Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1711 – Alexander Pope’s “An Essay on Criticism” is published anonymously
1817 – Ambonese uprising against Dutch authority (modern Indonesia), under Thomas Matulesia (aka Kapitan Pattimura)
1862 – Major Gen Benjamin F Butler issues order (New Orleans) that confederate women abusing union soldiers be treated as whores
1941 – British attack Halfaya-pass and Fort Capuzzo in Egypt and Libya
1948 – Australia scores 721 runs in one day v Essex, world record
2017 – 1st US prosecution under federal Hate Crimes Act of violence against transgender person, murder of Mercedes Williamson

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Famous Birthdays

1773 – Clemens L Metternich, Austrian prince
1889 – Bessie Hillman, founder (Almalgamated Clothing Workers of America)
1912 – Alexis Nihon, Bahamas, wrestler (Olympics 1968)
1925 – Andrey Yakoulevich Eshpay, composer
1940 – Paul Rudd, actor (Conn Yankee in King Arthur’s Court), born in Boston, Massachusetts
1988 – Jessica Falkholt, Australian actress (Hope Morrison-Home and Away, born in Sydney, Australia (d. 2018)

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Famous Deaths

1622 – Peter Plancius, Flemish vicar/cartographer, dies at about 69
1986 – Elio de Angelis, Italian race car driver (b. 1958)
1988 – Andrew Duggan, American character actor (Secret War of Harry Frigg, Winds of War), dies of cancer at 64
2003 – George Francis, British gangster (b. 1940)
2007 – Yolanda King, American actress and activist, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. (b. 1955)
2014 – Jean-Luc Dehaene, Belgian Prime Minister (1992-99), dies from a fall at 73

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Historical Events

1890 – 16th Kentucky Derby: Isaac Murphy aboard Riley wins in 2:45
1910 – Canada authorizes issuing of silver dollar coins
1969 – Abortion and contraception legalized in Canada
1973 – Skylab launched, 1st Space Station
1975 – French press reports massive deportation from Cambodia
1991 – 42 die in a train collision in Japan

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Famous Birthdays

1846 – Arnold Kerdijk, Dutch lib politician/founder (Social Weekly newspaper)
1899 – Pierre Victor Auger, French physicist (d. 1993)
1943 – [Derek] Lek Leckenby, English guitarist (Herman’s Hermits), born in Leeds, England (d. 1994)
1957 – William G Gregory, Lockport NY, Mjr USAF/Astronaut (STS 67)
1978 – André Macanga, Angolan footballer
1980 – Eugene Martineau, Dutch decathlete

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Famous Deaths

1742 – Dominique Marie Valet, French RC/old-catholic bishop, dies at 64
1801 – Johann Ernst Altenburg, composer, dies at 66
1864 – William N Green Jr, Union brigadier general, dies
1940 – Eddy [Charles E] du Platform, writer/poet, dies
1966 – Georgia BD Camp Johnson, US poet/playwright, dies at 88
2006 – Stanley Kunitz, American poet (b. 1905)

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Historical Events

1944 – 69th Preakness: Conn McCreary aboard Pensive wins in 1:59.2
1953 – NY Giants Willie Mays and Darryl Spencer each hit 2 HRs and a triple
1967 – NY Yankee Mickey Mantle hits career HR #500 off Stu Miller
1970 – Beatles movie “Let it Be” premieres
1979 – “Utter Glory… Morrissey Hall” opens and closes at Mark Hellinger NYC
1983 – Reggie Jackson is 1st major leaguer to strike out 2,000 times

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Famous Birthdays

1776 – Charles Ots, Belgian composer, born in Brussels (d. 1845)
1857 – Ronald Ross, British pathologist (Nobel Prize 1902), born in Almora, North-Western Provinces, British India (d. 1932)
1937 – Roch Carrier, Canadian novelist (The Hockey Sweater), born in Sainte-Justine, Quebec
1972 – Josh Taves, American football defensive end (New England Patriots), born in Watsonville, California
1974 – Albert Connell, wide receiver (Washington Redskins)
1977 – Sara DeCosta, ice hockey goalie (USA, Olympics 1998)

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Famous Deaths

1381 – John of Chatillon, governor/viceroy of Holland, dies
1866 – Nikolai Brashman, Russian mathematician (b. 1796)
1885 – Juliana Horatia [Gatty] Ewing, author (Lob Lie-by-the-Fire), dies
1996 – John “Jack” Baines, mountaineering publisher, dies at 57
2006 – Johnnie Wilder, Jr., American singer (b. 1949)
2009 – Rabbi Meir Brandsdorfer, member of the Rabbinical Court of the Edah HaChareidis, Jerusalem

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Historical Events

1701 – Drenthe adopts Gregorian calendar (yesterday is 4/29/1701)
1821 – The first major battle of the Greek War of Independence against the Turks occurs in Valtetsi
1864 – Battle of Todd’s Tavern, cavalry battle fought near Todds Tavern, Virginia (Sheridan’s Raid), inconclusive result (US Civil War)
1982 – Pulitzer prize awarded to John Updike (Rabbit is Rich)
1990 – NHL Clarence Campbell Conference Final: Edmonton Oilers beat Chicago Blackhawks, 4 games to 2
2001 – English FA Cup Final, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff (72,500): Liverpool beats Arsenal, 2-1 with Michael Owen scoring twice for the Reds

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Famous Birthdays

1803 – Justus von Liebig, German agricultural and biological chemist who is considered the founder of organic chemistry, born in Hesse-Darmstadt, Germany (d. 1973)
1812 – Edward Lear, England, landscape painter, (Complete Nonsense Book)
1876 – Harold, grandson of English queen Victoria
1910 – Charles B. Fulton, American jurist (d. 1996)
1941 – Ruud de Wolff, singer/guitarist (Blue Diamonds)
1962 – Emilio Estevez, American actor (Breakfast Club, Young Guns, Mighty Ducks), born in NYC, New York

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Famous Deaths

1906 – Gabriel C. Wharton, American civil engineer and Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 81
1908 – Melesio Morales, Mexican composer, dies at 69
1935 – Józef Piłsudski, Polish revolutionary and statesman, dies at 67
1967 – Julius Kalas, Czech composer, dies at 64
1994 – Erik Erikson, American developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst who coined the phrase “identity crisis”, dies at 91
1994 – John Smith, British Labour Party chairman (1992-94), dies at 55

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Historical Events

1189 – Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa and 100,000 crusaders depart Regensburg for the Third Crusade
1919 – Yanks’ Jack Quinn and Senators’ Walter Johnson, 12 inning 0-0 tie
1929 – Dr Annie Webb Blanton forms Delta Kappa Gamma Society in Austin, Texas
1962 – US sends troops to Thailand
1983 – Aberdeen of Scotland win 23rd European Cup Winner’s Cup against Real Madrid of Spain 2-1 in Gothenburg
1985 – 56 die and at least 265 are injured at Bradford City football ground in the worst fire in English football history

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Famous Birthdays

1854 – Ottmar Mergenthaler, Hachtel Germany, inventor (linotype)
1896 – Philippo de Pisis, Italian painter
1923 – Gordon White, British business tycoon and co-founder of corporate raider Hanson Group, born in Hull, England (d. 1995)
1950 – John Kelly, American General, President Trump’s Chief of Staff (2017-), born in Boston, Massachusetts
1953 – Boyd Gaines, American actor (Mark-One Day at a Time, Sure Thing), born in Atlanta, Georgia
1961 – Cecile Licad, pianist (Leventritt Award-1981), born in Manila, Philippines

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Famous Deaths

1845 – Karoly Filtsch, composer, dies at 14
1929 – Jozef Murgaš, Slovak inventor (b. 1864)
1978 – John Clinge Doorenbos, Dutch journalist/poet, dies at 93
1979 – Lester Raymond Flatt, musician (Ballad of Jed Clampett), dies at 64
1979 – Joan Chandler, dies at 55
1996 – Bruce Boyce, singer/teacher, dies at 85

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Historical Events

1922 – Dr Ivy Williams is 1st woman to be called to the English Bar
1925 – To control demonstrations against foreigners, British troops in Shanghai fire into a crowd, leading to a boycott against British goods
1930 – 1st US planetarium opens (Adler-Chicago)
1967 – Hank Aaron only inside the park HR (vs Jim Bunning)
1969 – Turtles play White House, Mark Volman falls off stage 5 times
1995 – In South Africa, 104 miners killed in an elevator accident

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Famous Birthdays

1873 – Carl J Eldh, Swedish sculptor
1898 – Ariel Durant, writer (Story of Civilization)
1932 – Francoise Fabian, French actress (Happy New Year), born in Algiers, French Algeria
1952 – Sly Dunbar, reggae drummer (Sly and Robbie), born in Kingston, Jamaica
1969 – John Scalzi, American writer
1977 – Chas Licciardello, Australian comedian, member of The Chaser

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Famous Deaths

1424 – Go-Kameyama, Emperor of Japan
1829 – Thomas Young, British physician and physicist (light interference), dies at 55
1960 – Yuri Olesha, Russian writer, dies at 61
1982 – Peter Weiss, German playwright (Marat-Sade), dies at 65
1995 – Hilde Jarecki, educationist, dies at 83
2012 – Evelyn Johnson, American pilot, dies at 102

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Historical Events

1904 – The steam locomotive City of Truro becomes the first steam engine to exceed 100mph.
1941 – Louis Buchalter is arraigned in New York state court on the 1936 Joseph Rosen murder along with three other murders
1943 – 5th German Panzer army surrenders in Tunisia
1945 – Czechoslovakia liberated from Nazi occupation (National Day)
1964 – Khrushchev visits Egypt
1980 – 35 motorists die as a Liberian freighter rams a Tampa Bay Bridge

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Famous Birthdays

1927 – John McDermott, Lord Justice of Appeal (Northern Ireland)
1936 – Floyd Robinson, baseball player (White Sox, Reds, A’s), born in Prescott, Arkansas
1953 – Gregory Beecroft, Chorpus Christi TX, actor (Guiding Light)
1972 – Dan Hollander, figure skater (1996 Great Lakes champ), born in Royal Oak, Michigan
1979 – Andrew W.K., American musician
1983 – Tyler Lumsden, American baseball player

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Famous Deaths

1707 – Dietrich Buxtehude, German organist/composer, dies at about 69
1927 – Tommy Routledge, cricketer (4 Tests for South Africa 1892-96), dies
1928 – Constantin Dimitrescu, composer, dies at 81
1970 – Percy Brier, Australian composer, dies at 84
1995 – Marshall Royal, jazz Sax/Clarinet, dies at 82
2010 – Otakar Motejl, Czechoslvakian politician (b. 1932)

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Historical Events

1639 – William Coddington founds Newport, Rhode Island
1919 – 1st transatlantic flight take-off by a navy seaplane
1931 – Operette “Land of Smiles” premieres in London
1938 – Stravinsky’s “Dumbarton Oaks” premieres in Washington, D.C.
1950 – Chiang Kai-shek asks US for weapons
1999 – Nancy Mace becomes the first female cadet to graduate from The Citadel military college.

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Famous Birthdays

1850 – Ross Barnes, American baseball player, born in Mount Morris, New York (d. 1915)
1884 – Harry Truman, 33rd US President (D – 1945-53), born in Lamar, Missouri (d. 1972)
1912 – George Woodcock, author
1920 – Maurice Cranston, political scientist
1943 – Daniel Ray “Danny” Whitten, American musician and songwriter (Crazy Horse, Rod Stewart- “I Don’t Want To Talk About It”), born in Columbus, Georgia (d. 1972)
1982 – Adrian Gonzalez, American baseball player

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Famous Deaths

1782 – Marquis of Pombal, Prime Minister of Portugal (1756-1777), dies at 82
1960 – J. H. C. Whitehead, British mathematician (b. 1904)
1990 – Tomas O’Fiach, [Tomas Seamus Fee], Irish cardinal-archbishop, dies
1994 – Steven Keats, American actor (Death Wish), dies of apparent suicide at 48
1995 – Carroll Best, bluegrass banjo, dies at 63
2018 – Ernest Medina, American soldier and commanding officer of the unit responsible for the My Lai Massacre of 16 March 1968, dies at 81

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Historical Events

1861 – Riot occurs between prosecessionist and Union supporters in Knoxville TN
1864 – Skirmish at Port Walthall Junction, Virginia (Drewry’s Bluff)
1885 – John E W Thompson named US minister to Haiti
1956 – Battle at Oran, Algeria, kills 300
2007 – Ehud Netzer of Hebrew University announces he has discovered the tomb of Herod the Great at Herodium, West Bank
2018 – Iran-Contra figure Oliver North announced as the new President of the US National Rifle Association

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Famous Birthdays

1826 – Varina Howell Davis, First Lady of the Confederate States (1862-65), born in Natchez, Mississippi (d. 1906)
1931 – Nel Ginjaar-Maas, Dutch under-secretary of Education (VVD), born in Rotterdam, Netherlands (d. 2012)
1945 – Wim A. Mateman, Dutch politician (CDA), born in Aalten, Netherlands
1945 – Christy Moore, Irish folk singer and songwriter, born in Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland
1973 – Paolo Savoldelli, Italian cyclist
1978 – Brian Clevinger, American author

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Famous Deaths

1736 – John Weldon, composer, dies at 60
1887 – C. F. W. Walther, American Lutheran theologian (b. 1811)
1929 – Joseph “Top Toad” Giunta, US gangster, murdered by Al Capone
2007 – Yahweh ben Yahweh, American cult leader (b. 1935)
2007 – Octavian Paler, Romanian writer and journalist (b. 1926)
2018 – Tore Torell, Norwegian magician, dies of cancer at 76

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Historical Events

1909 – Indian nationalist Sri Aurobindo acquitted in the Alipore Bomb Case in Calcutta, India
1935 – Pulitzer prize awarded to Audrey Wurdemann (Bright Ambush)
1961 – 87th Kentucky Derby: John Sellers aboard Carry Back wins in 2:04
1986 – France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
1994 – Comedian Bobcat Goldthwait sets fire to the couch on Tonight Show
2013 – 10 people are killed and 26 people are injured after a wave of attacks across Iraq

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Famous Birthdays

1501 – Marcellus II [Marcello Cervini], Italian humanist and Pope (1555, 22 days), born in Montefano, Marche, Papal States (d. 1555)
1895 – Fidél Pálffy, Hungarian Nazi (d. 1946)
1922 – Alan Ross, editor (London Magazine)
1926 – Gilles Grégoire, Quebec politician, co-founder of the Parti Québécois (d. 2006)
1939 – Anthony Blacker, master-general of Ordnance
1969 – Mark Thomas, NFL defensive end (Carolina Panthers, Packers, Bears)

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Famous Deaths

1124 – Balak, Emir of Aleppo, murdered
1540 – Jean Luis Vives, Spanish theory/humanist/reformer, dies at 48
1814 – George Joseph Vogler, composer, dies at 64
1841 – John Thomson, composer, dies at 35
1994 – Moses Rosen, Chief Rabbi of Romania (1948-94), dies at 81
2014 – Jimmy Ellis, American boxer and WBA heavyweight champion, dies from dementia at 74

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