Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1813 – The Pacific Fur Company trading post in Astoria, Oregon is turned over to the rival British North West Company (the fur trade in the Pacific Northwest was dominated for the next three decades by the United Kingdom).
1819 – 1st ship sails through the Erie Canal from Rome, New York to Utica, New York
1886 – “World Championship” Baseball Series, Sportsman’s Park, St. Louis: St.L Browns edge Chicago White Stockings, 4-3 in 10 innings in Game 6 to take series, 4-2
1973 – Yankee GM and President Lee MacPhail named AL president
1989 – Browns’ Bernie Kosar sets club record with a 97-yard TD pass
1996 – New York Yankees set record recovering from 0-6 in Baseball World Series game to beat Braves, 8-6 in Game 4 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium; record 7th straight post-season road win

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Famous Birthdays

1805 – Adalbert Stifter, Austrian author and painter (Nachsommer), born in Oberplan, Bohemia (d. 1868)
1869 – Jacobus H “Koos” Speenhoff, Dutch cabaret singer, born in Kralingen, Holland (d. 1945)
1876 – Franz Schlegelberger, German judge and politician (d. 1970)
1936 – Barry Sinclair, New Zealand cricket batsman and captain (21 Tests, 3 x 100s; Wellington CA), born in Wellington, New Zealand (d. 2022)
1965 – Al Leiter, American pitcher (Florida Marlins, NY Mets), born in Toms River, New Jersey
1987 – Seo In-Guk, South Korean singer-songwriter and actor (The Master’s Sun), born in Ulsan, South Korea

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Famous Deaths

1890 – Charles Verlat, Flemish painter, dies at 65
1899 – Penn Symons, British Major General during Second Boer War, dies in battle during the Battle Of Talana Hill at 56
1978 – Maybelle Carter, American country singer (Johnny Cash Show), dies at 69
2001 – Ronald William Kirby, British artist, dies at 72
2003 – Tony Capstick, English actor, comedian, and musician. dies of an aneurysm at 59
2009 – Lou Jacobi, Canadian actor and comedian (Irma la Douce, The Dean Martin Show), dies at 95

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Historical Events

1926 – Boxer J. Gordon Whitehead sucker punches magician Harry Houdini in the stomach in in his dressing room at the Princess Theater in Montreal. The attack started, contributed, or covered-up the appendicitis that would take Houdini’s life 9 days later.
1930 – Blake and Razaf’s “Lew Leslie’s Blackbirds of 1930” premieres in NYC
1935 – PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Twin Hills CC: Johnny Revolta wins his only major title, defeating Tommy Armour, 5 and 4
2012 – MLB National League Championship: San Francisco Giants beat St. Louis Cardinals, 4 games to 3
2018 – Cameroon’s President Paul Biya wins seventh term in office, extending his 36 years in office, in election marred by intimidation and low turnout
2020 – Goldman Sachs agrees to pay record $3 billion to end probe into its role in 1MDB corruption scandal to regulators in the US, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia

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Famous Birthdays

1809 – Federico Ricci, Italian composer, born in Naples, Kingdom of Naples (now Italy) (d. 1877)
1935 – Judy Devlin Hashman, Canadian badminton player (World Team C’ship gold US 1957, 60, 63, 66), born in Winnipeg, Manitoba
1938 – Christopher Lloyd, American Emmy Award-winning actor (Taxi – “Reverend Jim”; Back to the Future films), born in Stamford, Connecticut
1959 – Todd Graff, American actor (Five Corners, Dominic and Eugene), born in NYC, New York
1960 – Cris Kirkwood, American cow-punk bassist, singer, and songwriter (Meat Puppets – “Backwater”), born in Phoenix, Arizona
1975 – Míchel Salgado, Spanish soccer defender (53 caps; Celta Vigo, Real Madrid 251 games, Blackburn Rovers), born in As Neves, Spain

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Famous Deaths

1725 – Alessandro Scarlatti, Italian baroque composer (Tigrane), dies at 65
1989 – Ewan MacColl [James Miller], Scottish folk singer-songwriter (“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”), dies at 74
1990 – Frank Sinkwich, American College Football Hall of Fame halfback (Heisman Trophy 1942, U of Georgia; NFL Draft #1 pick Detroit Lions 1943; NFL MVP 1944), dies at 70
1995 – Mary Wickes [Wickenhauser], American character actress (Father Dowling Mysteries; Sister Act; Dennis The Menace), dies of surgery complications at 79
2004 – Alastair Down, CEO (Burmah Oil), dies at 90
2021 – Jay Black [David Blatt], American pop singer (Jay and the Americans – “Come A Little Bit Closer”; “This Magic Moment”), dies of pneumonia and complications from dementia at 82

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Historical Events

1096 – Sultan Kilidj Arslan of Nicea defeats The People’s Crusade at the Battle of Civetot, only about 3,000 out of 20,000 Crusaders survive
1854 – Florence Nightingale with a staff of 38 nurses is sent to the Crimean War
1961 – USSR performs nuclear test at Sary Shagan USSR
1975 – Mexico City’s 1st major subway accident takes 26 lives
2004 – MLB National League Championship: St. Louis Cardinals beat Houston Astros, 4 games to 3
2020 – Parents of 545 children cannot be found that were separated at the US-Mexico border according to American Civil Liberties Union

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Famous Birthdays

1803 – George Wright, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Norwich, Vermont (d. 1865)
1847 – Giuseppe Giacosa, Italian playwright, poet, and librettist (Puccini’s “La bohème”, “Tosca”, and “Madama Butterfly”), born in Colleretto Parella, Kingdom of Sardinia (now Italy) (d. 1906)
1928 – Ardico Magnini, Italian soccer defender (20 caps; Fiorentina 225 games), born in Pistoia, Italy (d. 2020)
1940 – Manfred Mann [Michael Lubowitz], British, rocker (“Mighty Quinn”; “Blinded By The Light”), born in Johannesburg, Transvaal, Union of South Africa
1945 – Everett McGill, actor (Jezebel’s Kiss, Silver Bullet), born in Miami, Florida
1949 – Masao Ohba, Japanese boxer (WBA flyweight champion), born in Tokyo, Japan (d. 1973)

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Famous Deaths

1500 – Go-Tsuchimikado, 103rd Emperor of Japan, dies at 58
1777 – Samuel Foote, British actor, dramatist and theatre manager (Mirror), dies at 57
1977 – Ferit Tüzün, Turkish composer (Esintiler – Inspirations; The Ears of Midas), and conductor (Turkish State Opera and Ballet Orchestra, 1959-77), dies at 48
1995 – Linda Goodman, American astrologer and poet, dies from complications of diabetes at 70
2003 – Fred Berry, African-American actor (Rerun-What’s Happening), dies at 52
2007 – Ronald B. Kitaj, American-British painter and graphic artist (pop art), dies at 74

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Historical Events

1906 – Dr Lee DeForest demonstrates his electrical vacuum tube (radio tube)
1940 – Cheese rationed in the Netherlands
1968 – Margitta Gummel of East Germany throws world record 19.61m to beat teammate Marita Lange by 0.83m and win the women’s shot put gold medal at the Mexico City Olympics
2013 – 37 people are killed in a suicide bombing in Baghdad, Iraq
2013 – 78 people are killed by cattle raiders in Jonglei, Sudan
2018 – 12,000 year old fossil called “Luzia”, oldest known fossil in South America announced found mostly intact after devastating fire at Brazil’s National Museum

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Famous Birthdays

1616 – Thomas Bartholin, Danish physician, mathematician, and theologian (d. 1680)
1884 – Thomas Chalmers, American opera singer, actor, and filmmaker (Blind Alleys, Outrage), born in NYC, New York (d. 1966)
1923 – Herschel Bernardi, American actor (Arnie, Voice of Charlie the Tuna, Front), born in NYC, New York (d. 1986)
1961 – Ian Rush, Welsh footballer (Liverpool), born in St Asaph, Wales
1966 – Fred Coury, American glam rock drummer (Cinderella -“Heartbreak Station”; “Nobody’s Fool”), born in Johnston, New York
1967 – Harvey Pulliam, American MLB outfielder (Colorado Rockies), born in San Francisco, California

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Famous Deaths

1906 – William “Buck” Ewing, American Baseball HOF catcher (NL home run leader 1883 NY Giants; Cincinnati Reds) and manager (NY Giants, Cincinnati Reds), dies of diabetes at 67
1994 – Sergei Bondarchuk, Soviet director and actor (Destiny of a Man, War and Peace), dies of a heart attack at 74
1997 – Henry Vestine, American guitarist (Canned Heat), dies of heart and respiratory failure at 52
2003 – Jack Elam, American actor (The Dakotas, East Street, Rio Lobo), dies at 82
2006 – Frank Vicari, American jazz, session, and touring saxophonist (Maynard Ferguson; Woody Herman; Tom Waits; Saturday Night Live), dies at 75
2010 – Bob Guccione, American publisher (Penthouse, Omni), dies of lung cancer at 79

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Historical Events

1863 – Battle of Buckland Mills, Virginia
1870 – 1st African Americans (4) elected to US House of Representatives
1919 – 1st US Distinguished Service Medal awarded to a living female recipient, Anna Howard Shaw
1952 – Alain Bombard departs from the Canary Islands on his solitary journey across the Atlantic ocean with almost no provisions and only a sextant for navigation to test his theory that a shipwrecked person could survive
2013 – 16 people are killed and 30 are wounded by a suicide bombing Beledweyne, Somalia
2019 – Sunnyside, Queens, New York City: Intersection of 46th Street and Skillman Avenue named “Ethel Plimack Way”, in honor of a longtime resident

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Famous Birthdays

1688 – William Cheselden, English surgeon and anatomist (d. 1752)
1866 – Clarence Lucas, Canadian composer, librettist, conductor, and music professor, born in Six Nations Reserve, Ontario (d. 1947)
1954 – Deborah Blum, American writer
1962 – Tracy Chevalier, American author
1964 – Webster Slaughter, NFL wide receiver (KC Chiefs)
1969 – Pedro Castillo, Peruvian teacher, union leader and politician (President of Peru 2021-22), born in Puña,, Peru

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Famous Deaths

1609 – Jacobus Arminius [Jacob Hermans], theologist, dies at about 49
1918 – Harold Lockwood, American actor (Tess of the Storm Country), dies from the flu at 31
1988 – Edward “Son” House, American delta blues singer-songwriter and guitarist (“Walking Blues”; “Preachin’ The Blues”), dies of larynx cancer at 86
1996 – Neville Robinson, English physicist, dies at 71
1997 – Pilar Miró, Spanish screenwriter and director (Wether, Beltenebros), dies at 57
2003 – Hawk [Michael Hegstrand], American professional wrestler (ECW/WCW/WWF/AWA, Legion of Doom), dies at 46

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Historical Events

1534 – New pursuit of French protestants
1667 – English fleet plunders Suriname plantations
1941 – Soviet spy Richard Sorge arrested in Tokyo
1962 – Tony Sheridan and Beat Brothers record “Let’s Dance”
1969 – British singer Rod Stewart joins Small Faces
2012 – Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen are honoured for their work with fashion label The Row at the WSJ Magazine’s Innovator Of The Year Awards in New York City

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Famous Birthdays

1405 – Pius II [Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini], Italian pope (1458-64), (Commentaries – only biography by a reigning Pope), born in Corsignano, Republic of Siena (d. 1464)
1818 – Edward Otho Cresap Ord, American engineer and Major General (Union Army), born in Cumberland, Maryland (d. 1883)
1918 – Robert “Bobby” Troup, American jazz pianist and actor (Emergency; Acapulco), born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (d. 1999)
1919 – Pierre Trudeau, 15th Canadian Prime Minister (Liberal: 1968-79, 1980-84), born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 2000)
1933 – Forrest Gregg, American Pro Football HOF tackle (9 x Pro Bowl; 7 × First-team All-Pro; Green Bay Packers) and coach (Cleveland Browns, Toronto Argonauts, Cincinnati Bengals, GB Packers), born in Birthright, Texas (d. 2019)
1960 – Doug Lidster, Kamloops, NHL defenseman (NY Rangers)

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Famous Deaths

1382 – James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormonde, dies at 51
1982 – Pierre Mendès-France, French Premier (1954-55), dies at 75
1982 – Bess Truman, US First Lady (1945-52), dies of Congestive heart failure at 97
1984 – Florence Rinard, TV panelist (20 Questions), dies at 82
1997 – Bill Rotsler, cartoonist/writer, dies of cancer at 62
1997 – Roberto C Goizueta, CEO (Coca-Cola), dies of lung cancer at 65

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Historical Events

1899 – Sutro railroad sold to Robert F Morrow for $215,000
1957 – II Tsjoendrigar becomes premier of Pakistan
1976 – Coldest World Series game; Reds beat NY Yankees, 4-3 in Game 2 at Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati; 39 degrees F (until 1997)
1995 – MLB American League Championship: Cleveland Indians beat Seattle Mariners, 4 games to 2
1998 – At Jesse, in the Niger Delta, Nigeria, a petroleum pipeline explodes killing about 1200 villagers, some of whom are scavenging gasoline.
2010 – Brother André is the first Canadian to be canonized post Federation by Pope Benedict XVI

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Famous Birthdays

1704 – William Bentinck, British-born Dutch politician and prominent Orangist (d. 1774)
1734 – Grigori Orlov, Russian military officer and favorite of Catherine the Great (helped her overthrow Peter III), born in Bezhetsky Uyezd, Russia (d. 1783) [NS]
1848 – William “Candy” Cummings, American Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher (credited with creating the curveball), born in Ware, Massachusetts (d. 1924)
1969 – Ernie Els, South African golfer (US Open 1994, 97; British Open 2002, 12), born in Johannesburg, South Africa
1977 – Bryan Bertino, American film director and screenwriter
1989 – Phoebe Tonkin, Australian actress

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Famous Deaths

1660 – Adrian Scrope, English regicide (b. 1601)
1897 – Isidor Dannström, Swedish composer, dies at 84
1979 – Karel Reiner, Czech pianist, composer, and Theresienstadt concentration camp survivor, dies at 69
1993 – Criss Oliva, American musician (Savatage), dies at 30
1995 – Peter Hinchcliff, historian, dies at 66
2019 – Alicia Alonso, Cuban ballerina and founder of the National Ballet of Cuba, dies at 98

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Historical Events

1903 – Homel, 1st Jewish self defense organization founded in Russia
1908 – Edmonton Rugby Foot-ball Club re-organizes as Esquimoux
1957 – USAF sends 2 aluminium bullets into space
1986 – Joe Raposa’s musical “Raggedy Ann: The Musical Adventure”, starring Ivy Austin, opens at Nederlander Theater, NYC; runs for 5 performances
1995 – Brian Lara scores 169 in Sharjah ODI versus Sri Lanka
2013 – 21 people are killed after a minibus hits a land mine in Nawa, Syria

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Famous Birthdays

1888 – Paul Popenoe, American activist (d. 1979)
1945 – Roger Hawkins, American session drummer (the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section – Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin), born in Mishawaka, Indiana (d. 2021)
1949 – André Leon Talley, American fashion expert, former Vogue editor, born in Washington, D.C.
1956 – James H Newman, Trust Territory of Pacific, PhD/Astronaut (STS 51, 69)
1960 – Val Skinner, American golfer (6 LPGA Tour wins), born in Hamilton, Montana
1991 – Joshua Crumbly, American jazz bassist, born in Westlake Village, California

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Famous Deaths

1822 – Eva Marie Veigel [La Violette], Austrian ballet dancer and wife of actor David Garrick, dies at 98
1946 – Fritz Sauckel, German Nazi General of Labor, hanged at 51
1946 – Arthur Seyss-Inquart, Austrian Nazi politician (Austrian Chancellor, 1938), and war criminal responsible for deportation of Dutch Jews, hanged at 54
1946 – Hans Frank, German Nazi Governor General of Occupied Poland, hanged by Allied forces after the Nuremberg war trials at 46
1973 – Gene Krupa, American jazz and swing drummer (“Sing, Sing, Sing”), dies of heart failure while battling leukemia and emphysema at 64
2004 – Pierre Salinger, American newsman (ABC) and press secretary (John F. Kennedy), dies at 79

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Historical Events

1917 – Dutch exotic dancer Mata Hari is executed by firing squad for spying for Germany during WWI at Vincennes near Paris
1939 – Yeshiva of Mir closes after 124 years
1963 – Ludwig Erhard succeeds Konrad Adenauer as Chancellor of West Germany
1980 – Nobel Prize in Economics awarded to Lawrence Klein
1984 – Central Intelligence Agency Information Act passes
1986 – MLB National League Championship: New York Mets beat Houston Astros, 4 games to 2

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Famous Birthdays

1858 – John L. Sullivan, American boxer (first heavyweight gloved champion, de facto 1882-92; last heavyweight bare-knuckle champion), born in Roxbury, Massachusetts (d. 1918)
1911 – James H. Schmitz, American sci-fi author (Lion Game), born in Hamburg, Germany (d. 1981)
1943 – Penny Marshall, American actress (The Odd Couple; Laverne and Shirley), and director (Big; Awakenings; A League of Their Own), and producer (Cinderella Man), born in The Bronx, New York (d. 2018)
1957 – Mira Nair, Indian-American filmmaker (Monsoon Wedding), born in Rourkela, Odisha, India
1966 – Bill Charlap, American jazz pianist (Phil Woods; Tony Bennett; Sandy Stewart), and educator, born in New York City
1970 – Lonnie Palelei, American football offensive lineman (NY Jets), born in Nu’uuli, American Samoa

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Famous Deaths

961 – Abd al-Rahman III, Umayyad Emir (912-29) and 1st Caliph of Córdoba (929-961), dies at 70
1268 – Dirk II, mister of Valkenburg, dies
2001 – Zhang Xueliang, Chinese ruler of Manchuria, dies at 100
2005 – Matti Wuori, Finnish politician, dies of cancer at 60
2008 – Tom Tresh, American baseball utility (MLB All-Star 1962, 63; AL Rookie of Year and World Series 1962 NY Yankees), dies from a heart attack at 70
2022 – Joyce Sims, American RandB singer-songwriter (“All and All”; “Come into My Life”), dies at 63

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Historical Events

1805 – Battle of Elchingen, France defeats Austria
1934 – “Lux Radio Theatre” premieres
1958 – Paul Osborn’s “World of Suzie Wong” premieres in NYC
1964 – US 4 x 100m freestyle relay team of Steve Clark, Mike Austin, Gary Ilman and Don Schollander swim world record 3:33.2 to beat Germany by 4.0s and win the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics
2018 – Afghan batsman Hazratullah Zazai becomes only the 6th player in cricket history (3rd in T20) to hit 6-sixes in an over; scores 62 in 17 balls in Kabul Zwanan loss v Balkh Legends in Afghanistan Premier League
2020 – French president Emmanuel Macron announces a public health emergency and a curfew of 9 pm for nine cities due to surge in COVID-19 cases

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Famous Birthdays

1687 – Robert Simson, Scottish mathematician (Simson line), born in West Kilbride, Ayrshire, Scotland (d. 1768)
1891 – Paul de Keyser, Flemish philologist and folklorist, born in Ghent, Belgium (d. 1966)
1892 – Sumner Welles, American diplomat (Good neighbor policy), born in New York (d. 1961)
1906 – Hannah Arendt, German-American political theorist and historian (Origins of Totalitarianism), born in Hanover, Germany (d. 1975)
1970 – Pär Zetterberg, Swedish football player
1976 – Henry Mateo, Dominican baseball player

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Famous Deaths

1660 – Thomas Harrison, English Puritan soldier (b. 1606)
1909 – Gottfred Matthison-Hansen, Danish composer, dies at 76
1923 – Marcellus Emants, Dutch writer and poet (Refrained from Confession), dies at 75
1967 – Marcel Aymé, French novelist and playwright, dies at 65
1980 – S N Banerjee, cricketer (one Test for India), dies
2020 – Herbert Kretzmer, South African-British lyricist of Lithuanian heritage (Les Misérables), dies at 95

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