Category: On This Day

Historical Events

533 – General Belisarius of the Byzantine Empire defeats Gelimer and the Vandals at the Battle of Ad Decimium, near Carthage, North Africa
1924 – 19th Davis Cup: USA beats Australia in Philadelphia (5-0)
1971 – WIIQ TV channel 41 in Demopolis, AL (PBS) begins broadcasting
1971 – Nikita Khrushchev, Soviet premier, buried in Moscow
1985 – John Williams introduces new Today Show theme
1990 – Iraqi troops storm residence of French ambassador in Kuwait

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Famous Birthdays

1475 – Cesare Borgia, Duke of Valentinois, Italian aristocrat, born in Rome, Papal States (d. 1507)
1814 – Nicolas Beets [Hildebrand], Dutch writer (Camera Obscura) and theologian, born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 1903)
1902 – Hermine Heijermans, Dutch actress, politician and author (Grote Klaas en kleine Klaas), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 1983)
1924 – Norman Alden, American character actor (I Never Promised You a Rose Garden), born in Fort Worth, Texas (d. 2012)
1963 – Theodoros Roussopoulos, Greek politician (Minister of State), born in Messinia, Greece
1993 – Niall Horan, Irish Pop singer (One Direction – “What Makes You Beautiful”), born in Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland

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Famous Deaths

1881 – Ambrose Burnside, American soldier, industrialist and politician (Governor of Rhode Island, 1866-69) who popularized sideburns, dies of a heart attack at 57
1915 – Andrew L. Harris, American Civil War hero and Governor of Ohio (b. 1835)
1946 – Eugene Lanceray, Russian artist, dies at 71
1994 – John Stevens, British jazz drummer (Spontaneous Music Ensemble), dies of a heart attack at 54
2001 – Dorothy McGuire, American actress (Gentlemen’s Agreement, Old Yeller, Summer Magic), dies of cardiac arrest following a short illness at 85
2012 – Peter Lougheed, Canadian politician (10th Premier of Alberta), dies at 84

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Historical Events

1908 – Canada appoints a Civil Service Commission, initiating a more equitable system for selecting civil servants
1935 – US National Championship Men’s Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Wilmer Allison beats Sidney Wood 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 for his lone major singles title
1953 – Brooklyn Dodgers clinch NL pennant earlier than any other team, defeating Milwaukee Braves 5-2. Brooklyn finishes season with record of 105-49.
1956 – Black students enter and are barred from Clay Ky elementary school
2005 – Hong Kong Disneyland opens in Penny’s Bay, Lantau Island, Hong Kong.
2009 – US Open Women’s Tennis: Belgian Kim Clijsters becomes first unseeded player and wildcard to win the tournament; beats Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 7-5, 6-3

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Famous Birthdays

1855 – Jacobus of Looy, Dutch writer and painter (Death of My Cat), born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 1930)
1901 – Ernst Pepping, German composer, born in Duisburg, Germany (d. 1981)
1944 – Ron Ward, Canadian ice hockey player (Toronto Maple Leafs), born in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada
1946 – Tony “T-Bone” Bellamy, American rock guitarist (Redbone), born in Las Vegas, Nevada (d. 2009)
1962 – Amy Yasbeck, American actress (Casey Davenport-Wings, Mask), born in Blue Ash, Ohio
1996 – Colin Ford, American actor (Under the Dome; We Bought a Zoo), born in Nashville, Tennessee

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Famous Deaths

1732 – Jean Philippe Eugène de Mérode, Belgian marquis of Westerloo, dies at 58
1947 – Harry Rowe Shelley, American hymn composer, dies at 89
1953 – Hugo Schmeisser, German inventor and weapons designer, dies at 68
2004 – John Buller, British composer, dies at 77
2008 – David Foster Wallace, American author and essayist (b. 1962)
2017 – Edith Windsor [née Schlain], American LGBT rights activist (lead plaintiff in United States v. Windsor), dies at 88

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Historical Events

1912 – Philadelphia second baseman Eddie Collins steals MLB record 6 bases in the Athletics’ 9-7 win over Detroit Tigers at Navin Field
1922 – The Treaty of Kars is ratified in Yerevan, Armenia
1961 – Founding of the World Wildlife Fund in Morges, Switzerland
1963 – Typhoon Gloria strikes Taiwan killing 330, with $17.5 million damage
1987 – Shoot out at Jean-Bertrand Aristides’ church in Haiti, 12 die
2016 – US Open Men’s Tennis: Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland wins his 3rd major title; beats defending champion Novak Đoković 6-7, 1-7, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3

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Famous Birthdays

1741 – Johann Jakob Engel, German author (Herr Lorenz Stark), born in Parchim, Germany (d. 1802)
1753 – Friedrich August Baumbach, German composer, born in Gotha, Germany (d. 1813)
1876 – Stan Rowley, Australian athlete (Olympic gold 5,000m team, bronze 60m, 100m, 200m 1900), born in Young, Australia (d. 1924)
1953 – Lenise Bent, American audio engineer in music (Blondie, The Knack) and film (L.A. Heat), born in Los Angeles, California
1956 – Tony Gilroy, American screenwriter and director (Bourne), born in Manhattan, New York
1968 – Kay Hanley, American singer-songwriter (Letters to Cleo), born in Boston, Massachusetts

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Famous Deaths

1709 – Oxenstiern, Dutch general, dies in the Battle of Malplaquet
1926 – Matsunosuke Onoe [Tsuruzo Nakamura], Japanese actor (Araki Mataemon, Yajîkita: zenpen), Japanese actor, dies at 50
1956 – Billy Bishop, Canadian First World War flying ace with 72 kills, dies at 62
1993 – Antoine Izmery, Haitian businessman and advisor to President Aristide, murdered by paramilitaries
2001 – Daniel M. Lewin, American–Israeli mathematician and founder of Akamai Technologies, dies in the terror attacks aboard flight 11 at 31
2020 – (Frederick) “Toots” Hibbert, Jamaican singer-songwriter (The Maytals – “Pressure Drop”), dies with COVID-19 symptoms at 77

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Historical Events

1872 – Karl Marx speaks in Amsterdam
1963 – 20 black students enter public schools in Alabama
1980 – Peter Comita replaces Tom Peterson of Cheap Trick
1988 – Gretchen Elizabeth Carlson (Minnesota), 22, crowned 62nd Miss America 1989
2004 – “Crash” directed by Paul Haggis and starring Don Cheadle and Sandra Bullock premieres at the Toronto Film Festival (Best Picture 2006)
2016 – US Open Women’s Tennis: Angelique Kerber beats Karolína Plíšková 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to become first German player to win the event since Steffi Graf in 1996

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Famous Birthdays

1866 – Tor Aulin, Swedish composer, born in Stockholm, Sweden (d. 1914)
1897 – David L. Snell, American pianist and composer for films (MGM Studio), born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (d. 1967) 
1908 – Raymond Scott [Harry Warnow], American composer (‘The Toy Trumpet’), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1994)
1935 – Mary Oliver, American poet (1984 Pulitzer Prize), born in Maple Heights, Ohio (d. 2019)
1968 – Guy Ritchie, British film director (Sherlock Holmes), born in Hartfield, England
1986 – Hiroki Uchi, Japanese Idol singer, model and actor, born in Habikino, Japan

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Famous Deaths

918 – Baldwin II, Count of Flanders, dies at about 53
1308 – Emperor Go-Nijō of Japan (b. 1285)
1419 – John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy (1404-19), assassinated by adherents of the Dauphin, the future Charles VII of France at 48
1954 – Peter Anders, German opera singer, dies at 46
1975 – George Paget Thomson, English physicist who demonstrated electron diffraction (Nobel 1937), dies at 83
1976 – Dalton Trumbo, American writer and film director (Johnny Got His Gun), dies at 70

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Historical Events

1817 – Alexander Twilight, probably first African American to graduate from a US college, receives BA degree at Middlebury College
1922 – St Louis Brown “Baby Doll” Jacobson hits 3 triples beating Tigers 16-0
1982 – Conestoga 1, 1st private commercial rocket, makes suborbital flight
2002 – MLB Arizona Diamondbacks’ lefthanded pitcher Randy Johnson reaches 300 strikeouts for the fifth consecutive season, extending his major league record
2012 – 100 people are killed and 350 injured after a wave of attacks across Iraq
2016 – North Korea conducts its fifth nuclear test at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site, at the time its largest ever test at 10 kilotons but superseded by the 2017 test

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Famous Birthdays

1731 – Francisco Javier Clavijero, Mexican Jesuit teacher and writer, born in Veracruz, Mexico (d. 1787)
1875 – Jack O’Connor, Australian cricket fast bowler (4 Tests, 13 wickets, BB 5/40; NSW CA, SA CA), born in Boorowa, Australia (d. 1941)
1896 – Fritz Reutter, German composer and pedagogue, born in Löbtau, Saxony, German Empire (d. 1963)
1926 – Robert Reese, American actor, born in Port Arthur, Texas (d. 1992)
1929 – Stan Parris, American politician (Rep-R-VA, 1973-74, 81-91), born in Champaign, Illinois (d. 2010)
1974 – Mathias Färm, Swedish guitarist (Millencolin), born in Örebro, Sweden

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Famous Deaths

1612 – Nakagawa Hidenari, Japanese warlord (b. 1570)
1963 – Ernst Kantorowicz, German-American historian (Laudes regiae), dies at 68
1966 – Leon de Smet, Belgian painter (Luminist school), dies at 85
1981 – Jacques Lacan, French psychoanalyst and semanticist, dies at 80
2014 – Antonín Tučapský, Czech composer, teacher, and choral conductor, dies at 86
2019 – Robert Frank, Swiss-American photographer (The Americans), and filmmaker (Pull My Daisy; Candy Mountain), dies at 94

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Historical Events

1899 – British government sends an additional 10,000 troops to Natal, South Africa
1943 – NY Giants’ pitcher Ace Adams sets record by working in his 62nd game
1958 – Paul Anka opens Asian tour in Tokyo
1963 – US National Championship Women’s Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: Maria Bueno of Brazil wins second of 4 US singles crowns; beats defending champion Margaret Smith of Australia 7-5, 6-4
1985 – 7 die in a car and train crash in San Jose, California
1995 – Cleveland Indians clinch 1st AL Central Division title

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Famous Birthdays

1515 – Alfonso Salmeron, Spanish Jesuit biblical scholar, born in Toledo, Spain (d. 1585)
1907 – Sid Tomack, American actor (The Life of Riley, Adventures of Superman), born in Brooklyn, New York (d. 1962)
1923 – Artie Anton, American jazz drummer, conguero, and timbalero (Stan Kenton, Jimmy Guiffre), born in New York City (d. 2003)
1933 – Eric Salzman, American composer (New Musical Theater), born in New York City (d. 2017)
1943 – Adelaide C. Eckardt, American politician, born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
1988 – Chantal Jones, American fashion model, born in Austin, Texas

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Famous Deaths

1984 – Frank Lowson, England cricket batsman (7 Tests, 2 x 50s; Yorkshire CCC), dies at 59
1984 – Rene Bernier, Belgian composer, dies at 79
1995 – Olga Ivinskaya, mistress of Boris Pasternak, dies of cancer at 83
1995 – Halldis Moren Vesaas, Norwegian author and poet (Harp and Dagger), dies at 87
2009 – Raymond “Ray” Barrett, Australian actor (The Troubleshooters, Gillette Summer Sports Reel), dies at 82
2012 – Bill Moggridge [William], British designer (IDEO), dies from cancer at 69

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Historical Events

1191 – Third Crusade: Richard I of England defeats Saladin in the Battle of Arsuf
1942 – US National Championship Men’s Tennis, Forest Hills, NY: American Ted Schroeder wins his first of 2 Grand Slam events; beats countryman Frank Parker 8-6, 7-5, 3-6, 4-6, 6-2
1950 – Monasteries shut down in Hungary
1952 – Outfielder Don Grate throws a baseball a record 434’1″ (Tenn)
1970 – Jerry Lewis’ 5th Muscular Dystrophy telethon
1974 – Shirley Cothran (Texas), 21, crowned 47th Miss America 1975

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Famous Birthdays

1860 – Grandma Moses [Anna Mary Robertson], American primitive painter (Old Oaken Bucket), born in Greenwich, New York (d. 1961)
1864 – Ernest Halliwell, South African cricket wicketkeeper (8 Tests), born in Ealing, England (d. 1919)
1925 – Laura Ashley, Welsh fashion designer, businesswoman and co-founder of Laura Ashley, born in Dowlais, Merthyr Tydfil,
Wales (d. 1985)
1927 – John Milford, American actor (Command and Conquer: Red Alert, Homefront), born in Johnstown, New York (d. 2000)
1975 – Harold Wallace, Costa Rican footballer, born in Heredia, Costa Rica
1980 – Mark Prior, American baseball player, coach (Chicago Cubs), born in San Diego, California

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Famous Deaths

1984 – Joe Cronin, American Baseball HOF shortstop (7 x MLB All Star), manger (Boston RS, Washington Senators) and executive (AL President 1959-73), dies at 77
1986 – Vladimir Alexandrovich Vlasov, Russian-Soviet conductor and composer, dies at 83
1998 – John Hayes, British Naval Officer and Naval Secretary, dies at 85
2008 – Richard “Popcorn” Wylie, American RandB and soul pianist, bandleader, songwriter, and record producer, dies of congestive heart failure at 69
2011 – Josef Vašíček, Czech ice hockey center (World C’ship gold 2005; Carolina Hurricanes), dies in Lokomotiv Yaroslavl air disaster at 30
2022 – Bernard Shaw, American television news journalist (CBS, ABC), and 1st anchor of CNN, dies of pneumonia at 82

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Historical Events

1958 – Mary Ann Mobley (Miss), 21, crowned 31st Miss America 1959
1970 – USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1988 – USSR performs underground nuclear test
1993 – Jerry Lewis’ 28th Muscular Dystrophy telethon raises $46,014,922
1994 – Franziska van Almsick swims female record 200m freestyle (1:56.78)
2017 – Mother Teresa declared co-patron saint of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Calcutta alongside St. Francis Xavier

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Famous Birthdays

1876 – John Macleod, Scottish-Canadian physiologist (Nobel 1923), born in Clunie, Dunkeld, Scotland (d. 1935)
1911 – Bentley Bridgewater, British Museum secretary, born in Vancouver (d. 1996)
1938 – Joan Tower, American composer (Breakfast Rhythms), born in New Rochelle, New York
1940 – Jackie Trent, English singer-songwriter (“Neighbours” theme) and actress, born in Newcastle-under-Lyme (d. 2015)
1959 – David Tickle, British audio engineer and record producer (Split Enz; Four Non-Blondes), born in Guildford, Surrey, England
1974 – Nina Persson, Swedish musician (The Cardigans), born in Örebro, Sweden

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Famous Deaths

1783 – Carlo Bertinazzi, Italian actor and writer (commedia dell’arte), dies at 72
1938 – John Stuart Hindmarsh, British racing driver and aviator (b. 1907)
1981 – Christy Brown, Irish author (biography Down All the Days), dies after choking at 49
2007 – Percy Rodriguez [Rodrigues], Canadian actor (Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, Brainwaves), dies of kidney failure at 89
2020 – Lou Brock, American Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder (6 × MLB All-Star; World Series 1964, 67; 8 × NL stolen base leader; St Louis Cardinals), dies from multiple myeloma at 81
2021 – Jean-Pierre Adams, French soccer centre-back (22 caps; Nîmes, Nice, Paris Saint-Germain), dies after 39 years in a coma at 73

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Historical Events

1666 – Great Fire of London ends, leaving 13,200 houses destroyed and 8 dead
1915 – Tsar Nicholas II, distressed by increasing Russian losses, assumes personal command of his nation’s military forces; clearly a symbolic act and devastating for his leadership
1923 – Flyweights Gene LaRue and Kid Pancho KO each other simultaneously
1988 – CFL’s Earl Winfield (Ham) scores TDs on 101-yd punt return, 100-yd kickoff return and 58-yd pass reception
1989 – Deborah Norville becomes news anchor of Today Show
2017 – Brenda Hale, Baroness Hale of Richmond, becomes the first woman President of the UK Supreme Court

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Famous Birthdays

1638 – Louis XIV, King of France (1643-1715), known as “The Sun King”, had longest reign in country, born in Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France (d. 1715)
1666 – Gottfried Arnold, German theologist, historian and songwriter, born in Annaberg-Buchholz, Germany (d. 1714)
1874 – Napoleon “Nap” Lajoie, American Baseball HOF second baseman (Triple Crown 1901; AL batting champion 1901–04, 10; Philadelphia A’s, Cleveland Naps), born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island (d. 1959)
1905 – Justiniano Montano, Filipino politician, born in Tanza, Cavite, Philippines (d. 2005)
1949 – David “Clem” Clempson, British rock guitarist (Colosseum; Humble Pie), born in Tamworth, Staffordshire, England
1971 – Adam Hollioake, England cricketer, born in Melbourne, Australia

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Famous Deaths

1165 – Emperor Nijo of Japan (b. 1143)
1910 – Franz Xaver Haberl, German priest and musicologist (Magister choralis), dies at 70
1917 – Arthur Verhaegen, Belgian architect and worker’s union leader, dies at 70
2010 – Shoya Tomizawa Japanese MotoGP Racer, dies as the result of a crash at the San Marino Grand Prix at 19
2015 – Jacques Israelievitch, French Canadian classical violinist, concertmaster (St. Louis Symphony, 1978-88; Toronto Symphony, 1988-2008), and music director (Koffler Chamber Orchestra, 2005-14), dies of lung cancer at 67
2016 – Duane Graveline, American doctor and astronaut, dies at 85

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Historical Events

476 – Romulus Augustulus, last Western Roman Emperor, abdicates after forces led by Odoacer invade Rome. Traditional end of the Western Roman Empire.
1479 – King Alfonso I of Portugal recognizes Isabella as queen of Castile
1923 – A Charlot and N Coward’s revue “London Calling” premieres in London
1968 – Nigerian troops conquer the city of Aba, Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War
1989 – 46th Venice Film Festival: “A City of Sadness” directed by Hsiao-hsien Hou debuts and wins the Golden Lion
1992 – In his record 115th and final US Open singles match, Jimmy Connors is beaten by Ivan Lendl 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-0 in a 2nd-round night match

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Famous Birthdays

1816 – François Bazin, French composer, born in Marseille, France (d. 1878)
1824 – Anton Bruckner, Austrian composer (Te Deum, Wagner Symphony), Wagner disciple and “monumental bore”, born in Ansfelden, Austria (d. 1896)
1832 – Antonio Agliardi, Italian diplomat and Roman Catholic cardinal, born in Cologno al Serio, Italy (d. 1915)
1913 – Stanford Moore, American biochemist (Nobel 1977), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1982)
1926 – Robert J. Lagomarsino, American politician (Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California), born in Ventura, California
1941 – Marilena Chaui, Brazilian philosopher, born in São Paulo, Brazil

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Famous Deaths

1063 – Tughril, Turkish conqueror of Persia and Baghdad and founder of the Seljuk Empire (1037-63), dies at about 73
1821 – José Miguel Carrera, 1st President of Chile (1811-14), shot and killed after a show trial at 35
1993 – Hervé Villechaize, French-American actor (Fantasy Island – Ze plane! Ze plane!), shoots self to death at 50
1997 – Natko Devčić, Croatian composer, dies at 83
2002 – Vlado Perlemuter, Lithuanian-French pianist, dies at 98
2018 – Bill Daily, American actor and comedian (I Dream of Jeannie – “Roger”; The Bob Newhart Show – “Howard”), dies at 91

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