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Historical Events

Results 1 - 100 of 161

322 BC - Battle of Crannon between Athens and Macedon following the death of Alexander the Great.
626 - Battle at Constantinople: Slavic/Persians/Avarenvloot defeated
768 - Stephen III [IV] begins his reign as Catholic Pope
936 - Otto I the Great becomes King of Germany
1409 - Council of Pisa closes
1461 - the Ming Dynasty Chinese military general Cao Qin stages a coup against the Tianshun Emperor.
1479 - Battle of Guinegate: Emperor Maximilian I vs King Louis XI
1485 - Henry (VII) Tudors army lands in Milford Harbor, South-Wales
1498 - Columbus arrives in Caribbean
1573 - Francis Drakes fleet returns to Plymouth
1575 - Spanish troops conquer Oudewater, almost all inhabitants died
1588 - -8] English assault on Spanish Armada
1606 - The first documented performance of Macbeth performed at the Great Hall at Hampton Court.
1620 - Kepler's mother arrested for witchcraft
1620 - Battle at Ponts-the-Ce, Poitou: French king Louis XIII beats his mother Marie de Medici
1710 - Earl van Godolphin resigns as English minister of Finance
1714 - The Battle of Gangut: the first important victory of the Russian Navy.
1750 - Slave uprising on Curacao
1760 - Ft Loudon, Tennessee surrenders to Cherokee Indians
1782 - George Washington creates Order of Purple Heart
1789 - Congress creates Dept of War & Lighthouse Service
1802 - Napoleon orders re-instatement of slavery on St Domingue (Haiti)
1814 - Pope Pius VII reinstates Jesuits
1819 - Battle of Boyacá; Bolívar defeats Spanish in Colombia
1820 - 1st potatoes planted in Hawaii
1867 - Battle of Moorefield, WV
1879 - The opening of the Poor Man's Palace in Manchester.
1882 - Hatfields of south WV & McCoys of east Ky feud, 100 wounded or die
1884 - Germany annexes Angra Pequena (Southwest-Africa)
1885 - 5 German warships anchor at Zanzibar
1888 - Theophilus Van Kannel of Phila patents revolving door
1893 - 53rd Congress (1893-95) convenes
1900 - Diamond workers in Amsterdam strike
1904 - Train derailed on bridge in Eden Colo during a flash flood, kills 96
1907 - Walter Johnson wins 1st of his 416 wins, 7-2 over Cleveland
1909 - US issues 1st Lincoln penny
1912 - Progressive (Bull Moose) Party nominates Theodore Roosevelt for pres
1914 - British Gloucester vs German Breslau/Goeben off Greece
1914 - French govt awards king Albert of Belgium the Great Cross
1914 - French troops under Gen Bonneau occupy Altkitrch at Elzas
1914 - German army occupies city of Liege Belgium
1914 - Lord Kitchner says "Your country needs you," poster spreads over UK
1915 - Assault up Russell's Top at Gallipolis, 232 Australians die
1915 - St Louis 3rd base coach Miller Huggins, calls for ball Bkln rookie obliges, Huggins steps aside, & Card runner scores
1921 - Cyclist Piet Moeskops becomes world champ sprinter
1925 - League of Nation advises against Turk/Iraqi division of Mosoelgebied
1927 - Peace Bridge between US & Canada dedicated
1927 - US rum smuggler Horace Alderman kills 3
1929 - Charles Ruijs de Beerenbrouck forms Dutch govt
1929 - Ruth ties record by hitting grand slams in consecutive games
1930 - 2 black guys lynched in Marion Indiana
1930 - Richard Bedford Bennet forms Canadian government
1933 - The Iraqi Government slaughters over 3,000 Assyrians in the village of Sumail. The day becomes known as Assyrian Martyrs Day.
1934 - US Court of Appeals upheld lower court ruling striking down govt's attempt to ban controversial James Joyce novel "Ulysses"
1935 - 60% of voters agrees to nazism in Danzig (Gdansk)
1938 - 2 die in a NYC subway accident
1938 - Leo Durocher, hits 2,000th Dodger home run
1938 - Nazi's close theologic department of Innsbruck university
1940 - Churchill recognizes De Gaulle govt in exile
1940 - Largest amount paid for a stamp ($45,000 for 1 1856 British Guiana)
1940 - Alsace Lorraine is annexed by the Third Reich (Germany) during World War II
1941 - 551 Jews are shot in Kishnev ghetto in Romania
1942 - 1st American offensive in Pacific in WW2, Guadalcanal, Solomon Is
1942 - Resistance bombs Rotterdam railway
1942 - Transport 16 departs with French Jews to nazi-Germany
1943 - Red Army recaptures Bogodukov
1944 - Anton de Kom arrested by Surinam resistance fighter
1944 - Canada/Polish offensive direction Falaise: Total Cooperation
1944 - German counter attack at Avranches fails
1944 - July 20th Plot trial under Roland Freis in Berlin begins
1944 - US 3rd Army reaches suburbs of Brest Brittany
1944 - IBM dedicates the first program-controlled calculator, the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (known best as the Harvard Mark I).
1946 - 1st coin bearing portrait of Negro authorized
1947 - Balsa raft Kon Tiki crashes into a Polynesian archipelago reef
1947 - The Bombay Municipal Corporation formally takes over the Bombay Electric Supply and Transport (BEST).
1948 - 1st Dutch government of Beel resigns
1948 - Delfo Cabrera wins 11th Olympic marathon (2:34:51.6)
1949 - "All after Love" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 121 perfs
1950 - Police bar white players-Lou Chirban, Stan Mierko, & Frank Dyle, from playing in Negro League
1951 - Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket reaches 1,992 kph
1951 - US viking rocket reaches 210 km height (record)
1953 - Eastern Airlines enters jet age, uses Electra prop-jet
1954 - "Golden Apple" closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 125 performances
1954 - Charles Mahoney becomes 1st US black to serve as a full UN delegate
1955 - Bar-Ilan University founded in Israel
1955 - KSTF TV channel 10 in Scottsbluff-Gering, NB (CBS/NBC) begins
1955 - Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering, the precursor to Sony, begins selling its first transistor radios in Japan.
1956 - Boston Red Sox fine Ted Williams $5,000 for spitting at Boston fans
1956 - British govt sends 3 aircraft carriers to Egypt
1956 - Dynamite transport explodes in Colombia; about 1200 die
1957 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1959 - Explorer 6 transmits 1st TV photo of Earth from space
1959 - The Lincoln Memorial design on the U.S. penny goes into circulation. It replaces the "sheaves of wheat" design and is still in use.
1960 - Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire) gains independence from France
1960 - Students stage kneel-in demonstrations in Atlanta churches
1960 - Wiffi Smith wins LPGA Waterloo Golf Open
1961 - Cosmonaut Gherman Titov circles Earth for a full day in Vostok 2
1961 - Soviet premier Khrushchev predicts USSR economy will surpass US
1962 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1963 - Jac Kennedy becomes 1st, 1st lady to give birth since Mrs Cleveland

Famous Birthdays

Results 1 - 100 of 202

317 - Flavius Julius Constantius II, Emperor Egypt/Byzantine/Rome (337-61)
1282 - Princess Elizabeth of Rhuddlan (d. 1316)
1533 - Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga, Basque soldier and poet (d. 1595)
1560 - Elizabeth Báthory, Hungarian countess and serial killer (d. 1614)
1574 - Robert Dudley, styled Earl of Warwick, English writer (d. 1649)
1598 - Georg Stiernhielm, "father of Swedish poetry" (Hercules)
1726 - James Bowdoin, American Revolutionary leader and politician (d. 1790)
1742 - Nathanael Greene, American Revoluntionary War General
1746 - Daniel W Wyttenbach, Dutch classical/historian
1751 - Wilhelmina FS, princess of Prussia/Orange/wife of Willem V
1779 - Carl Ritter, cofounder of modern science of geography
1779 - Louis de Freycinet, French explorer (d. 1842)
1783 - John Heathcoat, inventor (lace-making machinery)
1783 - Princess Amelia of the United Kingdom (d. 1810)
1818 - Henry Charles Litolff, French composer/pianist
1823 - Faustina Hasse Hodges, composer
1826 - Carl AE Ahlqvist, [A Oksanen], Finnish poet (Suomalainen Runousoppi)
1829 - Thomas Ewing Jr, Major General, Bvt (Union volunteers), died in 1896
1833 - Powell Clayton, Brig General (Union volunteers)/(Gov-R-Ark)
1836 - Evander McIvor Law, Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1920
1844 - Auguste Michel-Lévy, French geologist (d. 1911)
1860 - Alan Leo, British astrologer (d. 1917)
1862 - Victoria of Baden, Queen of Sweden (d. 1931)
1867 - Emil Nolde, [Hansen], German painter/graphic artist
1868 - Granville Bantock, English composer/conductor (Hebridean Symphony)
1868 - Ladislaus Bortkiewicz, Russian mathematician (d. 1931)
1870 - 19 kittens, born to Tarawood Antigone (4 still born)
1870 - Jozef Brems, Flemish apostole (vicar of Denmark)
1872 - Andries C D de Graeff, governor-general of Neth Indies (1926-31)
1876 - Mata Hari, [Margaretha G Zelle], dancer/courtesan/spy (WW I)
1877 - Ulrich Salchow, Swedish figure skater (d. 1949)
1879 - J J Kotze, South African cricket fast bowler (1902-07)
1880 - Ernst Laqueur, chemist/pharmacology/psychology (sexual hormones)
1883 - J Ringelnatz, writer
1885 - Billie Burke, Washington DC, actress (Glinda-Wizard of Oz)
1885 - Gordon Harker, London England, actor (Facts of Love, Champagne)
1886 - Louis Hazeltine, inventor (neutrodyne circuit, making radio possible)
1887 - Jan HA Eman, Aruban politician
1887 - Luckey Roberts, composer
1895 - Edward Gill, baseball player
1897 - Franz J Weinrich, [Heinrich Lerse], German writer (Himmlisches)
1899 - Ricci Riano, England
1900 - Taylor Caldwell, novelist
1901 - Ann Harding, American actress (d. 1981)
1903 - Louis Leakey, anthropologist (1964 Richard Hooper Medal)
1903 - Saburo Moroi, composer
1904 - Ralph J Bunche, founder/diplomat (UN) (Nobel 1950)
1906 - Gerhard Frommel, composer
1907 - Ben Carter, NYC, actor (Dark Alibi, Dressed to Kill)
1907 - Albert Kotin, American abstract painter (d. 1980)
1911 - R Nicholas Ray, Galesville WI, director (Rebel Without a Cause)
1913 - George Van Eps, American guitarist (d. 1998)
1914 - Ted Moore, South Africa, cinematographer (James Bond)
1918 - Cees Buddingh', Dutch poet/writer/interpreter
1920 - Jan Walravens, Flemish writer (Motionless at Sea)
1921 - Karel Husa, Prague Czechoslovakia, composer (Trojan Women)
1921 - M J bin Gorion, writer
1921 - Manitas de Plata, Gypsy guitarist
1925 - Felice Bryant, Milwaukee, rock writer (Bye Bye Love)
1925 - Julian Orbon De Soto, composer
1925 - M. S. Swaminathan, Indian scientist
1926 - Amo Houghton, (Rep-R-New York)
1926 - Stan Freberg, LA Calif, satirist/ad executive/cartoon voice (Bertie)
1927 - Carl Switzer, IL, actor (Alfalfa-Our Gang)
1927 - Edwin W Edwards, (Gov-La)
1927 - Art Houtteman, American baseball player (d. 2003)
1928 - Abebe Bikila, Ethiopian marathon runner (Olympic-gold-1960, 64)
1928 - Amazing [James] Randi, Toronto Ontario, skeptic magician (Nova)
1928 - Herbert H Bateman, (Rep-R-Virginia)
1928 - Romeo Muller, American screenwriter (d. 1992)
1929 - Don Larsen, pitcher (NY Yankees), on what must have been a perfect day
1929 - James Pilditch, designer
1929 - Richard T Schulze, (Rep-R-PA, 1975- )
1929 - Ruth Carter-Stapleton, Plains Ga, 1st sister/evangelist
1929 - Don Larsen, American baseball player
1930 - Velio Tormis, composer
1931 - Charles E. Rice, American legal scholar and author
1932 - Ann Harding, US, actress (East is West, Janie)
1932 - Maria M L "Marijke" Bakker, Dutch actress (Mammaloe-Pipo the Clown)
1932 - Abebe Bikila, Ethiopian athlete (d. 1973)
1932 - Maurice Rabb, Jr., American ophthalmologist
1932 - Edward Hardwicke, British actor
1933 - Jerry [Eugene] Pournelle, US, sci-fi author (Mercenary, Red Dragon)
1936 - Charles Pope, US soul singer (Tams-Hey Girl Don't Bother Me)
1936 - Rahsaan Kirk, Roland rocker
1936 - Richard L[ouis] Tierney, US, sci-fi author (Winds of Zarr)
1937 - Don Wilson, cricketer (England slow left-armer between 1963-71)
1938 - Dewi Lorwerth Ellis Bebb, rugby international/journalist
1938 - Helen Caldicott, Melbourne Australia, physician/anti-war activist
1939 - Verna Bloom, Lynn MA, actress (After Hours, Badge 373)
1939 - Anjanette Comer, American actress
1940 - Marlyn Mason, San Fernando Cal, actress (Making It, Peyton Place)
1940 - Tom Barlow, (Rep-D-Kentucky)
1940 - Jean-Luc Dehaene, Belgian politician
1941 - Thomas F Hartnett, (Rep-R-SC, 1981-86)
1942 - Anjanette Comer, Dawson Tx, actress (Baby, Lepke)
1942 - B J Thomas, Houston TX, singer (Raindrops, Growing Pains Theme)
1942 - Garrison Keillor, Minn, PBS radio personality (Prairie Home Companion)
1942 - Masa Saito, wrestler (AWA/WWF/NJPW/CWFI)
1942 - Tobin Bell, American actor

Famous Deaths

Results 1 - 95 of 95

461 - Majorian, Roman Emperor (assassinated) (b. 420)
479 - Emperor Yūryaku of Japan
1033 - Frederick II, duke of Upper Lorraine
1106 - Henry IV, Roman German king/emperor (1056/84-1105), dies at 54
1485 - Alexander Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany, Scottish prince
1547 - Cajetanus van Thiene, Italian saint, dies
1609 - Eustache du Caurroy, composer, dies at 60
1613 - Thomas Fleming, English judge (b. 1544)
1616 - Vincenzo Scamozzi, Ital architect (Procurazie Nuove, Venice), dies
1635 - Friedrich von Spee, German writer (b. 1591)
1639 - Martin van den Hove, Dutch scientist (b. 1605)
1657 - Robert Blake, English admiral (Dover, Dungeness), dies at about 57
1661 - Jin Shengtan, Chinese editor, writer and critic (b. 1608)
1712 - Friederich Wilhelm Zachow, composer, dies at 48
1786 - Friedrich Schwindl, composer, dies at 49
1798 - Johann Gottlieb Sollner, composer, dies at 65
1799 - John Bacon, English sculptor, dies at 58
1816 - Dionysius G van der Keessel, Dut lawyer (Theses selectae), dies at 77
1817 - Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours, French industrialist (b. 1739)
1834 - Joseph Marie Jacquard, French weaver and inventor (b. 1752)
1846 - Johann Christian Heinrich Rinck, composer, dies at 76
1848 - Jöns Jakob Berzelius, Swedish chemist (b. 1779)
1855 - Mariano Arista, President of Mexico (b. 1802)
1864 - Li Xiucheng, late Taiping‘s Field Marshal and soul person.(b. 1823)
1867 - Ira F Aldridge, US actor (Othello/Shylock), dies in Lodes Poland at 63
1885 - Antony EJ Modderman, Dutch minister of Justice (1879-83), dies at 46
1893 - Alfredo Catalani, composer, dies at 39
1912 - François-Alphonse Forel, Swiss hydrologist (b. 1841)
1913 - David Popper, composer, dies at 70
1914 - B B (Bransby) Cooper, cricketer (Test for Australia), dies
1914 - Boleslaw Dembinski, composer, dies at 81
1916 - Charles E Manning, Australian judge/major, dies in battle at 36
1917 - Squadron Commander E.H. Dunning, first pilot to land his aircraft on a moving ship. (b. 1891)
1921 - Alexander A Block, Russian poet (Dvenatsat), dies at 40
1923 - Hendrik Pierson, Dutch theologist (H Pierson Foundation), dies at 89
1924 - Camille Zeckwer, composer, dies at 49
1928 - Alphonse MAJ Ariëns, Dutch RC pastor/social worker, dies at 68
1931 - Leon Bismarck "Bix" Beiderbecke, jazz cornetist (In Mist), dies at 29
1938 - Konstantin S Stanislavski, Russian director (S Method), dies at 75
1941 - Radindranath Tagore, Indian philosopher/poet/writer, dies at 80
1942 - Richard Gott, Brit gen/commandant of 8th Army, dies in battle at 43
1943 - Gustav Schmidt, German lt-general, dies in battle
1957 - Oliver Hardy, comedian of Laurel & Hardy, dies at 65
1959 - Armas Emmanuel Launis, composer, dies at 75
1960 - Vaino Hannikainen, composer, dies at 60
1962 - Morris Louis, US painter (post painterly abstraction), dies at 49
1967 - Max Branch, music/radio commentator, dies at 75
1967 - Max Tak, Dutch violinist/radio commentator, dies at 75
1969 - Joseph Kosma, composer, dies at 63
1969 - Russ Morgan, orch leader (Welcome Aboard), dies at 65
1970 - ... Haley, US judge, shot dead
1970 - James McClain, US black activist, shot dead
1970 - Jonathan P Jackson, US black activist, shot dead
1970 - William Christmas, US black activist, shot dead
1972 - Joi Lansing, actress (Bob Cummings Show), dies at 44 of cancer
1973 - Jack Gregory, cricketer (scorer of fastest ton Australia 1921), dies
1974 - Rosario Castellanos, Mexican poet (b. 1925)
1974 - Sylvio Mantha, professional ice hockey player (b. 1902)
1976 - Cecil Weston, actor (Dude Ranch, Huckleberry Finn), dies at 86
1976 - Murvyn Vye, actor (Bob Cummings Show), dies at 63
1978 - Franz Alphons Wolpert, composer, dies at 60
1984 - Esther Phillips, US singer (What a Difference a Day Makes), dies at 48
1985 - Grayson Hall, actor (Dark Shadows), dies of cancer at 58
1987 - Camille Chamoun, president of Lebanon, dies at 87
1987 - Nobusuke Kishi, premier of Japan (1957-60), dies at 90
1989 - Mickey Leland, (Rep-D-Tx), & 15 others dies in plane crash in Ethiopia
1990 - Eva Sully Block, actress (Kid Millions), dies of heart failure at 88
1991 - Billy James, comedian/singer (Women at Play, Lusty Business), dies
1991 - Shapur Bahktiar, PM of Iran (1979), assassinated
1991 - Shotzie, Cincinnati Red dog mascot, dies at 9
1992 - John Anderson, actor (MacGyver), dies of heart attack at 69
1992 - Titti Sotto, Cuban composer (La Esquina Habanera), dies
1993 - Kelly Ahrendt, 1st NYer to die of rabies in 40 years, dies at 14
1993 - Roy Budd, English jazz pianist/composer (Paper Tiger), dies at 46
1994 - Robert Hutton, [Winne], US actor (Rocket), dies at 74
1994 - Larry Martyn, comedy actor (b. 1934)
1995 - Brigid Brophy, novelist/campaigner, dies at 66
1995 - Tom Scott, poet/editor, dies at 77
1996 - Anne Kristen, actress (Truth or Dare, Rachel-Dr Finlay), dies at 59
1996 - Gerald Etheridge Gomez, cricketer, dies at 76
1996 - Peter Winter, naval commander, dies at 78
1996 - Christina Perri, Future Pressident
1997 - Douglas Gray, archivist, dies at 74
1997 - Vincent Gulliver, Britain's oldest man, dies at 109
1999 - Brion James, American actor (b. 1945)
2003 - Mickey McDermott, baseball player (b. 1929)
2004 - Red Adair, American oil field firefighter (b. 1915)
2004 - Colin Bibby, English ornithologist (b. 1948)
2005 - Peter Jennings, Canadian-born news anchor (b. 1938)
2006 - Mary Anderson Bain, American New Deal politician (b. 1911)
2007 - Hal Fishman, Los Angeles based local news anchor. (b. 1931)
2007 - Ernesto Alonso, Mexican actor, director and producer. (b. 1917)
2007 - Angus Tait, New Zealand electronics innovator and businessman (b. 1919)
2008 - Bernie Brillstein, American talent agent/manager and producer (b. 1931)
2008 - Andrea Pininfarina, CEO of Pininfarina S.p.A.