Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1809 – Spencer Perceval becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom after William Cavendish-Bentinck, Duke of Portland retires due to ill health
1921 – Riccardo Zanella becomes first elected President of Free State of Fiume
1962 – US Air Force Major Robert A. Rushworth flies an X-15 to an altitude of 105,971 ft (32,300 m)
1991 – San Jose Sharks play first NHL game in franchise history, a 4-3 loss in Vancouver; native Californian Craig Coxe scores club’s first goal while Jeff Hackett makes an impressive 48 saves
1992 – “Real Inspector Hound” closes at Criterion Theater in NYC after 61 performances

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Famous Birthdays

1945 – Clifton Davis, American actor (That’s My Mama; Amen) and singer-songwriter (“Never Can Say Goodbye”), born in Chicago, Illinois
1952 – Nina Carter, vocalist (Blonde on Blonde), born in London, England
1960 – Jennifer Anglin, American actress (Cheryl Stansbury in “General Hospital”), born in Adrian, Michigan
1961 – Kazuki Takahashi, Japanese creator of manga and trading card game Yu-Gi-Oh, born in Tokyo, Japan (d. 2022)
1980 – Morgan Spector, American actor (The Gilded Age, The Plot Against America), born in Santa Rosa, California

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Famous Deaths

1893 – Pieter Elout van Soeterwoude, Dutch judge and politician (AR), dies at 88
1948 – Georg Kulenkampff, German concert violinist, dies of encephalitis at 50
1970 – Janis Joplin, American rock and blues singer-songwriter (“Piece of My Heart”; “Me and Bobby McGee”; “Mercedes Benz”), dies of a heroin overdose at 27
1975 – Joan Whitney Payson, American heiress, businesswoman and philanthropist (co-founder and majority owner of MLB’s New York Mets), dies at 72
2010 – Norman Wisdom, British comedian (Kraft Music Hall; Trouble In Store), dies at 95

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Historical Events

1926 – English long-distance runner Violet Piercy sets the first recognized female marathon record in 3:40:22 on the Polytechnic Marathon course between Windsor and London
1947 – First telescope lens 200 inches (508 cm) in diameter is completed
1988 – Discovery 7 returns to Earth after a 4-day excursion
1988 – WBMW-FM in Washington, D.C. changes its call sign to WJFK and begins airing The Howard Stern Radio Show
2018 – Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded to Frances Arnold, Gregory Winter, and George Smith for their use of evolution to produce new enzymes and antibodies

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Famous Birthdays

1901 – Jean Grémillon, French film director (Remorques, Light of Summer), born in Bayeux, France (d. 1959)
1954 – Stevie Ray Vaughan, American blues guitarist (Texas Flood; “Pride And Joy”; David Bowie – “Let’s Dance”), born in Dallas, Texas (d. 1990)
1966 – Frank Hannon, American blues and rock guitarist (Tesla – The Great Radio Controversy), born in Sacramento, California
1981 – Andreas Isaksson, Swedish soccer goalkeeper (133 caps; PSV, Kasımpaşa), born in Smygehamn, Sweden
1987 – Zuleyka Rivera, Puerto Rican beauty queen (2006 Miss Universe winner), actress and TV host, born in Cayey, Puerto Rico

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Famous Deaths

1568 – Elisabeth of Valois, daughter of King Henry II of France and 3rd wife of Philip II of Spain, dies in childbirth at 23
1611 – Margarita of Austria, Queen of Spain and Portugal by marriage to King Philip III and II of Spain, dies at 26
1860 – Rembrandt Peale, American portrait and historical painter (Margaret Irvine Miller ,1805; Court of Death, 1820), and museum keeper (Baltimore), dies at 82
1953 – Arnold Bax, British composer known for his orchestral music (Tintagel), and memoirist (Farewell My Youth), dies of heart failure at 69
2018 – Leon M. Lederman, American experimental physicist (Nobel Prize in Physics, 1988 – for research on quarks and leptons) and author (The God Particle), dies from complications of dementia at 96

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Historical Events

1799 – Duke of York and Russians capture Alkmaar in the Netherlands
1889 – First Pan-American Conference is held in Washington, D.C.
1901 – First Royal Navy submarine launched at Barrow-in-Furness
1943 – New York Yankees sweep 14th MLB doubleheader of the year, beating St. Louis Browns 5-1 and 7-6 at Yankee Stadium
1971 – Homing pigeon averages a record 133 km/h in a 1,100 km race in Australia

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Famous Birthdays

1800 – Nat Turner, American leader of a major slave rebellion in Virginia in 1831, born in Southampton County, Virginia (d. 1831)
1835 – Louis-Antoine Ranvier, French anatomist and historian, born in Lyon, France (d. 1922)
1920 – James Dobson, American actor (Impulse, Jet Attack), born in Greeneville, Tennessee (d. 1987)
1935 – Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr., 1st African-American astronaut and U.S. Air Force major, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1967)
1967 – Floyd “Bud” Gaugh, American ska-punk rock drummer (Sublime), born in Kihei, Hawaii

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Famous Deaths

1802 – Giuseppe Millico, Italian soprano castrato (Christoph Willibald Gluck operas), composer, and pedagogue, dies at 65
1899 – Percy Pilcher, British inventor and pioneer aviator (unpowered gliders), dies in a flight crash at 32
1955 – O. B. Clarence, English actor (Saint Joan), dies at 85
1970 – Alfred Swan, Russian composer, dies at 79
1996 – Robert Bourassa, Prime Minister of Quebec province (1970-76, 85-93), dies at 63

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Historical Events

911 – During a siege in Constantinople, the Theotokos (Mary, the mother of Jesus) appears at the church in Blachernae, holding her veil over the praying faithful, among them St. Andrew of Constantinople
1791 – First session of the new French legislative assembly
1939 – Winston Churchill calls Russia a “riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”
1995 – The NY Yankees (AL) and Colorado Rockies (NL) become the first wild-card teams in the new MLB playoff system; the Rockies are the first team to reach the postseason before their 7th year and post the best-ever record for a 3rd-year team, 10 games over .500 (77-67)
1998 – LA’s Mauricio Cienfuegos and Martin Machon equal the MLS playoff record of three assists each as the Galaxy roll to a 6-1 win over the Dallas Burn at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California

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Famous Birthdays

1847 – Annie Besant, English social reformer and supporter of Indian independence, born in London (d. 1933)
1878 – Othmar Spann, Austrian economist and sociologist (Geschichtsfilosofie), born in Vienna (d. 1950)
1910 – Bonnie Parker, American outlaw of Bonnie and Clyde fame, born in Rowena, Texas (d. 1934)
1960 – Elizabeth Dennehy, American actress (Guiding Light, Start Trek: The Next Generation), born in Jacksonville, North Carolina
1963 – Mark McGwire, American MLB first baseman, coach (12-time All Star, Oakland A’s, St. Louis Cardinals), born in Pomona, California

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Famous Deaths

540 – Vedastus St Vaast, 1st bishop of Atrecht/saint, dies
1500 – John Alcock, English bishop and chancellor (founded Jesus College, Cambridge), dies at about 70
1943 – Johan Kalshoven, resistance fighter, executed at 20
2002 – Walter Annenberg, American publisher (Triangle-TV Guide) and philanthropist, dies at 94
2007 – Ned Sherrin, English broadcaster, author and stage director (b. 1931)

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Historical Events

1619 – Remonstrant Society forms in Antwerp
1941 – Approximately 33,771 Jews are shot to death or buried alive at Babi Yar ravine near Kiev, Ukraine, by Nazi troops over two days
1943 – Pope Pius XII’s encyclical on the Divine Spirit
1990 – MLB Chicago White Sox beat the Seattle Mariners 2-1 in the last game at Comiskey Park, Chicago
2024 – The UK becomes the first major economy to give up coal, ceasing operations at its last coal-fired power station at Ratcliffe-on-Soar

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Famous Birthdays

1824 – Peter Milne, Scottish composer and violinist, known as the “Tarland Minstrel”, born in Kincardine O’Neil, Scotland (d. 1908)
1919 – Patricia Neway, American soprano (Consul; Maria Golovia), born in Brooklyn, New York City (d. 2012)
1942 – Dewey Martin, Canadian rock drummer (Buffalo Springfield – “For What It’s Worth”), born in Chesterville, Ontario (d. 2009)
1946 – Héctor Lavoe [Pérez], Puerto Rican salsa singer, born in Machuelo Abajo, Ponce, Puerto Rico (d. 1993)
1972 – José Lima, Dominican baseball pitcher (MLB All-Star 1999 Houston Astros; Detroit Tigers, LA Dodgers), born in Santiago, Dominican Republic (d. 2010)

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Famous Deaths

1986 – Storm Jameson, English writer and critic, dies at 95
1993 – Paul Nowee, Dutch writer of children’s and youth books. (Arendsoog.. premiejager), dies at 57
1996 – Kenneth Muir, English scholar, dies at 89
2008 – Christa Reinig, German poet and writer (Idleness is the Root of All Love, The Tightrope Walker), dies at 82
2020 – Quino [Joaquín Salvador Lavado Tejón], Argentine cartoonist (Mafalda), dies at 88

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Historical Events

1859 – Great auroral display in the US
1975 – American television game show “Three for the Money,” hosted by Dick Enberg, debuts on NBC-TV but is cancelled after 8 weeks
2004 – Asteroid 4179 Toutatis passes within four lunar distances of Earth
2006 – US Representative Mark Foley resigns after allegations of inappropriate emails to House pages are introduced
2020 – Ben Ainslie wins the Olympic gold medal in the Laser class, beating previous Laser Olympic champion Robert Scheidt

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Famous Birthdays

1753 – Johann Gottfried Schicht, German composer, born in Reichenau, Electorate of Saxony, Holy Roman Empire (d. 1823)
1899 – Billy Butlin, South African-British holiday camp promoter (Butlins), born in Cape Town, Cape Colony (d. 1980)
1941 – Don Nix, American ‘Memphis Soul’ saxophonist (Last Night), born in Memphis, Tennessee
1951 – Andrés Caicedo, Colombian writer (¡Que viva la música!), born in Cali, Colombia (d. 1977)
1972 – Oliver Gavin, British auto racer (5 x American Le Mans Series class C’ships; 5 x 24 Hours of Le Mans class wins; 6 x 12 Hours of Sebring class wins; Corvette Racing), born in Huntingdon, England

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Famous Deaths

1867 – Sterling “Old Pap” Price, American lawyer, U.S. Army Brigadier General and politician (11th Governor of Missouri), dies at 58
1889 – Louis Faidherbe, French general and colonel administrator in Senegal, dies at 71
1900 – Samuel Fenton Cary, American politician and temperance movement leader (Rep-IR-Ohio), dies at 86
2009 – Pavel Popovich, Ukrainian cosmonaut (Vostok IV; Soyuz 14), dies at 78
2016 – Shirley Jaffe [née Sternstein], American abstract artist (Four Squares Black; Pandora’s Box), dies at 92

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Historical Events

1920 – Dirk Fock is appointed as governor-general of the Dutch East Indies
1920 – Eight Chicago White Sox baseball players are indicted by a grand jury, charged with fixing the 1919 World Series in the infamous “Black Sox scandal”
1931 – 200,000 demonstrators demand a declaration of war on Japan in Peking
1956 – “Johnny Carson Show” TV variety last airs on CBS-TV
2009 – The military junta leading Guinea, headed by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, sexually assaults, kills, and wounds protesters during a protest rally at Stade du 28 Septembre

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Famous Birthdays

1849 – Dudley Allen Sargent, American physician and educator (Harvard U gymnasium), born in Belfast, Maine (d. 1924)
1909 – Wiesje Bouwmeester, Dutch actress (Doodzonde), born in Watergraafsmeer, Noord-Holland, Netherlands (d. 1979)
1928 – “Tuli” Naphtali Kupferberg, American poet and singer (Fugs), born in New York City (d. 2010)
1953 – Jim Diamond, Scottish singer-songwriter (“I Should Have Known Better”), born in Glasgow, Scotland (d. 2015)
1954 – George Lynch, American rock guitarist (Lynch Mob – “Wicked Sensations”), born in Spokane, Washington

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Famous Deaths

1509 – Siwara/Sjoerd Aylva, Fries army leader (siege of Franeker)
1993 – Gustavo Brillembourg, Venezuelan-American tax corporate lawyer, dies in a climbing accident at 35
2009 – Ulf Larsson, Swedish stage and television comedian, actor, and director, dies from an aortic aneurysm at 53
2021 – Tommy Kirk, American actor (Old Yeller), dies at 79
2022 – William ‘Bill’ Plante, American journalist and White House correspondent (CBS, 1981-2016), dies of respiratory failure at 84

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Historical Events

1590 – Pope Urban VII dies 13 days after being chosen as Pope, making his reign the shortest papacy in history
1919 – British troops withdraw from the North Russian town of Arkhangelsk after fighting Bolsheviks/Soviets
1974 – Rome: fourth Bishop Synod in Rome
2006 – MLB Boston Red Sox honor former player Johnny Pesky by officially naming Fenway Park’s right-field foul pole “Pesky’s Pole”
2018 – India’s Supreme Court overturns a 158-year-old rule, Section 497, decriminalizing adultery because it is discriminatory against women

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Famous Birthdays

1792 – George Cruikshank, English caricaturist and illustrator (Grimms’ Fairy Tales), born in London, England (d. 1878)
1881 – Ernest Williams, American composer, born in Wayne County, Indiana (d. 1947)
1918 – Martin Ryle, English radio astronomer (Astronomer Royal 1972-82, Nobel Prize for Physics 1974), born in Brighton, England (d. 1984)
1940 – Benoni Beheyt, Belgian road cyclist (UCI World C’ship gold Road Race 1963), born in Zwijnaarde, Belgium
1949 – Jahn Teigen, Norwegian pop-rock singer (Popol Ace; Eurovison Song Contest, 1978, 1982 and 1983), born in Tønsberg, Norway (d. 2020)

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Famous Deaths

1404 – William of Wykeham, chancellor/Bishop of Winchester, dies
1735 – Peter Artedi, Swedish biologist (“father of ichthyology” study of fish), accidentally falls into a canal and drowns at 30
1935 – Alan Gray, British composer, dies at 79
1986 – Cliff Burton, American rock bassist (Metallica), dies in bus crash at 24
2009 – Donald Fisher, American businessman (co-founder of The Gap), dies of cancer at 81

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Historical Events

1904 – Charles Klein’s “The Music Master” premieres in New York City
1982 – Larry Grossman, Betty Comden and Adolph Green’s musical “A Doll’s Life” closes at the Mark Hellinger Theatre, NYC, after 5 performances
1989 – Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze calls for the total destruction of Soviet and US chemical weapons
1997 – An earthquake strikes the Italian regions of Umbria and Marche, causing part of the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi to collapse
2019 – WHO announces 800,000 children in DR Congo will be vaccinated in nine days in the world’s largest measles epidemic that has taken over 3,500 lives

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Famous Birthdays

1688 – Willem ‘s-Gravesande, Dutch mathematician and physicist, born in s-Hertogenbosch, Duchy of Brabant (d. 1742)
1932 – Giacomo Manzoni, Italian composer, born in Milan, Italy
1945 – Louise Beaudoin, French Canadian politician, born in Quebec City, Quebec
1956 – Steve Butler, American auto racer (USAC Silver Crown Champion 1988, 1992; USAC Sprint Car Champion 1986-88, 1990), born in Amarillo, Texas
1979 – Jaycie Phelps, American gymnast (Olympic gold team 1996), born in Indianapolis, Indiana

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Famous Deaths

1023 – Godfrey II, Duke of Lower Lorraine (1012-23), dies at about 58
1620 – Taichang Emperor [Zhu Changluo], 14th Emperor of the Ming dynasty of China, dies at 38
1944 – Ernst Isler, Swiss organist and critic, dies at 64
1982 – Alec Hurwood, Australian cricket spin bowler (2 Tests, 11 wickets, BB 4/22; Queensland), dies at 80
2006 – Tokyo Rose [Iva Toguri D’Aquino], American-born Japanese propagandist (WWII), dies at 90

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Historical Events

1944 – Operation Market Garden ends in Allied failure as the last British and Polish paratroopers are evacuated from Oosterbeek near the city of Arnhem
1956 – Transatlantic telephone cable goes into operation from Newfoundland to Oban
1966 – 413 spectators, the smallest Yankee Stadium crowd, watch the White Sox win 4-1
1981 – The Rolling Stones begin their sixth US tour at JFK Stadium in Philadelphia
2000 – American basketball player Vince Carter steals the ball and jumps over 7 foot 2 inch Frédéric Weis at the 2000 Summer Olympics, known in France as “le dunk de la mort” (the dunk of death)

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Famous Birthdays

1881 – Lu Xun, Chinese writer of modern Chinese literature, born in Shaoxing, Zhejiang, Qing dynasty China (d. 1936)
1905 – Red Smith, American sportscaster and columnist (Pulitzer 1976, Fight Talk), born in Green Bay, Wisconsin (d. 1982)
1920 – Sergei Bondarchuk, Soviet director (Destiny of a Man, War and Peace), born in Belozerka, Ukraine (d. 1994)
1921 – Remy C. van de Kerckhove, Flemish poet, born in Mechelen, Antwerp, Belgium (d. 1958)
1984 – Matt Carle, American ice hockey player, born in Anchorage, Alaska

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Famous Deaths

1630 – Ambrogio Spinola, Spanish marquis of Balbases, dies at about 61
1918 – Mikhail Alekseev, Russian general (Tsar Nicholas II’s Chief of Staff), dies of a heart attack at 60
1918 – John Ireland, Irish-American archbishop of St Paul (1888-1918), dies at 80
1959 – Helen Broderick, American comedienne and actress (Swing Time; Top Hat), dies at 68
2012 – Andy Williams, American pop singer (“Moon River”; “Days of Wine and Roses”; “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year”), dies from bladder cancer at 84

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