Historical Events
1914 – Dutch army opens fire on interned Belgian soldiers: 8 killed
1923 – First Congressional open session broadcast via radio (Washington, D.C.)
1953 – Robert Wright and George Forrest’s musical “Kismet” opens at Ziegfeld Theater, NYC; runs for 583 performances, wins Tony Award for Best Musical
1978 – “King of Hearts” closes at Minskoff Theater NYC after 48 performances
1984 – Bhopal disaster: A Union Carbide pesticide plant leaks 45 tons of methyl isocyanate and other toxic compounds in Bhopal, India, officially killing 2,259 – other estimates are as high as 16,000 (including later deaths) and over half a million injured
Famous Birthdays
1755 – Gilbert Stuart, American portrait painter (unfinished portrait of George Washington), born in Saunderstown, Rhode Island (d. 1828)
1908 – Edward Underdown, British actor (Beat the Devil, Thunderball), born in London, England (d. 1989)
1914 – Edward “Corky” Cornelius, American jazz trumpeter (Benny Goodman; Gene Krupa), born in Cicero, Indiana (d. 1943)
1918 – Abdul Haris Nasution, Indonesian army general, born in Koetanopan, North Sumatera, Dutch East Indies (d. 2000)
1933 – Rosalind Knight, British stage and screen actress (Friday Night Dinner – “Horrible Grandma”), born in Marylebone (now Westminster), England (d. 2020)
Famous Deaths
1973 – Emile Christian, American jazz trombonist, dies at 78
1999 – John Archer [Ralph Bowman], American actor (Destination: Moon, White Heat, Blue Hawaii), dies of lung cancer at 84
2004 – Shiing-Shen Chern, Chinese mathematician (b. 1911)
2016 – Gigliola Frazzoni, Italian operatic soprano, dies at 93
2023 – Myles Goodwyn, Canadian rock guitarist, singer and songwriter (April Wine – “You Could Have Been a Lady”), and record producer, dies at 75