Category: On This Day

Historical Events

1212 – The most severe of several early fires of London burns in Southwark, south of London Bridge
1584 – Spanish army leader Richebourg conquers Liefkenshoek, Belgium
1989 – Paula Ivan runs female world record 1 mile (4:15.61)
1993 – Yobes Ondieki runs world record 10km (26:58.38)
1997 – Louise Woodward’s trial begins in Massachusetts Nanny murder trial
2016 – Wimbledon Men’s Tennis: Scotsman Andy Murray beats Canadian Milos Raonic 6-4, 7-6, 7-6 for his 2nd Wimbledon and 3rd Grand Slam title

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Famous Birthdays

1895 – Carl Orff, German composer (Carmina Burana; Der Mond; Mozart Prize – 1969), born in Munich, Germany (d. 1982)
1902 – Kurt Alder, German chemist (Nobel 1950), born in Königshütte, Upper Silesia (d. 1958)
1940 – Tom Farmer, Scottish entrepreneur, born in Leith, Edinburgh, Scotland
1945 – Jean-Marie Poiré, French film director, born in Paris
1945 – John Motson, British football broadcaster (10 x FIFA World Cups; 10 x UEFA European C’ships; 29 x FA Cup finals; BBC, Talksport), born in Salford, England (d. 2023)
1965 – Ken Mellons, American singer

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Famous Deaths

518 – Anastasius I Dikoros [Dyrrhachium/Durazzo], Byzantine emperor (491-518), dies at 87
649 – Li Shimin, Emperor Taizong of Tang, Emperor of China (626-49), dies at 51
1086 – Knut IV, the Saint, king of Denmark (1080-86), murdered
1920 – Jackie Fisher, British admiral (b. 1841)
1995 – Hugh Dundas, fighter pilot/businessman, dies at 74
2011 – Pierrette Alarie, Canadian operatic soprano, dies at 89

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Historical Events

1401 – Turko-Mongol ruler Tamerlane (Timur) destroys Baghdad, killing 20,000
1609 – Emperor Rudolf II grants Bohemian protestants freedom of religion
1914 – 1st US duplicate auction bridge championship held, Lake Placid, NY
1916 – 1st cargo submarine to cross Atlantic arrives in US from Germany
1986 – Attorney General’s Commission on pornography links hard-core porn to sex crimes
2016 – Wimbledon Women’s Tennis: Serena Williams beats Angelique Kerber 7-5, 6-3, equalling Steffi Graf’s 22 Grand Slam singles tiles

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Famous Birthdays

1898 – Marcel Delannoy, French composer, born in La Ferté-Alais, Essonne, France (d. 1962)
1942 – Paul B. Henry, American professor of political science and politician from the U.S. state of Michigan, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1993)
1944 – Joe Miceli, American drummer (John Fred and His Playboy Band – “Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)”), born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana (d. 2019)
1945 – Root Boy Slim [Foster MacKenzie III], American entertainer, born in Asheville, North Carolina (d. 1993)
1968 – Paolo Di Canio, Italian football player
1982 – Sakon Yamamoto, Japanese race-car driver

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Famous Deaths

1882 – Ignacio Carrera Pinto, Chilean war hero (b. 1848)
1951 – Jorgen Bentzon, Danish composer, dies at 54
1967 – Eugen Fischer, Nazi physician (Kaiser Wilhelm Institute), dies at 93
1974 – Sonia Gaskell, Russian-Dutch choreographer (Diaghilev), dies at 70
2005 – Kevin Hagen, American actor (Little House on the Prairie), dies at 77
2022 – Davie Robb, Scottish soccer forward (5 caps; Aberdeen FC 251 games), dies at 74

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Historical Events

1870 – US Congress authorizes registration of trademarks
1919 – US President Woodrow Wilson returns to NYC from Versailles Peace Conference
1923 – Walter Mittelholzer flies a Junkers F-13 to Spitsbergen/Oostland
1948 – 500th anniversary of the Russian Orthodox Church celebrated in Moscow
1956 – US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Enwetak
1963 – Wimbledon Women’s Tennis: Australian Margaret Smith wins her first of 3 Wimbledon titles beating Billie Jean Moffitt 6-3, 6-4

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Famous Birthdays

1528 – Emanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy (1553-1580, regained lands of Savoy), , born in Chambéry, France (d. 1580)
1821 – Jozef Lies, Flemish painter, born in Antwerp (d. 1865)
1857 – Alfred Binet, French child psychologist who invented the first practical IQ test (Binet–Simon test), born in Nice, France (d. 1911)
1910 – Govan Mbeki, South African leader (Head of the ANC, imprisoned with Mandela, father of Thabo Mbeki), born in Nqamakwe district, Transkei (d. 2001)
1952 – Ulrich Wehling, German Nordic skier (3 Olympic golds 1972, 76, 80), born in Halle an der Saale, Germany
2001 – Riele Downs, Canadian actress (Henry Danger), born in Toronto, Ontario

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Famous Deaths

1943 – Harry Oakes, Canadian-British prominent businessman in Bahamas, murdered under mysterious circumstances at 68
1973 – Harry F. V. Edward, British 100m/200m runner (Olympic bronze 1920), dies at 75
1985 – Gardner Cowles Jr., American publisher (Look Magazine), dies at 82
1991 – Lotte Palfi Andor, German-American actress (Lovesick, All That Jazz), dies at 87
2016 – William H. McNeill, Canadian-born historian (Rise of the West), dies at 98
2017 – Elsa Martinelli, Italian actress (Indian Fighter), dies at 82

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Historical Events

1912 – American athlete Jim Thorpe wins 4 of 5 events to win the Pentathlon gold medal at the Stockholm Olympics, medal stripped 1913 (played pro baseball), reinstated 1982
1950 – British Open Men’s Golf, Royal Troon: Bobby Locke of South Africa retains title by 2 strokes from Roberto De Vicenzo of Argentina
1957 – Heavy storm ravages Belgian coast
1986 – Jordan government shuts al-Fatah offices
2006 – Cleveland Indians first baseman Travis Hafner becomes first player in MLB history to hit 5 grand slams before the All-Star break when he homers off Baltimore’s Kris Benson
2011 – Roof of a stand in De Grolsch Veste Stadium in Enschede which was under construction collapses, one killed and 14 injured.

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Famous Birthdays

1861 – Nettie Stevens, American geneticist (discovered sex chromosomes), born in Cavendish, Vermont (d. 1912)
1901 – Vittorio De Sica, Italian actor and director (Bicycle Thieves, Sciuscià), born in Sora, Lazio (d. 1974)
1925 – Wally Phillips, American radio personality (d. 2008)
1954 – Steve Gilchrist, Canadian politician (Cabinet Minister and Member of Provincial Parliament, in Ontario), born in Toronto, Ontario
1966 – Neil Tobin, American magician, born in Chicago, Illinois
1983 – D. Woods, American singer (Danity Kane), born in Anaheim, California

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Famous Deaths

1932 – Alexander Grin, Russian novelist (Jessie and Morgiana), dies at 51
1971 – Claude Gauvreau, Canadian writer (b. 1925)
1972 – Athenagoras, 268th patriarch of Constantinople, dies
2017 – Egil Monn-Iversen, Norwegian pianist, composer, and conductor (Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, 1981-96), dies at 89
2020 – Dannes Coronel, Ecuadorian soccer defender (27 caps; El Nacional), dies from a heart attack at 47
2021 – Robert Downey, Sr [Elias Jr], American filmmaker (Putney Swope; Rittenhouse Square), and actor (You Gotta Walk It Like You Talk It or You’ll Lose That Beat), dies of complications from Parkinson’s disease at 85

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Historical Events

1969 – Frente Obrero y Liberacion (FOL) forms in Curacao
1987 – USSR performs nuclear test
1990 – “Jetsons the Movie” by Hanna-Barbera with Tiffany Darwish, premieres
1996 – In a 2-0 win v Brewers, New York Yankees closer John Wetteland sets MLB record 20 consecutive saves en route to 24
2010 – “Incubus” singer Brandon Boyd announces the release of his debut solo album, “The Wild Trapeze”
2017 – France announces it will ban petrol and diesel cars by 2040

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Famous Birthdays

1632 – Albert Schop, German composer, born in Hamburg (d. 1667)
1818 – Adolf Anderssen, German World Chess Champion (1851-66), born in Kingdom of Prussia (d. 1879)
1883 – Ralph Morgan [Wupperman], American actor (Creeper, Imposter, Jack London), born in NYC, New York (d. 1956)
1938 – Franco Luambo [Makiadi], Congolese jazz and rumba guitarist, composer, and bandleader (TPOK Jazz), born in Sona Bata, Belgian Congo (d. 1989)
1949 – Michael Shrieve, American drummer, percussionist, and composer (Santana), born in San Francisco, California
1971 – Kenya D. Williamson, American actress and author (Depth of Focus: A Novel), born in Levittown, Pennsylvania

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Famous Deaths

1961 – Cuno Amiet, Swiss painter and illustrator, dies at 93
2000 – Rederic Coote, British Anglican Bishop (Colchester), dies at 85
2002 – Dhirubhai Ambani, Indian businessman (b. 1932)
2004 – Syreeta Wright, American singer (b. 1946)
2019 – Cameron Boyce, American actor (Mirrors, Jessie), dies from an epileptic seizure at 20
2019 – Martin Charnin, American Broadway stage singer, dancer (West Side Story), director, and lyricist (Annie), dies after a heart attack at 84

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Historical Events

1715 – Ottoman troops storm citadel of Acrocorinth in the Peloponnese, massacring a large part of the population and selling the rest into slavery. Inspires Lord Byron’s poem “The Siege of Corinth”
1908 – Niazi Bey, a chief organizer of the revolutionary movement in Turkey, raises the standard of revolt at Resna, Macedonia
1958 – J Pengel forms government/Emanuels premier of Suriname
1973 – Test cricket debut of English umpire Harold “Dickie” Bird v NZ at Leeds (66 Tests, 69 ODI)
1989 – “Seinfield” (originally titled The Seinfeld Chronicles” screens its pilot episode starring Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Michael Richards on NBC
2017 – Shootout between drug cartels in Las Varas, Northern Mexico kills 14

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Famous Birthdays

1546 – Johann Steuerlein, German composer, born in Schmalkalden, Germany (d. 1613)
1654 – Antonio Maria Pacchioni, Baroque composer, born in Modena, Italy (baptized date) (d. 1738)
1755 – Sarah Kemble Siddons, English tragic actress (Fatal Marriage), born in Brecon, Wales (d. 1831)
1956 – James Lofton, American NFL wide receiver (Bills, Packers, Raiders), born in Fort Ord, California
1968 – Shahid Anwar, Pakistani cricketer (Pakistani all-rounder 1996 England tour), born in Multan, Pakistan
1981 – Jesse Crain, Canadian baseball player, born in Toronto, Ontario

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Famous Deaths

1803 – William Jackson [Jackson of Exeter], English composer and organist, dies at 73
1859 – Charles Cagniard de la Tour, French physicist (b. 1777)
1920 – John Shuter, cricketer (scored 28 in only Test for England 1888), dies
1927 – Albrecht Kossel, German physician (Nobel 1910), dies at 73
1984 – Gaston Vandermeulen, Flemish actor (Heilig Experiment, The Arrival of Joachim Stiller), dies at 79
2004 – Hugh Shearer, Prime Minister of Jamaica (b. 1923)

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Historical Events

1779 – French fleet occupies Grenada
1838 – Iowa Territory is organised from Wisconsin Territory, lasting until 1846
1876 – 1st public exhibition of electric light in San Francisco
1939 – Red Sox 3rd baseman Jim Tabor hits record-tying 2 grand slams in one MLB game, 18-12 win v Phillies
1970 – Wimbledon Men’s Tennis: In an all-Australian thriller, John Newcombe beats Ken Rosewall 5,7 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1
2006 – Space Shuttle program: STS-121 Mission – Space Shuttle Discovery launches at 18:37:55 UTC.

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Famous Birthdays

1819 – Reuben Fenton, American merchant and politician (22nd Governor of New York), born in Carroll, New York (d. 1885)
1850 – Ole Olsen, Norwegian composer, organist, and military bandleader, born in Hammerfest, Finnmark, Norway (d. 1927)
1907 – Gordon Griffith, American actor (first actor to portray Tarzan on film) and director, born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1958)
1909 – Madeleine Barot, French activist and theologian, born in Châteauroux, France (d. 1995)
1918 – Johnnie Parsons, American auto racer (Indianapolis 500, 1950; AAA/USAC Championship, 1949), born in Los Angeles, California (d. 1984)
1973 – Michael Johnson, English-born Jamaican footballer, born in St. Louis, Missouri

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Famous Deaths

1307 – Rudolf I, Habsburg nobleman (King of Bohemia, 1306-07; Duke of Austria and Styria 1298-1307), dies of stomach issues at about 26
1623 – William Byrd, British composer (Ave verum corpus), dies at 80
1891 – Frédérick Louis Ritter, French composer, add eductator (Vassar, 1867-91), dies at 67
1958 – Adolf Herckenrath, Flemish playwright and poet (Avondvlam), dies at 79
1992 – Astor Piazzolla, Argentine composer (Tango Nuevo), dies at 71
1995 – Jacques Berque, French Islamic scholar, dies at 85

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Historical Events

1883 – SS Daphne sinks on Clyde River in Scotland; 195 die
1905 – American boxer Marvin Hart scores a 12th round KO of Jack Root in Reno, Nevada for the vacant world heavyweight title
1912 – NY Giants pitcher Rube Marquard ties Tim Keefe’s 1888 MLB record 19 game win-streak with 2-1 win v Brooklyn Dodgers; has 21 with 2 end-of-season in 1911
1943 – British Liberator bomber sinks German U-628 in Bay of Biscay
2004 – Official opening of Bangkok’s subway system.
2020 – MLB Cleveland Indians owner Paul Dolan announces he would review changing the organization’s name

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Famous Birthdays

1884 – Moses Leverock Crossley, Dutch bio-chemist, born in Saba, Dutch West Indies (d. 1971)
1936 – Anthony Lester, British barrister and Member of the House of Lords
1950 – Ewen Chatfield, New Zealand cricket medium pace bowler (43 Tests, 123 wickets; 114 ODIs, 140 wickets; Wellington), born in Dannevirke, New Zealand
1952 – Carla Olson, American rock performer, songwriter, performer (Textones; Have Harmony, Will Travel),a nd record producer, born in Austin, Texas
1961 – Pedro Romeiras, Portuguese dancer, born in Lisbon, Portugal
1964 – Gary Ryan [Moss], American rock bassist (Joan Jett and The Blackhearts), born in California

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Famous Deaths

1775 – Colonel Thomas Gardner, American heroic political figure and soldier, dies at 51
1960 – Alfred Henry Ackley, American composer, dies at 73
1988 – Gabriel Dell, American actor (The Bowery Boys, Steve Allen Show), dies of leukemia at 68
1993 – Don Drysdale, American Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher (World Series 1959, 63, 65; 9 x MLB All Star; Cy Young Award 1962; Brooklyn/LA Dodgers), dies of a heart attack at 56
2008 – Larry Harmon, American entertainer and TV producer (Bozo the Clown), dies at 83
2015 – Boyd K. Packer, LDS church apostle, dies at 90

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Historical Events

1644 – Battle of Marston Moor, North Yorkshire: Parliamentary forces under Lords Fairfax and Manchester defeat royalists led by Prince Rupert
1947 – Military coup discovered in France
1955 – Wimbledon Women’s Tennis: Louise Brough beats fellow American Beverly Fleitz 7-5, 8-6 for her 4th Wimbledon singles title
1972 – “Fiddler on the Roof” closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 3242 performances
1972 – India and Pakistan sign Simla Agreement peace accord
2020 – More than 160 people die after a landslide at a jade mine in northern Hpakant area of Myanmar

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Famous Birthdays

1916 – Ken Curtis, American actor (Ripcord, Festus – Gunsmoke), born in Lamar, Colorado (d. 1991)
1935 – Ed Bullins, playwright, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1946 – Ron Silver, American actor (Reversal of Fortune, Timecop) and political activist, born in NYC, New York (d. 2009)
1947 – Larry David, American actor, comedian and screenwriter (Seinfeld, Curb Your Enthusiasm), born in Brooklyn, New York
1952 – Linda M Godwin, Cape Girardeau Mo, PhD/astronaut (STS 37, 59, 76)
1975 – Erik Ohlsson, Swedish guitarist (Millencolin)

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Famous Deaths

1591 – Vincenzo Galilei, Italian composer (b. 1520)
1644 – William Gascoigne, English astronomer and mathematician (introduced telescopic sights), is killed in the Battle of Marston Moor at 24
1912 – Tom Richardson, England cricket fast bowler (14 Tests, 88 wickets, BB 8/94; Surrey CCC), dies of a heart attack at 41
1995 – George Seldes, American investigative journalist, dies at 104
1999 – Mario Puzo, American novelist (The Godfather, Cotton Club, Earthquake), dies at 78
2019 – Pat Crawford Brown, American actress (Desperate Housewives – “Ida”; General Hospital), dies at 90

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Historical Events

1946 – US drops atom bomb on Bikini atoll (4th atomic explosion)
1973 – 1st US-China basketball game, US collegiates beats Shanghai 96-61
1982 – 2,100 Unification church couples wed in NYC
1987 – WHN-AM in NY City changes call letters to WFAN (now WEVD) replacing WHN’s country music, WYNY-FM adopts country music format
1996 – WBSI TV replaces WNYC on channel 31 in NYC
2016 – Islamic militants storm a cafe in Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing 20 hostages and 2 police, country’s worse terror attack

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Famous Birthdays

1844 – Verney Lovett Cameron, English explorer (Tanganyika), born in Radipole, Dorset, England (d. 1894)
1899 – Henry “Indiana” Jones Jr., American fictional film character (Indiana Jones films)
1903 – Beatrix Lehmann, British actress (Candles at Nine, Staircase), born in Bourne End, Buckinghamshire, England (d. 1979)
1906 – Estée Lauder [Josephine Esther Mentzer], American entrepreneur (Estée Lauder cosmetics), born in Corona, Queens, New York City (d. 2004)
1925 – Frank Lowson, England cricket batsman (7 Tests, 2 x 50s; Yorkshire CCC), born in Bradford, England (d. 1984)
1948 – Wang Qishan, Chinese Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, born in Qingdao, Shandong

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Famous Deaths

1627 – Nathaniel Bacon, English painter, dies at 41
1681 – Oliver Plunkett, Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and last Catholic martyr (later beatified) to die in England, hanged, drawn and quartered for treason at Tyburn at 55
1877 – William Henry Davenport, American stage magician, claimed to be a spirit medium, dies at 36
1974 – Juan Perón, Argentine military officer and President of Argentina (1946-55, 73-74), dies of a heart attack at 78
2014 – Walter Dean Myers, African-American author, dies at 76
2022 – Richard Taruskin, American musicologist (Oxford History of Western Music), and educator, dies of esophageal cancer at 77

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