Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1902 – US Congress pass the New Lands Reclamation Act, which establishes a fund from sale of public lands to build irrigation dams for arid Western lands
1927 – US Open Men’s Golf, Oakmont CC: American-based Scotsman Tommy Armour defeats Harry Cooper by 3 strokes in an 18-hole playoff to win the first of his 3 major titles
1970 – Led Zeppelin begins their last European tour
1997 – NHL announces it will add Nashville in 1998, Atlanta in 1999 and Minneapolis-St Paul and Columbus, Ohio in 2000
2012 – US Open Men’s Golf, Olympic Club, SF: American Webb Simpson wins his first major title, 1 stroke ahead of runners-up Graeme McDowell and Michael Thompson
2015 – US Treasury announced that the image of Alexander Hamilton will be replaced from the US $10 bill by an image of a woman

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Famous Birthdays

1903 – Michail Swetlow, writer
1919 – Galina Ivanova Ustvol’skaya, composer
1936 – Ken Loach, British film director (The Wind That Shakes the Barley), born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire
1943 – Barry Manilow [Barry Alan Pincus], American singer/pianist (Mandy, I Write the Songs), born in New York City
1958 – Derek Lee Ragin, American countertenor
1967 – Keith Sims, NFL guard (Miami Dolphins)

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Famous Deaths

1821 – Martín Miguel de Güemes Argentine military leader (b. 1785)
1906 – Harry Nelson Pillsbury, American chess player, dies at 33
1957 – Esme Percy, British actor (Murder!, Pygmalion, Old Spanish Custom), dies at 69
1973 – Luis Van Rooten, Mexican-born, American actor, author and translator (One Man’s Family), dies at 66
1981 – Richard O’Connor, British general (b. 1889)
1992 – Dewey Balfa, American Cajun fiddler and singer, dies at 65

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Historical Events

1881 – Austria-Hungary and Serbia sign military treaty
1904 – Bloomsday (date of events in James Joyce’s Ulysses)
1923 – Sun Yat Sen founds military academy
1951 – US Open Men’s Golf, Oakland Hills CC: Ben Hogan wins his second consecutive US Open title, 2 strokes ahead of runner-up Clayton Heafner.
1977 – Fianna Fail party wins Irish elections
1979 – Carl Yastrzemski hits his 1,000th extra base hit

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Famous Birthdays

1139 – Emperor Konoe of Japan (d. 1155)
1890 – Stan Laurel, [Arthur Stanley Jefferson], English comedian (Laurel and Hardy films), born in Ulverston, England (d. 1965)
1897 – Elaine Hammerstein, American actress (The Midnight Express), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1948)
1929 – Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, 5th Emir of Kuwait (2006-present), Commander of the Kuwait Military Forces, born in Kuwait City, Kuwait
1931 – Robert Freeman Smith, American politician (Rep-R-Oregon), born in Portland, Oregon
1981 – Miguel Villalta, Peruvian footballer

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Famous Deaths

1622 – Alexander Seton, 1st Earl of Dunfermline, Chancellor of Scotland (b. 1555)
1752 – Joseph Butler, English philosopher, dies at 60
1939 – Chick Webb, American jazz drummer and big band leader (b. 1905)
1947 – Jean-Francois Capart, Belgian egyptologist (Memphis), dies at 86
1969 – Karl Hubert Rudolf Schiske, composer, dies at 53
1979 – Nicholas Ray, American film director (b. 1911)

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Historical Events

1908 – World congress for Women’s rights opens in Amsterdam
1915 – US government mints 1st $50 gold pieces, for Panama Pacific Expo
1954 – Great Britain’s 2 biggest steel factories nationalized
1979 – 1st space shuttle SRB qualification test firing; 122 seconds
2001 – Indian epic “Laagan” directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, starring Aamir Khan and Gracy Singh premieres
2012 – Five Dutch banks, including ING, receive credit rating downgrades of one or two notches

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Famous Birthdays

1864 – Guy Ropartz [Joseph Guy Marie Ropartz], French composer, born in Guingamp, France (d. 1955)
1898 – Willem Scheps, Dutch journalist
1920 – Amy Clampitt, American poet (The Kingfisher), born in Iowa (d. 1994)
1943 – Aron Kincaid, actor (Warren-Bachelor Father, Ski Party), born in Los Angeles, California
1969 – Ice Cube [O’Shea Jackson], American rapper and actor (Boyz in the Hood, Anaconda), born in Los Angeles, California
1977 – Michael Doleac, American basketball player

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Famous Deaths

1397 – Count of Eu, French knight, dies in Turkish captivity
1839 – Hans Skramstad, composer, dies at 41
1958 – François de Vries, Dutch economist, dies at 74
1996 – Jean Gimpel, French author and medievalist, dies at 77
2014 – Daniel Keyes, American author (Flowers for Algernon), dies from complications from pneumonia at 86
2015 – Mighty Sam McClain, American soul and blues singer-songwriter, dies at 72

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Historical Events

1789 – Captain William Bligh and his loyal men cast off from HMS Bounty reach Timor, after sailing 5,800 km in a 6-metre launch
1916 – Representatives of eight Allied nations hold an economic conference in Paris at which they discuss ways to cripple their enemies economic power during and after the war
1962 – Albert DeSalvo, better known as the Boston Strangler, murders Anna Slesers, his first victim
1968 – “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” 2nd studio album by Iron Butterfly is released
1975 – French Open Women’s Tennis: Chris Evert beats Martina Navratilova 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 for her 2nd of 7 French singles titles
1981 – LPGA Championship, Jack Nicklaus GC: Donna Caponi Young sinks 15 foot birdie putt on 18th to beat Jerilyn Britz and Pat Meyers by 1 stroke

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Famous Birthdays

1479 – Giglio Gregorio Giraldi, Italian poet, born in Ferrara, Italy (d. 1552)
1819 – Henry Gardner, 23rd Governor of Massachusetts (1855-58), born in Dorchester, Massachusetts (d. 1892)
1903 – Arthur William Raynes McDonald, radar Pioneer/pilot
1926 – Don Newcombe, American baseball pitcher (4-time MLB All Star), born in Madison, New Jersey (d. 2019)
1950 – Bart van Lier, Dutch trombonist, born in Haarlem
1969 – Steffi Graf, German tennis player (Golden Slam 1988, 22 Grand Slam singles titles), born in Mannheim, Germany

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Famous Deaths

1978 – Theodore Karyotakis, composer, dies at 74
1982 – Marie Rambert, [Cyviam Ramberg], Polish/British ballerina, dies at 94
1994 – Denys Hay, British historian, dies at 78
1995 – Els Aarne, Estonian composer, dies at 78
2004 – Eamonn McGirr, Irish-born singer and entertainer
2008 – Esbjörn Svensson, Swedish jazz pianist (b. 1964)

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Historical Events

1611 – John Fabricius dedicates earliest sunspot publication
1918 – Phillies and Cards tie 8-8 in 19 innings
1955 – Mercedes racing car kills 77 at Le Mans, France
1962 – Norway named ombudsman
1971 – LPGA Championship, Pleasant Valley CC: Kathy Whitworth wins by 4 strokes from Kathy Ahern
1986 – US President Reagan criticizes South African state of emergency

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Famous Birthdays

1892 – Basil Rathbone, South African born British actor (Sherlock Holmes), born in Johannesburg, South Africa (d. 1967)
1901 – Tage Erlander, Swedish politician (25th Prime Minister of Sweden 1946-69), born in Ransäter, Värmland County, Sweden (d. 1985)
1954 – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Nigerian economist (Minister of Finance 2011-15), born in Ogwashi-Uku, Delta State
1954 – Bo [Robert] Donaldson, American rock vocalist (Billy Don’t Be a Hero), born in Cincinnati, Ohio
1961 – Bob Crow, English trade union leader (National Union RMT), born in Epping, Essex, England (d. 2014)
1974 – Brande Roderick, American actress

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Famous Deaths

1636 – George Gordon, 1st Marquess of Huntly, Scottish politician (b. 1562)
1913 – Jonathan Hutchinson, English surgeon and scientist, dies at 84
1928 – Damaso Ledesma, composer, dies at 60
1944 – Christopher Heseltine, cricketer (2 Tests for England 1895-96), dies
1973 – Alvin Derold Etler, composer, dies at 60
2005 – Lane Smith, American actor (b. 1936)

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Historical Events

1910 – PEC soccer team forms in Zwolle
1917 – US Secret Service extends protection of the President to include his family
1947 – British Amateur Women’s Golf, Gullane GC: Babe Didrikson becomes first American to win event; beats England’s Jacqueline Gordon 5 and 4
1967 – Washington Senators beat Chicago White Sox 6-5 in 22 innings
1977 – LPGA Championship, Bay Tree Plantation GC: Chako Higuchi of Japan wins her only LPGA major title by 3 from Pat Bradley, Sandra Post and Judy Rankin
2015 – Al-Qaeda’s 2nd-in-command Nasser al-Wuhayshi (Osama Bin Laden’s former private secretary) is killed in a US air strike in Yemen

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Famous Birthdays

1908 – Ronald Selby Wright, Scottish Church of Scotland minister, born in Glasgow, Scotland (d. 1995)
1914 – Peter Lancelot Williams, English dance journalist, born in Burton Joyce, Nottingham (d. 1995)
1918 – Samuel Z. Arkoff, American film producer and co-founder of American International Pictures, born in Fort Dodge, Iowa (d. 2001)
1945 – Alfred Gell, British social anthropologist (d. 1997)
1964 – Lorraine Downes, New Zealand beauty queen (Miss Universe 1983), born in Auckland, New Zealand
1965 – Gwen Torrence, Lithonia GA, 100m/200m/400m (Olympics 2 gold-92, 96)

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Famous Deaths

1858 – Cornelis Smit, Dutch ship builder, dies at 74
1904 – Camille de Renesse, Belgian nobleman and entrepreneur, dies at 67
1947 – Jazeps Medins, composer, dies at 70
1957 – James F “Jimmy” Dorsey, US orchestra leader, dies at 53
1978 – Guo Moruo, Chinese writer (b. 1892)
2016 – George V. Voinovich, US politician (R), Senator and Governor of Ohio, dies at 79

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Historical Events

1594 – Philip II recognized the rights and privileges of the local nobles and chieftains in the Philippines, which paves way to the creation of the Principalía (i.e., elite ruling class of native nobility in Spanish Philippines)
1927 – Babe Ruth hits 19th and 20th of 60 HRs
1983 – “Faithfully” by Journey peaks at #12
1990 – Nolan Ryan pitches his 6th no-hitter beating Oakland, in 9th he retires Ken Phelps, Rickey Henderson and Willie Randolph (all ex Yanks)
1990 – Federal judge sentenced former national security adviser John M Poindexter to 6 months for making false statements to Congress
1996 – Exxon states that it will begin work on its $15-billion Sakhalin I oil and natural gas development in Russia’s Far East

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Famous Birthdays

1874 – Richard Stöhr, Austrian composer, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1967)
1888 – Bartolomeo Vanzetti, Italian anarchist (Sacco and Vanzetti Trial), born in Villafalletto, Italy (d. 1927)
1907 – Anton Hildebrand, Dutch children’s book writer (Man in the Moon), born in Groningen, Netherlands (d. 1977)
1920 – Bir Bikram Shah Deva Mahendra, King of Nepal (1955-72), born in Narayanhity Royal Palace, Kathmandu, Kingdom of Nepal (d. 1972)
1935 – Fazal-ur-Rehman, Pakistani cricketer (played 1 Test Pakistan v WI 1958), born in Amritsar, India
1956 – [Clarence] Ray Nagin, American politician (Mayor of New Orleans, 2002-2010), born in New Orleans, Louisiana

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Famous Deaths

1811 – Charles Frederick, liberal ruler of Baden, dies at 82
1929 – Gyula Andressy Jr, Hungarian minister of Foreign affairs, dies at 68
1986 – Chesley Bonestell, American-born engineer, architect, and artist (b. 1888)
1992 – Scotty Sachs, actor (Hanoi Hilton), dies of gunshot wounds at 39
1993 – Bernard Bresslaw, English comedian (Carry On team), dies of a heart attack at 59
2005 – VVasco Gonçalves, Portuguese army officer and 103rd Prime Minister of Portugal (1974-75), dies at 84

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Historical Events

1190 – Third Crusade: Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa drowns while crossing the Saleph River (modern Turkey) leading an army to Jerusalem
1861 – Battle of Big Bethel Virginia (Bethel Church, Great Bethal)-Union retreats
1966 – Mamas and Papas win gold record for “Monday, Monday”
1975 – Rockefeller panel reports on 300,000 illegal CIA files on Americans
1979 – Baltimore Orioles pull their 8th triple play (5-4-3 vs Cleve)
2018 – French Open Men’s Tennis: Rafael Nadal beats Dominic Thiem of Austria 6-4, 6-3, 6-2 for his record 11th French title (17th Grand Slam victory)

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Famous Birthdays

1822 – John Jacob Astor III, American businessman (Astor Estate holdings), born in New York (d. 1890)
1912 – William Gordon Harris, civil engineer
1926 – Willem Oltmans, Dutch journalist (Outlawed, Free as a Bird)
1927 – Michael Walsh, major-general/director (Overseas Relations)
1954 – Richard “Rich” Hall, American comedian, writer, and musician (Saturday Night Live, Fridays, Not Necessarily the News), born in Alexandria, Virginia
1980 – Francelino Matuzalem, Brazilian footballer

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Famous Deaths

1247 – Rodrigo Jimenez de Rada, archbishop Toledo/advisor Alfonso VIII, dies
1680 – Johan Göransson Gyllenstierna, Swedish statesman (b. 1635)
1902 – Jacint Verdaguer, Catalan poet (b. 1845)
1973 – William M. Inge, American playwright (Come Back Little Sheba), dies at 60
2004 – Graeme Kelling, British pop guitarist (Deacon Blue), dies at 47
2013 – Barbara Vucanovich, American politician, dies at 91

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Historical Events

1790 – 1st book copyrighted under constitution, “Philadelphia Spelling Book”
1873 – Alexandra Palace burnt down, after being open for only 16 days
1908 – King Edward VII of Great Britain visits Tsar Nicholas II at Reval, Russia, where the two discuss the growing power of Germany and British plans for reform in Macedonia
1963 – Barbra Streisand appears on “Ed Sullivan Show”
1995 – Killer (1994) premieres in UK
2001 – 133rd Belmont: Gary Stevens aboard Point Given wins in 2:26.80

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Famous Birthdays

1597 – Pieter J Saenredam, architecture painter
1884 – Johannes Clinge Doorenbos, Dutch journalist/conductor
1933 – Don Young, (Rep-R-AK, 1973- )
1942 – Richard Hutton, cricketer (son of Len, 5 Tests 1971)
1973 – Frederic Choffat, Swiss film director
1993 – Danielle Chuchran, American actress

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Famous Deaths

1681 – William Lilly, English astrologer, dies at 79
1912 – Ion Luca Caragiale, Romanian actor and playwright (O Noapte Furtunoasa), dies at 60
1989 – Piet[er J] Lieftinck, Dutch minister of Finance (1945-52), dies
2004 – Brian Williamson, Jamaican Gay Activist (b. 1945)
2013 – Iain Banks, Scottish author, dies from gallbladder cancer at 59
2014 – Rik Mayall, English actor and comedian, dies from cardiac arrest at 56

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Historical Events

1880 – Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky delivers an emotional speech at the unveiling of a monument to Pushkin in Moscow
1905 – US President Theodore Roosevelt sends identical notes to Japan and Russia urging them to negotiate and end hostilities, offering his personal services
1980 – French Open Men’s Tennis: Björn Borg of Sweden wins 3rd straight French title; beats American Vitas Gerulaitis 6-4, 6-1, 6-2
1986 – French Open Men’s Tennis: Czech star Ivan Lendl wins 3rd career Grand Slam title; beats Mikael Pernfors of Sweden 6-3, 6-2, 6-4
1992 – 26th Music City News Country Awards: Alan Jackson and Garth Brooks
2007 – Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia is hit by the State’s worst storms and flooding in 30 years resulting in the death of nine people and the grounding of trade ship, the MV Pasha Bulker

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Famous Birthdays

1814 – Charles Reade, English novelist (Cloister and Hearth), born in Ipsden, Oxfordshire (d. 1884)
1897 – John G. Bennett, British scientist and author, born in London (d. 1974)
1941 – Clarence “Fuzzy” Haskins, American pop singer (Funkadelic-Knee Deep), born in Elkins, West Virginia
1949 – Emanuel Ax, Polish American classical pianist, born in Lviv, Ukraine
1975 – Bryan McCabe, St Catherines, NHL defenseman (NY Islanders)
1983 – Mamoru Miyano, Japanese seiyuu

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Famous Deaths

1042 – Harthacnut/Harthacanute, King of Denmark and England (b. 1018) Lambeth
1611 – Jean Bertaut, French poet (b. 1552)
1809 – Thomas Paine, English American writer (Age of Reason, Common Sense), dies at 72
1947 – Tom O’Brien, American actor (Flying Fool), dies at 56
2008 – Šaban Bajramović, Serbian Romani musician (b. 1936)
2018 – Danny Kirwan, British musician, singer and songwriter (Fleetwood Mac- “Albatross”), dies at 68

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