Today in History for 3rd January 2026

[CoM Moderators]

Historical Events

1911 - City of Almaty in Russian Turkestan is destroyed by a magnitude 7.7 earthquake
1920 - Boston Red Sox baseball club owner Harry Frazee announces agreement to sell slugger Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for $125,000 in cash and a $350,000 loan; start of the 84 year "Curse of the Bambino"
1967 - WJAN TV channel 17 in Canton, OH (IND) begins broadcasting
1976 - Australian Open Women's Tennis: Australian Evonne Goolagong Cawley beats Renata Tomanova of Czechoslovakia 6-2, 6-2 for her 3rd straight home singles title
1987 - Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

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Famous Birthdays

1777 - Louis Poinsot, French mathematician and physicist (invented geometrical mechanics), born in Paris, France (d. 1859)
1870 - Henry Handel Richardson [Ethel Florence Lindesay Richardson], Australian novelist (Richard Mahoney), born in East Melbourne, Australia (d. 1946)
1939 - (Gwendolyn) Dianne Brooks, American RandB, jazz, session and touring vocalist (Three Playmates - "Sugah Wooga"; solo - "Walking On My Mind"; Anne Murray), born in New Jersey (d. 2005)
1940 - Tsutomu Hanahara, Japanese freestyle wrestler (Olympic gold flyweight 1964), born in Shimonoseki, Japan (d. 2024)
1957 - Frank Dicopoulos, American actor (Frank Cooper Jr in "Guiding Light"), born in Akron, Ohio

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Famous Deaths

1028 - Fujiwara Michinaga, Japanese regent (wrote world's oldest autographic diary), dies (b. 966)
1927 - Carle David Tolmé Runge, German mathematician and physicist, dies at 70
1968 - Earl Swope, American jazz and big band trombonist (Woody Herman, Stan Getz, Jimmy Dorsey, Louie Bellson), dies at 45
1979 - Conrad Hilton, American hotel mogul (Hilton Hotels, world's 1st international hotel chain), dies at 91
2015 - Allie Sherman, American football coach (Winnipeg Blue Bombers 1953-56 CFL; New York Giants 1961–68), dies at 91

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