Historical Events
1863 – Battle at Middleburg Virginia (100+ casualties)
1913 – Natives Land Act, Act No 27, passed in South Africa: confines Africans to hopelessly overcrowded reserves and deprives them of rights to purchase land outside the native reserves
1917 – The British Royal Family, which has had strong German ties since George I, renounces its German names and titles and adopts the name of Windsor
1938 – Paul Waner (Pirates) homers off Pete Sivess (Phillies) in DH
1978 – “Best Little Whorehouse…” opens at 46th St NYC for 1577 performances
2009 – “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” directed by Michael Bay and starring Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox is released
Famous Birthdays
1905 – George Voskovec [Jirí Wachsmann], Czech actor (12 Angry Men, Somewhere in Time), born in Sázava, Bohemia, Austria-Hungary (d. 1981)
1942 – Willie Frazier, AFL/NFL tight end (Houston Oilers), born in El Dorado, Arkansas (d. 2013)
1944 – Chico Buarque, Brazilian musician
1965 – Luc Donckerwolke, Belgian car designer
1974 – Doug Mientkiewicz, American baseball player
1975 – Brandon Mitchell, defensive end (New England Patriots)
Famous Deaths
1312 – Piers Gaveston, Earl of Cornwall, beheaded
1762 – Johann Ernst Eberlin, German composer, dies at 60
1844 – Étienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, French naturalist, dies at 72
1939 – Grace Abbott, social worker (US Children Bureau), dies at 60
1996 – Henry Ralph Carr, soldier, dies at 82
1997 – Bobby Helms [Robert Lee Helms], American country music singer (Jingle Bell Rock), dies at 63