Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1905 – Germany receives invitation from Sultan of Morocco to an international conference to discuss matters relating to Morocco
1955 – Yemen: failed coup by Abdullah Seif el-Islam
1976 – 1st quadrophonic movie track: “Ladies and Gentlemen the Rolling Stones”
1978 – Karnataka beat Uttar Pradesh by inn and 193 to win Ranji Trophy
2017 – Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Florida for talks with US President Donald Trump
2020 – Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe announces state of emergency in seven prefectures and a nearly $1 trillion stimulus package as COVID-19 cases climb

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Famous Birthdays

1903 – Harold Edgerton, American electrical engineer and photographer who created high-speed photography techniques, born in Fremont, Nebraska (d. 1990)
1931 – Joan Carlyle, British soprano
1934 – Reijo Jyrkiainen, Finnish composer, born in Suistamo, Finland
1955 – Keith Hunter Jesperson, Canadian-born serial killer
1978 – Tim Hasselbeck, American football player
1987 – Jerrod Carmichael, American comedian and filmmaker (Rothaniel), born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina

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Famous Deaths

1605 – John Stow, English historian (Survey of London), dies
1686 – Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey, English royalist statesman, dies at 71
1976 – Sidney Franklin, American bullfighter (b. 1903)
1990 – Nancy Hawkes, (1946 best dressed woman), dies at 73
1998 – Wendy O. Williams, American singer (Plasmatics) (b. 1949)
2014 – Jacques Castérède, French composer and pianist (Pandora’s Box), dies at 87

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Historical Events

1946 – 100th Grand National: Capt. Robert Petre wins aboard 25/1 shot Lovely Cottage; first true GN since 1940 due to World War II; last on a Friday
1950 – Prague espionage trial against bishops and priests begins
1981 – Philadelphia Flyers amass a record 2,621 penalty minutes
1983 – France throws out 47 Soviet diplomats
2005 – The Washington Nationals lose their inaugural season opener, 8-4 to the Philadelphia Phillies; first team to represent the nation’s capital since the Washington Senators left after the 1971 season
2012 – Severe storms in Argentina kill 14 people

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Famous Birthdays

1825 – David Rumph Jones, American Major General (Confederate Army), born in Orangeburg, South Carolina (d. 1863)
1939 – Ronald “Ronnie” White, American singer (The Miracles – “Shop Around”), born in Detroit, Michigan (d. 1995)
1944 – Ann Maxwell, American sci-fi author (Jaws of Menx), born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
1951 – Rennie Stennett, Panamanian baseball infielder (World Series 1979; SF Giants; one of 3 players to collect 7 hits in a MLB game), born in Colón, Panama (d. 2021)
1953 – John Buchanan, Australian cricketer (Qld batsman 78-79, Shield coach 1995), born in Ipswich, Queensland
1979 – Timo Hildebrand, German footballer

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Famous Deaths

1419 – Vincent Ferrer, Spanish missionary and saint, dies at 69
1673 – Francois Caron, admiral/governor (Formosa), drowns at about 72
1884 – John Wisden, English cricket all-rounder (launched Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack 1864; Sussex CCC, Kent CCC, Middlesex CCC), dies at 57
1981 – Bob “Bear” Hite, rocker (Canned Heat), dies of a heart attack at 36
2015 – Richard Dysart, American actor (Leland MacKenzie-LA Law, The Last Days of Patton), dies at 86
2022 – Paul Siebel, American folk singer and songwriter (Louise; Spanish Johnny), dies from complications of pulmonary fibrosis at 84

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Historical Events

1905 – Earthquake in Kangra India, kills 20,000
1917 – US Senate agrees (82-6) to participate in WWI
1918 – Food riot in Amsterdam
1960 – Senegal declares independence from France
1966 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1984 – Winston Smith in Orwell’s novel “Nineteen Eighty-Four” begins his secret diary in defiance of the totalitarian government of Oceania

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Famous Birthdays

1731 – Francesc Morera i Cots, Valencian composer, born in Sant Mateu (d. 1793)
1872 – Nikolai Amani, Russian composer, born in St. Petersburg, Russia (d. 1904)
1945 – Walter Charles, American actor (Fletch Lives, Weeds), born in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
1950 – Christine Lahti, American actress (Harvey Korman Show, Swing Shift), born in Detroit, Michigan
1969 – Anthony Tucker, American basketball forward (NY Knicks), born in Washington, D.C.
1970 – Jason Stoltenberg, Australian tennis star, born in Narrabri, Australia

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Famous Deaths

1874 – Charles Ernest Beulé, French archaeologist and politician (b. 1826)
1905 – Constantin Meunier, Belgian painter and sculptor, dies at 73
1951 – Al Christie, Canadian film director and producer (b. 1881)
1986 – Frank Mortelmans, Belgian painter, dies at 87
1996 – Seumas MacNeill, Scottish bagpiper, and educator (College of Bagpipes), dies at 79
2012 – Claude Miller, French director and screenwriter, dies at 70

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Historical Events

1922 – Joseph Stalin is appointed General Secretary of the Russian Communist Party by an ailing Vladimir Lenin
1923 – 2 “Black Sox” sue White Sox (unsuccessfully) for back salary
1954 – Don Perry climbs a 20′ rope in under 2.8 seconds (AAU record)
1964 – US and Panama agree to resume diplomatic relations
1976 – 130th Grand National: John Burke wins aboard Rag Trade; equal record 4th winner trained by Fred Rimell and 2nd winner owned by Pierre Raymond Bessone
1992 – 1st exhibition game at Camden Field – Orioles beat NY Mets

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Famous Birthdays

1769 – Christian Günther von Bernstorff, Danish-Prussian statesman and diplomat, born in Copenhagen, Denmark (d. 1835)
1822 – Edward Everett Hale, American clergyman and author (Man without a Country), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1909)
1940 – Roger Burman, English head of the Association of British Chambers of Commerce, born in Birmingham, England
1959 – David Hyde Pierce, American actor (Niles Crane-Fraiser), born in Saratoga Springs, New York
1962 – Simon Raymonde, British bassist, songwriter, and record producer (Cocteau Twins), born in Lewisham, London, England
1986 – Sergio Sánchez Ortega, Spanish footballer (Espanyol), born in Mataró, Spain

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Famous Deaths

1942 – Paul Gilson, Belgian composer, dies at 76
1951 – John C. Kielstra, Dutch economist and governor (Suriname 1933-44), dies at 72
1981 – Leo Kanner, Austrian-American psychiatrist and social activist known for his work related to autism, dies at 86
2007 – Nina Wang, Chinese widow of businessman Teddy Wang (Asia’s richest woman), dies at 69
2021 – Jill Corey [Norma Jean Speranza], American pop singer (Your Hit Parade), dies at 85
2022 – June Brown, British actress (EastEnders, 1985–93 and 1997–2020 – “Dot”; Sitting Target), dies at 95

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Historical Events

1645 – Robert Devereux resigns as parliament supreme commander
1827 – US inventor Joseph Dixon of Salem, Massachusetts, begins manufacturing lead pencils
1960 – Cuba buys oil from USSR
1989 – 8th NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship: Tennessee beats Auburn, 76-60; Lady Vols forward Bridgette Gordon MOP
2000 – The Tradition Senior Men’s Golf, GC at Desert Mountain: Tom Kite wins his lone Champions Tour major with birdie on 6th playoff hole with Tom Watson and Larry Nelson
2006 – Kraft Nabisco Championship Women’s Golf, Mission Hills CC: Australian Karrie Webb beats Lorena Ochoa of Mexico with a birdie on the 1st playoff hole; earlier eagles same hole to force the playoff

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Famous Birthdays

1798 – August Heinrich Hoffmann, German writer, born in Fallersleben, Electorate of Brunswick -Lüneburg (d. 1874)
1901 – Anis Fuleihan, American composer, born in Kyrenia, Cyprus (d. 1970)
1952 – Will Hoy, English auto racer (British Touring Car C’ship 1991), born in Melbourn, England (d. 2002)
1961 – Christopher Meloni, American actor (Law and Order; Runaway Bride), born in Washington, D.C.
1975 – Deedee Magno Hall, Filipino-American rocker (Party-Rodeo, That’s Why), born in Portsmouth, Virginia
1976 – Rory Sabbatini, South African golfer (US Masters 2007 runner-up, 6 PGA Tour titles, born in Durban, RSA

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Famous Deaths

1787 – Thomas Gage, British general (b. 1719)
1791 – Honoré Gabriel Riqueti, comte de Mirabeau, French revolutionary (influential member of the National Constituent Assembly), dies of natural causes at 42
1924 – Johannes Eugenius Bülow Warming, Danish botanist (plant ecology, environment-organism interactions), dies at 82
1969 – Fortunio Bonanova, Spanish actor and opera singer (My Best Gal, Havana Rose), dies at 74
2000 – Tommaso Buscetta, Sicilian mafioso and pentito (b. 1928)
2003 – Michael Wayne, American film producer (Green Berets, McLintock), son of John Wayne, dies at 68

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Historical Events

374 – Comet 1P/374 E1 (Halley) approaches within 0.0884 AUs of Earth
1930 – Chicago Cubs catcher Leo Hartnett breaks the altitude record for a catch by gloving a baseball dropped from the Goodyear blimp 800 feet over Los Angeles, California
1931 – Jackie Mitchell becomes the second female (after Lizzie Arlington 1898) in organised baseball when she signs with the Chattanooga Lookouts Baseball Club
1978 – 132nd Grand National: Bob Davies aboard 14/1 chance Lucius wins by half a length from Sebastian V
2012 – Plane crash in Western Siberia kills at least 31 people (UTair Aviation ATR-72)
2019 – China announces new laws against fentanyl-related substances to come into effect 1 May

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Famous Birthdays

1909 – Abner Biberman, American director and actor (His Girl Friday, The Leopard Man), born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (d. 1977)
1924 – Čkalja [Miodrag Petrović], Serbian actor and one of the most popular comedians of former Yugoslavia, born in Kruševac, Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (d. 2003)
1946 – Arrigo Sacchi, Italian soccer coach (Italy 1991-96 FIFA World Cup silver 1994; Serie A 1987-88, European Cup 1989, 90 AC Milan; Atlético Madrid, Parma), born in Fusignano, Italy
1955 – Gregg Jarrett, American television anchor
1961 – Sergio Scariolo, Italian basketball coach (NBA: assistant Toronto Raptors; head coach Spain; World Cup gold 2019), born in Brescia, Italy
1973 – Stephen Fleming, New Zealand cricket batsman and captain (111 Tests; 9 x 100, HS 274no; 280 ODIs; Canterbury, Yorkshire CCC, Chennai Super Kings) and coach (Chennai Super Kings), born in Christchurch, New Zealand

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Famous Deaths

1204 – Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife of King Louis VII of France and King Henry II of England, mother to Richard the Lionheart, Henry the Young King and King John, dies at around 81
1548 – Sigismund I the Old, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1506-48), dies at 81
1814 – Jozef de Ferraris, French-Austrian general and cartographer, dies at 87
1991 – Frankie Gustine, American Major baseball infielder (MLB All-Star 1946, 47, 48; Pittsburgh Pirates), dies at 71
1998 – Rozz Williams, American musician (Christian Death), dies at 34
2004 – Carrie Snodgress, American actress (Diary of Mad Housewife), dies at 58

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Historical Events

1906 – GB Shaw’s German version of “Caesar and Cleopatra” premieres in Berlin
1909 – Gustav Mahler conducts New York Philharmonic for his 1st time
1972 – Official Beatles Fan Club closes down
1983 – Popayán Earthquake (5.5 Mw Depth) in Colombia kills 267 people, injuring some 7,500
1995 – Federal judge Sonia Sotomayor of US District Court in NYC issues an injunction against Major League Baseball owners in move that effectively ends 232-day strike
2004 – Australian swimmer Lisbeth Lenton breaks Inge de Bruijn’s 4-year old 100m freestyle women’s world record in 53.66s at the Australian Olympic trials in Sydney

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Famous Birthdays

1723 – Frederick V, King of Denmark-Norway (1746-66), born in Copenhagen Castle, Copenhagen (d. 1766)
1747 – Johann Abraham Peter Schulz, German composer (The Moon Has Risen), born in Lüneburg, Germany (d. 1800)
1809 – Edward FitzGerald, British poet, writer, and translator (Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam), born in Bredfield, Sussex, England (d. 1883)
1884 – Adriaan van Maanen, Dutch-American astronomer (d. 1946)
1916 – Lucille Bliss, American voice actress (Cinderella, The Secret of NIMH), born in NYC, New York (d. 2012)
1982 – Chloé Zhao, Chinese filmmaker and director (The Rider, Nomadland), born in Beijing, China

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Famous Deaths

1389 – Everhard Tserclaes, sheriff of Brussels, murdered
1547 – King Francis I of France (1515-47), dies complaining about the weight of the crown at 52
1881 – Gaetano Gaspari, composer, dies at 73
2002 – Barry Took, British comedian (b. 1928)
2003 – H.S.M. Coxeter, English-born geometer (b. 1907)
2010 – Shirley Mills, American actress (b. 1926)

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Historical Events

1837 – Canada gives its black citizens the right to vote
1880 – Tobacco Growers’ Mutual Insurance Company incorporates in CT
1936 – Detroit Red Wings beat Montreal Maroons, 1-0 in 16:30 of 6th period of OT; record Stanley Cup playoff game lasts 9 periods (176 minutes)
1967 – University of Michigan holds 1st “Teach-in” after bombing of North Vietnam
1979 – Columbia flown on carrier aircraft lands at Kennedy Space Center
2002 – PGA Players Championship, TPC at Sawgrass: Unheralded New Zealander Craig Perks chips-in twice on the final 3 holes for his only PGA Tour career win, 2 strokes ahead of Stephen Ames

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Famous Birthdays

1188 – Ferrand, Count of Flanders, son of Sancho I, born in Coimbra, Portugal (d. 1223)
1911 – Herman W. “Fritz” Liebert, American rare books scholar and librarian (Yale University), born in New York City (d. 1994)
1947 – Meiko Kaji [Masako Ohta], Japanese film actress and singer (Lady Snowblood), born in Kanda, Tokyo, Japan
1970 – Marques Bragg, NBA forward (Minnesota Timberwolves)
1973 – Jim Parsons, American actor (The Big Bang Theory), born in Houston, Texas
1975 – Julia Bikbova, dance skater (with partner John Lee), born in Kyiv, Ukraine

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Famous Deaths

1284 – Hugh III of Cyprus, King of Cyprus and Jerusalem (b 1235)
1381 – Saint Catharine of Sweden, Swedish saint
1644 – Archduchess Cecilia Renata of Austria, Queen of Poland, dies at 32
1995 – Trevor Oswald Ling, English religious Studies Professor, dies at 75
1996 – Maria Lucia Beltran Alcayaga, singer, dies at 66
1999 – Gertrud Scholtz-Klink, German women’s activist (b. 1902)

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Historical Events

1858 – Streetcar patented (E A Gardner of Philadelphia)
1886 – Tchaikovsky’s “Manfred” symphony premieres in Moscow, Russia, conducted by Max Erdmannsdörfer
1896 – Umberto Giordano’s opera “Andrea Chénier” premieres in Milan
1920 – Perserikatan Communist of India (PKI) political party forms
1995 – Dollar equals 88.41 yen (record)
2019 – More than 130 Fulani people killed in Ogossagou, Mali, in attack by Dogon hunters, prompting government ban on the hunters

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Famous Birthdays

1881 – Roger Martin du Gard, French novelist (Les Thibault, 1937 Nobel Prize for Literature), born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France (d. 1958)
1929 – James Maxwell, American actor and director (The Portrait of a Lady, The Shadow of the Tower, The Evil of Frankenstein), born in Worcester, Massachusetts (d. 1995)
1934 – Fernand Gignac, Canadian singer and actor, born in Montréal, Québec (d. 2006)
1952 – Kim Stanley Robinson, American sci-fi author (Mars Trilogy), born in Waukegan, Illinois
1957 – Teresa Ganzel, actress (Teachers Only, Duck Factory), born in Toledo, Ohio
1960 – Oscar Michael Moore, journalist

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Famous Deaths

59 – Agrippina the Younger [Julia Agrippina], Roman Empress (sister of Caligula, wife of Claudius, mother of Nero), dies at 43 (circumstances of her death vary, but suggest she was murdered by her son, the Emperor Nero)
1559 – Emperor Gelawdewos of Ethiopia (killed in battle) (b. 1521/1522)
1669 – Philipp Buchner, German composer, dies at 54
1816 – Ignaz Vitzthumb, Austrian musician, composer, and conductor, dies at 91
1977 – Bennie Green, American swing jazz and soul trombonist (Earl Hines), dies at 53
1980 – Arthur Melvin Okun, American economist (Misery Index), dies of a heart attack at 51

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Historical Events

1862 – San Marino and Italy conclude treaty of friendship and cooperation
1943 – Dutch SS police chief Hans Albin Rauter threatens to kill half Jewish children
1957 – Earthquake shakes San Francisco
1960 – 1st patent for lasers granted to Arthur Schawlow and Charles Townes
1975 – “Letter for Queen Victoria” opens at ANTA Theater NYC for 18 performances
1991 – Law enforcement officers raid fraternities at University of Virginaa, seizing drugs

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Famous Birthdays

1909 – Gabrielle Roy, French Canadian author (The Tin Flute, Street of Riches), born in St. Boniface, Manitoba (d. 1973)
1915 – Forest ‘Bud’ Sagendorf, American cartoonist (Popeye), born in Wenatchee, Washington (d. 1994)
1922 – Stewart Stern, American screenwriter (Rebel Without A Cause), born in New York City (d. 2015)
1941 – Jeremy Clyde, English pop singer and guitarist (Chad and Jeremy – “A Summer Song”) and actor (The Iron Lady), born in Dorney, Buckinghamshire
1947 – Patrick Olive, Grenadian percussionist (Hot Chocolate – “You Sexy Thing”), born in Grenada
1970 – Andreas Johnson, Swedish singer-songwriter

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Famous Deaths

1661 – Hendrick Uylenburgh, Dutch art dealer who launched Rembrandt and others, buried at about 73
1824 – Johann Melchior Dreyer, German composer, dies at 76
1923 – Théophile Delcassé, French statesman (Entente Cordiale), dies at 71
2003 – Terry Lloyd, English reporter (b. 1952)
2005 – Rod Price, British rock and blues guitar and slide guitar player (Foghat, 1971-80 – “Slow Ride”), dies of a heart attack at 57
2020 – Stan Bronstein, American rock saxophonist (Elephant’s Memory), dies at 81

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