Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1881 – Leon Gambetta forms French government
1920 – The Russian Bolshevik army occupies Sebastopol, ending anti-communist attempts to regain the government of Russia
1931 – Ottawa Mint Act is proclaimed in Britain
1960 – Belgium threatens to leave UN due to criticism on its policy on Congo
2018 – Jewellery that belonged to French Queen Marie Antoinette is auctioned off in Geneva, after not being seen for 200 years
2018 – Large impact crater, 31 km wide, from iron meteorite identified under Hiawatha Glacier in Greenland

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Famous Birthdays

1906 – Louise Brooks, American silent screen star (American Venus, Pandora’s Box), born in Cherryvale, Kansas (d. 1985)
1929 – Horst Janssen, German graphic artist and printmaker, born in Hamburg, Germany (d. 1995)
1929 – Jimmy Piersall, American baseball outfielder (MLB All Star 1954, 56; his bipolar disorder subject book and film, “Fear Strikes Out”), born in Waterbury, Connecticut (d. 2017)
1930 – Alan Moss, English cricket fast bowler (9 Tests, 21 wickets; Middlesex CCC), born in London, England (d. 2019)
1932 – Ramon Zupko, American classical and electro-acoustic composer (Fluxus), and educator (Western Michigan University, 1971-96), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 2019)
1948 – Jacob Kohnstamm, Dutch undersecretary of the Interior (D66, 1994-)

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Famous Deaths

1794 – Pieter Nieuwland, Dutch scientist and mathematician (known as “Dutch Isaac Newton”), dies at 30
1907 – Andrew Inglis Clark, Australian politician (b. 1848)
1965 – Russell Collins, American actor (Niagara, Close Up, Shockproof), dies at 68
1982 – Joachim Stutschewsky, Austrian-Israeli cellist, composer, and musicologist, dies at 91
2002 – Graham Watson, British literary agent (Curtis Brown, including authors Daphne du Maurier and John Steinbeck), dies at 89
2014 – Jane Byrne, American politician and 50th Mayor of Chicago, dies at 81

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Historical Events

1916 – Prime Minister of Australia Billy Hughes is expelled from the Labor Party over his support for conscription
1926 – Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) uprising in Bantam, West Java
1952 – False fingernails 1st sold
1966 – American comedian Flip Wilson makes his debut appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show”; he returns 10 times
1991 – Boston Red Sox Roger Clemens wins AL Cy Young Award
2014 – Indian cricket batsman Rohit Sharma sets new world ODI record of 264 runs off 173 balls against Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens in Kolkata

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Famous Birthdays

1926 – Harry Hughes, 57th Governor of Maryland (1979-87), born in Easton, Maryland
1943 – Roberto Boninsegna, Italian soccer striker (22 caps; Cagliari, FC Inter Milan, Juventus FC), born in Mantua, Italy
1947 – Toy Caldwell, American Southern-rock musician (Marshall Tucker Band), born in Spartanburg, South Carolina (d. 1993)
1971 – Noah Hathaway, actor (Troll, Neverending Story)
1976 – Kelly Sotherton, English heptathlete
1993 – Julia Michaels [Cavazos], American pop singer and songwriter, born in Davenport, Iowa

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Famous Deaths

1606 – Geronimo Mercuriali, Italian philologist and physician (b. 1530)
1958 – Bart van der Leck, Dutch painter (Style), dies at 81
1974 – Karen Silkwood, American nuclear lab technician and labor union activist killed in a car crash under suspicious circumstances at 28
1999 – Jaswick Taylor, West Indian cricket fast bowler (3 Tests; 5/109 in Test debut 1958), dies at 67
2010 – Luis García Berlanga, Spanish filmmaker (b. 1921)
2013 – Barbara Lawrence, American model, actress, and real estate agent (Oklahoma!, A Letter to Three Wives), dies of kidney failure at 83

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Historical Events

954 – Lotharius becomes King of France
1885 – Montreal and Britannia Football Clubs (QRFU) defeat Ontario Combined Team (ORFU) 3-0 in CRFU Championship game
1948 – The first mobile betatron (particle accelerator) begins operation at the U.S. Naval Ordnance Laboratory, White Oak, Maryland
1984 – NBC premiere of “Victims for Victims: The Theresa Saldana Story”, fact based telepic of actress Saldana’s near fatal attack and its aftermath
2015 – Out Magazine names Barack Obama ‘Ally of the Year’, Obama becomes 1st sitting US President to pose for cover of a gay magazine
2021 – Taylor Swift releases her directorial debut the short film “All Too Well” alongside her re-recorded album “Red (Taylor’s Version)”

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Famous Birthdays

1547 – Claude of Valois, French princess (d. 1575). 2nd daughter of King Henry II of France and Catherine de’ Medici
1915 – Roland Barthes, French literary critic (L’Empire des Signer) (d. 1980)
1927 – Pavel Kharin, Russian sprint canoeist (Olympic gold USSR C-2 10,000m, silver C-2 1,000m 1956), born in St. Petersburg, Russia (d. 2023)
1931 – Bob Crewe, American songwriter and producer (“Big Girls Don’t Cry”; “The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine (Anymore)”), born in Newark, New Jersey (d. 2014)
1936 – Ruth Jessen, American golfer (11 LPGA Tour wins, 3-time major runner-up), born in Seattle, Washington (d. 2007)
1991 – Kathleen Herles, American child voice actress (Dora the Explorer, and Go, Diego, Go! – “Dora”), born in Queens, New York City

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Famous Deaths

1671 – Thomas Fairfax, Lord Fairfax, English Parliamentary general (Commander-in-Chief of New Model Army during English Civil War), dies at 59
1836 – Juan Ramón Balcarce, Argentine military leader and politician (b. 1773)
1940 – Alejandro Garcia Caturla, Cuban composer, dies at 34
1996 – Gwen Catley, English soprano, dies at 90
2013 – John Tavener, British composer (The Protecting Veil), dies from complications from Marfan syndrome at 69
2020 – Masatoshi Koshiba, Japanese physicist (2002 Nobel Prize for Physics for neutrinos), dies at 94

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Historical Events

1933 – “Great Black Blizzard” 1st of the great dust storms that created the dust bowl rips through South Dakota
1934 – WOC-AM in Davenport Iowa splits from WHO-WOC and becomes KICK-AM
1961 – Stalinists Anti-Party Group Molotov, Malenkov and Kaganovitsj expelled from USSR’s communist party for opposing liberalization
1997 – WNBA announces franchises in Detroit (Shock) and Washington D.C. (Mystics) would join the League as expansion teams for the 1998 season
2000 – 12th College Football Holy War: Notre Dame beats Boston College, 28-16 in South Bend
2014 – Samsung Lions beat Nexen Heroes, 11-1 in Game 6 at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, Seoul to win the Korean Series

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Famous Birthdays

1852 – Franz Graf Conrad von Hötzendorf, Austro-Hungarian field marshal, born in Penzing, Vienna, Austrian Empire (d. 1925)
1929 – Hans Magnus Enzensberger, German writer, born in Kaufbeuren, Germany
1939 – Denise Alexander, American actress (Mary McKinnon-Another World, Lesley Webber-General Hospital), born in NYC, New York
1959 – Lee Haney, American bodybuilder (8x Mr. Olympia), born in Fairburn, Georgia
1982 – Brittny Gastineau, American socialite (Brüno), born in New York City
1983 – Philipp Lahm, German footballer (Bayern Munich,), born in Munich, West Germany

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Famous Deaths

1944 – Gerrit Grijns, Dutch researcher and co-discoverer of vitamin B1 (thiamine), dies at 79
1955 – John Loudon, Dutch minister of Foreign affairs (1913-18), dies at 87
1973 – Artturi Ilmari Virtanen, Finnish Chemist and Nobel laureate, dies at 78
1979 – Dimitri Tiomkin, Russian-American film score composer and conductor (Academy Award 1954-High and Mighty), dies at 85
1994 – Ernest Clark, British actor (Ghandi, The Dam Busters, Doctor in the House), dies at 82
2004 – Dayton Allen, American comedian (Steve Allen Show, The Cotton Club), dies from a stroke at 85

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Historical Events

1911 – Andrew Carnegie forms Carnegie Corporation for scholarly and charitable works
1978 – Larry Holmes KOs Alfredo Evangelist in 7 for heavyweight boxing title
1984 – Australia all out for 76 v West Indies at cricket WACA, Holding 6-21
1988 – China confirms earthquake death toll will rise above current 938
1989 – Bulgarian Communist party president Todor Zhikov (78) resigns
1997 – “Jackie – An American Life” opens at Belasco Theater NYC

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Famous Birthdays

1668 – François Couperin, French composer and organist (Les Concerts Royaux), born in Paris, France (d. 1733)
1916 – Guido Turchi, Italian composer (Invettiva), born in Rome, Italy (d. 2010)
1943 – George Sauer, Jr., American football wide receiver (AFL All Star 1996-99; Super Bowl 1969; New York Jets), born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin (d. 2013)
1972 – Virág Csurgó, Hungarian tennis star (1993 Futures-Freeport), born in Siófok, Hungary
1985 – Ricki-Lee Coulter, Australian singer (Hell No!), born in Auckland, New Zealand
1999 – (Armand) “Mondo” Duplantis, American-Swedish athlete (Olympic gold pole vault 2020; World C’ship gold 2019; WR 6.18m), born in Lafayette, Louisiana

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Famous Deaths

627 – Justus, Archbishop of Canterbury
1617 – Barnabe Rich, English soldier and writer
1843 – John Trumbull, American painter (Declaration of Independence), dies at 87
1909 – Ludvig Schytte, Danish pianist, composer, and educator, dies at 61
1917 – Harry Trott, Australian cricket all-rounder (24 Tests, 1 x 100, 4 x 50, HS 143, 29 wickets; Victoria CA), dies for cancer at 51
2006 – Nadarajah Raviraj, Sri Lankan politician (b. 1962)

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Historical Events

1313 – Louis the Bavarian defeats his cousin Frederick I of Austria at the Battle of Gammelsdorf
1905 – Swedish mine workers win 5 month strike for minimum wages
1936 – American fashion designer Ruth Harkness captures a panda cub (Su Lin) in China – becomes 1st live panda cub to enter the US
1971 – David Storey’s “Changing Room” premieres in London
2005 – The Venus Express mission of the European Space Agency is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
2015 – “Reclining Nude” by Italian artist Modigliani fetches 2nd highest auction price at $170.4m

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Famous Birthdays

1802 – Elijah Parish Lovejoy, American newspaper publisher and abolitionist, born in Albion, Maine (d. 1837)
1880 – Rudolf Karel, Czech composer (Three Hairs of the Wise Old Man), born in Pilseň, Czech Republic (d. 1945)
1922 – Raymond Devos, Belgian-French humorist, born in Mouscron, Belgium (d. 2006)
1941 – Tom Fogerty, American rocker (Creedence Clearwater Revival), born in Berkeley, California (d. 1990)
1955 – Don Schiff, American guitarist, born in Wilmington, Delaware
1956 – Eve de Castro-Robinson, New Zealand classical composer (Other Echoes; A Chaos Of Delight), music director (Karlheinz Company), and educator (University of Auckland), born in London, England

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Famous Deaths

1208 – Sancha of Castile, wife of Alfonso II of Aragon (b. 1155)
1924 – Henry Cabot Lodge, American Senator (b. 1850)
1976 – Billy Halop [William Halop Cohen], American actor (Angels with Dirty Faces, All in the Family), dies of a heart attack at 56
2003 – Binod Bihari Verma, Indian Maithili literateur (b.1937)
2006 – Ed Bradley, American journalist and CBS news correspondent (60 Minutes), dies of complications from lymphocytic leukemia at 65
2018 – Ken Howell, American baseball player (Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies), dies at 57

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Historical Events

1701 – William Penn presents Charter of Privileges, guaranteed religious freedom for the colony in Pennsylvania
1923 – Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party stage “Beer Hall Putsch” in Munich, Germany
1932 – Amidst the Great Depression, Democrat candidate Franklin D. Roosevelt is elected President of the United States, defeating Republican incumbent Herbert Hoover
1964 – KUPK TV channel 13 in Garden City, KS (ABC) begins broadcasting
1978 – Tom Stoppard’s play “Night and Day” premieres in London
2022 – Kathy Hochul becomes the first elected female Governor of New York, continuing in the role she held since replacing Andrew Cuomo mid-term

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Famous Birthdays

30 – Nerva, Roman Emperor (96-98), born in Narni, Italy (d. 98)
1927 – Samuel Irving Newhouse Jr., American magazine publisher (Parade, Vogue, Vanity Fair), born in Manhattan, New York (d. 2017)
1941 – Nerys Hughes, Welsh actress (The Liver Birds; The District Nurse), born in Rhyl, Flintshire, Wales
1958 – Terry Lee Miall, British rock drummer (Adam and The Ants), born in London, England
1978 – Tim de Cler, Dutch footballer, born in Leiden, Netherlands
1982 – Sam Sparro [Falson], Australian producer, singer, songwriter (Boombox Eternal), and former child actor, born in Sydney

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Famous Deaths

1111 – Otto II, Count of Habsburg, one of the founders of the Habsburg family, murdered
1600 – Natsuka Masaie, Japanese warlord (b. 1562)
1638 – Johann H. Alsted, German theologist and philosopher, dies at 50
1920 – Salomon Anski, Russian-Polish yiddish author (Dibboek), dies at 57
1933 – Mohammed Nadir Shah, King of Afghanistan (1929-33), assassinated at 50 by Abdul Khaliq during a graduation ceremony at a high school in Kabul
1969 – Kam Tong, Chinese American actor (Have Gun Will Travel, Across the Pacific, Flower Drum Song), dies at 62

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Historical Events

1722 – Richard Steele’s sentimental comedy play “The Conscious Lovers” premieres in London
1946 – Katherine Dunham’s song and dance revue “Bal Nègre” opens at Belasco Theater, NYC; runs for 54 performances
1955 – Supreme Court of Baltimore bans segregation in public recreational areas
1960 – KNRR TV channel 12 in Pembina, ND (IND) begins broadcasting
1963 – Wunder von Lengede: In Germany, eleven miners are rescued from a collapsed mine after 14 days.
2020 – Rudy Giuliani holds infamous Trump Campaign press conference at Four Seasons Total Landscaping in Philadelphia to contest the US election results

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Famous Birthdays

1810 – Fritz Reuter, German novelist, born in Stavenhagen, Germany (d. 1874)
1879 – Leon Trotsky, Ukrainian-Russian Marxist revolutionary, political theorist and founder of the Red Army [OS 26-10-1879], born in Yanovka, Ukraine, Russian Empire (d. 1940)
1898 – Raphaël Salem, Greek mathematician, born in Saloniki, Ottoman Empire (d. 1963)
1900 – Efrem Kurtz, Russian conductor (Houston Symphony, 1948-54), born in St. Petersburg, Russia (d. 1995)
1943 – Stephen Greenblatt, American literary historian and author (The Swerve: How the World Became Modern), born in Boston, Massachusetts
1968 – Russ Springer, American MLB pitcher (Philadelphia Phillies), born in Alexandria, Louisiana

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Famous Deaths

1708 – Ludolf Backhuysen, Dutch seascape painter and cartoonist, dies at 76
1880 – Carl Friedrich Weitzmann, German composer, conductor, and music theorist, dies at 72
1945 – Alfred Dipper, cricketer (England batsman scored in only Test), dies
1974 – Eric Linklater, British novelist and poet (Blue Swallows), dies at 75
1996 – Carmell Jones, American bebop jazz and session trumpet player (Bud Shank; Horace Silver), dies of heart failure at 60
2018 – Oskar Rabin, Russian painter and dissident during Soviet era, dies at 90

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Historical Events

1918 – Supreme commander of the army General Cutters resigns
1928 – Clevelanders vote to build a stadium with city bonds
1962 – BART bond issue just gets by with a 66.9% favorable vote
1974 – Dodger Mike Marshall is 1st relief pitcher to win Cy Young Award
1977 – 39 killed in an earthen dam burst at Toccoa Falls Bible College, Ga
1994 – 25th NYC Marathon won by German Silva in 2:11:21

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Famous Birthdays

1923 – Clay [David] Jones, Welsh gardener (BBC Gardener’s Question Time), born in Cardigan, Wales (d. 1996)
1948 – Rushton Moreve [Morey], American bass player (Steppenwolf – “Magic Carpet Ride”), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 1981)
1949 – Joseph C. Wilson, Vice Chairman of Jarch Capital, LLC, born in Bridgeport, Connecticut
1949 – Arturo Sandoval, Cuban-American jazz trumpeter and composer, born in Artemisa, Cuba
1957 – Klaus Kleinfeld, German industrialist, born in Bremen, Germany
1982 – Sowelu, Japanese pop singer, born in Tokyo, Japan

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Famous Deaths

1632 – Gustavus II Adolphus, King who made Sweden a major power (1611-32), dies at battle of Lützen at 37
1944 – Hannah Senesh, Jewish poetess, executed by Nazis in Budapest
1958 – Francis George Scott, Scottish composer, dies at 78
2004 – Johnny Warren, Australian soccer player, dies at 61
2007 – Enzo Biagi, Italian journalist and writer, dies at 87
2016 – Zoltan Kocsis, Hungarian pianist and conductor, dies of cancer at 64

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Historical Events

1935 – Parker Brothers launches the board game Monopoly
1959 – AFL announced with 8 teams
1972 – Vice-President of Sinn Féin Maire Drumm is arrested in the Republic of Ireland
1976 – New AL franchises in Seattle and Toronto fill up their rosters
2012 – Widespread flooding in Nigeria kills 363 people and displaces 2.1 million
2018 – BBC opens its largest news bureau outside the UK in Nairobi, Kenya with 300 journalists

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Famous Birthdays

1615 – Ibrahim I, 18th Ottoman Sultan (1640-48), born in Constantinople, Ottoman Empire (d. 1648)
1742 – Richard Cosway, English portrait painter, born in Tiverton, England (d. 1821)
1911 – Roy Rogers, American cowboy actor and singer (“Happy Trails”; Roy Rogers Show), born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 1998)
1929 – Lennart Johansson, Swedish soccer administrator (President Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) 1990–2007), born in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 2019)
1957 – David Moyse, Australian rock vocalist (Air Supply – “All Out Of Love”), born in Adelaide, Australia
1983 – Alexa Chung, English TV presenter, model and designer, born in Privett, England

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Famous Deaths

1660 – Alexandre de Rhodes, French Jesuit missionary (b. 1591)
1943 – Louis Schelfhout, Dutch painter and graphic artist, dies at 62
1969 – Itih Walracen, Sudanese widow of author William Walraven, dies
1989 – Barry Sadler, American singer (“Ballad Of The Green Berets”), dies from complications of being shot 14 months earlier at 49
2020 – Geoffrey Palmer, British actor (The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, The Madness of King George, Butterflies), dies at 93
2020 – Len Barry [Leonard Borisoff], American singer, songwriter and producer (The Dovells – “Bristol Stomp”; solo – “1-2-3”), dies of bone marrow cancer at 78

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