b. 1642)
1889 – Daniel Harvey Hill, Confederate General (American Civil War), dies at 68
1954 – Edward Pilgrim, British suicide hastened by bureaucracy (b. 1904)
1990 – Jay Currin, stuntman/actor (Back to the Beach, Serial), dies at 34
1993 – Bruno Pontecorvo, Italian nuclear physicist, dies at 80
2004 – Françoise Sagan [Quoirez], French novelist (Bonjour Trieste), dies at 69

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