Historical Events

1276 – Augsburg becomes an Imperial Free City
1864 – Ulysses S. Grant is named Commanding General of the U.S. (Union) Army
1889 – Battle at Gallabat (Metema): Mahdi’s beat Abyssinian emperor John IV
1922 – KJR-AM in Seattle Washington begins radio transmissions
1956 – Weather forecasting phone line set up in London England
1957 – 4th ACC Men’s Basketball Tournament: North Carolina beats South Carolina, 95-75

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1454 – Amerigo Vespucci, Italian explorer (America), born in Florence (d. 1512)
1890 – Vyacheslav Molotov [Skryabin], Russian politician (Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs, 1939-49, 1953-6), born in Kukarka, Russian Empire (d. 1986)
1954 – Carlos Ghosn, French Brazilian automobile executive (Renault, Nissan, Mitsubishi Motors), born in Porto Velho, Brazil
1958 – Jack Kenny, American television writer and producer (Warehouse 13), born in Chicago, Illinois
1979 – Óscar Isaac [Hernández], French Guatemalan-American actor (Scenes From A Marriage; Balibo; Inside Llewyn Davis), born in Guatemala City, Guatemala
1987 – Lil’ Bow Wow [Shad Gregory Moss], American rapper and actor (Beware of Dogs), born in Columbus, Ohio

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1954 – Eva Ahnert-Rohlfs, German astronomer (b. 1912)
1964 – Johanna “Mina” Bakker, Dutch actress (Boefje), dies at 87
1992 – Felipe Turich, actor (Lawless), dies
2017 – Howard Hodgkin, British abstract painter, dies at 84
2019 – Harry Howell, Canadian Hockey Hall of Fame defenseman (NY Rangers 1952-69), dies of dementia at 86
2023 – Otis Taylor, American football wide receiver (Super Bowl IV Kansas City Chiefs; First-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl 1971, 72), dies from Parkinson’s disease dementia at 80

More Famous Deaths »

#todayinhistory

Historical Events

1862 – Confederate ironclad “Merrimack” launched
1898 – Richard Straus’ “Don Quixote” premieres in Keulen
1916 – US invades Cuba for 3rd time, this to end corrupt Menocal regime
1927 – Pan American Airlines incorporates
1995 – Dutch Liberal Party wins Provincial-National elections
2014 – Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 with 239 people loses contact and disappears, prompting the most expensive search effort in history and one of the most enduring aviation mysteries

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1743 – [Benedikt] Bendix Friedrich Zinck, Danish violinist, keyboardist, and composer, baptized in Husum, Duchy of Schleswig (now Germany) (d. 1801)
1879 – Mechtilde Lichnowsky, German writer, born in Pocking, Bavaria (d. 1958)
1918 – Poon Lim, Chinese sailor who survived 133 days adrift at sea, born in Hainan, China (d. 1991)
1927 – Jaromir Podešva, Czech composer (Fragments of the Quinguennium), music theorist, and pedagogue, born in Brno, Czechoslovakia (d. 2000)
1971 – Marc Tobert, CFL slot back (Edmonton Eskimos)
1977 – James Van Der Beek, American actor (Dawson’s Creek), born in Cheshire, Connecticut

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1853 – Edward John Dent, British clockmaker to Queen Victoria and commissioned to make Big Ben, London (completed after his death by his son Frederick Dent), dies at 62
1955 – Clémentine, Princess of Belgium, wife of Prince Napoleon Bonaparte V, dies at 82
1971 – Harold Lloyd, American silent and sound film actor, comedian, and director (Why Worry?; The Freshman; Safety Last!; The Sin of Harold Diddlebock), dies of cancer at 77
1985 – Thomas Creighton, US heart patient (3 implants in 46 hrs), dies at 33
1994 – Joop C Swart, publisher/founder (World Press Photo), dies at 69
2014 – William Guarnere, American WWII veteran and author, portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers, dies at 90

More Famous Deaths »

#todayinhistory

Historical Events

1942 – 15 Mk-VB Spitfires reach Malta
1958 – Chicago Cardinals announce they will play their 1958 opener in Buffalo
1965 – Alabama state troopers and 600 black protesters clash in Selma during “Bloody Sunday”, protesters, including future congressman John Lewis beaten and hospitalized
1970 – Ice Pairs Championship at Ljubljana won by Rodnina and Ulanov (URS)
1975 – “Mirror”, Russian film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, starring Margarita Terekhova and Ignat Daniltsev, is released
1990 – Wayne Huizenga buys ½ of Joe Robbie Stadium and 15% of Dolphins for $30m

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1872 – Piet Mondrian, Dutch abstract painter (Broadway Boogie Woogie, Composition with Red Blue and Yellow) and art theoretician, born in Amersfoort, Netherlands (d. 1944)
1895 – Juan Jose Castro, Argentine composer, born in Avellaneda, Argentina (d. 1968)
1931 – Cornelis T “Cor” van de Molen, Dutch journalist (Beehive)
1940 – Daniel J Travanti, American actor (Hill Street Blues – “Capt. Frank Furillo”), born in Kenosha, Wisconsin
1964 – Denyce Graves, American mezzo-soprano (Carmen), born in Washington, D.C.
1967 – Zheng Haixia, Chinese WNBA center (LA Sparks), born in Shangqiu, China

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

851 – Nominoe, first Duke of Brittany “father of the country” (Tad ar Vro)
1724 – Innocent XIII [Michelangiolo dei Conti], Italian 244th Pope (1721-24) tried to introduce frugal measures and end nepotism, dies at 68
1833 – Rahel Varnhagen von Ense-Levin, German literary hostess, dies at 61
1984 – Paul Rotha, English director (b. 1907)
1985 – Victor W. Farris, American inventor (paper milk carton), dies at 75
1995 – Paul-Emile Victor, French polar explorer, dies at 87

More Famous Deaths »

#todayinhistory

Historical Events

1900 – After a meeting in Indianapolis, USA, a group forms the Social Democratic Party and nominates Eugene Debs as its candidate for President in the forthcoming election (becomes the Socialist Party in 1901)
1972 – Jack Nicklaus, passes Arnold Palmer as golf’s all-time money winner
1974 – Australian cricketing brothers Ian (145 and 121) and Greg Chappell (247no and 133) score unique twin centuries in drawn 1st Test vs New Zealand in Wellington
1983 – US Football League begins its 1st season
1986 – USSR’s Vega 1 flies by Halley’s Comet at 8,889 km
1992 – Founding of the Council of the Baltic Sea States.

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1475 – Michelangelo, Italian sculptor, painter, architect and poet of the High Renaissance (David, Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel), born in Caprese, Tuscany (d. 1564)
1926 – Andrzej Wajda, Polish film director (Ashes and Diamonds, Man of Iron), born in Suwalki (d. 2016)
1933 – Ted Abernathy, American MLB baseball pitcher, 1955-72 (Washington Senators, Chicago Cubs, and 5 other teams), born in Stanley, North Carolina (d. 2004)
1946 – Tony Klatka, rocker (Blood, Sweat and Tears)
1972 – Shaquille O’Neal, American Basketball Hall of Fame center (4-time NBA champion, 3-time NBA Finals MVP, Olympic gold 1996), born in Newark, New Jersey
1973 – Greg Ostertag, NBA center (Utah Jazz)

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1936 – Rubin Goldmark, American composer, dies at 63
1962 – Rezső Kókai, Hungarian pianist, composer, musicologist, and pedagogue, dies at 56
1986 – Adolph Caesar, actor (Club Paradise, Soldier’s Story), dies
1994 – Tengiz Abuladze, Soviet Georgian filmmaker (Repentance), dies at 70
1998 – Frank Barrett, American baseball player (b. 1913)
2016 – Nancy Reagan [Anne Frances Robbins], US First Lady (1981-89), dies at 94

More Famous Deaths »

#todayinhistory

Historical Events

1774 – John Hancock delivers the fourth annual Massacre Day oration, a commemoration of the Boston Massacre, and denounces the presence of British troops in Boston, enhancing Hancock’s stature as a leading Patriot
1784 – Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney, is named President of the Board of Trade.
1928 – Karl Zuckmayer’s “Der Hauptmann von Köpenick” premieres in Berlin
1966 – US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1974 – Ralph Stewart failed in 2nd Islander penalty shot
1982 – Russian spacecraft Venera 14 lands on Venus sends back data

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1871 – Rosa Luxemburg, Polish-German Marxist revolutionary and founder of the Spartacus League, born in Zamość, Poland (d. 1919)
1893 – Emmett J. Culligan, American entrepreneur (founder of water treatment organization Culligan Inc.), born in Yankton, South Dakota (d. 1970)
1934 – James B Sikking, American actor (Hill Street Blues – “Lt. Howard Hunter”; Star Trek 3; Doogie Howser), born in Los Angeles, California
1939 – Norman Seeff, South African-American photographer, filmmaker, and album cover artist (Joni Mitchell; Captain and Tenille; Fleetwood Mac), born in Johannesburg, South Africa
1948 – Jacques Kloes, Dutch rock singer (Dizzy Man’s Band – “The Show”; “Matter of Facts”), born in Heemskerk, Holland (d. 2015)
1961 – Dan Stuart, American singer-songwriter (Green on Red), poet, and author (The Unfortunate Demise of Marlowe Billings), born in Los Angeles, California

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1940 – Cai Yuanpei, Chinese educator (b. 1868)
1967 – Mischa Auer [Ounskowsky], Russian actor (My Man Godfrey), dies from a heart attack at 61
1967 – Georges Vanier, French Canadian soldier and 19th Governor General of Canada, dies at 78
1979 – Vicente Ascone, Italian composer, dies at 81
1984 – Harry Salter, orchestra leader (Stop the Music), dies at 85
2010 – Edgar Wayburn, American environmentalist awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom 1999, dies at 103

More Famous Deaths »

#todayinhistory

#todayinhistory

Historical Events

1905 – US Forest Service forms
1917 – First major strike of the Russian “February Revolution” starts at the giant Putilov factory in Petrograd [OS=Feb 18]
1942 – 1st combat flight for Canadian British-built Avro Lancaster bomber
1981 – NY Islanders and Edmonton Oilers play to an 8-8 tie
1992 – Charges are filed in Florida against NY Mets Darryl Boston, Vince Coleman and Dwight Gooden of rape (dropped in April)
2021 – Great apes at San Diego Zoo reported given experimental COVID-19 vaccine designed for animals after earlier outbreak among the gorillas (San Diego, California)

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1814 – Charles Kensington Salaman, British pianist and synagogue music composer, born in London, England (d. 1901)
1880 – Florence Auer, American actress (Eradicating Aunty), born in Albany, New York (d. 1962)
1893 – Beatrice Wood, American artist, ceramist and editor (The Blind Man, inspiration for Titanic film character Rose), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1998)
1913 – Roger Caillois, French writer and scholar (Les Jeux et les Hommes), born in Reims, France (d. 1978)
1920 – Julius Boros, American golfer (PGA C’ship 1968, US Open 1952, 63), born in Fairfield, Connecticut (d. 1994)
1945 – Farooq Hamid, cricketer (1-107 in Test, Pakistan v Australia 1964)

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1459 – Ausiàs March, Catalan poet of Valencian literature, dies at 59
1927 – J.G. Parry-Thomas, Welsh motor-racing driver (b. 1884)
1973 – Vera Panova, Russian author and journalist (Sputniki), dies at 67
1996 – Ludwig Freiherr von Hammerstein-Equord, German journalist, dies at 76
2000 – Toni Ortelli, Italian composer (“La Montanara” (The Song of the Mountains), conductor, and alpinist, dies at 95
2004 – Cecily Adams, American actress and casting director (b. 1958)

More Famous Deaths »

#todayinhistory

Historical Events

1720 – Queen Ulrica Eleonora of Sweden resigns
1768 – Polish nobleman Casimir Pulaski joins the Bar Confederation to defend the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth against Russian influence
1948 – Stern-group bomb on Cairo-Haifa train kills 27 British soldiers
1968 – US end regular flights with nuclear bombs
1980 – Future Hockey Hall of Fame right wing Gordie Howe scores in the 3rd period to become first NHL player to score 800 career goals as Hartford Whalers beat St. Louis Blues, 3-0 at Springfield Civic Center
1980 – Michael Bracey ends 59 h 55 m trapped in an elevator, England

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1860 – Herman Hollerith, American inventor (1st electric tabulating machine), born in Buffalo, New York (d. 1929)
1924 – David Beattie, New Zealand judge, Governor-General of NZ (1980-85), born in Sydney, Australia (d. 2001)
1944 – Ene Ergma, Estonian politician
1952 – Raúl González, Mexican racewalker (Olympic gold 50k 1984; WR 1978 3:45:52 and 3:41:20), born in China, Nuevo León, Mexico
1956 – (Jonathan) “Jono” Coleman, British-Australian television and radio, writer, and comedian, born in Hackney, England (d. 2021)
1980 – Clinton Toopi, New Zealand rugby league centre (22 Tests; Auckland Warriors, Leeds Rhinos), born in Stratford, New Zealand

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1592 – Alessandro Striggio, Italian composer (b. 1540)
1744 – John Theophilus Desaguliers, French-British natural philosopher and freemason, dies at 60
1968 – Lena Blackburne, American baseball infielder, manager, coach (Chicago White Sox; discovered rubbing clay to take the shine off baseballs), dies at 81
2012 – Davy Jones, British singer and actor (The Monkees – “Daydream Believer”), dies from heart attack at 66
2020 – Éva Székely, Hungarian swimmer (Olympic gold 200m breaststroke 1952; silver 1956; first WR 400m individual medley 1953), dies at 92
2020 – Bill Roe, American sports executive (President USA Track and Field 2000-2008), dies at 69

More Famous Deaths »

#todayinhistory

Historical Events

1793 – 1st US fugitive slave law passed; requires return of escaped slaves
1818 – Chile gains independence from Spain
1925 – E. Thieffry departs with Handley Page for the Belgian Congo
1938 – Austrian chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg visits Adolf Hitler in Berchtesgaden
1997 – Fred Goldman says he will settle for a signed murder confession from O.J. Simpson in lieu of his $20.5 million judgement
2007 – A gunman opens fire in a mall in Salt Lake City, killing 5 people in the Trolley Square shooting.

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1907 – Clifton C. Edom, American photojournalism educator (d. 1991)
1920 – Pran Krishan Sikand, Indian actor often cast as the villain in Hindi cinema (Khandaan, Be-Imaan), born in New Delhi (d. 2013)
1938 – Judy Blume, American author (Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret), born in Elizabeth, New Jersey
1969 – Byron Stroud, Canadian heavy metal bassist, born in New Westminster, British Columbia
1976 – Christian Cullen, New Zealand rugby union footballer, born in Paraparaumu, New Zealand
1985 – Saskia Burmeister Croft, Australian actress, born in Sydney, Australia

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1903 – Gaspar Núñez de Arce, Spanish dramatist and statesman (b. 1834)
1981 – Jean Dixon, American actress (Joy of Living, You Only Live Once), dies at 87
1996 – Bob Shaw, Northern Irish novelist (b. 1931)
2000 – (Jalacy) “Screamin’ Jay” Hawkins, American blues-rock singer, guitarist, and songwriter (“I Put a Spell On You”), and actor, dies of an aneurysm at 70
2004 – Robert A. Bruce, American cardiologist and pioneer (exercise cardiology), dies at 87
2022 – Brian Kan, Chinese thoroughbred horse trainer (5 x Hong Kong champion trainer; 5 x HK Derby winners), dies at 84

More Famous Deaths »

#todayinhistory

Historical Events

1899 – -39°F (-39°C), Milligan, Ohio (state lowest record temperature)
1931 – Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart’s musical “America’s Sweetheart” premieres on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre, NYC
1959 – Dutch Princess Wilhelmina publishes “Lonely, but not alone”
1971 – American Mensa Ltd incorporates in New York
1981 – 33rd NHL All-Star Game, The Forum, Inglewood: Campbell Conference beats Wales Conference, 4-1; MVP: Mike Liut, St. Louis Blues, G
2014 – Canadian short track speed skater Charles Hamelin wins his 3rd career Olympic gold medal in the 1,500m in Sochi; Vancouver (2010) 500m and 5,000m relay champion

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1696 – Johann Melchior Molter, German composer, born in Tiefenort, Thuringia (now Germany) (d. 1765)
1846 – Mildred Childe Lee, American favourite daughter of confederate General Robert E. Lee, born at Arlington Plantation, Virginia (d. 1905)
1888 – Giuseppe Ungaretti, Italian poet (Hermeticism) and journalist, born in Alexandria (d. 1970)
1894 – Roy D’Arcy [Roy Giusti], American actor (Warning Shadows, Revolt of Zombies), born in San Francisco, California (d. 1969)
1913 – Ragnhild Marie Hatton, Norwegian historian, born in Bergen, Norway (d. 1995)
1918 – Gordon Pirie, English Group Captain and politician, born in Oxford (d. 2003)

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1543 – Johann Eck, German Scholastic theologian and early counter-reformer against Lutheran challenges, dies a 56
1836 – Marie-Anne Paulze Lavoisier, French chemist (worked with husband Antoine Lavoisier), dies at 78
1927 – Laura Netzel (née Pistolekors), Finnish-Swedish pianist, composer, concert organizer, and humanitarian, dies at 87
1987 – Sadequain, Pakistani artist, painter, calligrapher and artist, dies at 56
1995 – Paul Monette, American writer, dies of AIDS at 49
2001 – Lewis Arquette, American actor (Horror Show; Book of Love), dies at 65

More Famous Deaths »

#todayinhistory

Historical Events

1750 – Minor earthquake in London
1776 – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s play “Stella” premieres in Hamburg
1923 – Coal mine explosion at Dawson, New Mexico kills 120
1940 – Lodtz, 1st large ghetto established by Nazis in Poland
1963 – AFL’s Dallas Texans become KC Chiefs
1971 – Pedro Morales beats Ivan Koloff in NY, to become WWF wrestling champ

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1810 – Norbert Burgmüller, German composer, born in Düsseldorf, Germany (d. 1836)
1817 – Richard S. Ewell, US Army officer and Confederate General (Battle of Gettysburg, Battle of Spotsylvania Court House), born in Georgetown, Washington D.C. (d. 1872)
1888 – Edith Evans, British actress (Tom Jones, David Copperfield), born in London, England (d. 1976)
1937 – David Montgomery, American born photographer known for his images of the 1960s, born in Brooklyn, New York
1943 – José Antônio Rezende de Almeida Prado, Brazilian composer, born in Santos, São Paulo, Brazil (d. 2010)
1989 – Julio Jones, American football receiver (First-team All-Pro 2015, 16; 7 × Pro Bowl; Atlanta Falcons), born in Foley, Alabama

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1623 – Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, English politician, dies at 80
1942 – Fritz Todt, German construction engineer, Reich Minister for Armaments and Munitions Reichs minister and Head of the Organization Todt, dies in a plane crash at 50
2015 – Filipe Pires, Portuguese pianist, composer (Portugaliae Genesis), and educator, dies at 81
2021 – Mary Wilson, American pop vocalist (Supremes – “Where Did Our Love Go?”), dies at 76
2023 – Charlie Faulkner, Welsh rugby union prop (19 Tests Wales; British and Irish Lions 1977; Pontypool RFC, Barbarian FC) and coach (Newport RFC), dies at 81
2023 – Burt Bacharach, American Grammy and Academy Award-winning composer (“I’ll Never Fall in Love Again”; “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head”; “Promises, Promises”), dies at 94

More Famous Deaths »

#todayinhistory

Historical Events

1920 – Saarland administrated by League of Nations
1941 – Auke Adema wins 6th official Dutch 11 Cities Skating Race (9:19)
1971 – James Saunders (22), a member of the IRA, is shot and killed by the British Army during a gun battle near the Oldpark Road, Belfast
1973 – Bernice Fekete skips her curling rink to 2nd straight 8-ender, Edm
1974 – Dutch speed limit set at 100km due to oil crisis
1996 – Heidi Fleiss scheduled to begin her 7 year jail sentence

More Historical Events »

Famous Birthdays

1639 – Daniel Georg Morhof, German writer and scholar, born in Wismar, Germany (d. 1691)
1899 – Ramon Novarro [Jose Samaniegos], Mexican-American actor (Ben-Hur, Mata Hari), born in Durango, Mexico (d. 1968)
1925 – Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Javanese author (Anak semua bangsa), born in Blora Regency, Indonesia (d. 2006)
1929 – Sixten Jernberg, Swedish skier (Olympic gold 1956/60/64), born in Lima, Sweden (d. 2012)
1957 – Simon Phillips, English drummer and record producer (Toto), born in London
1983 – S. Sreesanth, Indian cricketer, born in Kothamangalam, India

More Famous Birthdays »

Famous Deaths

1699 – Jozef Ferdinand of Bavaria, heir of Spanish king Carlos II, dies of smallpox at 6
1958 – Billy Whelan, Irish soccer forward (4 caps, Republic of Ireland; Manchester United 79 games), dies Munich air disaster at 22
1985 – Charles Briggs, American actor (13 Frightened Girls, Capt Newman), dies at 53
1989 – Nuno Oliveira, Portuguese equestrian, horse trainer, dressage instructor, author (‘baroque’ or ‘classical’ style), dies at 63
2001 – Filemon Lagman, Filipino Communist revolutionary (b. 1953)
2012 – Antoni Tapies, Spanish painter, sculptor and theorist (Dau al Set), dies at 88

More Famous Deaths »

#todayinhistory