Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1456 – 23rd recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet
1772 – 1st Protestant church west of Pennsylvania (in Ohio) holds communion
1914 – Honus Wagner is 2nd to get 3,000 hits
1933 – Walter Johnson takes over as Cleveland manager
1959 – 1st ballistic missile sub launched (George Washington-Groton, Ct)
1962 – 94th Belmont: Bill Shoemaker aboard Jaipur wins in 2:28.8

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Famous Birthdays

1781 – George Stephenson, English engineer known as the “Father of Railways” (Locomotion No. 1, Standard Guage), born in Newcastle, England
1833 – John Rogers Cooke, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), (d. 1891)
1910 – Robert Cummings, American actor (Love that Bob, Dial M For Murder), born in Joplin, Missouri (d. 1990)
1931 – Jackie Mason, Wisc, comedian (World According to Me, Chicken Soup)
1954 – Gregory Maguire, American fantasy writer
1975 – Andrew Symonds, cricketer (Birmingham, brilliant Qld and Gloucs batsman)

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Famous Deaths

1929 – Lewis Bennison, American actor, dies at 44
1947 – Wladyslaw Raczkiewicz, president of Poland (1939-40), dies at 62
1960 РRen̩ Maran, Martiniques writer (Batouala, Prix Goncourt), dies
1976 – James A Farley, US Postmaster General (1932-38), dies at 88
1991 – Bob Irwin, Comedian, dies of Alzheimer’s related illness at 88
1997 – Stanley Knowles, Canadian politician (b. 1908)

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Historical Events

1929 – 61st Belmont: Mack Garner aboard Blue Larkspur wins in 2:32.8
1944 – Allies occupy Port-en-Bessin Normandy
1963 – 95th Belmont: Braulio Baeza aboard Chateaugay wins in 2:30.2
1965 – US troops ordered to fight offensively in Vietnam
1991 – Warren Schutte is 1st non American to win NCAA Division 1 golf title
2017 – British General Election results in a hung parliament, Prime Minster Theresa May and the Conservative party lose their majority

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Famous Birthdays

1854 – Douglas Colin Cameron, Canadian politician, born in Hawkesbury, Ontario (d. 1921)
1912 – Ian Morrow, company director
1926 – Anatol Vieru, composer
1932 – Ray Illingworth, English cricketer and captain, born in Yorkshire, England
1943 – J C A Barrett, Headmaster (Leys School-Cambridge)
1949 – Hildegard Falck, German FR, 800m runner (Olympic gold 1972)

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Famous Deaths

1042 – Harthacnut/Harthacanute, King of Denmark and England (b. 1018) Lambeth
1809 – Thomas Paine, English American writer (Age of Reason, Common Sense), dies at 72
1889 – Gerard Manley Hopkins, English poet (Windhover), dies at 54
1924 – George Mallory, English mountain climber (“because it is there”), dies in a climbing accident at 37 (b. 1886)
1966 – Joseph A. Walker, WWII and NASA test pilot (1st spaceplane flights to edge of outerspace), dies in an aircraft collison at 45
1987 – Yogi Horton, drummer (Luther Vandross), commits suicide at 33

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Historical Events

1340 – Rotterdam Netherlands founded
1527 – Pope Clement VII surrenders to Emperor Charles V’s armies
1905 – Norway dissolves union with Sweden (in effect since 1814)
1924 – 56th Belmont: Earl Sande aboard Mad Play wins in 2:18.8
1987 – 86th Men’s French Open: Ivan Lendl beats Mats Wilander (7-5, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6)
1991 – Mount Pinatubo (Philippines) erupts for 1st time

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Famous Birthdays

1897 – George Szell, Hungarian-born American conductor (Cleveland Orchestra, 1946-70), born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 1970)
1909 – Jessica Tandy, British actress (Birds, Cocoon, Batteries Not Included), born in London, England (d. 1994)
1925 – Camille Flammarion, French astronomer/writer (Thunder and Lightning)
1933 – Henk E Koning, Dutch sect of Finances (VVD)
1935 – Thomas Kailath, American engineer
1973 – Robert Barr, NFL tackle (Seattle Seahawks)

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Famous Deaths

1555 – Maarten van Rossum, Dutch army leader, dies at about 76
1654 – Giambattista Andreini, Italian playwright and actor (L’adamo), dies at 76
1863 – Franz Xaver Gruber, composer (“Silent Night”), dies at 75
1976 – Bobby Hackett, jazz cornetist/orchestra leader (Air time ’57), dies at 61
1993 – Drazen Petrovic, NBA player (NJ Nets), dies in auto-accident at 28
1995 – Joseph Tomelty, Irish actor and playwright (Bedevilled, Moby Dick, Melba), dies at 85

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Historical Events

1903 – President Emile Loubet of France and Minister of Foreign Affairs Theophile Declasse visit London, furthering the cause of Entente Cordiale between Britain and France
1936 – Aviation gasoline 1st produced commercially Paulsboro, New Jersey
1965 – Rolling Stones release single “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”
1972 – Gold hits record $60 an ounce in London
2012 – 46th CMT Music Awards: Carrie Underwood, Miranda Lambert and Luke Bryan wins
2015 – 114th Women’s French Open: Serena Williams beats Lucie Safarova (6-3, 6-7, 6-2)

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Famous Birthdays

1661 – Giacomo Antonio Perti, composer
1772 – Maria Teresa of the Two Sicilies, Holy Roman Empire Empress consort (d. 1807)
1894 – Violet Trefusis, English writer and socialite who had a famous affair with writer Vita Sackville-West, born in London England (d. 1972)
1902 – Harold Roxbee Cox Kings Norton, aeronautical engineer
1907 – Bill Dickey, NY Yankee hall-of-fame catcher (1928-43) and manager, born in Bastrop, Louisiana (d. 1993)
1973 – Jamie Wilson, tackle (Carolina Panthers)

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Famous Deaths

1799 – Patrick Henry, American Revolutionary and Founding Father famous for his “Give me liberty or give me death” speech, dies at 63
1928 – Heinrich Gottlieb Noren, composer, dies at 67
1941 – Louis Chevrolet, American automotive pioneer (b. 1878)
1951 – Olive Tell, American actress (b. 1894)
1956 – Margaret Wycherly, actress (Claudia), dies at 74
1999 – Anne Haddy, Australian actress (b. 1930)

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Historical Events

1806 – Batavian Republic becomes Kingdom of Holland
1925 – 29th US Golf Open: Willie Macfarlane shoots a 291 at Worcester CC Mass
1940 – Battle of France begins in WW II
1955 – NY Yankee Mickey Mantle hits 550′ HR off Chicago Billy Pierce
1970 – Chile becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty
1985 – Steve Cauthen wins aboard Slip Anchor at Epsom Downs to become the only jockey to win both the Kentucky Derby (1978) and The Derby

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Famous Birthdays

1915 – Lancelot Ware, founder (MENSA)
1920 – Kurt Edelhagen, West German jazz pianist (Klimbim)
1943 – Ann Craft, researcher/writer
1954 – Peter Erskine, jazz drummer (Weather Report)
1971 – Susan Lynch, Northern Irish actress
1987 – Charlie Clements, English actor

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Famous Deaths

1118 – Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester
1568 – Willem Key, painter, dies at about 47
1667 – Pietro Sforza, Italian theologist (Assertiones Theologicae), dies
1825 – Odysseas Androutsos, hero in the Greek War of Independence
1967 – Edna Park Edwards, American stage and vaudeville actress, dies at 72
2009 – Jeff Hanson, American singer-songwriter, dies at 31

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Historical Events

1664 – Viceroy Willem Frederik conquers Dijlerschans
1940 – Winston Churchill’s speech “We shall fight on the seas and oceans”
1954 – Arthur Murray flies X-1A rocket plane to record 27,000 m
1972 – Record 8 shutouts pitched in 16 major league games (AL=5, NL=3)
1990 – Dr Jack Kevorkian assisted an Oregon woman to commit suicide, beginning a national debate over the right to die
1998 – Terry Nichols is sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing

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Famous Birthdays

1754 – Franz Xaver, Baron Von Zach, Austrian editor and astronomer (d. 1832)
1869 – Boudouin LPMCAJL, prince of Belgium/count of Vlaanderen
1882 – Karl Valentin, German comic/writer
1902 – Richard Allen, India, field hockey goal tender (Olympic gold 1928)
1922 – Irwin Bazelon, composer (Duo for Viola), born in Evanston, Illinois
1970 – Richie Hawtin, Canadian musician, born in Banbury, Oxfordshire

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Famous Deaths

1830 РAntonio Jos̩ de Sucre, Great Marshall of Ayacucho (b. 1795)
1925 – Gheorghe Dima, composer, dies at 77
1945 – Georg Kaiser, German playwright (The Burghers of Calais), dies at 66
1960 – Lucien Littlefield, American actor (Blondie), dies at 64
1979 – Herman Shumlin, American Broadway producer, director and actor (Watch on the Rhine), dies at 80
2004 – Saturnino “Nino” Manfredi, Italian actor (Between Miracles), dies at 83

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Historical Events

1961 – JFK and Khrushchev meet in Vienna
1966 – European DX Council forms in Copenhagen (shortwave listeners)
1972 – Yanks score 8 times in 13th beating White Sox 18-10
1991 – Kuwait asks Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members to produce 800,000 bbl/d (130,000 m3/d) of oil on its behalf
2015 – 200 people are killed by an explosion at a gasoline station in Accra, Ghana
2016 – A week of heavy rains in Germany and France leave 10 dead and closing Paris museums along the Seine, including the Louve

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Famous Birthdays

1610 – Jacob Neefs, Flemish engraver/publisher, baptised
1910 – Wilfred Thesiger, explorer/writer
1912 – William Douglas-Home, playwright (Now .. Barabbas)
1958 – Ann Wilson, Brisbane Qld, golfer (1985 R/U NSW Open)
1963 – Deb Richard, Abbeville LA, LPGA golfer (1991 Women’s Kemper Open)
1971 – Mark Parrish, American canoeist (alt-Olympics 1996), born in Columbia, Maryland

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Famous Deaths

1826 – Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin, Russian writer (b. 1766)
1877 РLudwig Ritter von K̦chel, Austrian musicologist (b. 1800)
1949 – Amadeo Giannini, American banker and entrepreneur (founded Bank of America), dies at 79
1989 – John McCauley, NHL official (b. 1945)
1997 – Dennis James, American television personality (b. 1917)
2016 – Dave Swarbrick, British folk fiddler (Fairport Convention), dies at 75

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Historical Events

1873 – Construction begins on Clay St (San Francisco) for world’s 1st cable railroad
1896 – 30th Belmont: Henry Griffin aboard Hastings wins in 2:24.5
1957 – US TV interviews Nikita Khrushchev
1969 – Australian aircraft carrier HMAS Melbourne slices US destroyer USS Frank E Evans in half, killing 74 (South Vietnam)
1983 – Toilet catches fire on Air Canada’s DC-9, 23 die at Cincinnati
1997 – Timothy McVeigh found guilty of 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, killing 168

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Famous Birthdays

1865 – George Lohmann, British cricketer regarded as one of the greatest bowlers of all time, born in Kensington, England (d. 1901)
1899 – Royal Beal, American actor (Death of a Salesman), born in Brookline, Massachusetts (d. 1969)
1915 – Robert Moffat Palmer, American composer, born in Syracuse, New York (d. 2010)
1955 – Chantal Hochuli, Swiss-born socialite
1957 – King Lizzard, American entertainer and songwriter
1977 – Zachary Quinto, American actor (Star Trek), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

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Famous Deaths

910 – Richilde of Provence, Queen of Western Francia
1750 – Johann Valentin Rathgeber, German benedictine and composer, dies at 68
1839 – Wijnand Nuijen, Dutch romantic painter and lithographer (Wrecked), dies at 26
1933 – Frank Jarvis, American athlete (Olympic 100m Champion-1900), dies at 54
2001 – Imogene Coca, American actress (b. 1908)
2003 – Fred Blassie, American professional wrestler (b. 1918)

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