Today in History for 16th August 2024

[CoM Moderators]

Historical Events

1864 - Federal assault on 4th day of battle at Deep Bottom Run, Virginia
1890 - Alexander Clark, journalist and lawyer, named minister to Liberia
1921 - Members of the Dail (parliament) swear allegiance to the Irish Republic at their first meeting, held at Dublin House
1993 - The Debian distribution first announced by Ian Murdock, a student at Purdue University (Murdock initially called his system the "Debian Linux Release")
2017 - Philippine police kill 32 in raids near Manilia, most deadly night in President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs
2023 - The Northwest Territories in Canada declare a state of emergency due to wildfires and order an evacuation of the city of Yellowknife, affecting 22,000 people

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Famous Birthdays

1860 - Lord Hawke [Martin Hawke], English cricket batsman (5 Tests; Yorkshire CCC, Cambridge Uni CC, MCC), born in Willingham by Stow, England (d. 1938)
1862 - Amos Alonzo Stagg, American athlete and American football pioneer, born in West Orange, New Jersey (d. 1965)
1937 - David Behrman, American composer (On The Other Ocean), born in Salzburg, Austria
1946 - Lesley Ann Warren, American actress (Cinderella, Mission Impossible), born in New York City
1952 - Mahes Goonatillake, cricketer (Sri Lankan keeper in their 1st 5 Tests)
1985 - Agnes Bruckner, American actress, born in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California

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Famous Deaths

1445 - Margaret of Scotland (Dauphine of France), wife of the future King Louis XI (b. 1424)
1938 - Andrej Hlinka, Slovak politician and Catholic priest, dies at 1938
1952 - Lydia Field Emmet, American painter (b. 1866)
1991 - Stuart Karl, CEO (Karl Home Video), dies at 38 of skin cancer
2015 - Jacob Bekenstein, American-Israeli theoretical physicist (Bekenstein-Hawking radiation), dies of a heart attack at 68
2017 - David Somerset, 11th Duke of Beaufort, British aristocrat, art dealer, and peer, dies at 89

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