Historical Events
1828 – First theatrical performance of Mary Shelley’s novel “Frankenstein” as “Presumption; or, the Fate of Frankenstein” by Richard Brinsley Peake, starring Thomas Potter Cooke at Covent Garden
1957 – Rock and roll piano player-singer Jerry Lee Lewis makes his 1st TV appearance with a raucous rendition of “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On” on the “Steve Allen Show”
1978 – Price of gold tops $200-an-oz level for 1st time
1991 – Buffalo Bills beat Philadelphia Eagles, 17-13 in American Bowl in Wembley
1994 – Texas Rangers pitcher Kenny Rogers throws the only perfect game in franchise history, against the California Angels
2022 – Final episodes of TV soap “Neighbours”, after 37 years, screens in Australia
Famous Birthdays
1165 – Ibn al-‘Arabi, Muslim mystic and philosopher (The Meccan Revelations), born in Murcia, Spain (d. 1240)
1925 – Bruce Matthews, Australian newspaper executive who worked for Rupert Murdoch, born in Sydney, New South Wales (d. 1996)
1937 – Francis Veber, French film director and screenwriter, born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
1947 – Barbara Ferrell, American runnerr (Olympic gold 1968), born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi
1949 – Vida Blue, American baseball pitcher (6 x MLB All-Star; Cy Young Award and AL MVP 1971; World Series 1972, 73, 74 Oakland A’s; SF Giants, KC Royals), born in Mansfield, Louisiana (d. 2023)
1995 – Anna Lapwood, British classical organist, music director (Pembroke College, Cambridge), and radio presenter (BBC), born in England
Famous Deaths
1101 – Su Tung-p’o, Chinese poet, essayist, painter and calligrapher, dies at 64
1128 – William Clito, Count of Flanders (1127-28), dies at 25
1230 – Duke Leopold VI of Austria (b. 1176)
1983 – Alec Marks, Australian cricketer (good NSW batsman 1928-37), dies at 72
2009 – Peter Richard Tahourdin, English-Australian composer, dies at 80
2021 – Ron Popeil, American inventor and TV personality who popularized the phrase “But wait, there’s more!”, dies at 86