Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1950 – First typesetting machine to dispense with metal type is exhibited
1956 – Vladimir Kuts runs a world record 10,000 m in 28:42.8
1971 – Egypt adopts its constitution
2005 – US Open Men’s Tennis: Roger Federer retains his title, beating Andre Agassi 6-3, 2-6, 7-6, 6-1; Agassi’s last appearance in a Grand Slam final
2018 – Imprisoned Brazilian Ex-president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva abandons his presidential campaign

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1862 – Julian Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, British army officer, born in Wrotham Park, Hertfordshire, England (d. 1935)
1937 – Paola Ruffo di Calabria, Italian princess and Queen of Belgium (1993-2013), born in Villa Claudia, Forte dei Marmi, Italy
1969 – Eduardo Perez, American baseball player, born in Cincinnati, Ohio
1972 – Kip Simons, American gymnast (Olympic 5th 1996), born in Media, Pennsylvania
1980 – Antônio Pizzonia, Brazilian race car driver, born in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1987 – Lorne Greene [Lyon Chaim Green], Canadian actor (Bonanza – “Ben Cartwright”; Battlestar Galactica), dies of pneumonia following heart surgery at 72
1987 – Ludovic Feldman, Romanian violinist and composer, dies at 94
2001 – Tom Burnett, American businessman and passenger aboard United 93, dies thwarting terrorist attempts to crash the plane into a Washington monument at 38
2005 – Chris Schenkel, American sportscaster (ABC Wide World of Sports), dies of emphysema at 82
2022 – Alain Tanner, Swiss film director (Charles, Dead or Alive), dies at 92

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1849 – Famous American actor Edwin Booth makes his stage debut at age 15 in Richard III in Boston
1937 – Second American Football League plays first game (LA 21, Pittsburgh 0)
1962 – US National Championship Women’s Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Australian Margaret Smith beats defending champion Darlene Hard 9-7, 6-4 for her first US singles crown
1980 – Expos’ Bill Gullickson sets a rookie record by striking out 18
1995 – 47th Emmy Awards: NYPD Blue, ER, Frasier, and Candice Bergen win

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1645 – Romeyn de Hooghe, Dutch painter and goldsmith, born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1708)
1753 – John Soane, English architect (Bank of England, Soane Museum), born in Goring-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, England (d. 1837)
1786 – Nicolás Bravo, Mexican politician and soldier, born in Chilpancingo, Mexico (d. 1854)
1919 – Lex van Delden [Alexander Zwaap], Dutch composer (The Bird of Freedom), and writer (Canto della Guerra), born in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, (d. 1988)
1976 – Greg Henderson, New Zealand track cyclist (World C’ship gold scratch race 2004), born in Dunedin, New Zealand

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1676 – Gerrard Winstanley, English religious reformer (b. 1609)
1765 – Jacob Gilles, Grand Pensionary of Holland, dies at about 74
1961 – Wolfgang von Trips, German auto racer (29 x F1 GP, 2 wins), dies in 1961 Italian Grand Prix (with 15 spectators) at 33
1993 – Janice Carroll, American actress (End, April Fools), dies of cancer at 61
2007 – Anita Roddick, English businesswoman and cosmetic manufacturer (Body Shop), dies at 64

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1683 – Expelled Polish and Lotharingians reach Wienerwald
1939 – Nazi Army reaches Warsaw
1944 – US 113th cavalry passes Belgian-Dutch borders
1981 – Vernon E. Jordan resigns as president of National Urban League in the US
1987 – Gary Hart admits on “Nightline” to cheating on his wife

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1908 – John Heaton, American sledder (Olympic silver skeleton 1928, 48, bronze bobsled 1932; American team’s flag bearer 1948), born in New Haven, Connecticut (d. 1976)
1931 – Bill Persky, American Emmy Award-winning screenwriter (The Dick Van Dyke Show), producer (That Girl), and television director, born in New York City
1943 – Larry Hosford, American folk singer-songwriter (The King Takes The Queen), born in Salinas, California (d. 2016)
1956 – Avi Wigderson, Israeli mathematician and computer scientist (2023 Turing Prize for randomness), born in Haifa, Israel
1962 – Aleta Rzepecki Sill, American bowler (1983 WIBC single), born in Detroit, Michigan

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1974 – Soltan Hajibeyov, Azerbaijani composer and People’s Artist of the USSR, dies at 55
1975 – Ethel Griffies, English actress (Billy Liar, Birds), dies at 97
1997 – Burgess Meredith, American stage and screen actor (Mr Novak; Of Mice and Men; Batman (TV) – “The Penguin”; Rocky), dies at 88
2011 – Jean-Paul Jeannotte, Canadian operatic tenor, educator (Lavall, 1964-79), and artistic director (Opéra de Montréal, 1980-89), dies at 95
2024 – Cecília Gáspár, Hungarian soccer midfielder and captain (28 caps; TSV Crailsheim, SGS Essen), dies at 39

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1796 – Battle of Bassano: Napoleon Bonaparte’s French army defeats the Austrian forces during the French Revolutionary Wars
1923 – Honda Point Disaster: Nine US Navy destroyers run aground off the California coast, and seven are lost
1966 – The Severn Bridge between England and Wales is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II
1985 – Alayson Gibbons sets a 24-hour women’s swim record of 42.05 miles in a 25-meter pool
2022 – Australian Stephanie Gilmore wins her eighth world surfing title at Lower Trestles, California, making her the most successful women’s champion in history

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1857 – Ida Henrietta Hyde, American physiologist who invented the micro-electrode and the first woman allowed to do research at Harvard Medical School and to be elected to the American Physiology Society, born in Davenport, Iowa (d. 1945)
1894 – Willem Pijper, Dutch composer and music critic, born in Zeist, Netherlands (d. 1947)
1927 – Charles “Specs” Wright, American jazz drummer (Dizzy Gillespie; Cannonball Adderly; Red Garland), born in Philadelphia, Philadelphia (d. 1963)
1930 – Jeannette Altwegg, English figure skater (Olympic gold 1952), born in Bombay, India (d. 2021)
1991 – Joe Sugg, English Youtuber and actor (Strictly Come Dancing), born in Lacock, England

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1656 – Joseph Hall, English bishop and writer (Virgidemiarum: Six Books), dies at 82
1935 – Carl Weiss, American physician who murdered US Senator Huey Long, shot and killed by the senator’s bodyguards at 28
1995 – Halldis Moren Vesaas, Norwegian author and poet (Harp and Dagger), dies at 87
2005 – Noel Cantwell, Irish cricketer and footballer (b. 1932)
2018 – Tito Capobianco, Argentinian stage impresario, dies at 87

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1941 – US National Championship Men’s Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: 1939 champion Bobby Riggs beats Frank Kovacs 5-7, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3
1942 – First flight of the Consolidated B-32 Dominator
1945 – Joe Kuhel hits an inside-the-park home run, the only homer hit by a member of the Washington Senators team all season at their home field, Griffith Stadium
1985 – US Open Women’s Tennis: Hana Mandlíková beats Martina Navratilova 7-6, 1-6, 7-6 for her first US title
1988 – Guy Lafleur, Tony Esposito, and Brad Park are inducted into the NHL Hall of Fame

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1923 – Louise Suggs, American golfer and co-founder of LPGA (11 major titles, US Open 1949, 52), born in Atlanta, Georgia (d. 2015)
1941 – Mogoboya Noko Nelson Ramodike, South African politician in Lebowa, born in South Africa (d. 2012)
1959 – Jermaine Stewart, American RandB singer (“We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off”), born in Columbus, Ohio (d. 1997)
1967 – Leslie Jones, American comedian and actress (Saturday Night Live, Ghostbusters), born in Memphis, Tennessee
1980 – Sara Carrigan, Australian cyclist (Olympic gold, road race 2004), born in Gunnedah, New South Wales

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1819 – Jean-Louis Duport, French cellist and composer, dies at 69
1892 – Joseph Reid Anderson, American Confederate general and owner of munitions company Tredegar Iron Company, dies at 79
2006 – Robert Earl Jones, American actor (The Sting, Witness, Sleepaway Camp), dies of natural causes at 96
2008 – Don Haskins, American College Basketball Hall of Fame coach (Texas El Paso 1961-99; NCAA Tournament 1966), dies at 78
2017 – Gene Michael, American baseball shortstop, and general manger (NY Yankees), dies of a heart attack at 79

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1791 – Wolfgang Mozart’s dramatic opera “La Clemenza di Tito” premieres at the Estates Theatre in Prague
1920 – US National Championship Men’s Tennis, Forest Hills NY: Bill Tilden wins his first of six consecutive US singles titles, beating Bill Johnston 6-1, 1-6, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3
1920 – Jack Dempsey knocks out Billy Miske in the third round for the heavyweight boxing title in the first radio broadcast of a prizefight
1943 – “Congressional Limited” train derails near Frankford, Philadelphia, killing 79
1962 – US performs a nuclear test at Nevada Test Site

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1923 – William Kraft, American timpanist, percussionist (Los Angeles Percussion Ensemble), conductor, and composer (The Demise of Suriyodhaya; Avalanche), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2022)
1962 – Chris Christie, American Republican politician, Governor of New Jersey (2010-18) and presidential candidate, born in Newark, New Jersey
1968 – Pat Meares, American baseball infielder (Minnesota Twins), born in Salina, Kansas
1978 – Cisco Adler, American singer and record producer, born in Los Angeles, California
1996 – Lil Xan [Nicholas Diego Leanos], American rapper and singer-songwriter (Betrayed), born in Redlands, California

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1951 – Joe Falcaro, American bowler (National Match Game champion 1929-33), dies at 55
1978 – Adolf Dassler, German entrepreneur (founder sportswear company Adidas), dies at 78
2016 – Raymond Hide, British geophysicist (geomagnetism, meteorology, geodesy and oceanography), dies at 87
2022 – Guy Morriss, American football coach (Kentucky, Baylor, Texas AandM–Commerce) and guard (Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots), dies from Alzheimer’s disease at 71
2023 – Richard Davis, American jazz double bassist described as “the greatest bass ever heard on a rock album” (Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks), dies at 93

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1942 – American sailor Charles J. French (22) swims for over six hours in waters near Guadalcanal while towing a life raft with fifteen survivors from his US Navy ship, which is sunk by Japanese gunfire
1973 – Limited-run revival of Sigmund Romberg, Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Frank Mandel’s musical “The Desert Song” opens at Uris Theater, NYC, for 15 performances
1982 – US Men’s Amateur Golf Championship, The Country Club: Jay Sigel wins 8 and 7 over David Tolley
1994 – Jingyi Le swims a world record in the 100 m women’s freestyle in 54.01 seconds
2018 – UK Prime Minister Theresa May confirms in Parliament that two Russian military intelligence officers undertake a Novichok nerve agent attack, prompting international condemnation

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1876 – Wilhelm Ritter von Leeb, German field marshal, born in Landsberg am Lech, Germany (d. 1956)
1946 – Freddie Mercury [Farrokh Bulsara], British singer-songwriter (Queen – “Bohemian Rhapsody”), born in Stone Town, Sultanate of Zanzibar (d. 1991)
1946 – Dennis Dugan, American actor and director (Can’t Buy Me Love, Howling), born in Wheaton, Illinois
1951 – Paul Breitner, German footballer, born in Kolbermoor, Germany
1971 – Carlester Crumpler, American NFL tight end (Seattle Seahawks), born in Greenville, North Carolina

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1890 – Ludwig Deppe, German composer, dies at 61
1931 – John Thomson, football player who died in an accidental collision during a match (b. 1909)
1939 – Cornelis J “Cor” van Ast, Dutch actor and director (Ghost Hotel, Two Boys), dies at 67
1965 – Thomas Johnston, Scottish-born politician (b. 1882)
2016 – Duane Graveline, American doctor and astronaut, dies at 85

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1940 – Nazi collaborator Anton Mussert puts the fate of the Netherlands in Hitler’s hands
1950 – NASCAR’s first paved superspeedway, Darlington Raceway, hosts the Southern 500, the first 500-mile event in NASCAR history; Johnny Mantz wins in a Plymouth
1983 – Californian skier Scott Michael Pellaton sets barefoot waterski speed record at 119.36 mph (191.51 km/h)
1998 – First “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” hosted by Chris Tarrant debuts on ITV in Britain
2012 – A “magic carpet” that can help prevent falls among the elderly by warning them of unusual footsteps is developed by researchers at the University of Manchester

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1622 – Jacob Hintze, German composer, born in Bernau, Electorate of Brandenburg, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1702)
1905 – Antanas Račiūnas, Lithuanian composer and pedagogue, born in Užliaušiai, Lithuania (d. 1984)
1915 – Rudolf Schock, German opera tenor, born in Duisburg, Germany (d. 1986)
1944 – Gene Parsons, American rock drummer (The Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers), born in Morongo Valley, California
1948 – Samuel Hui, Hong Kong Canto-pop singer-songwriter, born in Xiguan, Guangzhou, Republic of China

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1977 – Jean Rostand, French biologist and philosopher, dies at 82
1989 – Georges Simenon, Belgian born writer and director (Maigret detective novels), dies at 86
1991 – Dottie West [Dorothy Marsh], American country singer (“Here Comes My Baby”; with Kenny Rogers – “What Are We Doin’ in Love”), dies from internal injuries sustained in a car crash at 58
2010 – Paul Conrad, American cartoonist (Pulitzer 1964, 71, 84), dies at 86
2018 – Bill Daily, American actor and comedian (I Dream of Jeannie – “Roger”; The Bob Newhart Show – “Howard”), dies at 91

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1900 – With a proclamation by General Lord Roberts, Britain annexes the Boer Republic of South Africa
1904 – For the first time in Olympic Games history, there is a throw-off in the discus final after Americans Martin Sheridan and Ralph Rose tie with a best throw of 128 ft 10½ in (39.28 m) in St. Louis; Sheridan wins with 127 ft 10¼ in (38.97 m)
1944 – French troops liberate Lyon, France
1966 – 24th World Science Fiction Convention honors “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry
2024 – American pop singer Sabrina Carpenter’s sixth studio album “Short n’ Sweet” becomes her first to top the Billboard album chart

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1840 – Jacob Christian Fabricius, Danish composer, born in Aarhus, Denmark (d. 1919)
1889 – Cecil Weston, South African actress (Dude Ranch, Huckleberry Finn), born in Capetown (d. 1976)
1897 – Sally Benson, American writer (Meet Me In St. Louis), born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 1972)
1925 – Bengt Lindström, Swedish artist, born in Berg Municipality, Sweden (d. 2008)
1938 – Caryl Churchill, English playwright, born in London

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1669 – Esteban Manuel de Villegas, Spanish poet, dies at 80
1820 – Benjamin Henry Latrobe, American architect (completed U.S. Capitol), dies at 56
1857 – John McLoughlin, Canadian Hudson’s Bay Co pioneer and fur trader in Oregon Country, dies at 72
2003 – Rudolf Leiding, German auto executive and 3rd postwar chairman of Volkswagen, dies at 88
2010 – Cyril Smith, British Liberal Member of Parliament and alleged serial sex offender, dies at 82

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1919 – Communist Party of America organizes in Chicago
1945 – Ho Chi Minh declares Vietnam independent from France (National Day)
1972 – American breaststroker Cathy Carr swims a world record 1:13.58 to win the 100m gold medal at the Munich Olympics
1973 – Netherlands win their first men’s hockey World Cup, 4-2 on penalties over India in Amstelveen, Netherlands
2020 – Australia officially enters recession for the first time in almost 3 decades with GDP falling 7% (April-June)

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1912 – Ernie Bromley, Australian cricket batsman (2 Tests; first Western Australian to play Test cricket for Australia), born in Fremantle, Western Australia (d. 1967)
1917 – Cleveland Amory, American animal rights activist and TV reviewer (TV Guide), born in Nahant, Massachusetts (d. 1998)
1943 – Rosalind Ashford, American rock vocalist (Martha Reeve and Vandellas – “Heat Wave”; “Dancing In The Street”), born in Detroit, Michigan
1943 – Đorđe Novković, Croatian pop singer-songwriter (Pro Arte), and television personality (Hrvatski Idol), born in Vladimirci, German-occupied Serbia (d. 2007)
1971 – Rich Aurilia, infielder (SF Giants), born in Brooklyn, New York

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1645 – Alice Lisle, Last woman to be executed by a judicial sentence of beheading in England, beheaded for harboring fugitives after the defeat of the Monmouth Rebellion at around 68
1872 – N. F. S. Grundtvig, Danish writer and philosopher, dies at 88
1955 – Rudolf Kattnigg, Austrian composer, dies at 60
1994 – Richard M Major, US anti-terror specialist (CIA Red Book), dies at 72
2024 – James Darren [Ercolani], American actor (TJ Hooker; Gidget movies -“Moondoggie”; Diamond Head; Venus in Furs), singer (“Goodbye Cruel World”), and director, dies of heart failure at 88

More Famous Deaths »