Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1905 – Cairo-Capetown railway opens
1987 – IBM introduces PS/2 and OS/2
1995 – Longest strike in American major league sports history (232 days) ends as MLB owners accept players’ offer to return to work without a contract; MLB is first major pro sports league to lose an entire postseason due to labor struggles
1996 – Vancouver Grizzlies beat Minnesota Timberwolves, 105-103 at General Motors Place Arena to end their NBA single-season record 23-game consecutive loss streak
2010 – Basketball superstar Kobe Bryant signs a three-year contract extension with the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers worth $87 million
2013 – Uruguay passes legislation to legalize same-sex marriage

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Famous Birthdays

1740 – Armand-Gaston Camus, French revolutionary and Chairman of the Council of 500, born in Paris (d. 1804)
1900 – Roberto Arlt, Argentine writer (The Seven Madmen), born in Buenos Aires, Argentina (d. 1942)
1910 – Arnie Herber, American Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback (NFL C’ship 1930, 31, 36, 39; First-team All-Pro 1932, 35, 36; Green Bay Packers, NY Giants), born in Green Bay, Wisconsin (d. 1969)
1963 – Dermot Reeve, English cricket all-rounder (3 Tests, 29 ODIs), born in Kowloon, Hong Kong
1982 – Jeremy Bloom, American alpine skier (FIS Freestyle World Ski C’ships gold dual moguls 2003) and football wide receiver (Philadelphia Eagles, Pittsburgh Steelers), born in Loveland, Colorado
1982 – Leyla Milani, Iranian-Canadian actress and model, born in Toronto, Ontario

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Famous Deaths

1787 – Francisco Javier Clavijero, Mexican Jesuit teacher and writer, dies at 55
1956 – Chester Clute, American actor (“Arsenic and Old Lace”; “Too Many Girls”; “Niagara Falls”), dies of a heart attack at 65
1980 – Pascual de Rogatis, Argentine composer (Huemac; Estampas Argentinas), dies at 99
1993 – Eugenie Leontovitch, Russian actress (Homicidal, The Rains of Ranchipur), dies at 93
1995 – Harvey Penick, American golfer, coach, author (World Golf Hall of Fame), dies of degenerative arthritis at 90
2002 – Henry Slesar, American writer and playwright (The Edge of Night), dies at 74

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Historical Events

1881 – Kingdom post office in Netherlands opens
1891 – The Wrigley Company is founded in Chicago, Illinois.
1931 – Earthquake devastate Managua Nicaragua, kills 2,000
1937 – Aden becomes a British crown colony
1990 – WrestleMania VI, Skydome, Toronto, ON (67,678): Ultimate Warrior beats Hulk Hogan for WWF Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles
2020 – All England Lawn Tennis Club cancels Wimbledon for the first time since World War II because of the COVID-19 pandemic; entire grass-court season abandoned

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Famous Birthdays

1933 – Stan Weston, US toy licensing agent, had concept for G.I. Joe, born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 2017)
1945 – John Barbata, American drummer (Turtles – “Happy Together”; “Elenore”), born in Passiac, New Jersey
1975 – Kristine Quance, American swimmer (Olympics gold 4×100m medley relay 1996), born in Northridge, California
1978 – Jean-Pierre Dumont, Canadian ice hockey right wing (World C’ship gold 2004; Buffalo Sabres, Nashville Predators), born in Montreal, Quebec
1982 – Sam Huntington, American actor (Jungle 2 Jungle, Being Human), born in Peterborough, New Hampshire
1985 – Beth Tweddle, English gymnast (World C’ship gold 2006, 09, 10; Olympic bronze 2012), born in Johannesburg, South Africa

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Famous Deaths

1975 – Eugeen Yoors, Flemish etcher and glass painter, dies at 95
1983 – Ken Kersey, Canadian jazz pianist, and composer (“Boogie Woogie Cocktail”), dies at 66
1984 – Marvin Gaye, American soul singer-songwriter (“It Takes Two”; What’s Going On”; “Let’s Get It On”), shot to death by his father Marvin Gay, Sr., during a domestic dispute in Los Angeles at 44
1993 – Wayne Mack, American sportscaster (New Orleans Saints, Tulane University) and actor (Storyville), dies of cancer at 68
2004 – Nilo Soruco, Bolivian singer-songwriter (“Ya la pagarán”; “Caraqueña”), dies at 76
2005 – Alexander Brott, Canadian violinist, conductor, educator, and composer (McGill Chamber Orchestra), dies at 90

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Historical Events

1146 – Bernard of Clairvaux preaches his famous sermon in a field at Vézelay, urging the necessity of a Second Crusade. Louis VII and Eleanor of Aquitaine are present and join the Crusade.
1917 – The Danish West Indies are officially ceded to the US for $25 million and renamed the Virgin Islands
1958 – USSR suspends nuclear weapons tests, and urges US and Britain to do same
1970 – Explorer 1 re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere after 12 years in orbit
1984 – Mike Bossy becomes first player in NHL history to record 7 straight 50 goal seasons; scores 50th and 51st of the year in a 3-1 New York Islanders’ win at Washington
1988 – Pulitzer prize awarded to Toni Morrison for her novel “Beloved”

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Famous Birthdays

1360 – Philippa of Lancaster, Queen of Portugal as wife of King John I (1387-1415), born in Leicester Castle, Leicester, England (d. 1415)
1536 – Ashikaga Yoshiteru, Japanese 13th shōgun of the Ashikaga shogunate (1546-65), born in Nanzen-ji Temple, Kyoto, Japan (d. 1565)
1651 – Karl II, Elector Palatine (d. 1685)
1960 – Anne Howard, American actress (Nicole Love-Another World), born in San Diego, California
1964 – Erik Turner, American rock guitarist (Warrant – “Cherry Pie”), born in Omaha, Nebraska
1975 – Adam Green, American film director

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Famous Deaths

1928 – Medardo Rosso, Italian sculptor (portraits), dies at 69
2003 – Tommy Seebach, Danish rock keyboardist, singer (Sir Henry and His Butlers), and songwriter (Eurovision), dies at 53
2005 – Terri Schiavo, American figure in right to die case (b. 1963)
2008 – William L. Dickinson, American politician (Rep-R-AL, 1965-93), dies at 82
2014 – Charles Keating, American district attorney (Los Angeles California), dies at 90
2016 – Hans-Dietrich Genscher, German Minister of Foreign Affairs (FDP), worked to re-unify Germany, dies at 89

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Historical Events

1814 – Napoleonic Wars: Sixth Coalition forces march into Paris after defeating Napoleon
1911 – Lötschberg tunnel in Switzerland (13,735 m) completed
1930 – Babberich-H soccer team forms
1966 – “Color Me Barbra”, Barbra Streisand’s second TV special and the first in color, premieres on CBS
1984 – US ends participation in multinational Lebanon peace force
2001 – At 15 years, 9 months American swimmer Michael Phelps breaks 200m butterfly world record at the US World Championship trials at Austin, Texas; becomes youngest male to set a world mark

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Famous Birthdays

1902 – Brooke Astor, American philanthropist (d. 2007)
1908 – Camille Schmit, Belgian organist, composer, and educator, born in Aubangez, Belgium (d. 1976)
1935 – John Charles Eaton, American composer, born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania (d. 2015)
1942 – Graeme Edge, British rock drummer, and poet (Moody Blues – “The Dream”; “Morning Glory”), born in Rocester, Staffordshire England (d. 2021)
1943 – Ken Forssi, American bassist (Love), born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 1998)
1947 – Marilyn Crispell, American jazz pianist and composer (Anthony Braxton Quartet), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

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Famous Deaths

1903 – William Hicks “Red” Jackson, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 67
1935 – Romanos Melik’yan, Armenian composer, dies at 51
1943 – Maciej Aleksy Dawidowski, Polish activist (b. 1920)
1949 – Friedrich Bergius, German chemist (benzine from brown coal, Nobel Prize 1931), dies at 64
1978 – Larry Young [aka Khalid Yasin], American hard-bop and jazz-fusion Hammond B-3 organist (Unity), dies from several untreated illnesses, including pneumonia, at 37
1978 – Harold Gimblett, English cricket batsman (3 Tests, 1 x 50; 265 career FC sixes; Somerset CCC), dies from an overdose at 63

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Historical Events

1943 – Meat (784 gram/week, 2 kilogram for GI’s), butter and cheese rationed in US during WW II
1961 – After a 4½ year trial Nelson Mandela is acquitted of treason in Pretoria
1971 – 1st Lt William L Calley Jr found guilty in My Lai (Vietnam) massacre
1975 – Only 2nd time Islanders beat Rangers
1992 – Ice Pairs Championship in Oakland, California won by Mishuktienok and Dmitriev (CIS)
1996 – 10th Soul Train Music Awards: Patti Labelle, Boyz II Men win

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Famous Birthdays

1869 – Aleš Hrdlička, Austro-Hungarian anthropologist and curator (US National Museum), born in Humpolec, Austria-Hungary (d. 1943)
1927 – Arthur Ravenel Jr, American businessman and politician (Rep-R-South Carolina), born in Charleston, South Carolina
1927 – John R. Vane, English pharmacologist (Nobel 1982), born in Tardebigg, Worcestershire (d. 2004)
1938 – Bert de Vries, Dutch minister of Social Affairs (CDA), born in Groningen, Netherlands
1946 – Billy Thorpe, British-Australian musician (Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs – “I Told The Brook”, “Mashed Potato”; solo – “Children of the Sun”), born in Manchester, England (d. 2007)
1974 – Marc Gené, Spanish auto racer (24 Hours of Le Mans 2009), born in Sabadell, Spain

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Famous Deaths

1058 – Stephen IX [Frederik van Lotharingen], 1st Belgium Pope (1057-58), dies
1578 – Arthur Champernowne, English admiral (b. 1524)
1953 – Arthur Fields [Abraham Finkelstein], American singer-songwriter (Aba Daba Honeymoon), dies in a fire at his nursing home residence at 68
1970 – Lev Kuleshov, Russian filmmaker and film theorist (Po Zakonu, founder of Moscow film school), dies at 71
1980 – Annunzio Mantovani, Italian orchestra leader (Mantovani), dies at 74
2001 – Helge Ingstad, Norwegian explorer (b. 1899)

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Historical Events

364 – Roman Emperor Valentinian I appoints his brother Flavius Valens co-emperor
1834 – Senate censure President Jackson for taking fed deposits from Bank of US
1953 – “Stock exchanges open, dikes closed” raises 5,200,000 guilders
1953 – US Ladies’ Figure Skating championship won by Tenley Albright
1962 – Devastating 8 for 6 spell by West Indian spin bowler Lance Gibbs gives home side innings and 30 run 3rd Test win over India in Bridgetown
1972 – Elvis Presley records his final Top Ten hit, a cover of “Burning Love”, written by Dennis Linde, and first recorded by Arthur Alexander

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Famous Birthdays

1905 – Marlin Perkins, American TV host (Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom), born in Carthage, Missouri (d. 1986)
1911 – Myfanwy Piper, British librettist and art critic, born in London (d. 1997)
1930 – Robert Ashley, American composer, born in Ann Arbor, Michigan (d. 2014)
1931 – Anatoly Lein, Soviet-American chess player (Grandmaster 1968; World Chess Hall of Fame), born in Leningrad, Russia (d. 2018)
1945 – Johnny Famechon, Australian boxer (WBC featherweight champion 1969-70), born in Paris, France (d. 2022)
1988 – Lacey Turner, British soap actress

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Famous Deaths

1893 – Edmund Kirby Smith, American military officer (Confederate Army General), dies at 68
1943 – Sergei Rachmaninoff, Russian-American piano virtuoso, conductor, and composer (Aleko; Piano Concerto No. 3), dies at 69
1974 – Francoise Rosay, actress (Interlude, Women in Prison), dies at 82
1982 – William Giauque, Canadian chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1895)
1994 – Albert Goldman, American rock biographer (Lives of John Lennon; Elvis), dies at 66
2003 – (Farrell) “Rusty” Draper, American country and pop singer (“The Shifting, Whispering Sands”; “Are You Satisfied?”), dies of pneumonia at 80

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Historical Events

1841 – 1st US steam fire engine tested, NYC
1930 – 1st US radio broadcast from a ship at sea
1941 – Britain leases defense bases in Trinidad to US for 99 years
1957 – 29th Academy Awards: “Around World in 80 Days”, Ingrid Bergman, Yul Brynner win
1982 – Randy Holt sets Wash Cap record of 34 penalty minutes
2021 – 114 people including children killed in one day by armed forces in Myanmar, with more than 420 killed since protests began against the military coup

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Famous Birthdays

1845 – Wilhelm Röntgen, German physicist who discovered X-rays (Nobel 1901), born in Lennep, Rhine Province (d. 1923)
1921 – Harold Nicholas, American dancer known as one of the world’s greatest dancers (Nicholas Brothers), born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (d. 2000)
1939 – Maurice Petty, American auto racing crew chief, engine builder and team owner (Petty Enterprises, International Motorsports and NASCAR Hall of Fame), born in Level Cross, North Carolina (d. 2020)
1970 – Elizabeth Mitchell, American actress (Lost), born in Los Angeles, California
1972 – Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Dutch footballer, born in Paramaribo, Suriname
1984 – Bonnie Milligan, American theater actress and singer (Kimberley Akimbo), born in Decatur, Illinois

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Famous Deaths

1714 – Anton Ulrich, German Duke of Brunswick and poet, dies at 80
1916 – Susan Blow, American educator who pioneered kindergarten education and was known as the “Mother of the Kindergarten”, dies at 72
1982 – Fazlur Rahman Khan, Bangladeshi-American structural engineer and architect (Sears Tower, Chicago; John Hancock Center, Chicago; Metrodome, Minneapolis), dies of a heart attack at 52
1993 – Kate Reid, British actress (The Andromeda Strain, Heaven Help US), dies of cancer at 62
2003 – Paul Zindel, American writer (b. 1936)
2023 – Jocelyn Morlock, Canadian contemporary and post-modern classical composer (My Name is Amanda Todd; Bird in the Tangled Sky), and music educator, dies at 53

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Historical Events

1958 – The African Regroupment Party (PRA) is launched at a meeting in Paris
1973 – 35th NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: UCLA beats Memphis 81-76; Bruins’ 7th straight title; future Hall of Fame center Bill Walton tournament MOP for 2nd consecutive year
1983 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1995 – “Moliere Comedies” closes at Criterion Theater NYC after 56 performances
2014 – Laureus World Sports Awards, Istana Budaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Sportsman: Sebastian Vettel; Sportswoman: Genzebe Dibaba; Team: Germany Men’s National Football team
2017 – Mass protests in Chile over country’s privatised pension system

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Famous Birthdays

1773 – Nathaniel Bowditch, American mathematician, astronomer and author (Marine Sextant), born in Salem, Province of Massachusetts Bay (d. 1838)
1931 – Charles Stepney, American pianist, arranger, and record producer (Chess Records; Minnie Riperton; Ramsey Lewis; Earth, Wind and Fire), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1976)
1941 – Barclay Plager, Canadian ice hockey defenceman (NHL All-Star 1970, 71, 73, 74 St. Louis Blues) and coach (St. Louis Blues 1977-83), born in Kirkland Lake, Ontario (d. 1988)
1959 – Chris Hansen, American reporter and correspondent (Dateline NBC: To Catch A Predator, 2004-07), born in Chicago, Illinois
1970 – Martin McDonagh, Irish playwright and filmmaker (In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths), born in London, England
1985 – Prosper Utseya, Zimbabwean cricket spin bowler and captain who played 4 Tests and 161 ODIs; Midlands, Manicaland, Mashonaland, born in Harare, Zimbabwe

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Famous Deaths

1517 – Heinrich Isaac, Flemish composer, dies at about 67 [birth date uncertain, c. 1450]
1772 – Charles Pinot Duclos, French writer and historian, dies at 68
1923 – Sarah Bernhardt, French actress (Camille, Queen Elizabeth), dies of uremia at 78
1973 – Safford Cape, American-Belgian conductor, composer and music historian, dies at 67
2004 – Jan Berry, American musician (Jan and Dean), dies after a stroke at 62
2015 – John Renbourn, British jazz and folk guitarist and songwriter (Pentangle), dies of a heart attack at 70

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Historical Events

421 – Friday at 12 PM – city of Venice founded
1961 – 3rd place game is one of the wildest contests in NCAA Tournament history as St Joseph’s defeats Utah, 127-120 in quadruple overtime
1968 – Members of the Derry Housing Action Committee (DHAC) disrupt a meeting of Londonderry Corporation to protest at the lack of housing provision in the city, Northern Ireland
1979 – Czech tennis star Martina Navratilova retains her WTA Tour Championship with a 6–3, 3–6, 6–2 win over American teenager Tracey Austin in NYC
1985 – Edwin Meese III takes office as US Attorney General
2019 – Further power blackouts in Caracas, Venezuela, prompt government to tell workers and students to stay at home

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Famous Birthdays

1532 – Pietro Pontio, Italian composer (Ragionamento di Musica), born in Parma, Duchy of Milan (d. 1596)
1762 – Francesco Giuseppe Pollini, Italian composer, singer, and pupil of Mozart, born in Ljubljana , Habsburg Empire (d. 1846)
1903 – Gertrude “Binnie” Barnes, actress (Last of the Mohicans, 3 Musketeers), born in London, England (d. 1998)
1930 – David Burge, American pianist, composer and conductor, born in Evanston, Illinois (d. 2013)
1960 – Idy Chan Yuk-Lin, Hong Kong actress
1982 – Álvaro Saborío, Costa Rican footballer

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Famous Deaths

1223 – Afonso II, 3rd King of Portugal (1211-23), dies at 36
1692 – Gerardus Blasius, Flemish anatomist, dies at about 66
1712 – Nehemiah Grew, English naturalist (b. 1641)
1983 – Martha Sleeper, actress (Spitfire), dies of a heart attack at 72
1991 – Marcel Lefebvre, French Catholic prelate (b. 1905)
2020 – Mark Blum, American actor (Desperately Seeking Susan, Blind Date, Presidio), dies of COVID-19 complications at 69

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Historical Events

1883 – 1st telephone call between NY and Chicago
1905 – A group of Cretans dedicated to Crete’s union with Greece led by Eleutherios Venizelos, meet at the village of Therisso and proclaim a union in defiance of the Great Powers
1979 – 10 rebounds and 10 assists, as the Spartans cruise to a 101-67 by Penn Mich State’s Earvin “Magic” Johnson registers triple-double 29 pts
1990 – Indian troops leave Sri Lanka
1999 – “The Matrix” film written and directed by The Wachowskis, starring Keanu Reeve, Lawrence Fishburne and Carrie-Ann Moss premieres
2013 – Scotland defeats Sweden to win the 2013 World Women’s Curling Championship

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Famous Birthdays

1919 – John J. Duncan Sr., American politician (Rep-R-TN, 1965-1988), born in Huntsville, Tennessee (d. 1988)
1938 – David Irving, British historian
1951 – Dougie Thompson, Scottich bassist (Supertramp – “Bloody Well Right”), born in Glasgow, Scotland
1957 – Scott J Horowitz, PhD/Capt USAF/astronaut (STS 75, 82), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1960 – Kelly LeBrock, American actress (Weird Science, Woman in Red), born in New York City
1977 – Natalie Hemby (Wrucke), American Grammy Award-winning country music songwriter (Miranda Lambert – “Only Prettier”; “Automatic”; Toby Keith – “Drinks After Work”), and singer (The Highwomen), born in Bloomington, Illinois

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Famous Deaths

1396 – Walter Hilton, English mystic
1563 – Hosokawa Harumoto, Japanese military leader (b. 1514)
1823 – Cornelis van Foreest, Dutch politician, Mayor of Alkmaar, dies at 66
1993 – John Hersey, American author (Hiroshima, Bell for Adano, Wall), dies at 78
2010 – Robert Culp, American actor, screenwriter, voice actor, and director (I Spy, Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice), dies at 79
2020 – Albert Uderzo, French cartoonist and script writer (Asterix comic books), dies at 92

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