Historical Events
1629 – Dutch East India ship Batavia wrecks on Morning Reef off the Houtman Abrolhos, Western Australia, with 200 survivors (only 70 survive after three months due to mutiny and murders)
1832 – 3rd national black convention meets (Philadelphia)
1972 – Angela Davis, African American activist, acquitted of killing a white guard
1985 – Supreme Court strikes down Alabama “moment of silence” law
2023 – Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Zippel’s musical “Bad Cinderella” closes at Imperial Theatre, NYC, after 85 performances; 1st time in 43 years that Webber is without a show on Broadway
Famous Birthdays
1701 – Nikolaj Eigtved, Danish architect (Christiansborg Castle), born in Egtved, Denmark (d. 1754)
1821 – Apollon Maykov, Russian poet, born in Moscow, Imperial Russia (d. 1897)
1930 – Bill Treacher, British actor (EastEnders, 1985-96 – “Arthur Fowler”), born in London, England (d. 2022)
1971 – James Callis, British actor (Battlestar Galactica), born in London, England
1975 – Russell Brand, British comedian, television personality and actor (Arthur, Rock of Ages), born in Grays, England
Famous Deaths
1801 – Frederick Muhlenberg, American politician and first speaker of the US House of Representatives (1789-91, 1793-95), dies at 51
1929 – Harry Frazee, American MLB team owner (Boston Red Sox), dies of kidney failure at 48
1969 – Rafael Osuna, Mexican tennis player (US Nat C’ship 1963), dies in an airline crash at 30
2014 – Richard Mellon Scaife, American billionaire, principal heir to the Mellon banking, oil, and aluminum fortune, and owner of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, dies of cancer at 82
2021 – Clarence Williams III, American actor (The Mod Squad – “Linc”; 52 Pick Up; Purple Rain), dies of colon cancer at 81