Category: On This Day

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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)

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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

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Historical Events

1941 – German troops conquer Roslavl in Russia
1946 – Belgian government of Huysmans forms
1956 – American sprinter Willie Williams sets a 100 m world record at 10.1 in Berlin, Germany
1963 – Warner Bros. Records releases the single of Allan Sherman’s novelty song “Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (A Letter from Camp),” set to the music of Amilcare Ponchielli’s “Dance of the Hours” from his 1876 opera “La Gioconda”
2024 – American swimmer Katie Ledecky ties Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina as the most decorated female Olympian of all time when she wins her fourth consecutive 800m in Paris, her ninth individual gold medal

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Famous Birthdays

1878 – Constantino Gaito, Argentinian composer, born in Buenos Aires, Argentina (d. 1945)
1885 – Siegfried Salomon, Danish composer, born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 1962)
1924 – (Elizabeth) “Connie” Converse, American folk singer-songwriter, born in Laconia, New Hampshire (disappeared 1974)
1937 – Duncan Sharpe, Pakistani cricketer (3 Tests for Pakistan 1959-60), born in Rawalpindi, Punjab, British India
1964 – Nate McMillan, American basketball head coach (Seattle SuperSonics 2000-05, Portland Trail Blazers 2005-12, Indiana Pacers 2016-19, Atlanta Hawks 2021-23), born in Raleigh, North Carolina

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Famous Deaths

1779 – Henry Kobell, Dutch painter and cartoonist, dies at 27
1910 – Nicolas Kinet, Belgian pilot, dies
1954 – Colette [Sidonie-Gabrielle], French author, novelist (Gigi, La Vagabonde) and actress, dies at 81
1978 – Ezzedin Kalak, Palestinian PLO representative in Paris, assassinated at about 42
2013 – Farman Fatehpuri [Syed Dildar Ali], Urdu scholar, linguist, critic and author, dies of natural causes at 87

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Historical Events

1931 – Referendum in favor of autonomous status for Spanish Catalonia garners 99.5% of the vote; about 75% of eligible voters participate
1943 – Sunderland seaplanes sink U-706 and U-106
1959 – Future Hall of Fame 1st baseman Willie McCovey hits 1st of his 521 MLB home runs in SF Giants 5-3 win v Pittsburgh Pirates
2012 – American swimmer Michael Phelps wins an unprecedented third consecutive gold medal in the 200m individual medley in 1:54.27 at the London Olympics
2018 – Apple becomes the first American publicly listed company to reach $1 trillion in value

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Famous Birthdays

1925 – John McCormack, Canadian ice hockey player, born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada (d. 2017)
1928 – Malcolm Hilton, English cricket slow left-arm (4 Tests), born in Chadderton, Lancashire (d. 1990)
1948 – Andy Fairweather Low, Welsh session and touring guitarist (Amen Corner; Roger Waters; Eric Clapton; George Harrison), born in Ystrad Mynach, Wales
1949 – James Fallows, American writer and journalist, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1972 – Jimmy Pop [James Franks], American rock singer and musician (The Bloodhound Gang – “The Bad Touch”), born in Trappe, Pennsylvania

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Famous Deaths

1823 – Lazare Carnot, French politician, engineer and mathematician known as the Organizer of Victory in the French Revolutionary Wars, dies at 70
1922 – Mina Kruseman, Dutch author and feminist, dies at 82
1992 – Michel Berger [Hamburger], French singer-songwriter, and record producer. dies of a heart attack at 44
2003 – Mike Levey, American TV infomercials host, dies of cancer at 55
2020 – Leon Fleisher, American pianist and conductor (Annapolis Symphony 1970-82), dies of cancer at 92

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Historical Events

1664 – Battle of St. Gotthard, West Hungary: Imperial Army led by Count Raimondo Montecuccoli defeats Ottoman forces under Köprülü Fazıl Ahmed Pasha
1924 – MLB Brooklyn Robins pitcher Dazzy Vance strikes out an MLB record 7 consecutive batters and 14 overall in a 4-0 win over the visiting Chicago Cubs at Ebbets Field
1968 – Coronation of Hassanal Bolkiah, the 29th Sultan of Brunei
1992 – American sprinter Gail Devers wins an incredibly close blanket finish in the women’s 100m at the Barcelona Olympics, with 5 athletes within 0.06 seconds of Devers (10.82)
2022 – First grain ship leaves Ukrainian port of Odesa in a UN-brokered deal, breaking a months-long Russian blockade to help alleviate the global shortage

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Famous Birthdays

1642 – Ahmed II, 21st Sultan of Turkey (1691-95), born in Istanbul, Ottoman Empire (d. 1695) [or born Feb 25, 1643]
1933 – Ko Un, South Korean poet, born in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province
1948 – Bob Spink, British politician (MP for Castle Point in Essex), born in Haworth, Worth Valley, Yorkshire
1956 – Tom Leykis, American radio personality (The Tom Leykis Show), born in The Bronx, New York
1964 – Adam Duritz, American rock singer-songwriter, and keyboardist (Counting Crows – “Mr. Jones”; “Accidentally in Love”), born in Baltimore, Maryland

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Famous Deaths

1252 – Giovanni da Pian del Carpine [John of Plano Carpini], Italian friar, explorer and diplomat (1st European traveller to give account of the Mongol Empire), dies (b. c. 1185)
1980 – Patrick Depailler, French Formula 1 driver (b. 1944)
1988 – John Dearden, American cardinal (1969-88) and archbishop of Detroit, dies at 80
1990 – Lotta Hitschmanova, Canadian humanitarian (founder of the Unitarian Service Committee of Canada), dies at 80
2024 – Craig Shakespeare, English soccer coach (WBA, Leicester CIty) and midfielder (Walsall 284 games), dies from cancer at 60

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Historical Events

1925 – Last allied occupying troops leave German Ruhr region
1972 – Claudy bombing: Nine civilians are killed when three car bombs explode in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland; no group has since claimed responsibility
1983 – Dutch July average temperature is 20.1°C (68.18°F), making it the warmest July since 1854
1997 – First baseman Mark McGwire becomes MLB’s top home run hitter to be traded in the middle of a season when he moves from Oakland to the St. Louis Cardinals with 34 home runs and 81 RBIs
2011 – British Open Women’s Golf, Carnoustie GL: Yani Tseng of Taiwan becomes the first to successfully defend the Open as a major championship, four strokes ahead of Brittany Lang

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Famous Birthdays

1941 – Heather McKay, Australian squash player (British Open 1962-77, inaugural women’s World Open 1976), born in Queanbeyan, Australia
1941 – Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician, born in Surat, India (d. 2004)
1965 – Scott Brooks, American basketball guard, coach (NBA Coach of the Year 2010, OKC Thunder; Washington Wizards 2016-19), born in French Camp, California
1980 – Harry Potter, fictional character portrayed by Daniel Radcliffe, born in Godric’s Hollow, England
1988 – A. J. Green [Adriel Jeremiah Green], American NFL player (Cincinnati Bengals), born in Summerville, South Carolina

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Famous Deaths

1985 – Eugene Carson Blake, US Secretary-General of World Council of Churches (1966-72), dies at 78
2002 – Gerrit A. Kooy, Dutch sociologist (Apartheid and work in South Africa), dies at 76
2004 – Laura Betti, Italian actress (b. 1927)
2009 – Harry Alan Towers, English film producer and screenwriter (b. 1920)
2018 – Tony Bullimore, British yachtsman (1997 solo around-the-world yacht race, dramatic rescue), dies of cancer at 79

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