Category: On This Day

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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)

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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

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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

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Historical Events

1836 – Narcissa Whitman, one of the first white women to settle west of the Rocky Mountains, arrives at Walla Walla, Oregon Country (now US state of Washington)
1931 – Future Baseball Hall of Fame 1st baseman Lou Gehrig hits his 3rd grand slam in 4 days and 6th homer in consecutive games in NY Yankees’ 5-1 win v Boston Red Sox
1954 – Paramount Pictures releases “Rear Window”, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and starring James Stewart and Grace Kelly
1972 – Japanese gymnast Sawao Kato wins the parallel bars gold medal at the Munich Olympics, his 3rd gold of the Games including team and individual all-round victories
2019 – Hurricane Dorian makes landfall on Elbow Cay in the Abaco islands, northern Bahamas as a category five storm with winds of 180mph (285km/h)

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Famous Birthdays

1920 – Richard Farnsworth, American actor (Misery, Havana, Sylvester), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2000)
1926 – Abdur Rahman Biswas, President of Bangladesh, 1991-96, born in Shaistabad, Bengal Presidency, British India (d. 2017)
1965 – Hardy Nickerson, American football linebacker (Pro Bowl 1993, 96–99; All-Pro 1993, 96-97, 99; Pittsburgh Steelers, Tampa Bay Bucs), born in Compton, California
1972 – Louise Dobson, Australian field hockey fullback (Olympic gold 1996; Champions Trophy gold 1997, 99, 2003), born in Shepparton, Australia
1977 – David Albelda, Spanish soccer midfielder (51 caps; Valencia CF 351 games), born in La Pobla Llarga, Spain

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Famous Deaths

1256 – Kujo Yoritsune, 4th Japanese shōgun of the Kamakura shogunate (1226-44), dies at 38
1995 – Ernest Marke, Sierra Leonean seaman and club owner, dies at 93
2015 – Dean Jones, American actor (Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, The Love Bug), dies at 84
2021 – Jim Fuller, American college football coach and athletics administrator (coach 1977-83; AD 2003-08 Jacksonville State University), dies from COVID-19 at 76
2023 – William B. Richardson, American Democratic politician and diplomat who was Governor of New Mexico (2003-11), Representative of New Mexico (1983-97) and US Ambassador to the UN (1997-98), dies at 75

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Historical Events

1837 – Ralph Waldo Emerson gives his famous “The American Scholar” speech to Phi Beta Kappa Society at Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts, declares American literary independence from Europe
1843 – Liberty Party nominates James Birney as presidential candidate
1900 – Brooklyn pitcher Brickyard Kennedy walks 6 straight Philadelphia Phillies in 2nd inning of the Superbas’ 9-4 loss at Washington Park; Kennedy still achieves his 4th 20-win season
1935 – Russian miner Aleksey Stachanov digs 102 tons of coal in under 6 hours, using a jackhammer
1945 – The Liberal Party of Australia is founded by Robert Menzies

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Famous Birthdays

1920 – James Lanphier, American actor (Flight of Lost Balloon), born in Hempstead, New York (d. 1969)
1929 – Julio Ramon Ribeyro, Peruvian writer, born in Lima, Peru (d. 1994)
1931 – Jean Béliveau, Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame center (Hart Trophy 1956, 64; Art Ross Trophy 1956; Conn Smythe Trophy 1965; record 17 Stanley Cups), born in Trois-Rivieres Quebec (d. 2014)
1970 – Rania Al-Abdullah, Queen consort of Jordan, born in Kuwait City
1974 – Jeremy O’Day, American CFL offensive linebacker (Toronto Argonauts) and manager, born in Buffalo, New York

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Famous Deaths

1590 – Floris Thin, Dutch politician and land advocate of Utrecht, dies
1942 – Georg Von Bismarck, German major general, (Africa Corps), dies in Battle of Alam el Halfa at 51
1976 – Kornelis Heiko Miskotte, Dutch theologist (If the Gods Keep Silent), dies at 81
2009 – Maria de Lourdes Martins, Portuguese pianist and composer, dies at 83
2011 – Valery Rozhdestvensky, Soviet cosmonaut (Soyuz 23), dies at 72

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Historical Events

1904 – American runner Thomas Hicks wins the marathon gold medal with a time of 3:28:53 over a 40 km course at the St. Louis Olympics
1926 – Jack Hobbs scores 316 not out at Lord’s (Surrey vs. Middlesex)
1949 – WTVN (now WSYX) TV channel 6 in Columbus, OH (ABC) begins broadcasting
1956 – White mob prevents enrollment of Black students at Mansfield High School, Texas
1991 – Mike Powell of the US sets a long jump record of 29 ft 4½ in (8.95 m)

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Famous Birthdays

1902 – Arnold Maria Walter, Canadian composer, born in Hanušovice, Moravia, Austria-Hungary (d. 1973)
1912 – Edward Mills Purcell, American physicist (Nobel Prize for Physics 1952 for nuclear magnetic resonance), born in Taylorville, Illinois (d. 1997)
1922 – Regina Resnik, American mezzo-soprano (Sieglinde-Bayreuth), born in New York City (d. 2013)
1927 – Geoffrey Beene, American fashion designer (8 Coty Awards), born in Haynesville, Louisiana (d. 2004)
1976 – Mike Koplove, American baseball player (Team USA 2008), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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Famous Deaths

1181 – Alexander III [Orlando Bandinelli], Italian Pope (1159-81), dies
1999 – Raymond Poïvet, French cartoonist, dies at 89
2005 – Andor Kovach, Romanian composer (Médée), dies at 90
2022 – Gheorghe Berceanu, Romanian Greco-Roman wrestler (Olympic gold light-flyweight 1972, silver 1976; World C’ship gold 1969, 72), dies at 72
2023 – Gennady Sapunov, Russian Greco-Roman wrestler (World C’ship gold lightweight 1963, 65; silver 1966) and coach (Soviet GR wrestling team 1979-90), dies at 84

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Historical Events

1756 – Frederick II of Prussia leads an Anglo-Prussian alliance into Saxony, beginning the Seven Years’ War
1862 – US Bureau of Engraving and Printing begins operation
1932 – United Cigar Stores shuts 800 shops
2003 – Skype Technologies releases its pioneering video-conferencing software
2013 – Actor Gary Sinise is named an honorary Marine by the Commandant of the Marine Corps

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Famous Birthdays

1891 – Michael Chekhov, Russian-American actor (Abie’s Irish Rose, Rhapsody), born in Saint Petersburg, Russia (d. 1955)
1905 – Lan Adomián, Russian-American-Mexican composer, and Spanish Civil War fighter (Lincoln Brigade), born in Moghiler-Podolsk, Russia (d. 1979)
1915 – Nathan Pritikin, American nutritionist and inventor, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1985)
1920 – Charles White, American actor (Airport 95, Serpico), born in Perth Amboy, New Jersey (d. 2005)
1928 – Charles Gray, British actor (Clay-Rawhide, Diamonds Are Forever, The Rocky Horror Picture Show), born in Bournemouth, Hampshire (d. 2000)

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Famous Deaths

1093 – Hugh I, Duke of Burgundy (b. 1057)
1910 – Johan Eilerts de Haan, Dutch naval officer and explorer (Lucie River, Suriname), dies, likely due to malaria, at 44
1960 – Hazza el-Majali, Prime Minister of Jordan is assassinated
1975 – Éamon de Valera, Irish republican politician and President of Ireland (1937-48, 51-54, 57-59), dies at 92
2016 – Gene Wilder [Jerome Silberman], American actor (Blazing Saddles; Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory; Silver Streak; Young Frankenstein), dies at 83

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