Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1922 – Dedication of Frederick Douglass’ home in Washington, D.C. as a national shrine
1955 – US President Eisenhower raises minimum wage from 75 cents to $1 an hour
1958 – Art Kane photographs a group portrait of 57 leading jazz musicians assembled in front of a brownstone on 126th Street in NYC for Esquire magazine; originally titled “Harlem, 1958,” it appears as the centerfold of Esquire’s January 1959 issue celebrating the “Golden Age of Jazz”
1960 – American Ralph Boston sets a long jump world record of 8.21 m at the US Olympic trials, surpassing Jesse Owens’ record
1969 – Battle of the Bogside: RUC officers, backed by loyalists, enter the nationalist Bogside in armored cars and try to suppress the riot by using CS gas, water cannon, and eventually firearms; the almost continuous rioting lasts for two days

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1762 – George IV, King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover (1820-30), born in St James’s Palace, London (d. 1830)
1917 – Marjorie Reynolds [Goodspeed], American actress and dancer (Holiday Inn: The Life of Riley), born in Buhl, Idaho (d. 1997)
1939 – Roy Romanow, Canadian politician (Premier of Saskatchewan 1991-2001), born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
1967 – Andrew Glover, American NFL tight end (Oakland Raiders, Minnesota Vikings), born in Gonzales, Louisiana
1973 – Latasha Byears, American WNBA player (Sacramento Monarchs), born in Memphis, Tennessee

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1638 – Johannes Althusius [Althaut], German lawyer, dies at about 81
1901 – Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, Finnish-Swedish explorer and mineralogist (Vega Expedition), dies at 68
1935 – Friedrich Schottky, German mathematician (Schottky’s theorem), dies at 84
1988 – Jean-Michel Basquiat, American artist (Gray, SAMO), dies of a drug overdose at 27
1990 – Sara Seegar [Stone], actor (Mystery of Room 13), dies at 76

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1984 – Cincinnati Reds retire Johnny Bench’s #5 uniform
1984 – A British 1-2 in the 1,500 m at the Los Angeles Olympics with Sebastian Coe edging teammate Steve Cram to become the only man to successfully defend his Olympic 1,500m title
1991 – PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Crooked Stick GC: John Daly wins by 3 strokes from fellow American Bruce Lietzke
1997 – Benin legalizes January 10 as a Voodoo holiday
2005 – American Justin Gatlin becomes only the second athlete to achieve the sprint double, winning the 200 m in 20.04 at the World Championships in Helsinki, Finland

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1911 – Henry Kulky [Kulakowich], American actor (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Love Nest), born in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York (d. 1965)
1949 – Tim Hutchinson, American politician (Rep-R-Arkansas 1997-2003), born in Bentonville, Arkansas
1953 – Hulk Hogan [Terry Bollea], American pro wrestler (WWF heavyweight champion 1984-89; WWE HOF) and actor (Suburban Commando, Thunder in Paradise), born in Augusta, Georgia (d. 2025)
1970 – Andy Bell, Welsh guitarist, bassist (Ride; Oasis; Hurricane #1), singer-songwriter,a nd record producer, born in Cardiff, Wales
1983 – Chris Hemsworth, Australian actor (Thor, Avengers), born in Melbourne, Victoria

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1937 – Edith Wharton, American Pulitzer prize-winning novelist (Ethan Frome, House of Mirth), dies at 75
1982 – Tom Drake [Alfred Sinclair Alderdice], American actor (Meet Me In St. Louis; Warlock), dies of lung cancer at 63
1994 – Mark “Red” Mitchell, American actor (JFK; 8 Seconds; Want to Live), dies when his car is struck by a train at 33
2021 – Dick Huddart, English rugby league second rower (16 Tests Great Britain; St. Helens, St. George), dies at 85
2023 – Alexandru Penciu, Romanian rugby union fullback, centre (34 caps; Locomotiva PTT, CSA Steaua București, Rugby Rovigo), dies at 90

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1511 – Portuguese troops occupy parts of Malacca
1664 – Austria and the Ottoman Empire sign the Peace of Vásvár
1936 – First time Olympic cycling road race is conducted as a mass start event with Frenchmen Robert Charpentier and Guy Lapébie taking gold and silver, and France winning the team gold medal
1980 – Canadian Open Women’s Golf (Peter Jackson Classic), Richelieu Valley GC: Pat Bradley wins by one from JoAnn Carner for her first of six major titles
2017 – 100-year-old fruitcake by Huntley and Palmers is deemed “almost eatable” after being discovered in a hut used by Captain Scott’s expedition in Antarctica

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1874 – Tod Sloan, American thoroughbred jockey (1,000 Guineas 1899 [Sibola], Ascot Gold Cup 1900 [Merman]; created monkey crouch riding style), born in Bunker Hill, Indiana (d. 1933)
1913 – Noah Beery Jr, American actor (Rockford Files, Quest, Doc Elliot, Gung Ho!, Heaven With a Gun), born in New York City (d. 1994)
1965 – Claudia Christian, American actress (Babylon 5), and author, born in Glendale, California
1966 – Hansi Kürsch, German heavy metal singer-songwriter, band bassist (Blind Guardian), born in Lank-Latum, West Germany
1967 – Philippe Albert, Belgian soccer defender (41 caps; Charleroi, KV Mechelen, Anderlecht, Newcastle United), born in Bouillon, Belgium

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

258 – Saint Lawrence, Christian martyr, dies in Rome during persecutions by Emperor Valerian, burned to death
1862 – Hon’inbō Shūsaku, Japanese professional Go player, dies at 33
1976 – Jerry Gray [Generoso Graziano], American violinist, arranger (Artie Shaw, Glenn Miller). and composer(“Pennsylvania 6-5000″,”A String of Pearls”), dies at 61
1999 – Padma Bhushan Acharya Baldev Upadhyaya, Eminent Sanskrit Scholar in India (b. 1899)
2008 – Isaac Hayes, American Southern soul musician, singer-songwriter, Grammy and Academy Award-winning composer (“Theme from Shaft”), and actor (The Rockford Files – “Gandolf Fitch”; South Park -“Chef”), dies of a likely stroke at 65

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1930 – 113°F (45°C) recorded in Perryville, Tennessee (state record)
1987 – PGA Championship Men’s Golf, PGA National Palm Beach: Larry Nelson wins the second PGA C’ship in a playoff with fellow American Lanny Wadkins
2016 – Hungary’s Katinka Hosszú swims an Olympic record of 2:06.58 in the women’s 200 m individual medley, winning her third gold medal of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics
2018 – Saudi-led air coalition strikes a school bus in Saada Province, Yemen, killing 43 people, many of whom are children
2023 – Ecuadorian opposition presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio is assassinated at a campaign rally in Quito

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1869 – Randle Ayrton, British actor (The Manxman, Nell Gwyn), born in Chester, Cheshire, England (d. 1940)
1903 – Tom Tyler [Vincent Markowski], American actor (Stagecoach; She Wore a Yellow Ribbon), born in Port Henry, New York (d. 1954)
1938 – Rod Laver, Australian tennis player (1962, 1969 Grand Slam; 11 x Grand Slam singles titles; 8 x Pro major titles), born in Rockhampton, Queensland
1957 – Melanie Griffith, American actress (Body Double, Working Girl), born in New York City
1963 – Whitney Houston, American singer (“I Will Always Love You”; “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”), actress (The Bodyguard), and film producer (The Princess Diaries), born in Newark, New Jersey (d. 2012)

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1420 – Pierre d’ailly [Peter de Alliaco], French theologist and cardinal, dies
1806 – Louis Ferdinand, Prussian prince and a soldier in the Napoleonic Wars, dies at 33
1888 – Charles Cros, French inventor and poet (Le Hareng Saur), dies at 45
1985 – Clive Churchill, Australian rugby league fullback (37 Tests; NSW 27 games; South Sydney; RL “Immortal”) and coach (Australia 29 Tests, South Sydney), dies at 58
2021 – Alex Cord [Alexander Viespi], American actor (Brotherhood; Fire; Street Asylum; Airwolf), dies at 88

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1829 – French government of Polignac forms
1911 – Public Law 62-5 sets the number of representatives in the United States House of Representatives at 435 and comes into effect in 1913
1913 – Richard Corfield’s “Camel Corps” opens against the “Mad Mullah” in Burao, Somalia
2013 – Retired Washington Post journalist and editor Ben Bradlee is named as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama 
2018 – US State Department imposes new sanctions on Russia for nerve agent attack in Britain

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1852 – Barend Barendse, Dutch actor and director (Heilig recht), born in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland, Netherlands (d. 1935)
1950 – Willie Hall, American drummer (Blues Brothers Band), born in Memphis, Tennessee
1960 – Cheyne Horan, Australian surfer (World C’ship runner-up 1978, 79, 81, 82), born in Sydney, Australia
1987 – Katie Leung, Scottish actress (Harry Potter love interest), born in Dundee, Scotland
1988 – Danilo Gallinari, Italian NBA basketball player (NY Knicks, Denver Nuggets), born in Sant’Angelo Lodigiano, Italy

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1824 – Friedrich August Wolf, German philologist (Prolegomena), dies at 65
1911 – William P. Frye, American congressman and senator (1881-1911), dies at 80
1987 – Danilo Blanuša, Croatian mathematician, dies at 83
1993 – Lou van Rees, Dutch jazz and pop music impresario, dies at 77
1996 – Nevill Francis Mott, British physicist (1977 Nobel Prize for Physics for work on amorphous semiconductors), dies at 90

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

626 – Battle at Constantinople: Slavic, Persians and Avar siege of Constantinople fails, keeping the Byzantine Empire intact
1900 – Diamond workers in Amsterdam strike
1930 – Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King’s Liberal Party loses the election to Richard Bedford Bennett of the Conservative Party
2008 – Russo-Georgian War: Georgia moves troops into the Russian-supported self-proclaimed republic of South Ossetia in response to aggression; first European war of the 21st century
2012 – Heavy rain forces 20,000 people to flee their homes in Manila, Philippines

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1844 – Auguste Michel-Lévy, French geologist and petrologist, born in Paris (d. 1911)
1872 – Andries Cornelis Dirk de Graeff, Dutch politician (Governor-General of Dutch East Indies 1926-31), born in The Hague, Netherlands (d. 1957)
1973 – Kevin Muscat, Australian soccer defender (Olyroos, Olympics 1996), born in Crawley, United Kingdom
1976 – Cathy Park Hong, American Korean poet (Dance Dance Revolution), born in Los Angeles, California
1977 – Samantha Ronson, British DJ, born in Camden, London

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1821 – Caroline of Brunswick, Queen Consort of King George IV (1820-21), dies at 53
1942 – Richard Gott, British general (commandant of 8th Army), dies in battle at 43
1970 – Jonathan Jackson, US African American activist, shot dead in a shootout at 17
2004 – Red Adair, American oil field firefighter, dies at 89
2023 – DJ Casper [William Perry Jr.], American club DJ and songwriter (“Cha Cha Slide”), dies of cancer at 58

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1917 – WWI: Battle of Mărăşeşti between the Romanian and German armies begins
1948 – Dutch super athlete Fanny Blankers-Koen wins the 200 m in 24.4 seconds at the London Olympics, becoming the first woman to claim three individual track and field gold medals at a Games, having already won the 100 m and 80 m hurdles
1965 – 32nd NFL Chicago College All-Star Game at Soldier Field: Cleveland 24, All-Stars 16 (68,000 attendees)
1974 – Explosion and fire destroy Great Northern Railroad yard in Wenatchee, Washington
2015 – Eqyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi inaugurates the Suez Canal Expansion at a ceremony in Ismaïlia

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1738 – Hayashi Shihei, Japanese military scholar, born in Edo (now Tokyo), Japan (d. 1793)
1942 – George Jung [Boston George], American drug trafficker whose story was portrayed in the biopic “Blow”, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2021)
1943 – Ray Buktenica, Greenwich Village actor (Rhoda, House Calls), born in New York City
1953 – Pat MacDonald, American rock singer-songwriter, and guitarist (Timbuk 3 – “The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades”), born in Green Bay, Wisconsin
1963 – Charles Ingram, English former British Army major known for cheating on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, born in Derbyshire, England

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1272 – Stephen V, King of Hungary and Croatia (1270-72), son of Béla IV, dies at 32 or 33
1928 – W. H. Grattan Flood, Irish author and composer, dies at 68
1996 – Richard M. Goodwin, American mathematician and economist (The Dynamics of A Capitalist Economy), dies at 83
2009 – Bahadır Akkuzu, Turkish rock guitarist and singer (Kurtalan Ekspres), dies of a heart attack at 54
2022 – David Muse, American rock and smooth jazz saxophonist and flutist (Firefall – “You Are The Woman”; Marshall Tucker Band), dies of cancer at 73

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1917 – WWI: Battle of Mărăşeşti between the Romanian and German armies begins
1948 – Dutch super athlete Fanny Blankers-Koen wins the 200 m in 24.4 seconds at the London Olympics, becoming the first woman to claim three individual track and field gold medals at a Games, having already won the 100 m and 80 m hurdles
1965 – 32nd NFL Chicago College All-Star Game at Soldier Field: Cleveland 24, All-Stars 16 (68,000 attendees)
1974 – Explosion and fire destroy Great Northern Railroad yard in Wenatchee, Washington
2015 – Eqyptian President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi inaugurates the Suez Canal Expansion at a ceremony in Ismaïlia

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1738 – Hayashi Shihei, Japanese military scholar, born in Edo (now Tokyo), Japan (d. 1793)
1942 – George Jung [Boston George], American drug trafficker whose story was portrayed in the biopic “Blow”, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2021)
1943 – Ray Buktenica, Greenwich Village actor (Rhoda, House Calls), born in New York City
1953 – Pat MacDonald, American rock singer-songwriter, and guitarist (Timbuk 3 – “The Future’s So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades”), born in Green Bay, Wisconsin
1963 – Charles Ingram, English former British Army major known for cheating on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, born in Derbyshire, England

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1272 – Stephen V, King of Hungary and Croatia (1270-72), son of Béla IV, dies at 32 or 33
1928 – W. H. Grattan Flood, Irish author and composer, dies at 68
1996 – Richard M. Goodwin, American mathematician and economist (The Dynamics of A Capitalist Economy), dies at 83
2009 – Bahadır Akkuzu, Turkish rock guitarist and singer (Kurtalan Ekspres), dies of a heart attack at 54
2022 – David Muse, American rock and smooth jazz saxophonist and flutist (Firefall – “You Are The Woman”; Marshall Tucker Band), dies of cancer at 73

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1763 – Pontiac’s War: Battle of Bushy Run – British forces led by Henry Bouquet defeat Native American forces at Bushy Run
1957 – Comic strip “Andy Capp” makes its debut
1983 – American rock singer David Crosby sentenced to 5 years in Texas state prison on drug and weapons convictions
1989 – First-ever tie in harness racing’s Hambletonian as Park Avenue Joe and Probe tie the third and final heat; Park Avenue Joe wins the series on a countback
1997 – Ramzi Yousef, the Pakistani mastermind of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, goes on trial in New York; he is eventually found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment plus 240 years

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1301 – Edmund of Woodstock, 1st Earl of Kent, son of King Edward I, beheaded for plotting against King Edward III, born in Woodstock, Oxfordshire (d. 1330)
1822 – Johann Georg Herzog, German composer and organist, born in Hummendorf, Kingdom of Bavaria (d. 1909)
1935 – John Saxon, American actor (Bees, Nightmare on Elm St, Electric Horseman), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2020)
1968 – Tokimitsu Ishizawa, Japanese professional wrestler better known as “Kendo Kashin”, born in Japan
1981 – Erik Guay, Canadian alpine skier, born in Montreal, Quebec

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1678 – Juan García de Zéspedes, Mexican musician and composer, dies at 59
1931 – Ullrich Haupt, Prussian actor (Morocco, Du Barry-Woman of Passion), accidentally shot at 43
1983 – Judy Canova, American comedian and actress (Cannonball), dies of cancer at 66
2005 – Polina Astakhova, Soviet-Ukrainian gymnast (5 Olympic gold 1956, 60, 64), dies at 68
2023 – (Russell) “Rusty” Richards, American cowboy singer, yodeler, songwriter (Sons of the Pioneers, 1963-84), actor and film stuntman, dies at 89

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1558 – The first printing of the Zohar in Spain popularizes the Jewish study of Kabbalah
1777 – Retired British cavalry officer Philip Astley establishes his riding school with performances in London, a precursor to the circus
1897 – Henry A. Rucker is appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for Georgia
1941 – Winston Churchill departs on the Prince of Wales to the US
2015 – Muppets Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog announce the end of their relationship on Twitter

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1900 – Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, British consort of King George VI and Queen Mother after his death, born in Hitchin, Hertfordshire, England (d. 2002)
1900 – Nabi Tajima, 2nd oldest Japanese supercentenarian and the last living person certified to have been born in the 19th century, born in Kikaijima, Japan
1901 – Louis Armstrong, American jazz trumpeter and singer (“Hello, Dolly!”; “What A Wonderful World”), born in New Orleans, Louisiana (d. 1971)
1904 – Helen Kane [Schroeder], American actress (Heads Up, Pointed Heels), born in The Bronx, New York (d. 1966)
1910 – William Schuman, American composer (Pulitzer Prize, 1943), and administrator (Juilliard, 1945-61; Lincoln Center, 1961-68), born in New York City (d. 1992)

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1938 – Pearl White, American actress/stunt woman (Perils of Pauline), dies at 49
1981 – Melvyn Douglas [Melvyn Edouard Hesselberg], American actor (Hud, Being There, Ghost Story), dies at 80
1984 – Edmond Ryan, actor (Human Monster), dies at 79 of a heart attack
2003 – Frederick Chapman Robbins, American pediatrician and virologist and Nobel Prize laureate 1954, dies at 86
2019 – Bob Wilber, American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, and band leader (The World’s Greatest Jazz Band), dies at 91

More Famous Deaths »