Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1952 – Italian Ferrari driver Alberto Ascari clinches Formula 1 World Drivers Championship by winning German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring
1957 – British offensive against imam Galeb Ben Ali of Oman
1960 – For the only time in MLB history teams exchange managers as Detroit trades Jimmy Dykes (44-52) for Cleveland’s Joe Gordon (49-46)
1966 – South African government bans Beatle records
1986 – First NFL ‘American Bowl’ exhibition game at London’s Wembley Stadium, Chicago Bears beat Dallas Cowboys 17-6
2014 – At least 13 Palestinians reported killed in ongoing air raids and tank shelling by Israel

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Famous Birthdays

1824 – William Burnham Woods, American politician, judge, and Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Newark, Ohio (d. 1887)
1930 – James Komack, American writer, director and actor (Courtship of Eddie’s Father), born in NYC, New York (d. 1997)
1940 – Joseph Dorfman, Israeli composer, born in Odessa, Ukraine (d. 2006)
1940 – Lance Alworth, American NFL hall of famer (Charger, Cowboys), born in Houston, Texas
1972 – Travis Hall, NFL defensive tackle (Atlanta Falcons), born in Sodoltna, Alaska
1976 – Troy Glaus, American baseball infielder (Olympic bronze 1996), born in Tarzana, Los Angeles

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Famous Deaths

1839 – Dorothea von Schlegel, German novelist (Florentin), dies at 74
1879 – Joseph Severn, English painter (b. 1793)
1954 – Colette, [Sidonie-Gabrielle], French novelist (Vagabonde), dies at 81
1973 – Richard Marshall, U.S. Army general (b. 1895)
1993 – James Donald, Scottish actor (Bridge on River Kwai, Vikings, In Which We Serve, Way Ahead), dies of stomach cancer at 76
2004 – Henri Cartier-Bresson, French photographer, dies at 95

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Historical Events

1907 – Legendary pitcher Walter Johnson at 19 begins his 21 year Baseball Hall of Fame playing career with Washington with 3-2 loss v Detroit
1973 – Future Baseball Hall of Fame 3rd baseman George Brett gets his 1st MLB hit on debut for the Kansas City Royals in 3-1 win v Chicago WS
1996 – The star-studded United States men’s basketball team beats Yugoslavia 95-69 to win the gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics
2012 – American swimmer Rebecca Soni becomes first woman to win the 200m breaststroke twice with a world record 2:19.59 at the London Olympics
2018 – Oldest library in Germany confirmed unearthed in Cologne dating to 2AD, possibly held 20,000 scolls
2019 – Saudi Arabia announces news rules for women including allowing them to travel independently abroad without a male guardian’s permission

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Famous Birthdays

1896 – Lorenzo Herrera, Venezuelan singer and composer, born in Caracas, Venezuela (d. 1960)
1910 – Lawrence Josset, British engraver, born in Cambridgeshire, England (d. 1995)
1924 – Joe Harnell, American musician, composer and arranger, born in The Bronx, New York (d. 2005)
1931 – Philippa Schuyler, African-American child prodigy and composer, born in Harlem, New York (d. 1967)
1982 – Hélder Postiga, Portuguese footballer, born in Vila do Conde, Portugal
1983 – Nick Diaz, American MMA fighter, born in Stockton, California

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Famous Deaths

1799 – Jacques-Etienne Montgolfier, French inventor, dies at 54
1815 – Guillaume Brune, French marshal, dies at 52
1869 – Alexandrine Tinne, Dutch explorer/photographer, murdered at 30+
1920 – Ormer Locklear, American stunt pilot (b. 1891)
1988 – Joe Carcione, American consumer advocate (The Green Grocer), dies at 73
2015 – Forrest Bird, American aviator and inventor (1st respirators and ventilators), dies at 94

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Historical Events

1664 – Battle at St Gotthard: Earl Raimondo Montecucculi beats Ahmed Kiprulu
1842 – Rotherhithe Tunnel under the Thames opens
1852 – San Francisco Methodists establish 1st black church, Zion Methodist
1855 – Castle Clinton in NYC opens as 1st US receiving station for immigrants
1861 – Brazil recognizes Confederacy
1881 – US Quarantine Station authorized for Angel Island, San Francisco Bay

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Famous Birthdays

1923 – Yoshinao Nakada, Japanese composer, born in Shibuya, Tokyo (d. 2000)
1933 – Richard Lloyd Jones, British secretary (Welsh Office 1985–93)
1946 – Fiona Stanley, Australian epidemiologist (Telethon Institute for Child Health Research), born in Little Bay, Sydney, Australia
1960 – Chuck D [Chuck Ridenhour], US rapper (Public Enemy), born in Queens, New York
1963 – Demián Bichir, Mexican-American actor (A Better Life), born in Torreón, Coahuila, Mexico
1969 – David Wain, American actor and director (Wet Hot American Summer), born in Shaker Heights, Ohio

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Famous Deaths

1628 – Francesco Gonzaga, composer, dies at 37
1846 – Peter Ritter, German cellist and composer, dies at 83
1986 – Robert Wolfgang Schnell, German writer, dies at 70
1989 – John Ogdon, English pianist/composer, dies at 52
2005 – Al Aronowitz, American music journalist (b. 1928)
2010 – Lolita Lebrón, Puerto Rican nationalist (b. 1919)

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Historical Events

1941 – U-boats sink and damage 21 allied ships this month (80,521 tons)
1948 – American swimmer Wally Ris wins the coveted 100m freestyle gold medal at the London Olympics beating team mate Alan Ford by 0.4 seconds
1961 – PGA Championship, Olympia Fields CC: Jerry Barber wins his only major title in a Monday 18-hole playoff with Don January (67-68)
1983 – Dutch July average temperature is 20.1°C; warmest July since 1852
1988 – Jose Canseco is 1st to hit 30 HRs in 1st 3 years
1994 – Stockholm averages 21.5°C; the warmest July since 1855

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Famous Birthdays

1808 – Frederick Crouch, English-born composer, born in London, England (d. 1896)
1830 – František Zdeněk Skuherský, Czech composer, born in Opočno, Bohemia (d. 1892)
1860 – Mary Vaux Walcott, American artist and naturalist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1940)
1916 – Verdun Scott, NZ cricketer and rugby player, born in Devonport, Auckland (d. 1980)
1927 – Walter Vogt, Swiss writer (Wüthrich) and psychiatrist, born in Zurich (d. 1988)
1939 – John R. West, rock guitarist (Gary Lewis and Playboys-This Diamond Ring), born in Uhrichsville, Ohio

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Famous Deaths

1648 – Benedictus J van Haeften, poet (Regia thru Crucis), dies at about 60
1917 – Francis Ledwidge, Irish poet (b. 1881)
1961 – Jesse Harper, American College Football Hall of Fame coach (Notre Dame), dies at 77
1992 – G Harold Carswell, supreme court justice candidate 1970, dies at 72
2001 – Friedrich Franz, Hereditary Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin (b. 1910)
2016 – Seymour Papert, South African mathematician, dies at 88

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Historical Events

1911 – 9th Tour de France won by Gustave Garrigou of France
1926 – Albanian boundaries deduced
1946 – 1st rocket attains 100 mi (167 km) altitude, White Sands, New Mexico
1959 – In his major league debut, SF Giant Willie McCovey goes 4-for-4
1965 – Duke Ellington’s “Golden Brown and the Green Apple” premieres
1968 – Wash Senator Ron Hansen makes 1st unassisted triple-play in 41 years

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Famous Birthdays

1893 – Fatima Jinnah, Mother of Pakistan, sister and close adviser of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, born in Karachi, Bombay Presidency, British India (d. 1967)
1936 – István Zelenka, Swiss composer, born in Budapest, Hungary
1938 – Hervé de Charette, French politician, born in Paris
1940 – Clive Sinclair, British computer inventor (ZX Spectrum), born in Richmond, Surrey
1947 – Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austrian-American body builder, actor (Terminator) and politician (38th Governor of California), born in Thal, Austria
1964 – Alek Keshishian, Lebanese-American film director (Madonna: Truth or Dare), born in Beirut, Lebanon

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Famous Deaths

1718 – William Penn, English Philosopher, Quaker and founder of Pennsylvania (No cross, no crown), dies at 73
1916 – Albert Neisser, German physician who discovered the bacterias that cause gonorrhea and leprosy, dies of septicemia at 61
1970 – George Szell, Hungarian-born American conductor (Cleveland Orchestra, 1946-70), dies at 73
1979 – Beppie Nooij, Dutch actress and director (Red Sien, Zeemansvrouwen), dies at 60
1980 – Norman Lloyd, American pianist, author and composer, dies at 70
1991 – Leonardus S van Egerat, travel expert, dies at 68

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Historical Events

1864 – American Civil War: Confederate spy Belle Boyd is arrested by Union troops and detained at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C.
1967 – Moderate quake (6.5) strikes Caracas Venezuela causing severe damage
1968 – Washington, D.C. Ron Hansen makes unassisted triple play vs Cleve
1988 – FDIC bails out 1st Republic Bank, Dallas, with $4 billion
1990 – 28th Tennis Fed Cup: USA beats USSR in Atlanta Georgia (2-1)
1992 – “Chinese Coffee” closes at Circle in Sq Theater NYC after 18 performances

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Famous Birthdays

1830 – Alvan Cullom Gillem, American Major General (Union Army), born in Gainesboro, Tennessee (d. 1875)
1889 – Karl Otten, German Expressionist writer, born in Oberkrüchten (d. 1963)
1924 – Robert Horton [Meade Howard Horton Jr.], American actor and singer (Kings Row, Wagon Train, Arena), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2016)
1957 – Virginia Maria “Ginni” Rometty, American chairwoman, president and CEO of IBM, born in Chigago, Illinois
1972 – Wil Wheaton, American actor (Star Trek Next Generation-Wesley, Stand By Me), born in Burbank, California
1991 – Miki Ishikawa, American actress

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Famous Deaths

1108 – King Philip I, King of the Franks 1059, 1060-1108), dies at 56
1891 – Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, father of Bengali prose (Exile of Sita), dies at 70
1900 – Umberto I, Italian King (1878-1900) assassinated by Gaetano Bresci
1974 – “Mama” Cass Elliot, American rock vocalist (Mamas and The Papas), dies from a heart attack in London at 32
1983 – Luis Buñuel, director (Monk), dies of cirrhosis of liver at 83
1996 – Aruna Asaf Ali, Indian independence activist and politician (first Mayor of Delhi), dies at 88

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Historical Events

1864 – 2nd day of battle at Deep Bottom Run, Virginia
1962 – 19 die in a train crash in Steelton Pa
1978 – USSR performs nuclear Test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1985 – L Brock, Enos Slaughter, A Vaughan, and H Wilhelm inducted into Baseball Hall of Fame
1997 – Guatemala becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty
2012 – 18 people are killed and 11 injured in ethnic clashes in Ethiopia

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Famous Birthdays

1609 – Judith Leyster, Dutch painter, born in Haarlem, the Netherlands, baptism date (d. 1660)
1825 – William Duncan Smith, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Augusta, Georgia (d. 1862)
1902 – Karl Popper, Austro-British philosopher (Logic of Forschung), born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (d. 1994)
1915 – Charles Hard Townes, American Physicist and inventor (Nobel Prize 1964 for mazer-lazer principle), born in Greenville, South Carolina (d. 2015)
1916 – David Brown, American film producer (“The Sting”, “Jaws”, “Cocoon”), born in NYC, New York
1977 – Aki Berg, Finnish NHL defenseman (LA Kings), born in Raisio, Finland

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Famous Deaths

1967 – Karl W. Richter, Lieutenant, USAF, American aviator (b. 1942)
1972 – Charu Majumdar, Indian revolutionary leader (b. 1918)
1982 – George Kleinsinger, American composer (Tubby the Tuba), dies at 68
2002 – Archer John Porter Martin, English chemist and Nobel laureate, dies at 92
2010 – Ivy Bean, English internet celebrity (b. 1905)
2014 – Margot Adler, American journalist, dies from endometrial cancer at 68

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Historical Events

1888 – Philip Pratt unveils 1st American electric tricycle
1920 – Resolute beats Shamrock IV (England) in 14th running of America’s Cup
1946 – Boston Red Sox Rudy York hits 2 grand slams in 1 game, gets 10 RBIs
1959 – William Shea announces plans to have a baseball team in NYC in 1961
1962 – Martin Luther King Jr. jailed in Albany, Georgia
2014 – Obama reaffirms Israel’s “right to defend itself”, but condemns civilian casualties in Gaza

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Famous Birthdays

1927 – Guy Carawan, American folk singer and folklorist (popularized “We shall Overcome”), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2015)
1937 – Don Galloway, American actor (Arrest and Trial, Ironside), born in Augusta, Kentucky (d. 2009)
1957 – Gezina E “Liesbeth” van Apeldoorn, Dutch actress (Composer)
1971 – Brennon James Dowric, Australian gymnast (Olympics 1992, 96)
1976 – Mwadi Mabika, WNBA guard and forward (LA Sparks), born in Kinshasa, Zaire
1985 – Benedita Pereira, Portuguese actress, born in Porto, Portugal

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Famous Deaths

1863 – William Lowndes Yancey, American Confederate leader (b. 1813)
1883 – Albert Franz Doppler, composer, dies at 61
1958 – Claire Chennault, American military leader, dies at 64
1961 – Theodore Chanler, American composer, dies at 59
2007 – Lucky Grills, Australian actor (b. 1928)
2009 – George Russell, American jazz pianist (The Jazz Workshop), dies of complications from Alzheimer’s disease at 86

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Historical Events

1805 – Naples/Calabria struck by Earthquake; about 26,000 die
1865 – Patrick Francis Healy is 1st African American awarded PhD (from University of Leuven, Belgium)
1977 – USSR performs underground nuclear Test
1994 – Cambodia’s Red Khmer surprise attack on train, kills 13
2005 – Space Shuttle program: STS-114 Mission – Launch of Discovery, NASA’s first scheduled flight mission after the Columbia Disaster in 2003
2018 – Sir Paul McCartney performs a secret gig at the Cavern Club in Liverpool, where the Beatles began

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Famous Birthdays

1896 – Charles Butterworth, American actor (Mad Genius), born in South Bend, Indiana (d. 1946)
1906 – Irena Iłłakowicz, Polish agent of Intelligence, born in Berlin, Germany (d. 1943)
1949 – William M Shepherd, American Navy SEAL and NASA astronaut (STS 27, 41, 52), born in Oak Ridge, Tennessee
1962 – Galina Chistyakova, Russian jumper (world record 1988), born in Izmail, Ukraine
1970 – Kenny Wilhite, CFL defensive back (Hamilton Tiger Cats)
1985 – Gaël Clichy, French footballer (İstanbul Başakşehir), born in Toulouse, France

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Famous Deaths

1801 – Daniel Dal Barba, Italian composer, dies at 86
1957 – Carlos Castillo Armas, Dictator and President of Guatemala (1954-57), assassinated by a palace guard with leftist sympathies at 42
1995 – George Romney, politician, dead Heart attack, dies at 88
1996 – Arthur McDonald, Royal Air Force officer and radar pioneer, dies at 93
2005 – Gilles Marotte, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1945)
2010 – Ben Keith [Bennett Keith Schaeufele], American musician and record producer (Neil Young, Great Speckled Bird), dies at 73

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Historical Events

1360 – Jews are expelled from Breslau, Silesia
1939 – NY Yankee Atley Donald sets AL rookie record with 12 consecutive win
1985 – US performs nuclear Test at Nevada Test Site
1993 – Tour de France: Spaniard Miguel Induráin makes it 3 straight Tour titles; Djamolidine Abdoujaparov points winner
2016 – Verizon announces $4.83 billion purchase of Yahoo
2018 – Multiple suicide bombings and attacks by the Islamic State in Sweida and surrounding areas of Syria kill more than 200

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Famous Birthdays

1517 – Jacques Peletier (du Mans), French poet and scientist, born in Le Mans, France (d. 1582)
1895 – Yvonne Printemps, French singer and actress (Paris Waltz, Voyage to America), born in Ermont, France (d. 1977)
1901 – Walter Breedveld, Dutch writer (Een ship vergaat), born in Den Bosch, Netherlands (d. 1977)
1926 – Teodor Grigoriu, Romanian composer, born in Galați, Romania (d. 2014)
1954 – Walter Payton, American Pro Football Hall of Fame running back (Chicago Bears, 9-time Pro Bowl), born in Columbia, Mississippi (d. 1999)
1957 – Bogdan Musioł, German bobsledder (Olympic bronze 1980), born in Świętochłowice, Silesia, Poland

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Famous Deaths

1804 – William Forsyth, English gardening expert (Forsythia), dies
1934 – Nestor Makhno, Ukrainian anarchist Insurrectionary leader, dies at 45
1991 – Brian Haines, actor (The Adventures of Robin Hood, It), dies at 70
2003 – John Schlesinger, British film director (b. 1926)
2009 – Yasmin Ahmad, Malaysian film director, writer and scriptwriter (b. 1958)
2013 – Mike Shipley, Australian audio engineer (Paper Airplane), commits suicide at 56

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