Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1491 – The siege of Granada, last Moorish stronghold in Spain, begins
1598 – Jacob Cornelius van Neck’s merchant fleet reaches Bantam, West-Java on second Dutch expedition to Indonesia
1874 – The United States Greenback Party is established as a political party consisting primarily of farmers affected by the Panic of 1873.
1955 – Clement Attlee resigns as leader of the UK Labour Party
1965 – Congo military coup under Gen Mobutu, President Kasavubu overthrown
1995 – “Patti LuPone on Broadway” closes at Walter Kerr NYC after 46 performances

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Famous Birthdays

1501 – Yi Hwang, Korean Confucian scholar of the Joseon Dynasty, born in Ongye-ri, Andong, North Gyeongsang Province (d. 1570)
1721 – Willem Crul, British admiral (West-Indies), born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 1781)
1753 – Otto Carl Erdmann Kospoth, Prussian composer, born in Mühltroff (d. 1817)
1858 – Alfred Capus, French author (d. 1922)
1960 – Amy Grant, American gospel and rock singer (Glory of Love, Baby Baby), born in Augusta, Georgia
1983 – Kirsty Crawford, Scottish singer/songwriter

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Famous Deaths

1883 – Ludwig Erk, German composer and folk song collector, dies at 76
1894 – Solomon Caesar Malan, British orientalist, dies at 82
1914 – Davorin Jenko, Slovene-Serbian composer, dies at 79
1948 – Kanbun Uechi, karate master (b. 1877)
1974 – Nick Drake, rocker, dies of a drug overdose at 26
1997 – Fenton Robinson, US blues guitarist (Tennessee Woman), dies at 62

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Historical Events

1914 – Benito Mussolini leaves Italy’s socialist party
1942 – French collaborator Marquis de Brinon establishes “African Falanx”
1949 – Syracuse Nationals beat Anderson Packers, 125-123 in 5 OTs
1970 – 36th Heisman Trophy Award: Jim Plunkett, Stanford (QB)
1986 – Cards reliever Todd Worrell wins NL Rookie of Year
2008 – Craig David releases his first Greatest Hits album

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Famous Birthdays

1884 – Michel de Klerk, architect (Amsterdam School)
1916 – Forrest J Ackerman, invented the term “sci-fi”
1934 – Claudio Prieto, composer
1940 – Paul Tagliabue, commissioner (NFL)
1968 – Bülent Korkmaz, Turkish footballer
1970 – Marlon James, Jamaican writer (A Brief History of Seven Killings), born in Kingston, Jamaica

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Famous Deaths

1807 – Joseph Brant [Thayendanegea], Mohawk leader, dies at 64
1840 – Cornelis RT Krayenhoff, fortress architect/cartographer, dies at 82
1916 – Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim, American-born gunsmith (b. 1840)
1946 – Alfonso Broqua, Uruguayan composer, dies at 70
1984 – Godfrey Ridout, Canadian composer, dies at 66
2009 – Samak Sundaravej, 25th Prime Minister of Thailand (2008), dies at 74

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Historical Events

1942 – Japanese bombing of Port Darwin, Australia
1956 – Vladimir Kuts of the Soviet Union runs Olympic record 28:45.6 to win the 10,000m at the Melbourne Olympics; later also wins 5,000m gold
1975 – CFL Grey Cup, McMahon Field, Calgary: Edmonton Eskimos defeat Montreal Alouettes, 9-8; just the 3rd Grey Cup in which no TDs scored; game-time temperature -15 degrees Celsius, with a 25-kph wind
1996 – Irene Skliva, 18, of Greece, crowned 46th Miss World
2013 – “The Day of the Doctor” 50th anniversary episode of “Doctor Who” screens on BBC One, 1st episode to feature 12th Doctor Peter Capaldi
2018 – US Federal Climate report finds climate change will reduce economy by 10% by 2100 with $141 billion cost from heat-related deaths, $118 billion from sea level rise

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Famous Birthdays

1862 – Theo van Rysselberghe, Belgian painter (pointillism)
1923 – Daniel Brewster, American democrat (d. 2007)
1932 – Michel David-Weill, French investment banker
1938 – Esko Nikkari, Finnish actor
1949 – Gayl Jones, American author/poet (Corregidora, Song for Anninho)
1958 – Martin Snedden, cricketer (NZ medium-pacer of 80’s)

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Famous Deaths

1752 – Conrad Michael Schneider, composer, dies at 79
1973 – Claire Dodd, actress (Ex-Lady, In the Navy), dies after illness at 64
1992 – Rita Corday, actress (Dick Tracy vs Cueball), dies at 68
1996 – Mohamed Amin, Kenyan photojournalist, dies at 53
1996 – Art Porter, saxophonist, dies at 35
2007 – Pat Walsh, New Zealand rugby union utility back, selector (14 caps), dies at 71

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Historical Events

1914 – Ypres, Belgium, burned by German bombing
1928 – “Bolero” by Maurice Ravel first performed publicly (Paris)
1931 – Ferde Grofe’s “Grand Canyon Suite” premieres
1967 – USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1981 – SD Charger Dan Fouts passes for 6 touchdowns vs Oakland (55-21)
2005 – Angela Merkel becomes the first female Chancellor of Germany

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Famous Birthdays

1913 – Cecilia Muñoz-Palma, first female Philippine Supreme Court Justice (d. 2006)
1950 – Little Steven, [Van Zandt], Asbury Park NJ, rocker (Born to Run)
1958 – Jamie Lee Curtis, American actress (Halloween, True Lies), born in Los Angeles, California
1961 – Mariel Hemingway, Ketchum Id, actress (Personal Best, Civil Wars)
1966 – Brian Robbins, American actor (Eric-Head of the Class), born in Brooklyn, New York
1978 – Karen O [Orzolek], American singer (Yeah Yeah Yeahs), born in Busan, South Korea

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Famous Deaths

1318 – Mikhail Yaroslavich, Russian prince (b. 1271)
1782 – John de Mol, porcelein manufacturer, dies
1920 – Manuel Pérez y Curis, Uruguayan poet (b. 1884)
1982 – Max Deutsch, Austrian-French composer, dies at 90
1983 – Michael Conrad, American actor (Delvecchio, Hill St Blues), dies of cancer at 58
1998 – Stu Unger, American poker player (b. 1953)

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Historical Events

1813 – Stettin surrenders to allied armies
1824 – First Jewish Reform congregation forms, Charleston, South Carolina
1953 – Authorities at the British Natural History Museum announce the “Piltdown Man” skull, one of the most famous fossil skulls in the world, is a hoax
1955 – KTVO TV channel 3 in Ottumwa-Kirksville, IA (ABC) begins broadcasting
1994 – 1st-class cricket debut of Andrew Symonds (Queensland v NSW, SCG)
2004 – 56th NASCAR Sprint Cup: Kurt Busch wins

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Famous Birthdays

1495 – John Bale, English bishop and anti-catholic playwright (Kynge Johan), born in Cove, Suffolk, England (d. 1563)
1870 – Stanley Jackson, English cricketer (captain of England, governor of Bengal), born in Chapel Allerton, Leeds, Yorkshire, England (d. 1947)
1898 – René Magritte, Belgian surrealistic painter (This is Not a Pipe)
1932 – Jim Ringo, NFL center (Green Bay, Philadelphia)
1966 – Jerry Fontenot, NFL center/guard (Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints)
1987 – Brian Douwes, Dutch kickboxer and martial artist

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Famous Deaths

1922 – Ricardo Flores Magón, Mexican anarchist (b. 1874).
1963 – Luis Cernuda, Spanish poet (Perfil del Aire), dies at 61
1972 – Karel Haba, Czech composer and violinist, dies at 74
1981 – Harry Von Zell, TV announcer (Burns and Allen), dies at 75
1986 – Marcelino Sanchez, American actor (b. 1957)
1995 – Noel Jones, British diplomat (b. 1940)

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Historical Events

1194 – Palermo, Sicily, is conquered by Emperor Henry VI
1866 – First national convention of Grand Army of Republic (veterans’ org)
1944 – Amsterdam: Vondelpark closed because of kappen of trees
1967 – Mets pitcher Tom Seaver (16-12) is named NL Rookie of Year
1981 – Russian Anatoly Karpov retains world chess championship
1982 – Drew Barrymore at age 7 hosts “Saturday Night Live”

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Famous Birthdays

1867 – Vicente Ripolles, composer
1916 – William John Elwyn Davies, painter
1956 – Mark Gastineau, NFL end (NY Jets, Pro Bowl 1981-85)
1970 – Joe Zaso, American actor, born in Queens, New York City
1974 – Kirk Reynolds, Canadian trap shooter (Olympics 1996), born in Outlook, Saskatchewan, Canada
1986 – Aaron Yan, Taiwanese singer and actor, born in Taipei, Taiwan

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Famous Deaths

1437 – Thomas Langley, bishop of Durham, cardinal and lord chancellor (b. 1363)
1936 – Jose A Primo de Rivera, Spanish lawyer and politician (founder of Spanish Falange), executed at 33
1973 – Allan Sherman, American parody singer and songwriter (Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah), dies from emphysema at 48
1986 – William Bradford Huie, American writer and publisher, dies at 76
2010 – Chalmers Johnson, American political scholar and author (b. 1931)
2012 – William Grut, Swedish pentathlete, dies at 98

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Historical Events

1879 – National Association of Trotting Horse Breeders determines what “is” a trotter
1990 – Greyhound files reoganization plan so they can be traded publicly
1991 – Baltimore Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken wins his 2nd AL MVP
1996 – Albert Belle, signs record five-year, $55 million with White Sox
1997 – McCaughey septuplets born to Bobbi McCaughey in Des Moines, Iowa. First set of septuplets to survive infancy.
2018 – Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn arrested in Japan for financial misconduct

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Famous Birthdays

1918 – Hendrik Christoffel Van de Hulst, Utrecht the Netherlands, Dutch astronomer who correctly predicted the existence of the 21 cm hyper-fine line of neutral atomic hydrogen in interstellar space
1944 – Dennis Hull, Canadian ice hockey player
1955 – Gloria Guida, Merano Italy, Miss Teenage Italy (1974)
1956 – Ann Curry, American journalist
1970 – Bhupinder Singh Jr, cricketer (Punjab and Indian ODI batsman)
1977 – Lady Davina EAB Windsor, daughter of English prince Richard

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Famous Deaths

498 – Anastasius II, Pope (496-8) dies. Referred to by Dante in his Inferno XI, 8-9
1983 – Tom Evans, English bass guitarist (Badfinger) (b. 1947)
1990 – Sun Li-jen, Chinese general (b. 1900)
1994 – Dedrick Gobert, American actor (Boyz ‘n the Hood), shot to death at 22
1998 – Ted Fujita, Japanese-born American meteorologist (b. 1920)
2010 – Pat Burns, Canadian hockey coach (b. 1952)

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Historical Events

1883 – Standard time zones forms by railroads in US and Canada
1932 – 5th Academy Awards: Fredric March and Wallace Beery in 1st ever tie for Best Actor. “Grand Hotel” and Helen Hayes also win.
1943 – 444 British bombers attack Berlin
1985 – Enterprise (OV-101) flies from Kennedy Space Center to Dulles Airport
1997 – Willem de Kooning painting “Two Standing Women” sold for $4,182,500
2018 – Apec Summit in Papa New Guinea fails to produce a joint agreement for first time in two decades after US and China clash on definition of trade

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Famous Birthdays

1803 – Cornelis Broere, Dutch Roman Catholic priest and poet, born in Amsterdam (d. 1860)
1928 – Mickey Mouse, Disney cartoon strip character
1942 – Jeffrey Siegel, pianist (Chicago Symphony), born in Chicago, Illinois
1964 – Seth Joyner, NFL linebacker (Ariz, Green Bay Packers-Super Bowl 31)
1969 – Raghib Ismail, American NFL wide receiver/kick returner (Oakland Raiders), born in Elizabeth, New Jersey
1974 – Chloë Sevigny, American actress

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Famous Deaths

1170 – Albrecht I “Bear”, 1st margrave of Brandenburg (1150-70), dies at 70
1603 – Elisabeth van Nassau, daughter of Willem and Juliana van Stolberg, dies at 61
1887 – Gustav Fechner, German psychologist and physicist (Weber–Fechner law), dies at 86
1971 – [Herman] Junior Parker, American blues singer and musician (Mystery Train), dies during brain operation at 39
1987 – Jacques Anquetil, French road cyclist (Tour de France 1957, 61-64; first 5-time winner), dies of stomach cancer at 53
1999 – Doug Sahm, American country singer (Texas Tornadoes-Dinero), dies at 58

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Historical Events

1933 – Marx brothers film “Duck Soup” directed by Leo McCarey and starring the Marx Brothers is released in the US
1956 – Syracuse fullback Jim Brown, scores NCAA record of 43 pts (vs Colgate)
1967 – French author Régis Debray sentenced to 30 years in Bolivia
1967 – Davy Jones of the Monkees opens a boutique, Zilch I, in Greenwich Village, New York
1989 – Student demonstration in Prague put down by riot police, leading to an uprising (the Velvet Revolution) that will topple the communist government on Dec. 29
2013 – Giorgi Margvelashvili becomes the President of Georgia

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Famous Birthdays

1787 – Michele Carafa, composer
1892 – Max Deutsch, Austrian-French composer, born in Vienna (d. 1982)
1895 – Gregorio López y Fuentes, Mexican author (d. 1966)
1925 – Colin Campbell Mitchell, soldier
1944 – Danny DeVito, American actor (Taxi, Ruthless People, Twins), born in Neptune Township, New Jersey
1955 – Peter Cox, rocker (Go West-Call Me, Don’t Look Down)

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Famous Deaths

1608 – Adolf, count of Nassau-Siegen, dies in battle at 22
1865 – James McCune Smith, African-American doctor and abolitionist, dies at 52
1905 – Adolphe [Adolf Wilhelm August Karl Friedrich], Grand Duke of Luxembourg (1890-1905), dies at 88
1968 – Mervyn Peake, British writer and illustrator (Gormenghast books), dies at 57
1991 – Paul Reid Roman, actor (Aviator, Blue Knight), dies of cancer at 55
2004 – Alexander Ragulin, Russian ice hockey player (Olympic gold 1964, 68, 72), dies at 63

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Historical Events

1907 – 12th Iron Bowl: Auburn and Alabama tie 6-6 in Birmingham
1957 – “Copper and Brass” closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC after 36 performances
1972 – British Prime Minister Edward Heath warns against a Unilateral Declaration of Independence
1976 – René Levesque’s Parti Québécois wins elections in Quebec
1993 – Russian President Yeltsin shuts Lenin museum
2008 – 60th NASCAR Sprint Cup: Jimmie Johnson wins

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Famous Birthdays

1643 – Jean Chardin, French explorer (Middle East and India), born in Paris (d. 1703)
1892 – Tazio Nuvolari, Italian racing driver, born in Castel d’Ario, Italy (d. 1953)
1922 – José Saramago, Portuguese writer and Nobel laureate, born in Azinhaga, Santarém, Portugal (d. 2010)
1940 – Chris Balderstone, cricket batsman (England, belated faced WI in 1976)
1973 – Joe Hudepohl, American 800m freestyle relay (Olympic gold 1996)
1974 – Eric Judy, American musician (Modest Mouse)

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Famous Deaths

1512 – Jemme Herjuwsma, Fries rebel, beheaded
1613 – Trajano Boccalini, Italian satirist (b. 1556)
1766 – Dominikus Zimmermann, Bavarian Baroque architect and painter (Liebfrauenkirche), dies at 81
1968 – Greet Hofmans, faith healer of Dutch queen Juliana, dies at 74
1971 – Edie Sedgwick, American actress (Andy Warhol) and socialite, dies at 28
1973 – Alan Watts, writer/popularizer of Zen, dies in Calif

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