Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1418 – Competition is announced to design the dome of Florence Cathedral, with main competitors Lorenzo Ghiberti and Filippo Brunelleschi (supported by Cosimo de’ Medici)
1858 – Netherlands and Japan sign a trade agreement
1965 – Orioles’ Brooks Robinson hits into his third career triple play, tying George Sisler, Deacon McGuire, and Joe Start
1989 – ArenaBowl III takes place at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit: Detroit Drive defeats Pittsburgh Gladiators 39-26, with George LaFrance as MVP
2019 – 1.7 million people participate in a peaceful pro-democracy protest in Hong Kong, representing a quarter of the population

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Famous Birthdays

1657 – Ferdinando Galli Bibiena, Italian architect and designer, born in Bologna, Italy (d. 1743)
1954 – Umberto Guidoni, Italian astrophysicist and writer (STS 75), born in Rome, Italy
1964 – Andi Deris, German heavy metal vocalist (Helloween, 1994-present), born in Karlsruhe, West Germany
1966 – Kang Soo-yeon, South Korean actress (The Surrogate Woman, Come Come Come Upward), born in Seoul, South Korea (d. 2022)
1981 – Jon Schneck, American rock guitarist (Relient K, 2005-present), born in Eustis, Florida

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Famous Deaths

440 – Sixtus III, Italian Pope (432-40), dies
1652 – Benjamin G Cuyp, historical painter, dies at about 40
1942 – Erwin Schulhoff, Czech-Russian composer and pianist (Ogelala), dies of tuberculosis at 48 in a German concentration camp in Wülzburg, Bavaria
1981 – Anita Loos, American screenwriter, novelist (Gentlemen Prefer Blondes) and playwright, dies at 88
2006 – Fernand Gignac, Canadian singer and actor (b. 1934)

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Historical Events

1870 – First ascent of Mount Rainier, Washington, by Hazard Stevens and P. B. Van Trump
1945 – Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta declare Indonesia (formerly the Dutch East Indies) independent from the Netherlands
1977 – USSR performs a nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
1988 – First case of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever in NYC (9-year-old Bronx boy)
1991 – Royals’ Warren Cromartie’s first major league home run since 1983

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Famous Birthdays

1863 – Gene Stratton-Porter, American author “A Girl of the Limberlost,” and naturalist, born in Lagro, Indiana (d. 1924)
1890 – Stefan Bastyr, Polish pioneering aviator, first flight in independent Poland, born in Ulanów, Poland (d. 1920)
1942 – Tommy West [Picardo], American record producer (Jim Croce; Anne Murray), and singer-songwriter, born in Jersey City, New Jersey (d. 2021)
1953 – Robert Thirsk, Canadian astronaut (STS 78), born in New Westminster, British Columbia
1970 – Øyvind Leonhardsen, Norwegian footballer, born in Kristiansund, Norway

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Famous Deaths

1916 – Umberto Boccioni, Italian painter and sculptor (Unique Forms of Continuity in Space), dies in a military training mishap at 33
1955 – Fernand Léger, French painter, sculptor and filmmaker, dies at 74
1969 – Philip Blaiberg, South African dentist, third person to receive an artificial heart, dies after 19 days at 59
1987 – Charles Drummond de Andrade, Brazilian poet (Claro Enigma), dies at 84
2021 – Sheila Bromberg, British orchestral and session harpist (The Beatles – “She’s Leaving Home”; Heatwave -“Boogie Nights”), dies at 92

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Historical Events

1691 – Yorktown, Virginia founded
1959 – LPGA Western Open Women’s Golf, Rainier GandCC: Betsy Rawls wins her second WO by 6 strokes over JoAnne Gunderson and Patty Berg
1969 – Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young perform their first public show at the Auditorium Theatre in Chicago with singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell as their opening act
1990 – South African President F. W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela hold emergency talks in Pretoria about increasing violence in Soweto
2021 – First official water shortage declared at Lake Mead, a major reservoir on the Colorado River supplying 40 million people, with cuts mandated mainly for Arizona

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Famous Birthdays

1916 – Iggy Katona, American race car driver, born in Toledo, Ohio (d. 2003)
1945 – Suzanne Farrell, American ballerina (Don Quioxote), born in Cincinnati, Ohio
1952 – Reginald Veljohnson, actor (Carl Winslow-Family Matters, Die Hard), born in New York City
1962 – Steve Carell, American actor and comedian (The Office), born in Concord, Massachusetts
1978 – Eddie Gill, American basketball player, born in Aurora, Colorado

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Famous Deaths

1945 – Takijiro Ohnishi, led Japanese kamikaze pilots (harakiri), dies
1993 – Irene Sharaff, US costume designer (Cleopatra, Can-can), dies at 83
1996 – Robert Lynn, Scottish anarchist, dies at 72
2006 – Jon Nödtveidt, Swedish musician (Dissection), dies at 31
2021 – Sean Lock, British comedian (British Comedy Award, 2000), and television personality, dies of cancer at 58

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Historical Events

1461 – Empire of Trebizond surrenders to forces of Sultan Mehmed II, the last remnant of the Byzantine Empire to fall; Emperor David is exiled and later executed
1653 – Dutch ship “Sperwer” strands on Jeju, Korea
1905 – Philadelphia A’s future Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Rube Waddell no-hits the St. Louis Browns, 2-0, in 5 innings
1950 – Indians make their first triple play at Cleveland Stadium
1990 – Phillies’ Terry Mulholland no-hits Giants 6-0 (8th no-hitter of 1990)

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Famous Birthdays

1785 – Thomas De Quincey, English writer (Confessions of English Opium Eater), born in Manchester (d. 1859)
1949 – Kate Taylor, American singer and songwriter (“It’s In His Kiss”), born in Boston, Massachusetts
1951 – Bobby Caldwell, American jazz and pop singer (“What You Won’t Do for Love”), and songwriter (“The Next Time I Fall”), born in New York City (d. 2023)
1951 – Ann Biderman, American television writer and producer (Ray Donovan, Southland), born in Miami, Florida
1985 – Nipsey Hussle [Ermias Asghedom], American rapper and activist, born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2019)

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Famous Deaths

1974 – Edmund Cobb, American silent and sound screen actor, specializing in western film (A Final Reckoning; Motorcycle Gang; Comanche Territory), dies of a heart attack at 82
2006 – Te Atairangikaahu, New Zealand Māori Queen for 40 years, dies at 75
2012 – Bob Birch, American session and touring bassist (Elton John), commits suicide at 56
2015 – Julian Bond, American civil rights leader and politician (D-Ga), dies at 75
2016 – Bobby Hutcherson, American jazz vibraphone and marimba player (“Little B’s Poem”; SFJAZZ Collective), dies of emphysema at 75

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Historical Events

1642 – Abel Tasman’s ships, Heemskerck and Zeehaen, depart from Batavia to search for Terra Australis, becoming the first Europeans to reach Tasmania and New Zealand
1782 – Suriname forbids selling enslaved mothers without their babies
1962 – A US mail truck in Plymouth, Massachusetts, is robbed of more than $1.5 million
1997 – Revival of Sherman Edwards’ historical musical “1776,” featuring Brent Spiner, opens at the Criterion Theatre, NYC, and runs for 333 performances
2010 – First Summer Youth Olympic Games open in Singapore

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Famous Birthdays

1727 – Louise Élisabeth of France, twin daughter of king Louis XV, born in Palace of Versailles, France (d. 1759)
1938 – Niara Sudarkasa [Gloria Albertha Marshall], American educator and anthropologist (Lincoln College), born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (d. 2019)
1946 – Alexander Curly [Harm Breemer], Dutch artist, born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 2012)
1969 – DJ Uncle Al, American hip-hop DJ, born in Miami, Florida (d. 2001)
1978 – Anastasios Kyriakos, Greek footballer, born in Giannouli, Greece

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Famous Deaths

1794 – George Colman the Elder, English playwright, dies at 62
1863 – Colin Campbell, British officer (Cawnpore), dies at 70
1888 – Charles Crocker, American business tycoon and railroad executive (Central Pacific Railroad, Southern Pacific Railroad), dies at 65
1955 – Herbert Putnam, American Librarian of Congress, dies at 93
1994 – Elias Canetti, Bulgarian-British author (Crowds and Power) and winner of the 1981 Nobel Prize for Literature, dies at 89

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Historical Events

1889 – William Gray of Hartford, Connecticut patents the coin-operated telephone
1907 – First taxicabs, imported by Harry N. Allen, operate in New York City
1981 – Test cricket debut of Mike Whitney for Australia against England at Old Trafford
1985 – South African Defence Force soldiers, traveling in a convoy of more than ten armored vehicles, surround the Thaba-Jabula High School in Soweto and arrest 200 students during a clampdown on school boycotts
1989 – PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Kemper Lakes GC: Payne Stewart wins first of 3 major titles by 1 from Andy Bean, Mike Reid, and Curtis Strange

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Famous Birthdays

1887 – Julius Freed [Fried], American namesake and co-founder of Orange Julius fast food chain, born in Montana (d. 1952)
1898 – Regis Toomey, American actor (Burke’s Law, Petticoat Junction), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 1991)
1902 – Bartoes [Albertus J. Wijstma], Dutch singer and cabaret performer, born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1976)
1913 – Liesbeth Askonas, concert agent, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1996)
1955 – Hideo Fukuyama, Japanese racing driver (first Japanese to compete in NASCAR’s top series), born in Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan

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Famous Deaths

1637 – Dirck Bas, Dutch merchant, regent, government leader (OIC), dies
1896 – John Everett Millais, English painter (Order of Release), dies at 67
1986 – Helen Mack, American actress (Son of Kong, Milky Way), dies of cancer at 72
1992 – Jan Elburg, Dutch poet (Through the Night), dies at 72
2024 – George Leotsakos, Greek composer and musicologist, dies at 89

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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)

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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

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