Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1930 – Richard Drew invents masking tape
1949 – MLB Cleveland Indians start 12-17, owner Bill Veeck arranges a “Second Opening Day”
1956 – US performs nuclear test at Enewetak Atoll (atmospheric tests)
1984 – Beth Henley’s “Miss Firecracker contest” premieres in NYC
2001 – Indianapolis 500: race rookie Hélio Castroneves of Brazil leads for the final 52 laps to win first of 4 Indy 500s; Penske Racing sweeps 1st-2nd with Gil de Ferran the runner-up

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1863 – Arthur Mold, English cricket fast bowler (England 3 Tests; 1,673 1st class wickets), born in Middleton Cheney, Northamptonshire (d. 1921)
1867 – Arnold Bennett, English novelist (Anna of the Five Towns), born in Hanley, Staffordshire, England (d. 1931)
1909 – Isador Goodman, South African-Australian pianist and composer (New Guinea Fantasy), born in Cape Town, South Africa (d. 1982)
1926 – Kees Rijvers, Dutch soccer midfielder (33 caps; NAC Breda, Saint-Étienne, Feyenoord) and manager (FC Twente, PSV Eindhoven, Netherlands), born in Breda, Netherlands (d. 2024)
1962 – Ray Borner, Australian basketball center (Olympics 1984, 88, 92, 96)

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

366 – Procopius, Roman usurper (b. 326)
1770 – Sophie Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach, Queen consort of Denmark and Norway (1730-46), dies at 69
1975 – Ezzard Charles, American world heavyweight boxing champion (1949-51), dies of ALS at 53
2017 – Gregg Allman, American Hammond organist, guitarist and vocalist (The Allman Brothers Band – “Whipping Post”), dies of cancer at 69
2018 – Connie Kurtz, American Gay Rights advocate, dies at 81

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1896 – James Dunham murders six people in Campbell, California
1943 – British PM Winston Churchill and US General George C. Marshall fly from the US to North Africa
1977 – George Willig climbs the South Tower of NYC’s World Trade Center, famously fined 1 cent for each of 110 stories he climbed
1982 – 26th European Cup: Aston Villa beats Bayern Munich 1-0 at Rotterdam
2004 – 12th UEFA Champions League Final: Porto beats AS Monaco 3-0 at Gelsenkirchen

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1893 – Eugene Goossens, British conductor and composer (Perseus), born in London, England (d. 1962)
1895 – Paul Lukas, Hungarian actor (Watch on the Rhine, Sphynx), born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 1971)
1895 – Dorothea Lange, American documentary photographer, born in Hoboken, New Jersey (d. 1965)
1913 – Peter Cushing, English actor (Dracula, Star Wars, Dr Who), born in Kenley, Surrey, England (d. 1994)
1946 – Neshka Robeva, Bulgarian rhythmic gymnast (World C’ship 3 x silver, 1 x bronze 1969) and coach (World, European and Olympic competition, 294 medals), born in Rousse, Bulgaria

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1944 – Cyril Francois, South African cricket all-rounder (5 Tests, 252 runs, 6 wickets), dies in a motor accident at 46
1947 – Nellie Neilson, PhD, American historian, first woman published in the American Historical Review, and the first female president of the American Historical Association, dies at 74
2002 – Mamo Wolde, Ethiopian marathoner (Olympic gold 1968), dies at 69
2017 – Zbigniew Brzezinski, Polish-American national security advisor to President Carter (1977-1981), dies at 89
2020 – Richard Herd, American actor (V: The Final Battle), dies of cancer at 87

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1936 – The Remington Rand strike, led by the American Federation of Labor, begins
1941 – Ted Williams raises his batting average over .400 for 1st time in 1941
1965 – Muhammad Ali KOs Sonny Liston at 2:12 of round 1 at Central Maine Civic Center, Lewiston to retain his WBC/WBA heavyweight boxing title
2013 – 17 children are killed by a gas cylinder explosion on a school bus in Gujrat, Pakistan
2018 – Barbados elects its first female Prime Minister Mia Mottley, who leads the Barbados Labour Party to victory

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1917 – Theodore Hesburgh, American Catholic priest and president of the University of Notre Dame (1952-87), born in Syracuse, New York (d. 2015)
1931 – John Gabriel [Jack Monkarsh], American stage and screen actor (Ryan’s Hope), singer, lyricist, and producer, born in Niagara Falls, New York (d. 2021)
1938 – Lyudmila Buldakova, Russian volleyball player (Olympic gold USSR 1968, 72), born in Saint Petersburg, Russia (d. 2006)
1946 – David A. Hargrave, American game designer and writer known as The Dream Weaver (Arduin), born in United States (d. 1988)
1978 – Adam Gontier, Canadian rock singer-songwriter (Three Days Grace), born in Peterborough, Ontario

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1555 – Henry II of Navarre (1517-55), dies at 52
1667 – Gustaf Bonde, Swedish statesman and regent for Charles XI, dies at 47
2000 – Nicholas Clay, English actor (Lady Chatterley’s Lover), dies at 53
2004 – Roger W. Straus Jr., American publisher and co-founder of Farrar, Straus and Giroux, dies at 87
2020 – Balbir Singh Sr., Indian field hockey centre forward (Olympic gold 1948, 52, 56) and coach (World Cup gold 1975), dies at 96

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1954 – German airline Lufthansa forms
1964 – The Beatles’ 4th appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show”, features an interview and pre-recorded performance of “You Can’t Do That”
1968 – American boxer Bob Foster defeats holder Dick Tiger for the world light-heavyweight Championship at Madison Square Gardens, New York (goes on to defend title x 14)
1981 – Hostage situation ends at the Central Bank in Barcelona, Spain
2004 – North Korea bans mobile phones

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1881 – Mikuláš S chneider-Trnavský, Slovak composer (Missa pastoralis), born in Trnava, Slovakia (d. 1958)
1925 – Pedro Gonzales-Gonzalez, American actor (Rio Bravo), born in Aguilares, Texas (d. 2006)
1932 – Graham Arnold, British artist (Brotherhood of Ruralists), born in Sydenham, London (d. 2019)
1950 – Jo Ann Washam, American golfer (3 LPGA Tour titles), born in Auburn, Washington
1978 – Brian Ching, American footballer (U.S. National Team), born in Hale’iwa, Hawaii

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1918 – Evan Williams, American oratorio tenor, dies at 50
1972 – Ismail Yasseen, Egyptian comedian and actor (Isamil Yassine as Tarzan, Ibn Hamidu), dies of a heart attack at 59
1987 – Hermione Ferdinanda Gingold, British actress (Gigi; The Music Man), dies at 89
1991 – Miriam di San Servolo, Italian actress (b. 1912)
2025 – Susan Brownmiller, American activist and feminist author (Against Our Wills), dies at 90 due to complications after a fall

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1943 – -24] 826 Allied bombers attack Dortmund
1944 – Chinese counter offensive at Hunan front
1970 – A fire breaks out in the Britannia Bridge over the Menai Straits in north Wales contributing to its partial destruction and causing approximately £1,000,000 worth of fire damage
1974 – Italian Red Brigade officer Mario Sossi freed
2019 – Fifty children rescued from an international paedophile ring on the dark web in Thailand, Australia and the US by Interpol under Operation Blackwrist, main organizer sentenced to 146 years

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1734 – Franz Anton Mesmer, Austrian physician and hypnotist (Mesmerism), born in Iznang, Germany (d. 1815)
1933 – Joan Collins, British actress (Dynasty – “Alexix”; The Bitch), and writer, born in Paddington, London
1951 – Don Warrington [Donald Williams], Trinidadian-born British actor (Rising Damp), born in Trinidad
1958 – François Feldman, French pop singer and songwriter (Petit Frank), born in Paris, France
1964 – Staci Greason, American actress (Isabella Toscando in “Days of Our Lives”), born in Denver, Colorado

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1498 – Girolamo Savonarola, Italian Dominican friar who helped expel Medici from Florence, becoming the city’s de facto ruler (1494-98), and preached against papal corruption, hanged at 45
1857 – Augustin Louis Cauchy, French mathematician and physicist, dies at 67
1926 – Hans Koessler, German composer, conductor and music teacher, dies at 73
1947 – Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz, Swiss writer (Le Petit Village), dies at 68
2025 – Barbara Ferris, British stage and screen actress (Nice Girl Like Me, Having a Wild Weekend), dies at 85

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1942 – Mexico declares war on Nazi-Germany and Japan
1987 – 30 killed in a Texas tornado
1994 – Musical sequel “The Best Little Whorehouse Goes Public” closes at Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, NYC, after 16 performances
1996 – “Tartuffe: Born Again” opens at Circle in the Square Theater, NYC; runs for 29 performances
1998 – Lewinsky scandal: a federal judge rules that United States Secret Service agents can be compelled to testify before a grand jury concerning the scandal, involving President Bill Clinton

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1914 – Vance Packard, American journalist and author (The Hidden Persuaders), born in Granville Summit, Pennsylvania (d. 1996)
1939 – Árni Egilsson, Icelandic classical and jazz bassist and composer, born in Reykjavík, Iceland
1955 – Jimmy Lyon, American guitarist (Eddie Money; The Greg Kihn Band), born in Tampa, Florida
1959 – Olin Browne, American golfer (US Senior Open 2011), born in Washington, D.C.
1971 – Corey Croom, NFL running back (NE Patriots)

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1801 – Heinrich Gottfried Reichard, German composer, and translator, dies at 58
1842 – Jane Johnston Schoolcraft, Native American poet, dies at 42
1972 – Cecil Day-Lewis, Irish poet (British Poet Laureate 1968-72) and detective writer (Nicholas Blake), dies of cancer at 68
1999 – Alfred Kubel, German politician, dies at 89
2001 – Whitman Mayo, American actor (Grady Wilson-“Sanford and Son”), dies at 70

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1260 – Hao Jing, envoy of Mongol leader Kublai Khan imprisoned by order of the high Chancellor of China, Jia Sidao at the Song Dynasty court of Emperor Lizong while attempting to negotiate with the Song
1966 – James Goldman’s stage drama “The Lion in Winter”, starring Robert Preston, Rosemary Harris, and Christopher Walken, closes at the Ambassador Theatre, NYC, after 92 performances, and a Tony Award win for Harris
1968 – WEKW TV channel 52 in Keene, NH (PBS) begins broadcasting
1983 – 108th Preakness: Donald Miller Jr on Deputed Testamony wins in 1:55.4
2017 – IPL Cricket Final, Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, Hyderabad: Mumbai Indians beat Rising Pune Supergiant by 1 run; Krunal Pandya 47 (38)

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1835 – Newton Martin Curtis, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in De Peyster, New York (d. 1910)
1844 – Henri Rousseau, French post-impressionist painter (The Dream, The Hungry Lion Throws Itself on the Antelope), born in Laval, France (d. 1910)
1921 – Reece “Goose” Tatum, American baseball and basketball player (Harlem Globetrotters; Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame), co-founder of the Harlem Magicians, born in El Dorado, Arkansas (d. 1967)
1947 – Jiggs Kalra, Indian food writer “Czar of Indian cuisine”, born in Punjab region, India (d. 2019)
1974 – Fairuza Balk, American actress (The Craft, Gas Food Lodging), born in Point Reyes, California

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1886 – Stephen Pearl Andrews, American abolitionist, writer, and individualist anarchist, dies at 74
1980 – Ida Kamińska, Polish stage and screen actress, director, and writer (The Shop on Main Street; Mother Courage and Her Children), dies at 80
1993 – John Holland, American actor (My Fair Lady, Chinatown), dies at 85
1996 – Bobby Tulloch, Scottish ornithologist, and writer (Bobby Tulloch’s Shetland: An islander, his islands and their wildlife), dies at 67
2022 – Marco Cornez, Chilean soccer goalkeeper, (20 caps; FC Deportivo Palestino, Universidad Católica, Everton de Viña del Mar), dies from stomach cancer at 64

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1942 – US Navy 1st permitted black recruits to serve
1969 – US troop capture Hill 937/Hamburger Hill in Vietnam
1972 – “Hard Job Being God” closes at Edison Theater NYC after 6 performances
1984 – Boston’s Roger Clemens beats Twins, 5-4, for his 1st victory
1988 – Howard Stern fans disrupt rival radio station WMMR’s morning DJ John DeBella’s “Louie Louie” parade in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1843 – Pedro Miguel Marques y Garcia, Spanish violinist and composer, born in Palma, Majorca, Spain (d. 1918)
1902 – Hans Sahl, German American anti-Nazi Jewish writer, born in Dresden, Germany (d. 1993)
1937 – Maria Teresa Horta, Portuguese writer and poet (New Portuguese Letters, My Lady of Me), born in Lisbon, Portugal (d. 2025)
1942 – Lynn Davies, Welsh athlete (Olympic gold long jump 1964), born in Nantymoel, Wales
1976 – Ramón Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1597 – Dutch commander Matthijs Heldt, dies in battle
1782 – Carlo Giovanni Testori, Italian violinist, composer, pedagogue, and musicologist (La musica raggionata), dies at 68
1996 – Jack Wyngaard, South African dancer (London City Ballet, 1986-96), dies of a heart attack at 37
2020 – Stephen A. DiMauro, American thoroughbred racing jockey, trainer, breeder and owner (Eclipse Award 1975; Lady Pitt, Dearly Precious, Nassipour, Wajima), dies from cancer at 87
2025 – Barry Fantoni, British novelist, artist and illustrator for Private Eye magazine, dies of a heart attack at 85

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1941 – New Nazi battleship Bismarck leaves Gdynia, Poland
1962 – Indonesian paratroopers land in New Guinea
1974 – Valéry Giscard d’Estaing wins French presidential election
1995 – Emmy 22nd Daytime Award presentation – Susan Lucci loses for 15th time
2018 – Queen Elizabeth II grants the titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle upon their marriage

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1795 – Johns Hopkins, American financier and philanthropist (founded Johns Hopkins Hospital and Johns Hopkins University), born in Gambrills, Maryland (d. 1873)
1812 – Felix Zollicoffer, American journalist and Confederate Brigadier General who was killed in the Battle of Mill Springs, born in Maury County, Tennessee (d. 1862)
1864 – Carl Akeley, American taxidermist and naturalist who developed the animal mount process and other techniques for museums, born in Clarendon, New York (d. 1926)
1926 – Paul Cooper, American classical music composer, and educator, born in Victoria, Illinois (d. 1996)
1934 – Ruskin Bond, Indian novelist (Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra), born in Kasauli, British India

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1928 – Max Scheler, German philosopher, dies at 53
1994 – Henry Morgan, American comedian and TV panelist (I’ve Got a Secret; Arena), dies of lung cancer at 79
2001 – Susannah McCorkle, American singer (b. 1946)
2021 – Lee Evans, American athlete (Olympic gold men’s 400m, 4x400m relay 1968), dies from stroke complications at 74
2025 – Alice Notley, American poet (Mysteries of Small Houses, Disobedience), dies of a cerebral haemorrhage at 79

More Famous Deaths »

Historical Events

1268 – The Principality of Antioch, a crusader state, falls to the Mamluk Sultan Baibars in the Battle of Antioch
1291 – After 100 years of Crusader control, the last Crusader stronghold of Acre is reconquered and destroyed by the Mamluks under Sultan al-Ashraf Khalil
1889 – Jules Massenet’s opera “Esclarmonde” premieres in Paris
1896 – Khodynka Tragedy: A stampeding crowd on Khodynka Field, Moscow, during the coronation festivities for Russian Tsar Nicholas II, causes the deaths of an estimated 1,300 people
1899 – World Goodwill Day: 26 nations meet at the First Hague Peace Conference

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1921 – Anthony Epstein, English pathologist and virologist (co-discover of the Epstein–Barr virus), born in London, England (d. 2024)
1934 – Dwayne Hickman, American actor (The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis; How to Stuff a Wild Bikini), and network executive, born in Los Angeles, California (d. 2022)
1958 – Ray Donaldson, NFL center (Dallas Cowboys), born in Rome, Georgia
1970 – Vicky Sunohara, Canadian ice hockey forward (Olympic gold 2002 and 2006) and coach, born in Scarborough, Ontario
1988 – Taeyang [Dong Young-bae], Korean singer (Big Bang), born in Uijeongbu, South Korea

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1812 – John Bellingham, English merchant who assassinated British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval, executed by hanging at 42 or 43
1995 – Elizabeth Montgomery, American actress (Bewitched – “Samantha* and “Serena”), dies of cancer at 62
2004 – Lincoln Kilpatrick, American actor (BJ-Leslie Uggams Show), dies at 72
2007 – Roy De Forest, American Funk and Nut Art movement painter, dies at 77
2018 – Philip Tabane, South African jazz guitarist, vocalist, and band leader (Malombo), dies at 84

More Famous Deaths »