Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1238 – Mongolian forces led by General Batu capture and burn the important Russian city of Vladimir, after an eight-day siege
1839 – Henry Clay declares in Senate “I had rather be right than president”
1907 – The Mud March, first large procession organized by the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS)
1950 – United States formally recognizes the State of Vietnam as the legitimate government of Vietnam, with Bảo Đại as leader
2006 – Uma Thurman is named a knight of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France for outstanding achievement in the field of art and literature
2023 – LeBron James scores 38 points to become NBA’s all-time leading scorer as the Lakers go down 133-130 to Oklahoma City Thunder in Los Angeles; surpasses Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s 38,387 career points

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Famous Birthdays

1707 – Carl August Thielo, Danish composer, opera director, and court organist, born in Høsterkøb, Denmark (d. 1763)
1812 – Charles Dickens, English writer (“Oliver Twist”; “A Tale of Two Cities”; “A Christmas Carol”), born in Portsmouth, Hampshire (d. 1870)
1920 – Oscar Brand, Canadian-born American folk vocalist (Draw Me A Laugh), born in Winnipeg, Manitoba (d. 2016)
1924 – Johnny Jordaan [Johannes van Musscher], Dutch pop and levenslied singer, born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1989)
1953 – Bruce Gaitsch, American session guitarist, songwriter, and record producer (Chicago; Richard Marx; Peter Cetera; Madonna), born in Chicago, Illinois
1983 – Christian Klien, Austrian racing driver

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Famous Deaths

1839 – Karl August Nicander, Swedish poet (b. 1799)
1933 – Albert Apponyi, Hungarian politician (Minister of Religion and Education of Hungary), dies at 86
1938 – Harvey Firestone, American manufacturer and founder of the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, dies at 69
1960 – Igor Kurchatov, Soviet-Russian nuclear physicist who directed the Soviet atomic bomb project, dies of a cardiac embolism at 57 likely caused by radiation poisoning during the catastrophe at Chelyabinsk-40
1991 – Dick Winslow, American actor (Tom Sawyer, Mutiny on the Bounty), dies at 75
2020 – Li Wenliang, Chinese doctor who tried to raise the alarm over COVID-19, dies of COVID-19 in Wuhan at 34

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Historical Events

1922 – Cardinal Achille Ratti elected Pope Pius XI
1973 – Bernice Fekete skips her curling rink to 2nd straight 8-ender, Edmonton, Alberta
1979 – Pakistan Supreme Court affirms the Lahore High Court’s death sentence against former Former Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
1988 – USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
2018 – UN calls for ceasefire in rebel-held Eastern Ghouta area by Syrian government troops after 40 people reportedly killed
2018 – Maldives President Abdulla Yameen declares state of emergency ordering arrest of two judges

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Famous Birthdays

1897 – Louis Buchalter, Jewish-American mobster (Murder, Inc.), born in New York City (d. 1944)
1911 – Ronald Reagan, 40th US President (Republican: 1981-89) and actor (Bedtime for Bonzo), born in Tampico, Illinois (d. 2004)
1933 – Walter Fauntroy, American pastor and politician (Rep-D-DC, 1971-91), born in Washington, D.C.
1942 – John London, American songwriter and bassist (Michael Nesmith band), born in Brazos County, Texas
1963 – Mike Hough, Canadian NHL left wing (Florida Panthers), born in Montreal, Quebec
1976 – Tanja Frieden, Swiss snowboarder, born in Bern, Switzerland

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Famous Deaths

1859 – Johannes Josephus Viotta, Dutch composer, dies at 45
1958 – Billy Whelan, Irish soccer forward (4 caps, Republic of Ireland; Manchester United 79 games), dies Munich air disaster at 22
1979 – Arthur van Schendel, Dutch art historian, and museum director (Rijksmuseum Amsterdam, 1959-75), dies at 68
1990 – Jane Novak, American silent screen actress (Ghost Town), dies of stroke at 94
1995 – Art Taylor, American jazz drummer (Bud Powell, Red Garland, John Coltrane, Donald Byrd), bandleader (Taylor’s Wailers), and writer (Notes and Tones), dies at 65
2008 – Dieter Noll, German writer (Die Abenteuer des Werner Holt), dies at 80

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Historical Events

702 – Military triumph of Wak Jalam Chan (Lady Six Sky), female ruler of the Maya city of Sa’aal (Naranjo) as depicted on Stela 24 Naranjo
1371 – King Robert II of Scotland (1371-90) is crowned, becoming the first monarch of the House of Stewart
1895 – National Association of Manufacturers organized in Cincinnati
1995 – Palestinian bomb attack in Beit Lid Israel, 21-22 killed
2017 – Jared Kushner is sworn in as Senior Advisor to US President, Donald Trump
2018 – Netflix becomes the largest digital media and entertainment company in the world worth $100 billion

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Famous Birthdays

1893 – Conrad Veidt, German actor (Casablanca, Cabinet of Dr Calgary), born in Potsdam, Brandenburg, Germany (d. 1943)
1906 – Willa Brown, American air pioneer (NAAA) and civil rights activist (1st African American woman to hold a pilot’s license), born in Glasgow, Kentucky (d. 1992)
1938 – Corra Dirksen, South African rugby union winger (10 caps; Northern Transvaal), born in Vereeniging, South Africa (d. 2020)
1949 – Mike Caldwell, American baseball player
1968 – Heath [Hiroshi Morie], Japanese rock bassist, singer and songwriter (X Japan), born in Amagasaki, Hyogo, Japan (d. 2023)
1969 – Olivia d’Abo, English-American actress (Wonder Years, Single Guy), born in London, England

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Famous Deaths

1552 – Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, English Lord Protector (1547-49) beheaded for treason at 51 or 52
1599 – Cristofano Malvezzi, Italian composer, dies at 51
1982 – Eduardo Frei Montalva, president of Chile (1964-70), dies at 71
1984 – Mikiel Gonzi, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Malta (1944-76), dies at 98
2021 – Luton Shelton, Jamaican soccer striker (75 caps; Vålerenga, Karabükspor, Sheffield United), dies from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis at 35
2023 – Nikos Xanthopoulos, Greek actor, dies at 88

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Historical Events

1945 – The Manhattan Project’s G-5 Group, headed by Physicist’s Donald Kerst and Seth Neddermeyer, take their first betatron pictures of a nuclear implosion at the Los Alamos Laboratory
1951 – “Cloud of Death” rolls down Mount Lamington, New Guinea kills 3-5,000
1962 – 50th Australian Championships Men’s Tennis: Rod Laver takes the 1st leg of his 1st Grand Slam; beats fellow Queenslander Roy Emerson 8-6, 0-6, 6-4, 6-4
1962 – Derveni Papyrus rediscovered – Europe’s oldest surviving manuscript from c. 340 B.C., commentary on a Orphic poem, found in a tomb in Derveni, Northern Greece
1988 – 19-year-old Indian cricket leg-spinner Narenda Hirwani records best bowling figures on debut in Test history; captures 16-136 in 255 run 4th Test win v West Indies in Madras; Hirwani takes 8 wickets in each innings
2007 – Barzan Ibrahim al-Tikriti, former Iraqi intelligence chief and half-brother of Saddam Hussein, and Awad Hamed al-Bandar, former chief judge of the Revolutionary Court, are executed by hanging in Iraq.

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Famous Birthdays

1891 – Ray Chapman, American baseball player (Cleveland Indians) and only MLB player to die from an injury received during a MLB game, born in Beaver Dam, Kentucky (d. 1920)
1911 – Cy Feuer, Broadway producer (Feuer and Martin-Chorus Line), born in New York City (d. 2006)
1930 – Michel Chapuis, French classical organist and pedagogue, born in Dole, France (d. 2017)
1961 – Yves P. Pelletier, Canadian comedian and film director, born in Laval, Canada
1971 – LeShon Johnson, American football running back (Arizona Cardinals), born in Haskell, Oklahoma
1979 – Martin Petrov, Bulgarian soccer winger (90 caps; Servette, VfL Wolfsburg, Atlético Madrid, Manchester City, Bolton Wanderers), born in Vratsa, Bulgaria

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Famous Deaths

1597 – Juan de Herrera, Spanish Renaissance architect and mathematician (El Escorial, Vallododid Cathedral), dies (b. c. 1530)
1781 – Marianne Victoria of Borbón, queen regent of Portugal (b. 1718)
1896 – Matthew B Brady, US photographer (Civil War), dies at about 72
1970 – Vytautas Bacevičius [Bacewicz], Lithuanian avant garde composer (Della Guerra Symphony), dies at 64
1973 – Coleman Francis, American film director (b. 1919)
2008 – Mark Haigh-Hutchinson, English Game Designer (Zombies Ate My Neighbors), dies of cancer (b. 1964)

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Historical Events

1622 – Germany and Transylvania sign Peace of Nikolsburg
1923 – Baltimore Sun warns of the Ku Klux Klan
1965 – Twin brothers are in held in custody in London charged with abduction and murder
1972 – LA Lakers defeat the Atlanta Hawks 134-90 for their 33rd straight win, the longest winning streak in major professional sports
2009 – 35th People’s Choice Awards: Will Smith and Reese Witherspoon win (Movie Star) and Hugh Laurie and Christina Applegate win (TV)
2023 – Vaccine for bees against American Foulbrood bacteria approved in the US – first vaccine in the US for any insect

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Famous Birthdays

1920 – Aubrey Brabazon, Irish jockey and horse trainer, born in The Curragh, Ireland (d. 1996)
1924 – Geoffrey Bayldon, British stage and screen actor (Catweazle; Worzel Gummidge – “Crowman”), born in Leeds, England (d. 2017)
1930 – Douglas Kiker, American NBC newsman (1970 Peabody Award), born in Griffin, Georgia (d. 1991)
1942 – Vasiliy Alekseyev, Russian weightlifter (Olympic gold 1972, 76), born in Miloslavsky District, Soviet Union (d. 2011)
1945 – Dave Cousins [Hindson], English rock singer-songwriter (Strawbs – “Part of the Union”), born in Hounslow, England
1968 – Georgi Gospodinov, Bulgarian writer (Time Shelter – 2023 International Booker prize), born in Yambol, Bulgaria

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Famous Deaths

1736 – Česlav Vaňura, Czech composer, dies at 41
1922 – Jonah Kūhiō Kalaniana’ole, Prince of the Kingdom of Hawaii, dies at 50
1943 – Nikola Tesla, Serbian-American physicist, electrical engineer and inventor who developed alternating current and the Tesla Coil, dies at 86
1951 – René Guénon, French-Egyptian metaphysician, traditionalist and author, dies at 64
1990 – Gail Lucas, American entertainer, dies at 37
2000 – Gary Albright, American professional wrestler (b. 1963)

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Historical Events

1923 – Harry Tierney and Joseph McCarthy’s musical “Kid Boots,” premieres in New York City
1961 – National Football League Championship, City Stadium, Green Bay: Green Bay Packers shutout NY Giants 37-0; first of 5 NFL titles won in 7-season span by Packers and head coach, Vince Lombardi
1963 – Dear Abby show premieres on CBS radio (runs 11 years)
1977 – Revival of Mitch Leigh and Joe Darion’s musical “Man of La Mancha” starring Richard Kiley, closes at the Palace Theater, NYC, after 124 performances
2017 – Singer Lorde called a bigot in ad in Washington Post after cancelling show in Israel
2018 – Houston guard James Harden scores 43 points in Rockets’ 113-101 win over Memphis Grizzlies; 4th straight NBA game with 40+ points and 8th straight with 35+; joins Oscar Robertson as only player with at least 35 points and 5 assists in 8 straight games

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Famous Birthdays

1514 – Andreas Vesalius [Andries van Wesel], Flemish physician and anatomist (De humani corporis fabrica), born in Brussels, Habsburg Netherlands (now Belgium) (d. 1564)
1863 – Alfredo Panzini, Italian author (Dizionario Moderno), born in Senigallia, Italy (d. 1939)
1881 – Max Pechstein, German “entartet” painter and graphic artist (The Bridge), born in Zwickau, Germany (d. 1955)
1919 – Recy Taylor, American sexual assault victim, born in Abbeville, Alabama (d. 2017)
1969 – David Rawlings, American guitarist and singer, works with Gillian Welch (All the Good Times), born in North Smithfield, Rhode Island
1981 – Jason Campbell, American football quarterback (Auburn University: Music City Bowl MVP 2003, Sugar Bowl MVP 2005; Washington Redskins, Oakland Raiders), born in Laurel, Mississippi

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Famous Deaths

1640 – John Francis Regis, French priest and Roman Catholic saint, dies of pneumonia at 43
1652 – Frances Cecil, 2nd wife of English earl of Shaftesbury, dies
1864 – George Mifflin Dallas, American politician (11th Vice President of the United States) and United States Minister to Russia, dies at 72
1960 – Semyon Bogatyrev, Russian and Soviet musicologist and composer (completed a symphony abandoned by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky), dies at 70
1994 – Leigh Bowery, Australian performance artist and designer, dies of AIDS at 33
2007 – Milton L. Klein, Canadian politician (b. 1910)

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Historical Events

1952 – French government of Pinay, resigns
1965 – Belgian government shuts 6 coal mines
1970 – Treblinka SS commander Franz Stangl sentenced to life imprisonment
1976 – East Germany grants rock singer Nina Hagen her request to leave the country, after refusing her stepfather re-entry
1983 – Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak meets with PLO leader Yasser Arafat
1997 – Scotty Bowman’s Red Wings beat the Boston Bruins, 4-2 giving him 200 wins with Detroit, and making him the first NHL coach to record 200 wins with 3 different teams; also Montreal and Buffalo

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Famous Birthdays

1624 – Tomas Micieres, Spanish composer and chapel master, born in Villaescusa de Ecla, Spain (d. 1662)
1832 – Edward Hatch, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Bangor, Maine (d. 1889)
1922 – Jim Wright, American Democratic politician and Speaker of the House (1987-89), born in Forth Worth, Texas (d. 2015)
1953 – David Leisner, American classical guitarist and composer, born in Los Angeles, California
1980 – Chris Carmack, American actor, born in Washington, D.C.
2000 – Joshua Bassett, American actor and singer (High School Musical: The Musical: The Series), born in Oceanside, California

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Famous Deaths

1738 – Jean-Joseph Mouret, French composer, dies at 56
1917 – Frances Xavier Cabrini, Italian-American saint (1st American saint, founded Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart), dies at 67
1947 – Therese Brandl, German Nazi concentration camp guard (Auschwitz), and convicted war criminal, executed by hanging in Kraków, Poland at 45
2002 – Joe Strummer, British lead singer of the punk band “The Clash” (Rock the Casbah), dies at age 50
2020 – Claude Brasseur [Espinasse], French actor (Bande à part; La Boum; Pardon Mon Affaire), dies at 84
2022 – Ronnie Lamont, Irish rugby union #8, flanker (12 Tests Ireland; 4 Tests British and Irish Lions), dies at 81

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Historical Events

1792 – 1st life insurance policy issued in US (Philadelphia)
1874 – Henry Bergh, Eldgridge Gerry, and philanthropist John D. Wright found the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children in NYC, the world’s first anti-child abuse agency. Later known as The New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NYSPCC).
1922 – IVVV (association) peace congress on war forms in Hague
1978 – German label Ariola Records releases eponymous debut album “Rosanne Cash”, produced by future husband Rodney Crowell
1986 – Carnegie Hall reopens after a $50 million facelift
2017 – Pakistani teenager Ahed Tamimi filmed slapping Israeli officers during protest, arrested 4 days later

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Famous Birthdays

37 – Nero, Emperor of Rome (54-68), born in Antium, Italy (d. 68)
1567 – Christoph Demantius, German composer, born in Reichenberg, Duchy of Bavaria (d. 1643)
1903 – Tamanishiki San’emon, Japanese sumo wrestler (32nd yokozuna; winner 9 top division yūshō), born in Kōchi, Japan (d. 1938)
1910 – John H. Hammond, American music producer, talent scout, promoter, and activist, “discovered” Billie Holiday, Teddy Wilson, Count Basie, Bob Dylan, and Bruce Springsteen, born in New York City (d. 1987)
1913 – Muriel Rukeyser, American poet (The Book of the Dead), born in New York City (d. 1980)
1988 – Emily Head, English actress (The Inbetweeners; Emmerdale, 2016-18), born in Fulham, London, England

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Famous Deaths

1861 – Gualtiero Sanelli, Italian composer, dies at 45
1934 – Maggie L. Walker, African-American teacher and businesswoman (1st female Bank President), dies at 69
1939 – Tom McKibbin, Australian cricket spin bowler (5 Tests, 17 wickets; NSW CA), dies at 69
1953 – Kishio Hirao, Japanese composer, dies at 46
1980 – Ben Travers, British playwright known for his farces and “The Bed Before Yesterday”, dies at 94
2005 – William Proxmire, American politician (Sen-D-WI, 1957-88), dies at 90

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Historical Events

1727 – Physician Sir Hans Soane becomes President of the Royal Society, succeeding Sir Isaac Newton
1940 – CFL Grey Cup (Game 2), Lansdowne Park, Ottawa: Ottawa beats Toronto Balmy Beach, 12-5
1954 – Japanese government of Joshida resigns
1972 – Apollo 17 launched, the final manned lunar landing mission where the crew takes the famous “blue marble” photo of the entire Earth
1992 – Galileo spacecraft passes North Pole of Moon (Peary Crater)
2021 – Chile becomes the 31st nation to legalize same-sex marriage

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Famous Birthdays

967 – Abū-Sa’īd Abul-Khayr, Persian mystic and poet, born in Mihne, Greater Khorasan (d. 1049)
1892 – Stuart Davis, American modernist painter, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1964)
1912 – Daniel Jones, Welsh composer, born in Pembroke, Wales (d. 1993)
1915 – Leigh Brackett, American sci-fi author (Ginger Star), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 1978)
1947 – Johnny Bench, American Baseball HOF catcher (14 x MLB All Star; World Series 1975, 76 [MVP]; NL MVP 1970, 72; 10 x Gold Glove; Cincinnati Reds), born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
1977 – Fernando Vargas, American boxer (IBF light middleweight title 1998-2000, WBA title 2001-02), born in Oxnard, California

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Famous Deaths

1969 – Lefty O’Doul, American Baseball HOF left fielder (MLB All-Star, World Series 1933; NL batting champion 1929, 32 NY Yankees), dies at 72
1979 – Nicolas Born, German writer, dies of cancer at 41
1979 – Prince Chahryar Shafik, Shah of Iran’s nephew, murdered in Paris
1997 – Billy Bremner, Scottish footballer (Leeds United), dies at 54 from a suspected heart attack
2001 – Charles McClendon, LSU Tigers head football coach (b. 1923)
2011 – Harry Morgan, American actor (December Bride; M*A*S*H, 1975-83 – “Col. Sherman Potter”; AfterMASH; Dragnet – “Bill Gannon”), dies in his sleep at 96

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Historical Events

1864 – American Civil War Battle at Griswoldville, Georgia, ends after 650 casualties
1977 – US President Jimmy Carter presents engineer Peter Goldmark with the National Medal of Science for his work communication and entertainment technology
1980 – Georgia tanker at Pilottown Louisiana, spills 1.3 million gallons of oil after an anchor chain causes a ship to leak
1996 – O.J. Simpson takes stand as hostile witness in the wrongful death lawsuit filed against him, saying it is “absolutely not true”
2002 – In Nigeria, more than 100 people are killed at an attack aimed at the contestants of the Miss World contest
2023 – Right-wing Dutch populist Geert Wilders’ Freedom Party unexpectedly wins more seats than any other party in the country’s general election

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Famous Birthdays

1897 – Paul Oswald Ahnert, German astronomer, born in Chemnitz, Kingdom of Saxony (d. 1989)
1908 – Michael Balfour, English historian, born in Oxford (d. 1995)
1938 – John Gregory, American football coach (CFL Grey Cup 1989 Saskatchewan Roughriders; South Dakota State Uni), born in Webster City, Iowa (d. 2022)
1955 – James Edwards, American basketball center (NBA C’ship 1989, 90 Detroit Pistons, 1996 Chicago Bulls), born in Seattle, Washington
1964 – Stephen Geoffreys, actor (Faternity Vacation), born in Cincinnati, Ohio
1969 – Dave Sims, English rugby union lock (3 Tests; Gloucester RFC; Barbarians RFC 1995, 96, 99), born in Gloucester, England (d. 2022)

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Famous Deaths

1896 – Vicente Riva Palacio, Mexican Liberal politician, military leader and writer (Governor of the State of Mexico), dies at 64
1994 – John Michael Grimes, British set designer (Philby, Burgess and MacLean), dies at 70
1995 – Norman Potter, English cabinetmaker, designer and writer, dies at 72
1997 – Harry Kissin, Baron Kissin, British businessman and President (GPG), dies at 85
1998 – Stu Unger, American poker player (b. 1953)
2007 – Verity Lambert, English film and TV producer, 1st producer of Doctor Who, dies at 71

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