Today in History for 9th December 2025

Historical Events

1974 – Howard Cosell briefly interviews rocker John Lennon, and Frank Gifford chats with California governor Ronald Reagan, during halftime of Monday Night Football broadcast from the Coliseum in Los Angeles, California
1988 – Premiere of fact based crime drama film “Mississippi Burning”
2016 – South Korean MPs vote to impeach President Park Geun-hye
2019 – US officials “deliberately misled” the public on progress of the Afghanistan war, hid that it was a lost cause, according to The Washington Post analysis of the “Afghanistan Papers”
2023 – 89th Heisman Trophy Award: Jayden Daniels, LSU (QB)

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1787 – John Dobson, English architect, born in High Chirton, North Shields, England (d. 1865)
1902 – Rab Butler, British politician who favoured appeasement, born in Attock Serai, British India (d. 1982)
1904 – Roger Wolcott Sperry, American neurobiologist (1981 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine, work with split-brain research), born in Hartford, Connecticut (d. 1994)
1965 – Brad Savage, American actor (Red Dawn), born in Livonia, Michigan
1974 – Wendy Dillinger, American female soccer player and coach, born in St. Charles County, Missouri

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1674 – Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, English statesman, lawyer, chief advisor to Charles I, and Lord Chancellor to Charles II, dies at 65
1775 – Pietro Gnocchi, Italian sacred music composer, choir director Brescia Cathedral, 1723-33 and 1762-75), priest, historian, and geographer, dies at 86
2004 – David Brudnoy, American radio personality (b. 1940)
2014 – José Feghali, Brazilian concert pianist (Van Cliburn Gold Medalist, 1985), takes his own life at 53
2023 – Frank Wycheck, American football tight end (Pro Bowl 1998, 99, 2000; Washington Redskins, Houston/Tennessee Oilers-Titans), dies after a fall at 52

More Famous Deaths »

Today in History for 8th December 2025

Historical Events

1925 – George S. Kaufman and Irving Berlin’s musical “The Cocoanuts” starring the Marx Brothers opens at the Lyric Theatre, NYC; runs for 276 performances
1973 – 39th Heisman Trophy Award: John Cappelletti, Penn State (RB)
1974 – Soyuz 16 returns to Earth
2007 – 73rd Heisman Trophy Award: Tim Tebow, Florida (QB)
2022 – Canadian pop singer Celine Dion reveals via Instagram that she has been diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome (SPS), a rare neurological disorder

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1741 – Maximilien Gardel, French ballet dancer and choreographer (Menuet Reine), born in Mannheim, Electorate of the Palatinate, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1787)
1822 – Luther Prentice Bradley, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in New Haven, Connecticut (d. 1910)
1965 – Carina Lau, Hong Kong actress and singer (Days of Being Wild), born in Suzhou, China
1967 – Ron George, American linebacker (Minnesota Vikings), born in Heidelberg, Germany
1989 – Drew Doughty, Canadian hockey defenseman (Stanley Cup 2012, 14 LA Kings; Olympic gold 2010, 14; Norris Trophy 2016), born in London, Canada

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1625 – Christina of Holstein-Gottorp, Queen consort of Sweden as the wife of King Charles IX, dies at 52
1680 – Henry Pierrepont, 1st Marquess of Dorchester, English politician (b. 1606)
1989 – Hans Hartung, German-French painter, dies at 85
2008 – Oliver Postgate, English animator, puppeteer and writer, dies at 83
2021 – Lars Høgh, Danish soccer goalkeeper (8 caps; OB 603 games) and GK coach (Denmark, Brøndby IF), dies from pancreatic cancer at 62

More Famous Deaths »

Today in History for 7th December 2025

Historical Events

1703 – Great storm of 1703 hits Southern England – thousands killed, Royal Navy losses 13 ships and around 1,500 seamen
1924 – German election (Social Democrats win, Nazis and Communists lose)
1941 – The Imperial Japanese Navy, with 353 planes, attacks the US fleet at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii, killing 2,403 people
1964 – George Harrison changes his music publishing company’s name from Mornyork to Harrisongs
2020 – Australian states celebrate “Freedom Day” easing COVID-19 restrictions in Victoria and New South Wales

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1557 – Girolamo Trombetti [Cavallari], Italian singer, trombonist, composer (Sustinuimus pacem), and maestro di cappella (San Giovanni de Monti, 1591-1628), baptized in Bologna, Papal States (d. 1628)
1830 – Luigi Cremona, Italian mathematician (grafostatica), born in Pavia, Italy (d. 1903)
1935 – Jean-Claude Casadesus, French conductor (Orchestre national de Lille, 1976-2016), born in Paris, France
1954 – Bertín Osborne, Italian entertainer, born in Madrid, Spain
1988 – Emily Browning, Australian actress (Ghost Ship), born in Melbourne, Australia

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1498 – Alexander Hegius, German humanist and pioneering teacher of Erasmus and Pope Adrian VI, dies at about 65
1775 – Charles Saunders, British admiral, First Lord of the Admiralty, dies at about 60
1956 – Huntley Gordon, Canadian actor, dies at 77
1996 – Jose Donoso, Chilean writer (The Place Without Limits), dies at 72
2019 – Denis Lalanne, French sports journalist (‘Le grand combat du XV de France’; ‘Rugbymania: French flair attitude’), dies at 93

More Famous Deaths »

Today in History for 6th December 2025

Historical Events

1060 – Béla I is crowned King of Hungary in Székesfehérvár
1969 – Oscar Brown, Jr’s musical “Buck White”, starring Muhammad Ali, closes at George Abbott Theatre, NYC, after 7 performances
1990 – Baseball player “Shoeless” Joe Jackson’s signature sells for $23,100 at auction
2008 – 4th ACC Championship Game: Virginia Tech beats #18 Boston College, 30-12
2017 – Skirball wildfire near Los Angeles closes the Interstate 405 as thousands forced to evacuate

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1822 – John Eberhard Faber, German-American pencil manufacturer and built 1st large-scale pencil factory in US, born in Stein Bavaria, Germany (d. 1879)
1919 – Willis Whitfield, American physicist and inventor of the clean room, born in Rosedale, Oklahoma (d. 2012)
1949 – Peter Willey, English cricketer (England batsman late 70’s early 80’s), born in Sedgefield, County Durham, England
1955 – Steven Wright, American stand-up comedian (Steven Wright Live), born in Cambridge, Massachusetts
1971 – Naozumi Takahashi, Japanese singer and voice actor, born in Ōshū, Iwate Prefecture, Japan

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1959 – Len Doyle, American actor (Harrington-Mr District Attorney), dies at 66
1983 – Lucienne Boyer, French singer (Parlez-moi d’amour), dies at 82
1989 – Frances Bavier, American Emmy Award-winning stage and screen actress (The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry, RFD – “Aunt Bee”), dies of congestive heart failure at 86
1995 – James Reston, American journalist (New York Times), dies at 86
1997 – Eliot Daniel, American composer (I Love Lucy theme), dies at 89

More Famous Deaths »

Today in History for 5th December 2025

Historical Events

1914 – CFL Grey Cup, Varsity Stadium, Toronto: Toronto Argonauts win first Championship; beat U of Toronto Blues, 14-2
1941 – Soviet anti-offensive in Moscow drives out Nazi army
1982 – Dutch judoka Ingrid Berghmans retains judo’s world championship
1991 – “Catskills on Broadway” opens at Lunt-Fontanne NYC for 452 performances
2006 – Audrey Hepburn’s Givenchy little black dress from film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” is auctioned for charity for a record £467,200 ($923,187) at Christie’s, London

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1855 – Clinton Hart Merriam, American zoologist and ornithologist, born in New York City (d. 1942)
1901 – Hanns Jelinek, Austrian composer, born in Vienna (d. 1969)
1936 – James Lee Burke, American writer (Dave Robicheaux series), born in Houston, Texas
1960 – Brian Bromberg, American jazz bass player (You Know That Feeling), born in Tucson, Arizona
1969 – Morgan J. Freeman, American film director (Hurricane Streets), born in Long Beach, California

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1955 – Paul Harvey, American actor (Spellbound, Calamity Jane, Heldorado, Jamboree), dies at 73
1958 – Ferdinand Bruckner [Theodor Tagger], Austrian-German playwright (Races), dies at 67
1979 – Sonia Delaunay, Russian-born French artist (Orphism), dies at 94
1991 – Jill Browne, dies at 54
2024 – Bill Melton, American baseball third baseman. 1968-77 (MLB All-Star and AL home run leader, 1971; Chicago White Sox, and 2 other teams) and broadcaster,1998-2020 (NBC, Comcast, Chicago White Sox), dies at 79

More Famous Deaths »

Today in History for 4th December 2025

Historical Events

1909 – Oldest still-operating NHL franchise is officially established as J. Ambrose O’Brien and Jack Laviolette create the “Club de Hockey Canadien,” known today as the Montreal Canadiens
1920 – 1st Pro football playoff game Buffalo-7, Canton-3 at Polo Grounds, NYC
1948 – Heitor Villa-Lobos’ folk operetta “Magdalena” closes at Ziegfeld Theater, NYC, after 88 performances
1964 – Test Cricket debut of Ian Chappell, v Pakistan MCG, 11, 0-49, 0-31
1968 – Following a civil rights march in Dungannon, Northern Ireland, there is a violent clash between Loyalists and those who are taking part in the march

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1908 – Alfred Hershey, American biologist, worked with bacteriophages (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1969), born in Owosso, Michigan (d. 1997)
1920 – Jeanne Manford, American gay rights activist, born in Flushing, New York (d. 2013)
1938 – Yvonne Minton, Australian-British soprano, born in Sydney, Australia
1955 – Cassandra Wilson [née Fowlkes], American jazz singer-songwriter, born in Jackson, Mississippi
1961 – Frank Reich, American NFL quarterback (Buffalo Bills) and coach (Indianapolis Colts 2018-20), born in Freeport, New York

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1807 – Prince Hall, activist/Masonic leader, dies in Boston
1959 – Rosetta Duncan, American vaudevillian (Duncan Sisters), actress (Topsy and Eva), and songwriter (Remeberin’). dies in an auto accident at 65
1976 – W. F. McCoy, Northern Irish politician (b. 1886)
2000 – H. C. Artmann, Austrian writer, dies at 79
2019 – Bob Willis, English cricket fast bowler and captain (90 Tests, 325 wickets; 64 ODIs; Surrey CCC, MCC, Warwickshire CCC, Northern Transvaal), dies of prostate cancer at 70

More Famous Deaths »

Today in History for 3rd December 2025

Historical Events

1914 – Dutch army opens fire on interned Belgian soldiers: 8 killed
1923 – First Congressional open session broadcast via radio (Washington, D.C.)
1953 – Robert Wright and George Forrest’s musical “Kismet” opens at Ziegfeld Theater, NYC; runs for 583 performances, wins Tony Award for Best Musical
1978 – “King of Hearts” closes at Minskoff Theater NYC after 48 performances
1984 – Bhopal disaster: A Union Carbide pesticide plant leaks 45 tons of methyl isocyanate and other toxic compounds in Bhopal, India, officially killing 2,259 – other estimates are as high as 16,000 (including later deaths) and over half a million injured

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1755 – Gilbert Stuart, American portrait painter (unfinished portrait of George Washington), born in Saunderstown, Rhode Island (d. 1828)
1908 – Edward Underdown, British actor (Beat the Devil, Thunderball), born in London, England (d. 1989)
1914 – Edward “Corky” Cornelius, American jazz trumpeter (Benny Goodman; Gene Krupa), born in Cicero, Indiana (d. 1943)
1918 – Abdul Haris Nasution, Indonesian army general, born in Koetanopan, North Sumatera, Dutch East Indies (d. 2000)
1933 – Rosalind Knight, British stage and screen actress (Friday Night Dinner – “Horrible Grandma”), born in Marylebone (now Westminster), England (d. 2020)

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1973 – Emile Christian, American jazz trombonist, dies at 78
1999 – John Archer [Ralph Bowman], American actor (Destination: Moon, White Heat, Blue Hawaii), dies of lung cancer at 84
2004 – Shiing-Shen Chern, Chinese mathematician (b. 1911)
2016 – Gigliola Frazzoni, Italian operatic soprano, dies at 93
2023 – Myles Goodwyn, Canadian rock guitarist, singer and songwriter (April Wine – “You Could Have Been a Lady”), and record producer, dies at 75

More Famous Deaths »

Today in History for 2nd December 2025

Historical Events

1961 – Fidel Castro declares he’s a Marxist and will lead Cuba to Communism
1973 – Capital Centre (USAir Arena) opens in Landover Maryland; NBA’s Washington Bullets beat Seattle SuperSonics, 98-96 in opening game; arena demolished 2002
1984 – Miami quarterback Dan Marino breaks NFL single-season touchdown pass record when he throws his 37th in the Dolphins’ 45-34 loss to the Raiders; finishes season with 48 TD passes
2014 – Hong Kong pro-democracy activists clash with police as they try to surround the government’s headquarters in some of the worst violence since the protests began
2020 – The UK becomes the first western country to authorize a vaccine for COVID-19, the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1920 – Robert Moevs, American composer, born in La Crosse, Wisconsin (d. 2007)
1927 – Jim David, American NFL defensive back (Pro Bowl 1954-59; NFL Champion 1952-53, 57; Detroit Lions), born in Florence, South Carolina (d. 2007)
1931 – Masaaki Hatsumi, Japanese founder and head of the Bujinkan Organization, born in Noda, Chiba, Japan
1939 – Harry Reid, American attorney and politician (U.S. Senator from Nevada, 1987-2017; U.S. House of Representatives, 1983-87), born in Searchlight, Nevada (d. 2021)
1947 – Ntare V [Charles Ndizeye], final King of Burundi (1966), born in Gitega, Burundi, Ruanda-Urundi (d. 1972)

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1831 – Traugott Maximilian Eberwein, German composer, and Kapellmeister (Court of Schwartzberg-Rudolstadt, 1817-31), dies at 56
1918 – Edmond Rostand, French poet and dramatist (Cyrano de Bergerac), dies during the flu epidemic at 50
1935 – James Henry Breasted, American Egyptologist and anthropologist, dies at 70
2020 – Pamela Tiffin, American actress (One, Two, Three; Viva Max!), dies at 78
2020 – Rafer Johnson, American decathlete (Olympic gold 1960), dies from stroke complications at 86

More Famous Deaths »

Today in History for 1st December 2025

Historical Events

1918 – Yugoslavia declares independence with a monarchy proclaimed in Belgrade
1956 – Australian women’s 4 x 100m relay team of Norma Croker, Betty Cuthbert, Fleur Mellor and Shirley Strickland de la Hunty run world record 44.65 to win the gold medal at the Melbourne Olympics; Cuthbert’s 3rd gold of the Games
1975 – US President Gerald Ford visits People’s Republic of China
1984 – 50th Heisman Trophy Award: Doug Flutie, Boston College (QB)
2014 – “U2 Minus 1” performs at Times Square, NYC for World AIDS Day; Bruce Springsteen and Chris Martin of Coldplay each sing two songs in place of injured frontman Bono

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1921 – Ralph Manza, American actor (Banacek, Mama Malone, Newhart), born in San Francisco, California (d. 2000)
1929 – Emily McLaughlin, American actress (Jessie Brewer in “General Hospital”), born in White Plains, New York (d. 1991)
1929 – Dick Shawn [Richard Schulefand], American character actor and comedian (Producers, Maid to Order, Angel), born in Buffalo, New York (d. 1987)
1979 – Angelique Bates, American Actress (All That), born in Los Angeles, California
1982 – Riz Ahmed, British-Pakistani actor (The Night Of), rapper (Swet Shop Boys), and social activist, born in Wembley, London

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1602 – Kobayakawa Hideaki, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1582)
1943 – Damrong Rajanubhab, Thai prince, son of King Mongkut and brother of King Chulalongkorn and historian, dies at 81
1974 – Teddy Knox, British comedian (The Cromwells; Nervo and Knox), dies at 78
1996 – Irving Gordon, American songwriter (“Unforgettable”; “Me, Myself, And I”), dies of multiple myeloma cancer at 81
2010 – Alojz Srebotnjak, Slovenian composer, dies at 79

More Famous Deaths »

Today in History for 30th November 2025

Historical Events

1922 – First speed test of the first genuine Japanese aircraft carrier Hōshō
1955 – “Pipe Dream” opens at Shubert Theater, NYC; runs for 245 performances
1966 – Barbados gains independence from Great Britain (National Day)
1988 – Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Co. buys RJR Nabisco for $25 billion
2014 – Australia experiences its hottest spring and second-hottest November recorded

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1813 – Louise-Victorine Ackermann, French poet (works characterized by a deep sense of pessimism), born in Paris (d. 1890)
1920 – Virginia Mayo [Jones], American actress (The Best Years of Our Lives, Out of the Blue, White Heat), born in St Louis, Missouri (d. 2005)
1953 – (Alphonso) Mike Espy, American lawyer and politician (US Representative for Mississippi, 1987-93 (D); Secretary of Agriculture, 1993-94), born in Yazoo City, Mississippi
1970 – Yayuk Basuki, Indonesian tennis player and politician, born in Yogyakarta, Java, Indonesia
1974 – Marcellus Wiley, American football defensive end (Pro Bowl and Second-team All-Pro 2001 Buffalo Bills) and broadcaster (ESPN, Fox, Dan Patrick Podcast Network), born in Compton, California

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1996 – Tiny Tim [Herbert Khaury], American musician (“Tiptoe Through The Tulips”), dies of a heart attack at 64
2000 – Scott Smith, Canadian rock bassist (Loverboy – “Working for the Weekend”), drowns in sailing accident near the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco at 45
2007 – Engin Arık, Turkish nuclear physicist, dies at 59
2011 – William L. Waller, American politician and ex-Governor of Mississippi, dies at 85
2022 – Murray Halberg, New Zealand athlete (Olympic gold 5000m 1960; WR 2 miles: 8:30.0 1961; WR 3 miles: 13.10.0 1961), dies at 89

More Famous Deaths »