Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1773 – Boston tea party incident – Sons of Liberty protesters throw tea shipments into Boston harbour in protest against British imposed Tea Act
1880 – Transvaal region declares itself as the Republic of South Africa
1912 – 1st US postage stamp picturing an airplane, 20 cent parcel post, issued
1945 – National Football League Championship, Cleveland Stadium: Cleveland Rams beat Washington Redskins, 15-14; last game before Rams move west to Los Angeles
1959 – Snow falling in Lowarai Pass West Pakistan kills 48
1991 – UN reverses ruling that Zionism is racism by 111-25 (13 abstain) vote

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1776 – Johann Wilhelm Ritter, German physicist (d. 1810)
1892 – A “Shon Nene” Morales, Antillean/Neth very old lady
1919 – Manke Nelis, [Cornelis Pieters], Dutch folk vocalist (Small Yodel Boy)
1926 – Alfred Koerppen, composer
1958 – Bart Oates, NFL center (NY Giants, SF 49ers)
1962 – William “The Refrigerator” Perry, NFL defensive back (Chicago Bears)

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1669 – Nathaniel Fiennes, English politician (b. circa 1608)
1673 – Juan de Padilla, composer, dies at 68
1927 – Hugh Archibald Clarke, composer, dies at 88
1944 – Don Meyer Basketball coach Northern State, Lipscomb, and Hamline
1989 – Lee Van Cleef, American actor (Good, Bad and Ugly), dies at 64
2005 – Ed Hansen, American film director and editor (b. 1937)

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1854 – 1st street-cleaning machine in US 1st used in Philadelphia
1907 – In Persia, the Shah leads a coup de’etat against the liberal Prime Minister Nasir ul-Mulk and imprisons him, but a popular uprising forces the Shah to restore Nasir ul-Mulk soon after
1952 – KHON TV channel 2 in Honolulu, HI (NBC) begins broadcasting
1955 – “Folsom Prison Blues” single released by Johnny Cash (Billboard Song of the Year 1968)
1967 – The Beatles release “Christmas Time is Here Again”
2006 – First flight of the F-35 Lightning II.

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1848 – Edwin Blashfield, American painter who decorated the dome of Library of Congress, born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1936)
1853 – Jean Baptiste August Kessler, Dutch entrepreneur and director of oil on Dutch Indies, born in Batavia, Dutch East Indies (d. 1900)
1878 – Hans Carossa, German writer, born in Tölz, Bavaria (d. 1956)
1944 – Chico Mendes, Brazilian environmental activist and rubber tapper, born in Xapuri, Brazil (d. 1988)
1966 – Manos Papayiannis, Greek fashion model and actor
1981 – Thomas Herrion, American football player (d. 2005)

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1839 – Matthijs I van Bree, Flemish court-painter, dies at 66
1943 – Fats Waller [Thomas Wright], American jazz singer and composer (Ain’t Misbehavin’, Hot Chocolate), dies at 39
1950 – Robert Müller-Hartmann, German composer, dies at 66
1987 – Septima Poinsette Clark, American educator and civil rights activist, dies at 89
2001 – Rufus Thomas [Mr. Swing], American musician (Do the Funky Chicken), dies at 84
2003 – Keith Magnuson, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1947)

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1900 – France and Italy sign a secret agreement by which Italy recognizes France’s right to exploit Morocco in return for France’s conceding her the same right in Tripoli
1901 – 1st table tennis tournament is held (London Royal Aquarium)
1950 – Baseball owners choose Lou Perini (Braves), Phil Wrigley (Cubs), Del Webb (Yankees), and Ellis Ryan (Indians) to select new commissioner
1975 – WCPR (Brooklyn New York pirate radio station) begins broadcasting on 1620 AM
2016 – University of Toronto scientists present findings of the world’s oldest water – 2 billion years old from a mine in Canada
2017 – The Vatican announces it has rediscovered the lost last paintings of Raphael in Vatican Museum, painted 1520

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1904 – Jack Westland, American politician (US House of Representatives 1953-65) and golfer (US Amateur C’ship 1952), born in Everett, Washington (d. 1982)
1911 – Spike Jones [Lindley Armstrong Jones], American bandleader (Der Fueher’s Face, Cocktails For Two), born in Long Beach, California (d. 1965)
1935 – Butch [David William] White, English cricketer (England opening attack Brown and White v Pak 1961), born in Sutton Coldfield, Warwickshire
1942 – David Band, British banker (BZW) (d. 1996)
1948 – Boudewijn Büch, Dutch writer and TV host, born in The Hague, Netherlands
1963 – Cindy Gibb, American actress (Search for Tomorrow, Youngblood), born in Bennington, Vermont

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1417 – John Oldcastle, Lord Cobham, English nobleman, hanged and burned
1542 – James V, King of Scotland (1513-42), dies at 30
1651 – Pierre Dupuy, French historian and scholar, dies at 69
1923 – Giuseppi Gallignani, composer, dies at 72
1965 – Hermann Sandby, composer, dies at 84
1998 – Norman Fell, American actor (Three’s Company, The End, Graduate), dies of bone marrow cancer at 74

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1918 – US army of occupation crosses Rhine, enters Germany
1947 – “Caribbean Carnival” closes at International NYC after 11 performances
1954 – Elsa Schiaparelli’s House of Schiaparelli at Place Vendôme in Paris closes
1993 – Space shuttle STS-61 (Endeavour 5), lands
1997 – 63rd Heisman Trophy Award: Charles Woodson, Michigan (CB)
2014 – A civil rights protest march in Washington, D.C. takes place, against the police killing of unarmed black men

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1925 – Albert Paulsen, Ecuadorian-American actor (One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, Doctors’ Hospital), born in Guayaquil, Ecuador (d. 2004)
1937 – Rob Houwer, Dutch director and producer and actor (OK, Professor Columbus), born in The Hague, Netherlands
1943 – Margaret “Marti” Webb, British actress and singer (Evita, Tell Me on a Sunday), born in Hampstead, London
1958 – Clark Brandon, American actor (Fast Food), born in NYC, New York
1982 – Tuka Rocha, Brazilian racing driver, born in São Paulo, Brazil
1982 – Ricky Nolasco, American baseball player, born in Corona, California

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1650 – Phineas Fletcher, English poet, dies at 68
1909 – Innokenti Annenski, Russian poet and interpreter, dies of heart attack at 54
1940 – Dusty Tapscott, cricket (bro of Doodles, 4and1 in only S Af Test), dies
1945 – Robert van Genechten, Dutch Nazi (NSB), commits suicide
2011 – Russell Hoban, American author (creator of ‘Frances’ series), dies at 86
2016 – Thomas Schelling, American economist, (Nobel Prize 2005 – game-theory analysis), dies at 95

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1408 – Order of the Dragon: The Order of the Dragon was first created on December 12, 1408 by Emperor Sigismund, then King of Hungary, and his wife Queen Barbara of Celje following the battle for possession of Bosnia.
1904 – CMS McClellan’s “Leah Kleschna” premieres in NYC
1925 – Medina surrenders to Saudi forces led by Sultan Abdulaziz Ibn Saud
1966 – US Supreme Courts votes 4-3 allowing Braves to move to Atlanta
1968 – Northern Ireland Prime Minister Terence O’Neill receives overwhelming support from Unionist Members of Parliament (MPs) at Stormont
1987 – Rollermania at Madison Square Garden, Eastern Express beats Midwest Pioneers

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1298 – Albert II, Duke of Austria, born in Habsburg Castle, Swabia (d. 1358)
1791 – Marie-Louise of Austria, Duchess of Parma and second wife of Napoleon, born in Hofburg, Vienna, Austria (d. 1847)
1906 – William Pahlmann, American interior designer (4 Season restaurant, NYC), born in Pleasant Mound, Illinois (d. 1987)
1913 – Ferenc Csik, Hungarian swimmer (Olympics gold medal 100m freestyle 1936), born in Kaposvár, Hungary (d. 1945)
1952 – Ajit De Silva, Sri Lankan cricket spin bowler (4 Tests), born in Ambalangoda, Sri Lanka
1991 – Daniel Magder, Canadian actor (The Famous Jett Jackson), born in Toronto, Ontario

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1889 – Viktor Bunyakovsky, Russian mathematician (b. 1804)
1965 – Johnny Lee, American actor (Song of the South, The Amos ‘n’ Andy Show), dies from a heart attack at 67
1971 – Jack Barnhill, Northern Ireland senator, assassinated
1985 – Anne Baxter, American actress, and singer (The Razor’s Edge, All About Eve), dies of a stroke at 62
2005 – Annette Vadim, Danish actress (b. 1936)
2018 – Meng Lang, Chinese poet and activist, dies at 57

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1282 – Llywelyn ab Gruffydd/Llywelyn the Last, last native Prince of Wales is killed at Cilmeri, near Builth Wells, south Wales. Reigned from 1259.
1981 – El Mozote massacre: Salvadoran armed forces kill an estimated 900 civilians in an anti-guerrilla campaign during the country’s civil war.
1985 – Dow Jones closes above 1,500 for 1st time (1,511.70)
1986 – A Bartlett Giamatti becomes president of baseball’s National League
2017 – Rahul Gandhi, son of former Prime Minister Rajiv Ghandi, is elected leader of the Indian National Congress
2018 – Time Magazine Person of the Year 2018 is “the Guardians” journalists targeted for their work, including Jamal Khashoggi

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1863 – Annie Jump Cannon, American stellar spectroscopist (Harvard-classification), born in Dover, Delaware (d. 1941)
1915 – Anna van Beers [Graeve], Dutch actress (A Woman like Eve, Diary of a Hooker), born in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands (d. 2011)
1952 – Susan Seidelman, American film director (Desperately Seeking Susan), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1967 – Chris Shepherd, English film director, born in Anfield, Liverpool, England
1970 – Doug Nussmeier, American NFL quarterback (New Orleans Saints), born in Portland, Oregon
1981 – Hamish Blake, Australian comedian, born in Melbourne, Australia

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1524 – Henry Van Zutphen, Dutch protestant martyr, burned at stake
1747 – Edmund Curll, English bookseller (b. ca. 1675)
1972 – Semjon I. Kirsanov, Ukrainian poet (Zolushka), dies at 66
1987 – G. A. Kulkarni, Indian (Marathi) writer (RamalKhuna), dies at 1987
1993 – Ales Gartner, Slavic ski trainer of Norway, dies at 45
2004 – José Luis Cuciuffo, Argentinian footballer (b. 1962)

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1896 – Alfred Jarry’s “Ubu Roi” premieres in Paris
1939 – KNVB celebrates 50th anniversary
1954 – Philadelphia Phillies purchase Connie Mack Stadium
1972 – USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1979 – Piet Dankert appointed as chairman of European Parliament
1981 – -13] El Salvador army kills 900

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1880 – Fred Immler, German actor (Zapata’s Gang, Madame DuBarry), born in Germany (d. 1965)
1889 – Ray Collins, American actor (Homecoming, Good Sam, Rose Marie), born in Sacramento, California (d. 1965)
1943 – Jessica Cleaves, American singer and songwriter (The Friends of Distinction), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2014)
1952 – Susan Dey, American actress (1st Love, Partridge Family, LA Law), born in Pekin, Illinois
1974 – Meg White, American drummer (The White Stripes), born in Grosse Point Farms, Michigan
1987 – Gonzalo Higuaín, French-born Argentine footballer

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1508 – René II, Duke of Lorraine, dies at 57
1749 – Gabrielle Chôtelet [La belle Emilie], French writer (Voltaire), dies at 42
1805 – Friedrich Franz Hurka, composer, dies at 43
1833 – Dieudonne-Pascal Pieltain, composer, dies at 79
1953 – Abdullah Yusuf Ali, British-Indian Islamic scholar and translator (translated Qu’ran into English), dies at 81
2006 – Jack Williamson, American sci-fi author (Cometeers), dies at 98

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1425 – Pope Martinus V forms University of Leuven
1824 – Battle of Ayacucho (Candorcangui), Peru defeats Spain
1900 – President Paul Kruger of South Africa’s Transvaal and Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands have a triumphant procession
1939 – CFL Grey Cup, Landsdowne Park, Ottawa: Winnipeg Blue Bombers claim 2nd title; defeat Ottawa Rough Riders, 8-7
1949 – NFL merges Cleveland Browns, SF ’49ers and Balt Colts from AAFC
2002 – “Star Trek: Nemesis” film directed by Stuart Baird and starring Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes premieres

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1883 – Nikolai Luzin, Russian mathematician, born in Irkutsk, Russian Empire (d. 1950)
1887 – Tim Moore, American actor and vaudevillian, born in Rock Island, Illinois (d. 1958)
1920 – Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Italian President (1999-2006) and Prime Minister (1993-94), born in Livorno (d. 2016)
1932 – Jessie “Ooh Poo Pah Doo” Hill, jazz musician
1932 – Donald Byrd, American jazz trumpeter (Black Byrd), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 2013)
1963 – Barry Wilburn, NFL full safety (Philadelphia Eagles)

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1964 – Edith Sitwell, English poet and author (Wheels), dies at 77
1992 – Vincent Gardenia, Italian-American actor (Bang the Drum Slowly, Moonstruck, Little Shop of Horrors), dies of a heart attack at 71
2006 – Freddie Marsden, English rock drummer (Gerry and the Pacemakers), dies at 66
2010 – Dov Shilansky, Israeli politician (b. 1924)
2012 – Norman Joseph Woodland, American inventor (barcode), dies at 91
2018 – Riccardo Giacconi, Italian American astrophysicist, Nobel Prize for Physics 2002 for X-ray astronomy, dies at 87

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1864 – James Clerk Maxwell’s paper “A Dynamical Theory of the Electromagnetic Field” is 1st read by the Royal Society in London (published by the Royal Society 1865)
1936 – Anastasio Somoza García elected President of Nicaragua
1955 – 21st Heisman Trophy Award: Howard Cassady, Ohio State (HB)
1956 – Guy Mitchell’s “Singing the Blues” single goes #1 for 10 weeks
1961 – South Africa v NZ, Durban debuts for Eddie Barlow and Peter Pollock
1984 – Europe and 64 developing countries sign Lome III treaty

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1699 – Maria Josepha of Austria, Queen consort of Poland (1734-57), born in Hofburg Palace, Vienna, Austria (d. 1757)
1887 – Vicente Emilio Sojo, Venezuelan composer, born in Guatire, Miranda state, Venezuela (d. 1974)
1903 – Irene Eisinger, German-British singer, born in Cosel, German Empire (d. 1994)
1905 – Ernst Hermann Meyer, German composer, born in Berlin (d. 1988)
1940 – Brant Alyea, American baseball player
1947 – Thomas R. Cech, American chemist, Nobel laureate

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1625 – Christina of Holstein-Gottorp, Queen consort of Sweden as the wife of King Charles IX, dies at 52
1744 – Marie-Anne de Mailly-Nesle, duchess de Châteauroux, French mistress of King Louis XV of France, dies at 28
1957 – Reginald Sheffield, British actor (Suspicion, Of Human Bondage, Second Chance), dies at 56
1990 – Martin Ritt, American actor and director (The Spy Who Came In from the Cold, Slugger’s Wife, End of the Game), dies at 76
2004 – “Dimebag” Darrell Abbott, American heavy metal guitarist (Pantera) is shot and killed by crazed fan Nathan Gamble while performing on stage at 38
2013 – Don Mitchell, American actor, dies at 70

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1911 – Leslie J Stuart’s musical “Betsy” premieres in NYC
1940 – North Africa: British counter offensive under general O’Connor
1956 – American diver Pat McCormick wraps up the women’s double when she wins the 10m platform gold medal at the Melbourne Olympics with 84.85 points; also won the 3m springboard gold
1956 – Helen O’Connell joins Today Show panel
1988 – Mikhail Gorbachev cheered by Wall St crowds upon arrival in NYC
1988 – NY Islanders fire Simpson, Arbour new coach

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

967 – Abū-Sa’īd Abul-Khayr, Persian mystic and poet, born in Mihne, Greater Khorasan (d. 1049)
1598 – Gian Lorenzo [Giovanni] Bernini, Italian baroque sculptor (St Teresa in Ecstasy), painter and architect, born in Naples, Italy (d. 1680)
1958 – “Ravishing” Rick Rude, American professional wrestler, born in St. Peter, Minnesota (d. 1999)
1976 – Alan Faneca, American football player (Pittsburgh Steelers), born in New Orleans, Louisiana
1976 – Georges Laraque, Canadian ice hockey player (Edmonton Oilers), born in Montreal, Quebec
1979 – Derek Ramsay, British-Filipino actor and model, born in Enfield, England

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1723 – Jan Santini Aichel, Bohemian architect (b. 1677)
1860 – Konstantin Sergeyevich Aksakov, Russian historian and poet, dies at 43
1941 – Mervyn S. Bennion, United States Navy Captain, Medal of Honor recipient, killed in Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor (b. 1887)
1985 – Potter Stewart, 94th Supreme Court Justice (1958-81), dies in NH at 70
1990 – Peter Mieg, Swiss composer, dies at 84
2008 – Dennis Yost, American vocalist, dies at 65

More Famous Deaths »