CoM Moderators

Historical Events 1953 - August A. Busch buys St. Louis Cardinals MLB club from Fred Saigh for $3.75 million; pledges not to move the team from St. Louis, Missouri 1975 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR 1980 - Soviet cross-country skier Nikolay Zimyatov wins his 2nd gold medal of the Lake Placid Winter Olympics as part of the 4 x 10k relay; also wins 30k and 50k gold 1981 - James Sanford equals 50m indoor world record (5.61 sec) 2010 - On the Portuguese Atlantic island of Madeira heavy rain causes floods and mudslides, leaving at least 32 deaths in the worst disaster on the history of the archipelago. 2013 - Estonia becomes the first country to establish a national system of fast chargers for electric cars More Historical Events » Famous Birthdays 1745 - Henry James Pye, English poet, British Poet Laureate (1790-1813), born in London (d. 1813) 1896 - Henri de Lubac, French Jesuit cardinal and theologist ("new theology” movement that influenced Second Vatican Council), born in Cambrai, France (d. 1991) 1926 - Cameron Rusby, British Vice-Admiral 1927 - Sidney Poitier, Bahamian-American actor, first black actor to win Oscar for Best Actor ('Lillies in the Field' - 1963; To Sir With Love"; "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"), director (Stir Crazy), civil rights advocate, and diplomat, born in Miami, Florida (d. 2022) 1928 - Donald Longmore, British cardiac surgeon 1954 - Anthony Stewart Head, actor (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) More Famous Birthdays » Famous Deaths 1810 - Johann Friedrich Kranz, German composer, dies at 57 1937 - Barlow Carkeek, Australian cricket wicket-keeper (6 Tests, 6 dismissals; Victoria), dies when struck by a car at 58 1980 - Joseph Banks Rhine, American parapsychologist (Extra-Sensory Perception), dies at 84 2002 - Stephen Longstreet, American writer (All or Nothing), dies at 94 2007 - F. Albert Cotton, American chemist, dies at 76 2013 - Antonio Roma, Argentinian footballer, dies at 80 More Famous Deaths »

1700 - Last day of Julian calendar in Denmark 1884 - "Enigma Outbreak" of over 60 tornadoes in Mississippi, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky and Indiana kill hundreds, if not over a thousand (hence the "enigma") people 1933 - Prussian minister Goering bans all Catholic newspapers 1942 - Bill Longson beats Managoff and Sandor Szabo, to become wrestling champ 1942 - Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra record "I'll Take Tallulah" 1952 - American defending champion Dick Button becomes first figure-skater to land a triple jump in competition; performs a triple loop in the Olympic free skate in Oslo; wins gold medal ahead of Austria’s Helmut Seibt 1952 - French offensive at Hanoi 1980 - Swedish alpine skier Ingemar Stenmark wins the giant slalom from Andreas Wenzel of Liechtenstein at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics; also takes slalom gold 1982 - Sharie Langford, California, sets women's bowling series record of 853 2007 - Three Salvadoran deputies to the Central American Parliament and their driver are murdered in Guatemala More Historical Events »

Historical Events 1771 - French astronomer Charles Messier adds M46-M49 to his catalog (galactic clusters in Puppis and Hydra and galaxy in Virgo) 1819 - British explorer William Smith discovers the South Shetland Islands, and claims them in the name of King George III 1945 - US 5th Fleet launches invasion of Iwo Jima against the Japanese with 30,000 US Marines 1985 - Canned and bottled Cherry Coke introduced by Coca-Cola 1992 - In a blockbuster NHL trade, Pittsburgh Penguins send Mark Recchi, Brian Benning and LA's 1st round 1992 pick (Jason Bowen) to the Philadelphia Flyers for Kjell Samuelsson, Rick Tocchet and Ken Wregget 2014 - Death toll in Ukraine reaches 26 after Government crackdown on protesters More Historical Events » Famous Birthdays 1920 - Jaan Kross, Estonian writer (d. 2007) 1923 - Donald Lybbert, American composer (Zap; Lines for the Fallen), and educator (Hunter College, 1954-80), born in Cresco, Iowa (d. 1981) 1940 - [William] Smokey Robinson, American soul singer-songwriter (The Miracles - "You Really Got A Hold On Me"; "Tears Of A Clown"; "My Girl"), born in Detroit, Michigan 1979 - Mariska [Anna Maria Rahikainen], Finnish rapper, born in Helsinki, Finland 1981 - Ronnie Arniell, Canadian professional wrestler 1993 - Victoria Justice, American Actress (The Suite Life Of Zack And Cody, Lola Martinez in Nickelodeon show Zoey 101) More Famous Birthdays » Famous Deaths 1545 - Pierre Brully [Peter Brulius], Calvinist minister, burned to death for teaching Protestant doctrine in Tournai 1878 - Charles-François Daubigny, French painter of the Barbizon school, dies at 61 1948 - Bob Groom, American baseball pitcher (Washington Senators; no-hitter 1917 St. Louis Browns), dies at 63 1957 - Maurice Garin, Italian-born French road bicycle racer (winner of Tour de France in 1903), dies at 85 1993 - Michael Morrison, actor (Caleb-As the World Turns), dies at 33 1994 - Derek Jarman, English filmmaker (The Tempest), artist and gay rights activist, dies of AIDS at 52 More Famous Deaths »

1574 - Zeeland falls to Dutch rebels 1861 - Confederate President Jefferson Davis inaugurated at Montgomery, Alabama (US Civil War) 1865 - Battle of Fort Moultrie, SC occupied by Federals 1885 - Mark Twain publishes the "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" in the US 1919 - Cy Denneny of NHL Ottawa Senators scores record 52nd goal 1950 - "Dance Me a Song" closes at Royale Theater NYC after 35 performances 1952 - Norwegian speed skater Hjalmar Anderson wins his 3rd gold medal of the Oslo Winter Olympics when he claims the 10,000m in Olympic record 16:45.8; also wins gold in 1,500m and 5,000m 1977 - George Harrison releases music single "True Love", from his "33-1/3" album 1984 - Finnish ski jumper Matti Nykänen wins first of 4 career Olympic gold medals in the Large Hill individual event at the Sarajevo Winter Games 2020 - President Donald Trump commutes the 14-year sentence of former Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich's corruption conviction More Historical Events »

Historical Events 1896 - Cave of Winds at Niagara Falls goes almost dry for first time in 50 yrs 1957 - Dedan Kimathi, a Kenyan freedom fighter is executed by the British colonial government. 1967 - Softball pitcher Eddie Feigner strikes out 6 straight major leaguers 1980 - East German cross country skier Barbara Petzold wins first of 2 gold medals at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics in women's 10k; also takes gold as part of 4 x 5k relay team 1992 - American amateur astronomer Peter Collins discovers Nova Cygni 1992, observed from Boulder, Colorado 2022 - Johannes Thingnes Bø of Norway wins his 4th biathlon gold medal of the Beijing Winter Olympics when he takes out the men's mass start More Historical Events » Famous Birthdays 1770 - Johann Christian Heinrich Rinck, German composer, born in Elgersburg (d. 1846) 1867 - Hedwig Courths-Mahler, German Romantic novelist whose novels sold 80 million copies (Warbride), born in Nebra (d. 1950) 1909 - Wallace Stegner, American novelist and critic (Pulitzer-1972 for Angle of Repose), born in Lake Mills, Iowa (d. 1992) 1936 - Jozef Vengloš, Slovak soccer manager (Australia, Czechoslovakia, Malaysia, Fenerbahçe, Aston Villa, Celtic, Slovakia), born in Ružomberok, Slovakia (d. 2021) 1955 - Miles Tredinnick, English playwright, born in Warrington, United Kingdom 1967 - Colin Jackson, Welsh 100m hurdler (Olympic silver 1988), born in Cardiff, Wales More Famous Birthdays » Famous Deaths 1546 - Martin Luther, German theologian and key figure in the Protestant Reformation, dies at 62 1743 - Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, last of the Medicis (b. 1667) 1957 - Dedan Kimathi, Kenyan freedom fighter, dies by execution at 36 1963 - Monte Blue, American silent film actor (Apache), dies of a heart attack at 73 1980 - Gale Robbins [Betty Gale Murphy], American singer and actress (Fuller Brush Girl, Mr Hex), dies of lung cancer at 58 1996 - Jack Thieuloy, French writer, dies at 64 More Famous Deaths »

1843 - Battle of Miani: Bombay Army of the East India Company led by Charles Napier defeats a Baluch army of Talpur Emirs of Sindh led by Mir Nasir Khan Talpur. Leading to the capture of parts of Sindh, the company's first possession in modern-day Pakistan. 1915 - Edward Stone, 1st US combatant to die in WW I, is mortally wounded 1951 - Detroit right wing Gordie Howe scores his 100th career NHL goal and adds an assist in a 2-1 Red Wings' victory away to the Montreal Canadiens 1967 - Parlophone releases the Beatles' double "A" side single "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields" in the UK 1984 - 34th Berlin International Film Festival: "Love Streams" wins the Golden Bear 1985 - Panamanian jockey Laffit Pincay Jr is third to ride 6,000 winners; wins aboard Doria's Delight in the 5th race at Santa Anita Park 1989 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR 2016 - Car bomb attack on military convoy in Ankara, Turkey, by Kurdish militant eaves 28 dead 2016 - Nike ends endorsement deal with Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao after he made TV comments gay people are "worse than animals." 2021 - Texan senator Ted Cruz flies to Cancun, Mexico with his family amid a winter disaster in his state, igniting widespread condemnation More Historical Events »

Historical Events 1621 - Myles Standish is elected as the first commander of the Plymouth Colony 1905 - Frances Willard becomes 1st women honored in National Statuary Hall 1954 - WAST (now WNYT) TV channel 13 in Albany-Troy, NY (NBC) 1st broadcast 1995 - Colin Fergusson found guilty of killing 6 people on the Long Island Rail Road in NY 1995 - Tiger Manager Sparky Anderson takes unpaid leave due to baseball strike 2021 - South Africa, Africa's worst-affected country begins COVID-19 vaccinations with the one-shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine in Cape Town More Historical Events » Famous Birthdays 1796 - Philipp Franz von Siebold, German physician (d. 1866) 1821 - Lola Montez, Irish dancer and courtesan, born in Grange, Ireland (d. 1861) 1850 - Anton Urspruch, German composer, born in Frankfurt (d. 1907) 1895 - Anita Stewart, American silent film actress (South of Hell Mountain), producer, and mystery novelist, born in Brooklyn, NYC (d. 1961) 1913 - Oskar Danon, Yugoslav conductor (Belgrade Opera, 1944-65), born in Sarajevo, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now Bosnia and Herzegovina) (d. 2009) 1963 - Larry the Cable Guy [Daniel Lawrence Whitney], American comedian (Blue Collar Comedy Tour), born in Pawnee City, Nebraska More Famous Birthdays » Famous Deaths 1841 - Ferdinando Carulli, Italian classical guitar composer (Méthode, Op. 27), dies at 71 1924 - Henry Bacon, American architect (Lincoln Memorial), dies at 57 1976 - Jean Servais, Belgian actor (Le Plaisir, Every Man is My Enemy), dies from heart failure at 65 1982 - Lee Strasberg, Austrian acting coach and actor (The Godfather: Part II, Somewhere in the Night), dies at 80 2013 - Mindy McCready, American country singer, commits suicide by gunshot at 37 2019 - Ethel Ennis, American jazz singer (If Women Ruled The World), dies of a stroke at 86 More Famous Deaths »

1646 - Battle of Great Torrington, Devon - the last major battle of the first English Civil War 1892 - Opera "Werther" by Jules Massenet premieres in Vienna 1909 - 1st subway car with side doors goes into service (NYC) 1916 - Russian troops conquer the Ottoman Empire city of Erzurum during WWI 1916 - The US rejects the right of Germany and Austria-Hungary to sink armed merchant ships 1961 - 1st all-solid-propellant rocket put in orbit, Wallops Island, Virginia 1963 - 1st round-trip swim of Strait of Messina, Italy (Mary Revell of US) 1966 - End of Wally Grout's Test Cricket career, 187 dismissals as Australian wicketkeeper 1973 - West Indies v Australia at Kingston, 1st time since 1955 without Gary Sobers 1975 - 17th Daytona 500: Benny Parsons wins after Cale Yarborough sends race leader David Pearson spinning on the backstretch; Parsons avoids the accident and takes the victory More Historical Events »

Historical Events 1512 - Battle at Valeggio: French troops beat Venetianen 1559 - Pope Paul IV calls for deposition of sovereigns supporting heresy 1916 - The German ambassador in Washington announces that Germany will pay an indemnity for American lives lost on the Lusitania 1931 - Extreme right wing politician Pehr Evind Svinhufvud becomes President of Finland 1952 - Ian Craig makes NSW cricket debut aged 16 years 249 days (NSW record) 2016 - Former French President Nicholas Sarkozy is placed under investigation for campaign funds More Historical Events » Famous Birthdays 1868 - Wilhelm Schmidt, German anthropologist and linguist (Anthropos), born in Hörde, Germany (d. 1954) 1900 - Vincent Coleman, American actor (For the Freedom of Ireland, Salome), born in Louisiana (d. 1971) 1934 - Harold "Hal" Kalin, American singer (Kalin Twins), born in Port Jervis, New York (d. 2005) 1945 - Julio Morales, Uruguayan soccer striker (24 caps; Racing Montevideo, Nacional, Austria Wien), born in Montevideo, Uruguay (d. 2022) 1971 - Marco Sas, Dutch soccer player (NAC) 1980 - Agim Kaba, American actor and film producer More Famous Birthdays » Famous Deaths 1823 - Pierre-Paul Prud'hon, French Romantic painter and draughtsman - allegorical paintings and portraits, dies at 64 1907 - Giosuè Carducci, Italian writer and Nobel Prize Laureate 1906 regarded as the official national poet of modern Italy, dies at 71 1932 - Ferdinand Buisson, French pacifist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1841) 1944 - Edmund von Borck, German composer, dies fighting in Italy in WWII at 37 1966 - Hendrik Tilanus, Dutch artillery officer and political leader (CHU 1939-63), dies at 81 1987 - Dmitri Kabalevsky, Russian pianist and composer (In the Fire), dies at 82 More Famous Deaths »

1145 - Bernardo elected Pope Eugene III 1861 - Fort Point, in San Francisco, California, completed and garrisoned (but has never fired cannon in anger) 1958 - Ice Dance Championship at Paris won by June Markham/Courtney Jones GRB 1967 - 1st anti-bootleg recording laws enacted 1979 - Paul Shirley (21) of Australia, sucked a lifesaver for 4 hrs 40 mins 1987 - ABC-TV begins broadcasting "Amerika" mini-series 1996 - American boxer Tommy Morrison announces he has contracted HIV 1999 - Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party, widely recognized as terrorist organization), was arrested in Kenya. 2005 - YouTube, Internet site on which videos may be shared and viewed by others, is launched in the United States 2013 - Chelyabinsk meteor breaks up over Chelyabinsk, Russia, injuring over 1,200 people, with 26 to 33 times energy of Hiroshima bomb More Historical Events »

Historical Events 1799 - 1st US printed ballots authorized, Pennsylvania 1895 - 23 cm (9 inches) of snow falls on New Orleans 1986 - National Assembly of the Philippines proclaims Ferdinand Marcos President for six more years after rigged elections against Corazon Aquino, supercharging the EDSA people power revolution 1987 - 29th Daytona 500: Bill Elliott leads for 104 of 200 laps including the last 3; had won pole with record speed of 210.364 mph 1995 - Burundi premier Anatole Kanyenkiko resigns 2009 - 58th NBA All-Star Game, US Airways Center, Phoenix, AZ: West beats East, 146-119; MVPs: Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers, F; Shaquille O'Neal, LA Lakers, C More Historical Events » Famous Birthdays 1885 - Richard Würz, German composer, and music critic, born in Munich, Germany (d. 1965) 1921 - Radha Krishna Choudhary, Indian historian and writer (d. 1985) 1923 - Justice Drake, British justice 1937 - Terry Everett, American politician (Rep-R-Alabama 1993-2009), born in Dothan, Alabama 1947 - John Adams, American composer (Nixon In China), born in Worcester, Massachusetts 1979 - Kaj-Erik Eriksen, Canadian actor (Quarantine), born in Vancouver, British Columbia More Famous Birthdays » Famous Deaths 1503 - Henry Deane, Archbishop of Canterbury (1501-03), dies 1891 - Claudius W. Sears, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 74 1994 - Maria Britneva, Russian actress (A Room with a View, Maurice), dies of heart failure 72 2005 - Samuel Francis, American journalist (b. 1947) 2010 - Art Van Damme, American jazz accordionist (Chicago Jazz), dies at 89 2022 - P. J. O'Rourke, American journalist and satirist (Parliament of Whores; National Lampoon), dies of lung cancer at 74 More Famous Deaths »

1831 - Ras Marye of Yejju marches into Tigray and defeats and kills Dejazmach Sabagadis in the Battle of Debre Abbay 1945 - World War II: Mostar is liberated by Yugoslav partisans. 1952 - VI Winter Olympic Games open at Oslo, Norway 1971 - Movie "Ben Hur" 1st shown on television 1972 - Luna 20 (Russia) launched to orbit and soft landing on Moon 1989 - World's 1st satellite Skyphone opens 1989 - The first of 24 satellites of the Global Positioning System are placed into orbit. 2010 - 52nd Daytona 500: Jamie McMurray, driving for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing wins; Mark Martin, oldest polesitter in Daytona 500 history at 51 years, 27 days 2018 - Ex-student Nikolas Cruz shoots and kills 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Florida, before being captured 2018 - Dutch speed skater Jorien ter Mors wins her 3rd career Olympic gold medal in the 1,000m at Pyeongchang; 1,500m and team pursuit champion in Sochi (2014) More Historical Events »

Historical Events 1912 - Arizona was admitted to the Union as the 48th state 1921 - Little Review faces obscenity charges for publishing "Ulysses," in New York 1936 - Karl Schäfer of Austria wins his 2nd consecutive men’s figure skating Olympic gold medal at the Garmisch-Partenkirchen Winter Games in Germany 2005 - Seven people are killed and 151 wounded in a series of bombings by suspected Al-Qaeda-linked militants that hit the Philippines' Makati financial district in Metro Manila, Davao City, and General Santos City. 2010 - America's Cup: Team USA defeats Alinghi 2-0 to win in Spain 2014 - Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta resigns after less than a year in office More Historical Events » Famous Birthdays 1572 - Hans Christoph Haiden, German composer, organist and poet (d. 1617) 1858 - Joseph Thomson, Scottish geologist and early African explorer (Thomson's Gazelle), born in Penpont, Dumfries, Scotland (d. 1895) 1903 - Fritz Büchtger, German composer, educator, and modern music proponent (Association for Contemporary Music; Studio for New Music), born in Munich, Germany (d. 1978) 1926 - Alfred Körner, Austrian soccer striker (47 caps; Rapid Wien), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 2020) 1945 - Gregory Hines, American actor and dancer (White Nights, Taps), born in NYC, New York (d. 2003) 1977 - Elmer Symons, South African motorcycle racer, born in Ladysmith, South Africa (d. 2007) More Famous Birthdays » Famous Deaths 1760 - François Colin de Blamont, French composer, dies at 69 1922 - Heikki Ritavuori, Finnish lawyer and politician (Minister of the Interior), assassinated at 41 1929 - Tom Burke, American athlete (Olympic gold 100m, 400m 1896), dies at 53 1990 - Jean Wallace [Walasek], actress (Big Combo), dies of hemorrhage at 66 1998 - Claude Prey, French composer, dies at 72 2003 - Dolly the sheep, first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell, dies young from a progressive lung disease aged 6 More Famous Deaths »

1633 - Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei arrived in Rome for trial before Inquisition for professing belief that earth revolves around the Sun 1786 - Abraham Baldwin selected president of University of Georgia 1858 - Sir Richard Burton and John Speake explore Lake Tanganyika, Africa 1866 - Jesse James holds up his first bank, stealing $15,000 from the Clay County Savings Association in Liberty, Missouri 1927 - Uprising against Portuguese regime of Gen Carmona defeated 1946 - "The Duchess Misbehaves" opens at Adelphi Theater NYC for 5 performances 1948 - Men's Figure Skating Championship in Davos won by Richard Button USA 1993 - Merlene Ottey runs world record 200m indoor (21.87 sec) 1994 - Johann Olav Koss skates world record 5000m 6:34,96 1995 - Howard Stern radio show premieres in San Diego CA on XTRA-FM More Historical Events »

Historical Events 1706 - Battle at Fraustadt: Swedish army beats Russia and Saxon forces, one of Swedish's Greatest victories in the Great Northern War 1864 - Miridian Campaign fighting at Chunky Creek and Wyatt, Mississippi 1915 - The French try to drive the Germans forces back into the Champagne region 1948 - Wright Flyer, 1st plane to fly, returns to US from England 1970 - 16th National Film Awards (India): "Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne" wins the Golden Lotus 1970 - Man-eating tiger is reported to have killed 48, 80 km from New Delhi More Historical Events » Famous Birthdays 1879 - Sarojini Naidu, Indian freedom fighter and poet, born in Hyperbad, India (d. 1949) 1895 - Fred Essler, Austrian actor (Unsinkable Molly Brown, Saratoga Trunk), born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (d. 1973) 1944 - Sal Bando, American baseball third baseman (4 x MLB All-Star; World Series 1972, 73, 74 Oakland A's) and executive (GM Milwaukee Brewers 1991-99), born in Cleveland, Ohio (d. 2023) 1953 - Suleiman Nyambui, Tanzanian runner (world record 5k indoor), born in Tanzania 1956 - Princess Alia bint Al Hussein, Jordanian Royal Family member, born in Amman, Jordan 1974 - Jeff Duran, US radio personality, born in Arcadia, California More Famous Birthdays » Famous Deaths 1787 - Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, French statesman and diplomat, dies at 67 1959 - William Axt, American film scores composer (The Prisoner of Zenda), dies at 70 1980 - David Janssen, American actor (The Fugitive, Harry O), dies at 49 1992 - Dorothy Tree [Triebitz], American actress (Abe Lincoln in Illinois; Confessions Of A Nazi Spy; The Asphalt Jungle), dies of heart failure at 85 1995 - Azeddine Medjoubi, head Algerian nationally theater, murdered at 49 2006 - Peter Strawson, British philosopher (Oxford University), dies at 86 More Famous Deaths »

1130 - Pope Innocent II elected 1577 - Spanish land guardian Don Juan of Habsburg signs "Eternal Edict" 1908 - Anna Jeanes bequeaths $1,000,000 to Swarthmore to become all female 1912 - China adopts the Gregorian calendar 1941 - First injection of penicillin into a patient by British physician Charles Fletcher at Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford, England 1947 - Daytime fireball and meteorite fall seen in eastern Siberia 1959 - The Lincoln Memorial design on the U.S. penny goes into circulation. It replaces the "sheaves of wheat" design 1994 - Model Anna Nicole Smith hospitalized for drug overdose 2001 - "Ain't Nothing 'bout You" single released by Brooks and Dunn 2017 - North Korea conducts a solid fuel ballistic missile test from Banghyon air base More Historical Events »

Historical Events 1855 - Michigan State University established 1938 - Austrian chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg visits Adolf Hitler in Berchtesgaden 1949 - "Annie Get Your Gun" closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 1147 performances 1958 - Boston Celtic Bill Russell grabs 41 rebounds to beat Syracuse Nationals, 119-101 1962 - Bus boycott starts in Macon, Georgia 2006 - A powerful winter storm blankets the Northeastern United States dumping 1 to 2 feet of snow from Washington, D.C. up to Boston, Massachusetts. The storm dumped a record 26.9 inches of snow in New York City. More Historical Events » Famous Birthdays 1778 - Franz Joseph Volkert, Austrian composer, conductor and organist, born in Vienna (d. 1845) 1857 - Bobby Peel, English cricket all-rounder (20 Tests, 3 x 50, 101 wickets, BB 7/31; Yorkshire CCC), born in Churwell, England (d. 1941) 1900 - Fred Emney, British actor (Let the People Sing, Adventures of a Private Eye, Lilac Domino), born in London, England (d. 1980) 1924 - Hans Berghuis, Dutch author/poet (3 Women, Adam) 1946 - Ajda Pekkan, Turkish singer and actress, born in Istanbul, Turkey 1965 - Brett Kavanaugh, American judge, born in Washington, D.C. More Famous Birthdays » Famous Deaths 1889 - Andrew Greenwood, English cricket batsman (2 Tests, HS 49; Yorkshire CCC), dies from tuberculosis at 41 1896 - Isaac Murphy, American jockey, 628 wins on 1,412 mounts (44.5%), dies at 35 1960 - Bobby Clark, American vaudevillian, clown and actor (in comedy act with Paul McCullough), dies at 71 1973 - Benjamin Frankel, British composer, dies at 67 2005 - Rafael Vidal, Venezuelan athlete (b. 1964) 2011 - Gino Cimoli, American baseball player, dies at 81 More Famous Deaths »

1895 - -17°F (-27.2°C) in Braemar, Grampian (UK record) 1897 - White Rose Mission opens on East 97th Street, NYC 1927 - US Female Figure Skating championship won by Beatrix Loughran 1958 - Ruth Carol Taylor is 1st African-American woman hired as flight attendant, Ithaca NY 1968 - Jeffrey Kramer survives 76-m jump, Washington Bridge, Hudson River New York 1975 - Margaret Thatcher defeats Edward Heath for leadership of the British Conservative Party 2009 - Uri Geller purchases Lamb Island, Scotland, previously known for its witch trials 2014 - 77 people are killed after a military transport plane crashes in Algeria 2018 - Norway sweeps the medals in the Olympic 30k cross country skiathlon at Pyeongchang; Simen Hegstad Krüger wins gold ahead of teammates Martin Johnsrud Sundby and Hans Christer Holund 2019 - Artificial Intelligence system meant to assist diagnosis in the future, pitted against physicians in test to diagnose 600,000 patients in results published in "Nature Medicine", A.I. won, just More Historical Events »

Historical Events 1837 - American Physiological Society organizes in Boston 1895 - -17°F (-27.2°C) in Braemar, Grampian (UK record) 1899 - -15°F (-26°C), Washington, D.C. (district record) 1908 - Australia regain the Ashes with a 308 run cricket victory vs England 1964 - Beatles 1st live appearance in US; Washington, D.C. Coliseum 1977 - 20.2-kg lobster caught off Nova Scotia (heaviest known crustacean) More Historical Events » Famous Birthdays 1377 - King Ladislas of Naples (d. 1414) 1897 - Yves de La Casiniere, French composer, born in Angers, France (d. 1971) 1908 - Vivian Fuchs, English geologist and explorer (led Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1st to cross Antarctica via South Pole), born in Freshwater, Isle of Wight (d. 1999) 1941 - Glenn Randall Jr, stuntman (Species, Mrs Soffel, Return of the Jedi) 1967 - Derek King, Canadian NHL left wing (NY Islanders), born in Hamilton, Canada 1969 - Mark Atkinson, Australian cricket wicket-keeper (Tasmanian batsman), born in Sydney, Australia More Famous Birthdays » Famous Deaths 1879 - Willem Josephus van Zeggelen, Dutch author, dies at 67 1931 - Charles Algernon Parsons, British inventor (steam turbine), dies at 76 1982 - Takashi Shimura, Japanese actor (Rashomon, 7 Samurais), dies at 76 1993 - Joy Garrett, American actress (Jo Johnson-Days of Our Lives), dies of liver failure at 47 1994 - Sorrell Booke, American actor (Boss Hogg in Dukes of Hazard), dies of colorectal cancer at 64 2017 - Harvey Lichtenstein, American head of the Brooklyn Academy of Music, dies at 87 More Famous Deaths »

1855 - US citizenship laws amended; all children of US parents born abroad granted US citizenship 1940 - US female Figure Skating championship won by Joan Tozzer 1971 - Royal Albert Hall bans scheduled concert featuring Frank Zappa 1971 - "Tapestry", second album by Carole King, is released (Grammy Award Album of the Year 1972) 1984 - Soviet cross-country skier Nikolay Zimyatov wins a career 4th Olympic gold medal when he takes out the 30k event in Sarajevo; 3 gold in Lake Placid 1980 1985 - Andrea Schöne skates ladies world record 5 km (7:32.82) 1998 - Olympic figure skater Peggy Fleming undergoes breast cancer surgery 2004 - Kanye West releases his debut album "The College Dropout" (2005 Grammy Best Rap Album) 2013 - 5 people are killed by a falling lifeboat from the cruise ship Thomson Majesty in the Canary islands 2019 - Insect populations are collapsing worldwide threatening a“catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems” according to a global review saying 40% declining, 30% endangered More Historical Events »

Historical Events 1535 - 12 nude anabaptists run through Amsterdam streets 1882 - Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's opera "Snyegurochka" premieres in St Petersburg 1927 - US President Calvin Coolidge asks for 2nd disarmament conference 1962 - Jim Beatty sets American indoor mile record (3:58.9) in LA 2014 - German alpine skier Maria Höfl-Riesch retains her Olympic combined title (Vancouver 2010) when she Nicole Hosp beats of Austria by 0.4s 2019 - 72nd British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs): "Roma" Best Film, Alfonso Cuarón Best Director, Olivia Coleman, Rami Malek best actors More Historical Events » Famous Birthdays 1741 - Franz Adam Veichtner, German violinist and composer, baptized in Regensburg, Bavaria (d. 1822) 1927 - Nigel Bagnall, British field marshal 1940 - Peter Middleton, CEO (Lloyd's) 1961 - Eva Pfaff, German tennis player (Australian Open doubles 1982 runner-up), born in Königstein im Taunus, Germany 1970 - Nobushige Kumakubo, Japanese racing driver, born in Fukushima, Japan 1981 - Holly Willoughby, British TV presenter, born in Brighton, United Kingdom More Famous Birthdays » Famous Deaths 1774 - Florian Leopold Gassmann, Bohemian composer, dies at 44 1836 - Marie-Anne Paulze Lavoisier, French chemist (worked with husband Antoine Lavoisier), dies at 78 1918 - Abdul Hamid II, 34th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1876-1909), dies at 75 1993 - Fred Hollows, New Zealand ophthalmologist (b. 1929) 2007 - Ned Austin, American character actor (b. 1925) 2022 - Nikolai Manoshin, Russian soccer midfielder (8 caps; FC Torpedo Moscow, CSKA Moscow) and manager (Somalia, Yemen, Mali), dies at 83 More Famous Deaths »

1744 - Battle at Toulon (French/Spanish vs English fleet of Adm Matthews) 1918 - US Army chaplain school organizes at Ft Monroe, Virginia 1924 - Nakhichevan ASSR constituted within Azerbaijan SSR 1939 - Belgian Spaak government falls 1956 - KHPL (now KWNB) TV channel 6 in Hayes Center, NB (ABC) 1st broadcast 1971 - Elektra Records releases eponymous debut album of American singer-songwriter Carly Simon; garners two Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist 1972 - British government declares state of emergency after month-long coal miners' strike 1974 - "The Americans (A Canadian's Opinion)" by Gordon Sinclair peaks at #24 1986 - 36th NBA All-Star Game, Reunion Arena, Dallas, TX: East beats West, 139-132; MVP: Isiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons, G 1989 - Kevin Johnson (Phoenix) ends NBA free throw streak of 57 games More Historical Events »

Historical Events 1933 - -63°F (-53°C), Moran, Wyoming (state record) 1940 - Joe Louis beats Arturo Godoy in 15 for heavyweight boxing title 1943 - Japanese troops evacuate Guadalcanal, ending the epic World War II battle on the Solomon Islands in the Pacific 1979 - ABC airs "Heroes of Rock N Roll" special, featuring archival performances of 62 artists 1989 - Michael Manley's Socialist Party wins Jamaica parliamentary election 2020 - Suspected militants attack and kill at least 30 people, many while sleeping in their cars in Auno, north-eastern Nigeria, kidnapping women and children More Historical Events » Famous Birthdays 1871 - Howard T Ricketts, American pathologist (studied typhus fever), born in Findlay, Ohio (d. 1910) 1914 - Ernest Tubb, American country musician ("Walking the Floor Over You"), born in Crisp, Texas (d. 1984) 1937 - (Leonard) "Len" Skeat, British jazz double-bassist, born in East End, London, England (d. 2021) 1950 - Lloyd Weldon Keasor, American wrestler (Olympic silver 1976), born in Pumphrey, Maryland 1969 - Jeff Pahukoa, NFL guard/tackle (Atlanta Falcons) 1983 - Vladimira Krckova, Czech jazz-pop singer, composer ("Your Aura On My Lips"), actress, and poet, born in Valašské Meziříčí, Czech Republic More Famous Birthdays » Famous Deaths 1583 - Jeseph Sanalbo, Jewish convert in Rome, burned at stake 1751 - Henri François d'Aguesseau, Chancellor of France (1717-50), dies at 82 1938 - Truby King, pioneer of mothercraft, dies 1991 - James Cleveland, American gospel singer, dies at 59 2001 - Herbert Simon, American economist, Nobel laureate (b. 1916) 2020 - Sorrel [Doris Ernestine] Hays, American pianist and composer (The Glass Woman), dies of cancer at 78 More Famous Deaths »

1627 - Gunpowder is used in a mining operation instead of mechanical tools in present-day Slovakia, reportedly the first time explosives had been used in mining 1735 - First opera performance in North American colonies "Flora" opens in Charleston, South Carolina 1744 - French and Spanish fleet leave Toulon 1862 - Battle of Roanoke Island NC, Federals gain control of Pamlico Sound 1924 - 1st US coast-to-coast radio hookup: General John Joseph Carty speech in Chicago 1930 - "Happy Days Are Here Again" by Benny Mereoff hits #1 1960 - Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom issued an Order-in-Council, stating that she and her family would be known as the House of Windsor, and that her descendants will take the name "Mountbatten-Windsor". 1963 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site 1967 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site 2009 - Singer Rihanna cancels appearance at the Grammys after being assaulted by boyfriend Chris Brown More Historical Events »

Historical Events 1896 - Georges Feydeau's "Le Dindon" premieres in Paris 1972 - Josh Gibson and Buck Leonard selected to Hall of Fame 1973 - Jean Kerrs "Finishing Touches" premieres in NYC 1983 - Wayne Gretzky sets NHL all star record of 4 goals in 1 period 1990 - "60 Minutes" commentator Andy Rooney suspended by CBS for racial remarks attributed to him by a gay magazine 1993 - Suchoi-24 crashes into Tupolev passenger flight, 134 die More Historical Events » Famous Birthdays 1828 - Antonio Cagnoni, Italian composer, born in Godiasco (d. 1896) 1877 - Helen Homans, American tennis player (US Nat C'ship 1906), born in Englewood, New Jersey (d. 1949) 1906 - Chester F. Carlson, American inventor (photocopy), born in Seattle, Washington (d. 1968) 1930 - Manuel Castillo, Andalusian classical pianist and composer, born in Seville, Spain (d. 2005) 1966 - Hristo Stoichkov, Bulgarian footballer 1983 - Jim Verraros, American pop singer (American Idol, 2002), born in Mount Prospect, Illinois More Famous Birthdays » Famous Deaths 1611 - Jan Huygen van Linschoten, Dutch traveller and writer (Reys-Gheschrift), dies (B. 1653) 1650 - John Adriaensz, Dutch hydraulic engineer (Haarlemmermeer), dies at about 74 1909 - Edouard Silas, Dutch composer, dies at 80 1975 - Robert Robinson, British chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1886) 1979 - Nikolay Semyonovich Tikhonov, Russian poet and writer (against Pasternak), dies at 82 1994 - Raymond Scott, American composer (Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm), dies at 85 More Famous Deaths »