Historical Events
1926 – Boxer J. Gordon Whitehead sucker punches magician Harry Houdini in the stomach in in his dressing room at the Princess Theater in Montreal. The attack started, contributed, or covered-up the appendicitis that would take Houdini’s life 9 days later.
1930 – Blake and Razaf’s “Lew Leslie’s Blackbirds of 1930” premieres in NYC
1935 – PGA Championship Men’s Golf, Twin Hills CC: Johnny Revolta wins his only major title, defeating Tommy Armour, 5 and 4
2012 – MLB National League Championship: San Francisco Giants beat St. Louis Cardinals, 4 games to 3
2018 – Cameroon’s President Paul Biya wins seventh term in office, extending his 36 years in office, in election marred by intimidation and low turnout
2020 – Goldman Sachs agrees to pay record $3 billion to end probe into its role in 1MDB corruption scandal to regulators in the US, UK, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia
Famous Birthdays
1809 – Federico Ricci, Italian composer, born in Naples, Kingdom of Naples (now Italy) (d. 1877)
1935 – Judy Devlin Hashman, Canadian badminton player (World Team C’ship gold US 1957, 60, 63, 66), born in Winnipeg, Manitoba
1938 – Christopher Lloyd, American Emmy Award-winning actor (Taxi – “Reverend Jim”; Back to the Future films), born in Stamford, Connecticut
1959 – Todd Graff, American actor (Five Corners, Dominic and Eugene), born in NYC, New York
1960 – Cris Kirkwood, American cow-punk bassist, singer, and songwriter (Meat Puppets – “Backwater”), born in Phoenix, Arizona
1975 – Míchel Salgado, Spanish soccer defender (53 caps; Celta Vigo, Real Madrid 251 games, Blackburn Rovers), born in As Neves, Spain
Famous Deaths
1725 – Alessandro Scarlatti, Italian baroque composer (Tigrane), dies at 65
1989 – Ewan MacColl [James Miller], Scottish folk singer-songwriter (“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”), dies at 74
1990 – Frank Sinkwich, American College Football Hall of Fame halfback (Heisman Trophy 1942, U of Georgia; NFL Draft #1 pick Detroit Lions 1943; NFL MVP 1944), dies at 70
1995 – Mary Wickes [Wickenhauser], American character actress (Father Dowling Mysteries; Sister Act; Dennis The Menace), dies of surgery complications at 79
2004 – Alastair Down, CEO (Burmah Oil), dies at 90
2021 – Jay Black [David Blatt], American pop singer (Jay and the Americans – “Come A Little Bit Closer”; “This Magic Moment”), dies of pneumonia and complications from dementia at 82