Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1636 – University of Utrecht opening ceremony
1845 – Patent awarded for adhesive medicated plaster, precursor of band-aid
1943 – Elsie S. Ott is 1st woman to be awarded US Air Force Medal
1958 – 30th Academy Awards-“The Bridge on the River Kwai” wins Best Picture, Joanne Woodward and Alec Guinness win Best Actress and Best Actor, respectively
1979 – 41st NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Michigan State beats Indiana State, 75-64; marks start of rivalry between future Hall of Famers Magic Johnson and Larry Bird; highest-rated game in history of televised college basketball
2018 – E-commence group Alibaba Group and US car maker Ford unveil a car vending machine without sales people 5 stories high in Guangzhou, China

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Famous Birthdays

1890 – Jozef Arras, Flemish writer, born in Lier (d. 1919)
1914 – Ian McGeoch, Scottish Vice-Admiral with Royal Navy (submarine HMS Splendid WWII), born in Helensburgh, Scotland (d. 2007)
1914 – Toru Kumon, Japanese mathematics educator (Kumon Institute of Education,), born in Kōchi Prefecture, Japan (d. 1995)
1914 – Ray Robinson, Australian cricket batsman (1 Test; NSW, South Australia, Otago), born in Stockton, Australia (d. 1965)
1928 – Carole Carr [Carless], British singer and actress (Down Among the Z Men), born in London, England (d. 1997)
1976 – Natalia Livingston, American actress (General Hospital; Days of Our Lives), born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania

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Famous Deaths

809 – Liudger, missionary, 1st bishop of Munster and saint, dies at about 66
1937 – Albert Relf, English cricket all-rounder (13 Tests, 1 x 50, 25 wickets, BB 5/85; Sussex CCC, Auckland CA), commits suicide at 52
1948 – Helen Ernst, German poster artist/resistance fighter, dies at about 43
1976 – Lin Yutang, Chinese writer, dies at 80
1996 – Edmund Muskie, American politician (Sen-D-Me) and US Secretary of State (1980-81), dies at 81
2017 – Darlene Cates, American actress (What’s Eating Gilbert Grape), dies at 69

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Historical Events

1979 – US House of Representatives begins live TV broadcasts via C-SPAN
1983 – France (16-9 v Wales) and Ireland (25-15 v England) win final round matches to finish level and share the Five Nations Rugby Championship; no tie-break procedure exists before 1993
1995 – American Bonnie Blair skates female world record point total (156.450)
2014 – Israel sends airforce against Syrian military units involved in an attack yesterday on an Israeli patrol in the Golan Heights
2018 – World’s last male northern white rhino, 45-year-old Sudan, dies in Kenya
2020 – State of California with 910 cases of COVID-19 locks down and orders people to “stay at home”

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Famous Birthdays

1928 – Patrick McGoohan, American-born Irish actor, writer, and director (The Prisoner, Secret Agent/ Danger Man), born in Queens, New York (d. 2009)
1942 – David Minge, American judge and politician (Rep-D-Minnesota 1993-2001), born in Clarkfield, Minnesota
1946 – Bigas Luna, director/writer (Anguish)
1964 – Jake Weber, British actor
1976 – Rachel Blanchard, Canadian actress (Clueless -“Cher Horowitz”), born in Toronto, Ontario
1993 – Munro Chambers, Canadian actor (DeGrassi, 2010-15), born in Ajax, Ontario

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Famous Deaths

1279 – Emperor Bing of Song China (b. 1271)
1623 – Uesugi Kagekatsu, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1556)
1822 – Valentin Haüy, French professor “interpreter to the King”, founded the first school for the blind, dies at 76
1913 – William Chatterton, English cricket batsman (1 Test, HS 48; Derbyshire CCC) and soccer forward (Derby County FC), dies from tuberculosis at 51
1914 – Giuseppe Mercalli, Italian volcanologist (b. 1850)
1981 – Frank Lane, American MLB executive (GM Chicago White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Cleveland Indians, KC Athletics, Milwaukee Brewers), dies at 85

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Historical Events

1794 – Eli Whitney patents the cotton gin, revolutionizing the cotton industry in the southern US states
1956 – 50-year-old baseball pitching star Satchel Paige signs a contract to play for and manage the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro National League
1966 – British film “Born Free” based on the book “Born Free” by Joy Adamson released starring Virginia McKenna and Bill Travers
1972 – Two IRA members shot dead by British soldiers in the Bogside area of Derry
1973 – Liam Cosgrave (52) appointed President of Ireland
2022 – PGA Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: Australian Cameron Smith wins $3.6m, biggest individual event purse in golf history; beats Anirban Lahiri of India by 1 stroke

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Famous Birthdays

1623 – Adam-Nicolas Gascon, Dutch-Walloon composer and kapellmeister (Saint Paul Collegiate Church, 1659-68), born in Liège, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1668)
1815 – Josephine Lang, German composer, born in Munich, Kingdom of Bavaria (d. 1880)
1831 – Leon Leopold Lewandoski, Polish composer, born in Kalisz, Poland (d. 1896)
1920 – Hank Ketcham, American cartoonist (Dennis the Menace), born in Seattle, Washington (d. 2001)
1921 – Frank Ottersen, Norwegian jazz violinist and saxophonist (Ding, Dong, Dang), born in Oslo, Norway (d. 1971)
1989 – Colby O’Donis [Colón] American singer (Lady Gaga -“Just Dance”), songwriter, and record producer, born in Queens, New York

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Famous Deaths

1490 – Charles I, Duke of Savoy (1482-90), dies at 21
1903 – Jan Hendrik Weissenbruch, Dutch landscape painter, dies at 88
1933 – Balto, Siberian husky dog who led the sled team delivering diphtheria antitoxin from to Nenana, Alaska to Nome, Alaska in 1925, dies at 14
1961 – Akiba Rubinstein, Polish chess player (openings theorist), dies at 80
2003 – Jean-Luc Lagardère, French publisher (b. 1928)
2007 – Lucie Aubrac, French history teacher and member of the French Resistance (b. 1912)

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Historical Events

1875 – English FA Cup Final, Kennington Oval, London: Royal Engineers and Old Etonians draw 1-1; replay won by Engineers, 2-0
1938 – In a process known as Anschluss, Austria is annexed into Nazi Germany
1986 – Microsoft has its Initial public offering.
1992 – An earthquake registering 6.8 on the Richter scale kills over 500 in Erzincan, eastern Turkey.
2005 – 52nd ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament: #3 Duke beats Georgia Tech, 69-64
2019 – Home of civil rights activists Medgar and Myrlie Evers established as a national monument in Jackson, Mississippi, by President Donald Trump

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Famous Birthdays

1955 – John Hackett, British rock, classical, and new age flautist, born in Pimlico, London, England
1959 – Ronnie Rogers, British guitarist (T’Pau-Heart and Soul), born in Shrewsbury, England
1963 – Vance Johnson, American NFL wide receiver (Denver Broncos), born in Trenton, New Jersey
1970 – Tim Story, American film director and producer (The Story Company), born in Los Angeles, California
1972 – Trent Dilfer, American football quarterback (Super Bowl XXXV Baltimore Ravens; Pro Bowl 1997 TB Bucs), born in Santa Cruz, California
1979 – Cedric Van Branteghem, Belgian athlete, born in Ghent, Belgium

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Famous Deaths

1925 – Lucille Ricksen [Ingeborg Ericksen], American silent-film actress, dies of tuberculosis 14
1941 – Elizabeth Madox Roberts, American poet and novelist (The Time of Man), dies at 54
1946 – Abraham Bredius, Dutch art historian (Rembrandt), dies at 90
1992 – Clarence Wright, English actor and singer, dies at 84
1994 – Joop Swart, Dutch journalist, photographer, and publisher (founder of World Press Photo), dies at 69
2001 – John A. Alonzo, American cinematographer (pioneered handheld work, lighting techniques and HD video development), dies at 66

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Historical Events

1976 – South African troops leave Angola
1981 – Stephen Sondheim’s musical revue “Marry Me a Little” premieres in NYC
1985 – Larry Bird scores Boston Celtic record 60 points
1987 – David Robinson scores 50 points in a NCAA basketball game
1995 – 36th SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament: Kentucky beats Arkansas, 95-93 (OT)
2012 – “The Hunger Games” directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Jennifer Lawrence premieres in Los Angeles

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Famous Birthdays

1647 – Victor-Maurice, comte de Broglie, French general (d. 1727)
1911 – Gustavo Diaz Ordaz, Mexican politician (President of Mexico 1964-70), born in San Andrés Chalchicomula, Mexico (d. 1979)
1922 – Jack Kerouac, American novelist and poet of the Beat Generation (On the Road, Mexico Blues), born in Lowell, Massachusetts (d. 1969)
1929 – Francisco Pulgar Vidal, Peruvian musicologist and composer, born in Huánuco, Peru (d. 2012)
1948 – Dana Walden, American RandB keyboardist (Champaign – “How ‘Bout Us”), born in Champaign, Illinois
1952 – Naomi Shihab Nye, Arab-American poet (Yellow Glove; Red Suitcase), novelist (Habibi), and songwriter, born in St. Louis, Missouri

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Famous Deaths

1608 – Koriki Kiyonaga, Japanese warlord (b. 1530)
1721 – Jan Luyts, Dutch physicist and mathematician, dies at 65
1989 – Maurice Evans, British actor (Planet of the Apes; Bewitched), dies at 87
1992 – Barbara Morrison, British actress (Project Moonbase; From Here To Eternity), dies of heart failure at 84
1992 – Salvatore “Salvo” Lima, Italian politician (Mayor of Palermo, 1958-63 and 65-66; Member of European Parliament, 1979-92) assassinated by the Mafia at 64
1992 – Ida Oosterbaan, Dutch founder (Women Action Committee), dies

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Historical Events

1865 – Battle of Kingston, North Carolina (Wilcox’s ridge, Wise’s Forks)
1904 – Australian cricket spin bowler Hugh Trumble dismisses England batsmen Bernard Bosanquet, Plum Warner and Dick Lilley for his second Test hat-trick in 5th Test victory in Melbourne; Trumble’s final Test
1936 – The first stock car race is held in Daytona Beach, Florida.
1942 – Japanese forces capture Rangoon, Burma
1953 – Census indicates 239,000 farmers gave up farming in last 2 years in US
1987 – Nelli Cooman becomes world champion 60m indoor

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Famous Birthdays

1783 – Gottfied Wilhelm Fink, German Protestant clergyman, composer, music theorist, and poet, born in Sulza, Duchy of Saxe-Eisenach, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1846)
1945 – Bruce Broughton, American Emmy Award-winning television and film score composer (Hawaii Five-0; Dallas), born in Los Angeles, California
1954 – Karl Schnabl, 90m ski jumper (Olympic gold 1976)
1974 – Toran James, linebacker (San Diego Chargers)
1979 – Tom Chaplin, British rock singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist (Keane), born in Hastings, East Sussex, England
1991 – Devon Werkheiser, American actor

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Famous Deaths

1757 – Thomas Blackwell, Scottish classical scholar, dies at 55
1901 – Peter Benoit, Flemish composer (De Leie; Rubens Cantata: Requiem), and conductor, dies at 66
1973 – Gordon Leggat, New Zealand cricket batsman (9 Tests, 2 x 50; Canterbury), dies at 46
2008 – Carol Barnes, British television news journalist (ITN; ITV), dies a few days after suffering a stroke at 63
2020 – Max Von Sydow, Swedish actor (Hawaii, Exorcist, Dune, Game of Thrones), dies at 90
2021 – Julien-François Zbinden, Swiss jazz pianist, and jazz and classical composer (Monophrases), dies at 103

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Historical Events

1832 – Charles Darwin, aboard HMS Beagle, arrives in the town of Salvador in the Brazilian state of Bahia
1847 – US forces numbering less than 1,000 defeat a larger Mexico force in the Battle of the Sacramento River
1944 – Arrests of the ten-Boom family in Nazi occupied Netherlands (Haarlem) through a Dutch collaborator on charges of hiding Jews
1959 – Ice Pairs Championship at Colorado Springs won by Barbara Wagner and Robert Paul of Canada, their 3rd title
1967 – A West German court rules that impostor Anna Anderson failed to prove that she was missing Russian duchess Anastasia Romanov, ending a legal case that lasted almost 30 years
1969 – Ice Dance Championship at Colorado Springs won by Towler and Ford of Great Britain

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Famous Birthdays

1155 – Henry the Young King, son of Henry II of England, crowned aged 15 during his father’s lifetime, born in London (d. 1183)
1786 – François Arago, French astronomer, physicist and politician, born in Estagel, France (d. 1853)
1882 – Jose Vasconcelos, politician, essayist, philosopher, born in Oaxaca, Mexico (d. 1959)
1953 – Osmo Vänskä, Finnish clarinetist, conductor (Lahti Symphony, 1988-2008; Minnesota Orchestra, 2003-2022), and composer, born in Sääminki, Finland
1967 – Marcus Lillington, British pop guitarist and keyboard player (Breathe – “Hands to Heaven”), born in Bideford, Devon, England
1978 – Jamaal Tinsley, American basketball player, born in Brooklyn, New York

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Famous Deaths

1737 – Hercule Brehy, Flemish composer and organist, dies at 63
1968 – Doretta Morrow, American actress (Because You’re Mine), dies from cancer at 41
1979 – Paul Alverdes, German writer (Pfeiferstube), dies at 81
1994 – Leopoldina Poldi Feichtegger Gerhard, dies at 90
2004 – Gene Allison, American RandB singer (“You Can Make It If You Try”), dies at 69
2023 – Grant Turner, New Zealand soccer midfielder (42 caps; SC Stop Out, Gisborne City AFC), dies from cancer at 64

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Historical Events

1667 – Abraham Crijnssen conquers Fort Willoughby (Zeelandia), Suriname
1901 – National League Rules Committee for baseball decrees that all fouls are to count as strikes except after two strikes
1965 – France performs Underground nuclear test at Ecker Algeria
1984 – Carl Lewis jumps world record indoor (8.675 m)
2015 – 70’s glam rocker Gary Glitter (real name Paul Gadd) sentenced to 16 years in prison for various child sex convictions
2018 – Barbra Streisand reveals she has cloned her dog twice

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Famous Birthdays

1858 – Adelaide Hoodless, Canadian educational reformer (founder of the Women’s Institute), born in St George, Canada West (d. 1910)
1904 – André Leducq, French cyclist (Tour de France 1930, 32; Olympic gold road race 1924), born in Saint-Ouen, France (d. 1980)
1910 – Peter De Vries, American author (Reuben, Reuben; The Prick of Noon) and editor (New Yorker), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1993)
1920 – Bob Talley, American jazz and blues pianist and composer (Blues Alley All-Star Band), born in Little Rock, Arkansas (d. 1995)
1947 – Gidon Kremer, Latvian violinist (Tchaikovsky Prize, 1970), born in Riga, Latvia
1963 – Pär Nuder, Swedish politician, born in Täby, Sweden

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Famous Deaths

1699 – Charles Paulet, 1st Duke of Bolton, English politician (b. c. 1625)
1977 – Allison Hayes, American model and actress (Attack of the 50 Foot Woman), dies of leukemia or lead poisoning at 47
1996 – Sylvia Williams, American museum director and curator (National Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian Institution), dies from the effects of a brain aneurysm at 60
1998 – George H. Hitchings, American medical doctor (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1988), dies at 92
2008 – William F. Buckley Jr, American conservative author and commentator (National Review, Firing Line), dies of a heart attack at 82
2019 – Nathaniel Taylor, American actor (Rollo-Sanford and Sons), dies at 80

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Historical Events

1947 – US General Eisenhower opens drive to raise $170M in aid for European Jews
1963 – Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti makes his debut at the Vienna State Opera in Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Traviata”
1971 – US army officer William Calley confesses and implicates Captain Medina during his trial for the My Lai Massacre
1979 – George Harrison releases “George Harrison” album, featuring the single “Blow Away”
1992 – Cricketer Andy Flower scores 115* on ODI debut as Zimbabwe lose to Sri Lanka
2003 – 45th Grammy Awards: “Don’t Know Why” by Norah Jones wins

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Famous Birthdays

1881 – Titus Brandsma, Dutch Roman Catholic priest, philosopher (spoke out against Nazi ideology), martyr, and saint, born in Oegeklooster, Netherlands (d. 1942)
1913 – Charles Leonard, American pentathlete (Olympic silver medal 1936), born in Fort Snelling, Minnesota (d. 2006)
1955 – Howard Jones, British rock pianist, and singer-songwriter (Things Can Only Get Better), born in Southampton, England
1958 – David Sylvian [Batt], British songwriter, vocalist, new wave and improvisational rock guitarist (Japan; Rain Tree Crow), born in Beckenham, England
1965 – Kristin Davis, American actress (Melrose Place; Sex and the City), born in Boulder, Colorado
1983 – Aziz Ansari, Indian-American comedian and actor (Parks and Recreation, Master of None), born in Columbia, South Carolina

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Famous Deaths

1507 – Gentile Bellini, Venetian painter (Sultan Mohammed II), dies at about 78 (burial date)
1904 – Mahendralal Sarkar, Indian homeopath doctor and founder of the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, dies at 70
1996 – Joseph W. Barr, American banker and politician (Secretary of the Treasury), dies at 78
1997 – Oscar Lewenstein, British theater impresario (Bertolt Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera), and film producer (The Knack …and How to Get It), dies of heart failure at 80
2017 – Derek Ibbotson, English 5K runner (Olympic bronze 1956), dies at 84
2023 – John Motson, British football broadcaster (10 x FIFA World Cups; 10 x UEFA European C’ships; 29 x FA Cup finals; BBC, Talksport), dies at 77

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Historical Events

1804 – Jean Victor Marie Moreau, French general who plotted to overthrow Napoleon in the Pichegru Conspiracy, arrested, and exiled to the United States
1903 – President Theodore Roosevelt signs bill into law establishing US Department of Commerce and Labor
1973 – Muhammad Ali beats British heavyweight boxing champion Joe Bugner by unanimous points decision in 12 rounds at Las Vegas Convention Centre
1989 – World’s 1st satellite Skyphone opens
1991 – NL Cy Young winner Doug Drabek wins record $3 mil salary arbitration
1993 – 35th Daytona 500: Dale Jarrett, driving for Joe Gibbs Racing, wins from Dale Earnhardt and Geoff Bodine

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Famous Birthdays

1515 – Frederick III, the Pious, Elector Palatine of the Rhine, born in Simmern, Germany (d. 1576)
1941 – Paul Tsongas, American politician (Sen-D-Mass), born in Lowell, Massachusetts (d. 1997)
1945 – Vic Briggs, British guitarist (The Animals, 1966-68), and producer; later known as Antion Vikram Singh, he created Sikhi devotional and Hawaiian music, born in Twickenham, England (d. 2021)
1972 – Drew Bledsoe, American football quarterback (4 × Pro Bowl; NFL passing yards leader 1994 NE Patriots), born in Ellensburg, Washington
1978 – Dean Gaffney, British actor, born in Hammersmith, London
1994 – Paul Butcher, American actor, born in Los Angeles, California

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Famous Deaths

1929 – Tom Burke, American athlete (Olympic gold 100m, 400m 1896), dies at 53
1990 – Graeme Hole, Australian cricket batsman (18 Tests, 6 x 50; NSW CA), dies from cancer at 59
1996 – Lady Caroline Blackwood, British journalist and writer (The Last of the Duchess), dies at 64
1996 – Eva Hart, British Titanic passenger, one of last living survivors, dies at 91
2014 – Ferry Hoogendijk, Dutch politician and editor-in-chief of “Elsevier”, dies at 80
2021 – Ion Mihai Pacepa, Romanian three-star general in the Securitate, who defected to the US, dies of Covid-19 at 92

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