Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1863 – Skirmish at Danville, Mississippi
1964 – “Folies Bergere” closes at Broadway Theater NYC after 191 performances
1972 – Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 1,000 for 1st time (1003.16)
1987 – Sam’s Town National Bowling Pro-Am won by Debbie Bennett
2018 – 52nd Country Music Association Awards: Keith Urban, Kacey Musgraves, and Carrie Underwood win

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Famous Birthdays

1601 – Jean Eudes, French catholic priest, founder of the Eudists, born at Ri, France (d. 1680)
1740 – Johann van Beethoven, German musician, Ludwig van Beethoven’s father and first teacher, born in Mechelen, Habsburg Netherlands (d. 1792)
1948 – Charles III [Charles Philip Arthur George], King of the United Kingdom (2022-) Prince of Wales (1958-2022), born in London, England
1969 – David Lindsay-Abaire, American playwright, lyricist and screenwriter (Rabbit Hole, Kimberly Akimbo), born in Boston, Massachusetts
1972 – Lori Dupuis, Canadian ice hockey forward (Olympic gold 2002, silver 1998; World C’ship gold 1997, 1999, 2000), born in Williamstown, Ontario

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Famous Deaths

1746 – Georg Steller, German naturalist and explorer (Great Northern Expedition), dies from fever at 37
1955 – Robert E Sherwood, American dramatist (Abe Lincoln in Illinois; Idiot’s Delight), dies of a heart attack at 59
1993 – Sanzo Nosaka, co-founder of Japanese Communist Party (1922), dies
1996 – Joseph Bernardin, cardinal Archbishop of Chicago, dies at 68
2014 – Glen Larson, American television producer and writer, dies from esophageal cancer at 77

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Historical Events

1907 – The Conference of Central American States, convoked in response to the war between Honduras and Nicaragua, meets in Washington, D.C. to promote unification
1942 – Minimum draft age lowered from 21 to 18 in the US
1994 – Title contenders Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill famously collide on lap 35 of the season ending Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide; Schumacher wins his first F1 World Drivers Championship by 1 point from Hill
1996 – Padres third baseman Ken Caminiti is 4th unanimous winner of NL MVP
1999 – Lennox Lewis defeats Evander Holyfield in 12 rounds by unanimous decision to become the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world

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Famous Birthdays

1732 – John Dickinson, American lawyer and Governor of Delaware and Pennsylvania, born in Talbot County, Maryland (d. 1808)
1882 – John Lowry, American NYC builder (Radio City Music Hall), born in Mount Vernon, New York (d. 1962)
1913 – Alexander Scourby, American actor (Jesus, Shaggy Dog, Giant), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1985)
1922 – Oskar Werner [Bschließmayer], Austrian stage and screen actor an(The Spy Who Came In from the Cold; Ship of Fools; Fahrenheit 451), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1984)
1953 – Tracy Scoggins, actress (Colbys, Gumshoe Kid), born in Galveston, Texas

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Famous Deaths

1861 – Arthur Hugh Clough, English poet, friend of Matthew Arnold, dies at 42
2001 – Marius Flothuis, Dutch composer, (Kleine Suite for 12 Harps; Espressioni Cordiali), artistic director (Concertgebouw Orchestra, 1955–74), musicologist (Mozart), and music critic, dies at 87
2004 – Thomas Foglietta, American politician and diplomat (US Representative for Pennsylvania, 1981-97; Ambassador to Italy, 1997-2001), dies from surgery complications at 75
2013 – Carlena Williams, American session and touring vocalist (Ike and Tina Turner Revue; Humble Pie; Pink Floyd; The Carpenters; Donna Summer), dies at 71
2014 – Alvin Dark, American baseball shortstop (MLB All-Star 1951, 52, 54; World Series 1954 NY Giants) and manager (World Series 1974 Oakland A’s), dies from Alzheimer’s disease at 92

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Historical Events

1912 – Spanish Prime Minister José Canalejas y Méndez is assassinated by an anarchist book shopping in Madrid
1933 – Hugh Gray takes the first known photo of the so-called Loch Ness monster
1946 – A branch of the Exchange National Bank in Chicago, Illinois opens the first ten drive-up teller windows
1960 – Mercury-Redstone 1 test launch fails at 10 cm altitude
2019 – Israeli forces kill senior commander of Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group in the Gaza Strip with Palestinian militants setting off retaliatory rockets at Israel

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Famous Birthdays

1929 – Michael Ende, German fantasy and children’s writer (The Neverending Story), born in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Bavaria (d. 1995)
1936 – Ruth Jessen, American golfer (11 LPGA Tour wins, 3-time major runner-up), born in Seattle, Washington (d. 2007)
1949 – Arthur “Pooch” Tavares, American RandB musician (Taveres – “Heaven Must Be Missing an Angel”), born in New Bedford, Massachusetts
1964 – Erik Howard, American NFL defensive tackle/end (NY Jets), born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts
1975 – Tevin Jermod Campbell, American rapper, born in Dallas, Texas

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Famous Deaths

1202 – Canute VI, King of Denmark (1182-1202), assassinated at about 39
1720 – Peter Tordenskjold, Norwegian naval hero, dies at 30
1722 – Adriaen van der Werff, Dutch painter, engraver and architect, dies at 63
1994 – Katherine Elliott, British physician (oral rehydration therapy), dies at 75
1997 – William Matthews, American poet, dies at 55

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Historical Events

1647 – Massachusetts passes first compulsory school attendance law in the American colonies
1924 – Martin Beck Theater opens at 302 W 45th St NYC
2013 – “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” directed by Francis Lawrence starring Jennifer Lawrence and Josh Hutcherson premieres in London
2014 – The captain of the South Korean ferry which sank in April is found guilty of gross negligence and sentenced to 36 years in prison
2021 – Near-earth asteroid Kamo`oalewa, the size of a ferris wheel, very likely a fragment of the moon, according to a new study

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Famous Birthdays

1657 – Guido Starhemberg, Austrian earl and fieldmarshal (Turkish Wars), born in Graz, Austria (d. 1737)
1909 – Robert Ryan, American actor (Billy Budd, The Dirty Dozen, The Longest Day), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1973)
1964 – Anabel Alonso, Spanish actress (7 Vidas), born in Barakaldo, Spain
1964 – Philip McKeon, American actor (Tommy-Alice, Return to Horror High), born in Westbury, New York
1981 – Natalie Glebova, Russian Canadian TV host and Miss Universe 2005, born in Tuapse, Russia

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Famous Deaths

1984 – Jan Novák, Czech classical composer and contemporary Latin poet, dies at 63
1986 – Roger C. Carmel, American actor (Star Trek – “Harry Mudd”; The Mothers-in-Law – “Roger”), dies at 54
1992 – Giulio Carlo Argan, Italian art critic/mayor of Rome, dies at 83
1994 – Elizabeth Maconchy (LeFanu), Irish-English composer, notably of string quartets, and contemporary music promoter, dies at 87
2006 – Harry Lehotsky, American Canadian pastor and activist, dies at 49

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Historical Events

1955 – James Mundy and John La Touche’s musical comedy “Vamp” opens at Winter Garden Theater, NYC; runs for 60 performances
1968 – Portuguese socialist Mário Soares released from banishment in Sao Tomé under new regieme of Marcello Caetano
1971 – US table tennis team arrived in China
1982 – IMF lends Mexico $3.8 billion due to threatened bankruptcy
1989 – Bulgarian Communist party president Todor Zhikov (78) resigns

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Famous Birthdays

1888 – Hugh Wakefield, British actor (The Man Who Knew Too Much, Blithe Spirit), born in Wanstead, England (d. 1971)
1929 – W. E. B. Griffin [William Edmund Butterworth], American best-selling author (Clandestine Operations, The Lieutenants), born in Newark, New Jersey (d. 2019)
1930 – Gene Conley, American baseball pitcher (4 x MLB All Star; Boston/Milwaukee Braves, Philadelphia Phillies) and basketball forward (NBA C’ship 1959–1961; Boston Celtics), born in Muskogee, Oklahoma (d. 2017)
1959 – Frank Maudsley, English rock bassist and vocalist (Flock Of Seagulls), born in Liverpool, England
1987 – Jessica Tovey, Australian actress (Belle Taylor in “Home and Away”), born in Sydney, Australia

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Famous Deaths

1779 – Joseph Hewes, American merchant/signer (Declaration of Independence), dies at 49
1964 – Jimmie Dodd, American actor (The Mickey Mouse Club; Thundering Trails; Riders of the Rio Grande), and singer-songwriter, dies of cancer at 54
1966 – Steven Nagy, American bowler (first televised perfect game [300], 1954; ABC Hall of Fame 1963), dies at 53
1998 – Mary Millar, British stage and screen actress (Keeping Up Appearances, The Phantom of the Opera on the West End), dies at 62
2006 – Jack Palance [Vladimir Palahniuk], American actor (City Slickers, Contempt, Batman), dies of natural causes at 87

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Historical Events

1965 – Several US states and parts of Canada are hit by a series of blackouts lasting up to 13 hours in the Northeast Blackout
1965 – San Francisco Giants outfielder Willie Mays named NL MVP
1991 – Joint European Torus (JET) scientists in Culham England successfully harness nuclear fusion to produce the first large amount of controlled fusion power
2007 – Alicia Keys releases her 3rd studio album “As I Am” (Grammy Award Best Female RandB Vocal Performance 2008, 2008 Billboard Album of the Year)
2014 – Asia-Pacific countries, including China and the United States, announce plans to co-operate more closely in the fight against corruption

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Famous Birthdays

1837 – Gerrit Jan van Heek, Dutch textile manufacturer and politician, born in Enschede, Netherlands (d. 1915)
1921 – Ivo Rudolph Jarosy, German-British film scholar and exhibitor, born in Berlin (d. 1996)
1921 – Viktor Chukarin, Ukrainian gymnast (Olympic gold USSR 4 x 1952, 3 x 1956), born in Krasnoarmeyskoye, Ukraine (d. 1984)
1944 – Bill Hendon, American politician (Rep-R-NC, 1981-83, 85-87), born in Asheville, North Carolina
1959 – Sito Pons, Spanish motorbike racer, born in Barcelona, Spain

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Famous Deaths

1208 – Sancha of Castile, wife of Alfonso II of Aragon (b. 1155)
1641 – Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, Cardinal of the Holy Catholic Church and military commander during the Thirty Years’ War, dies at 32
1932 – Nadezhda Alliluyeva, Russian woman who was the 2nd wife of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, commits suicide at 31
1993 – Stanley Myers, English television and film composer (The Deer Hunter), dies of cancer at 63
2024 – Lou Donaldson, American bebop jazz saxophonist (“Blues Walk”), and bandleader, dies at 98

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Historical Events

1837 – Mount Holyoke Seminary in Massachusetts, the first US college for women, is founded
1873 – Ciro Pinsuti’s opera “Il mercante di Venezia”, based on William Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice” is first performed, at the Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Italy
1937 – The Nazi exhibition Der ewige Jude (“The Eternal Jew”) opens in Munich.
1962 – Canada’s government orders the nickel changed back to round shape
2017 – Louvre Abu Dhabi is inaugurated, largest art museum on Arabian peninsula

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Famous Birthdays

1657 – Thomas Bullis Jr., English organist and composer, baptized in Ely, England (d. 1712)
1934 – Doc Green, American pop baritone vocalist (The Drifters – “Under the Boardwalk”; “Up on the Roof”), born in New York City (d. 1989)
1951 – Alfredo Astiz, Argentine general, intelligence officer and war criminal, known as “the Blond Angel of Death”, born in Mar del Plata, Argentina
1965 – Mike Peluso, American NHL left wing (NJ Devils), born in Pengilly, Minnesota
1974 – Matthew Rhys, Welsh actor (The Americans, Brothers and Sisters), born in Cardiff, Wales

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Famous Deaths

1805 – Francois-Thomas de Baculard d’Arnaud, French writer, dies at 87
1952 – Claude Carter, South African cricket spin bowler (19 Tests, 28 wickets, BB 6/50; Natal, Transvaal), dies at 71
1994 – Michael O’Donoghue, American comedy writer (SNL), dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at 54
1998 – Lonnie Pitchford, American blues musician, dies at 43
2000 – Brian Boydell, Irish composer, dies at 83

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Historical Events

1637 – Puritan reformist preacher Anne Hutchinson is tried in Massachusetts Bay Colony as a heretic, found guilty and banished
1914 – First issue of The New Republic magazine is published
1943 – Last scoreless tie in the NFL, Detroit Lions 0, NY Giants 0
1978 – Boston Red Sox Jim Rice wins AL MVP
2020 – Rudy Giuliani holds infamous Trump Campaign press conference at Four Seasons Total Landscaping in Philadelphia to contest the US election results

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Famous Birthdays

1866 – Paul Lincke, German composer and theater conductor considered the “father” of the Berlin operetta (Frau Luna, Lysistrata), born in Berlin, Kingdom of Prussia (d. 1946)
1903 – Albert Helman [Lou Lichtveld], Suriname politician and novelist, born in Paramaribo, Suriname (d. 1996)
1907 – Maurits Mok, Dutch author and poet (Cheese and Bread Game; The Railroad Strike), born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 1989)
1972 – Jimmy Gary Jr., American NFL running back (Seattle Seahawks), born in Stuart, Florida
1986 – Andy Hull, American singer-songwriter, and guitarist (Manchester Orchestra – “The Gold”), born in Atlanta, Georgia

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Famous Deaths

1857 – Charles Zeuner, German-American composer and organist, dies at 62
1957 – Roy Worters, Canadian Hockey HOF goaltender (Hart Memorial Trophy 1929; Vezina Trophy 1931; NY Americans), dies at 57
1975 – John Carmel Heenan, British clergyman, Catholic Cardinal (Archbishop of Westminster, 1963-75), dies of a heart attack at 70
2006 – Bryan Pata, American football defensive tackle (University of Miami) (murdered) (b. 1981)
2017 – Roy Halladay, American Baseball HOF pitcher (8 x MLB All-Star, Cy Young Award 2003, 10; perfect game 2010; postseason no-hitter 2010; Toronto Blue Jays, Philadelphia Phillies), died when piloting a plane under influence of painkillers, sleeping pills at 40

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Historical Events

1928 – 59% of Cleveland voters authorize building a stadium with city bonds in the amount of US$2.5 million
1964 – WEIQ TV channel 42 in Mobile, AL (PBS) begins broadcasting
1976 – Benjamin Hooks elected to succeed Roy Wilkins as executive director of NAACP
1986 – President Reagan signs landmark immigration reform bill
2009 – President Barack Obama signs congressional resolution conferring honorary U.S. citizenship to Revolutionary War hero Casimir Pulaski

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Famous Birthdays

1391 – Edmund de Mortimer, 5th Earl of March, English nobleman, counsellor to King Henry V and King Henry VI, born in New Forest, Westmeath, Ireland (d. 1425)
1854 – John Philip Sousa, American composer and march king (Stars and Stripes Forever), born in Washington, D.C. (d. 1932)
1923 – Clay [David] Jones, Welsh gardener (BBC Gardener’s Question Time), born in Cardigan, Wales (d. 1996)
1947 – Jack Arnold, Fictional father on “The Wonder Years”, born in America (d. 1975)
1972 – Anthony Brown, American NFL tackle (Cincinnati Bengals), born in Okinawa, Japan

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Famous Deaths

1939 – Adolphe Max, Belgian politician (Mayor of Brussels – escaped German captivity WWI), dies at 69
1978 – Harry Bertoia, Italian-born American artist and modern furniture designer, dies at 63
1978 – Flora Campbell, actress (Faraway Hill, Date With Judy), dies at 67
2000 – L. Sprague de Camp, American sci-fi author (Goblin Tower, Hand of Zei), dies at 92
2024 – John Nott, British Conservative politician (Member of Parliament, 1966-83) who served as Secretary of State for Defence during Falkland War (1981-83), dies at 92

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Historical Events

1922 – Demonstration for a Dutch University in Ghent
1967 – ATS-3 launched by US to take first pictures of full Earth disc
1988 – Japan beats MLB all stars 2-1 in Tokyo (Game 1 of 7)
1988 – France performs nuclear test
2018 – BBC opens its largest news bureau outside the UK in Nairobi, Kenya with 300 journalists

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Famous Birthdays

1819 – Josef Rudolf Zavrtal, Czech composer, born in Polepy, Kingdom of Bohemia (d. 1893)
1891 – Mary Dorna [Mary Jeanette Tenkink-Stoppelman], Dutch author, born in Amsterdam (d. 1971)
1900 – Martin Dies, Jr., American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas), born in Colorado City, Texas (d. 1972)
1948 – Charles Bradley, American RandB and funk singer, known as ‘The Screaming Eagle of Soul’, born in Gainesville, Florida (d. 2017)
1983 – (Anne) Leilehua Lanzilotti, Kānaka Maoli-American violinist and contemporary classical composer, born in Honolulu, Hawaii

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Famous Deaths

1772 – Pieter Steyn, Dutch grand pensionary (1749-72), dies at 66
1914 – August Weismann, German biologist, one of the founders of the science of genetics, dies at 80
2001 – Barry Horne, a British animal liberation activist.
2005 – Rod Donald, New Zealand environmentalist (b. 1957)
2024 – Elwood Edwards, American broadcast technician, and the voice of AOL’s catchphrase “You’ve got mail”, dies of complications from a stroke at 74

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