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Historical Events

Results 1 - 100 of 187

363 - Roman Emperor Julian is killed during the retreat from the Sassanid Empire. General Jovian is proclaimed Emperor by the troops on the battlefield.
684 - St Benedict II begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1284 - Pied Piper lures 130 children of Hamelin away (actually happened)
1409 - Council of Pisa selects Petros Philargi as 3rd Pope: Alexander V
1483 - Duke of Gloucester appoints himself English king Richard III
1483 - Richard III usurps English throne
1498 - Toothbrush invented
1541 - Francisco Pizarro is assassinated in Lima by the son of his former companion and later antagonist, Diego Almagro the younger. Almagro is later caught and executed.
1553 - Christ's Hospital in England granted a charter
1630 - Swedish troops under Gustaf II Adolf lands at Peenemunde
1714 - Spain & Netherlands sign peace/trade agreement
1718 - Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich of Russia, Peter the Great's son, mysteriously dies after being sentenced to death by his father for plotting against him.
1721 - Dr Zabdiel Boylston gives 1st smallpox inoculations in America
1723 - After a lasting siege and bombardment by cannons, Baku surrenders to the Russians.
1794 - Battle of Colors: France under Jourdan beats Austrian army
1797 - Charles Newbold patents 1st cast-iron plow. He can't sell it to farmers, though, they fear effects of iron on soil!
1807 - Lightning hits gunpowder warehouse in Luxembourg; 230 die
1843 - Hong Kong proclaimed a British Crown Colony
1844 - US pres John Tyler marries Julia Gardiner in NYC
1848 - 1st pure food law enacted in US
1848 - End of the June Days Uprising in Paris.
1857 - 62 receive Victoria Cross
1857 - Cawnpore England massacre
1862 - Battle of Beaver Dam Creek-Union repulses Confederacy in Virginia
1862 - Day 2 of 7 Days-Battle of Mechanicsville VA (Meadow Bridge)
1862 - US Army of Virginia established under Gen John Pope
1870 - 1st section of Atlantic City (NJ) Boardwalk opens
1870 - Wagner's opera "Valkyrie" premieres in Munich
1870 - The Christian holiday of Christmas is declared a federal holiday in the United States.
1879 - Ismael Pasha resigns as khedive of Egypt
1894 - Karl Benz of Germany receives US patent for gasoline-driven auto
1896 - 1st movie theater in US opens, charging 10 cents for admission
1900 - Dr Walter Reed begins research that beats Yellow Fever
1902 - Order of Merit instituted by King Edward VII
1902 - Start of Sherlock Holmes "Adventure of 3 Garidebs" (BG)
1906 - Hongar Szisz wins 1st Grand-Prix (Le Mans, France)
1907 - Bolsheviks overthrows transport in Tiflis
1909 - 23rd US Womens Tennis: H Hotchkiss beats Maud Barger-Wallach (60 61)
1909 - Victoria & Albert Museum opens in London
1910 - 24th US Womens Tennis: H Hotchkiss Wightman beats L Hammond (64 62)
1910 - Hazel Hotchkiss wins US Lawn Tennis Assn championship
1911 - Nieuport sets an aircraft speed record of 83 mph (133 kph)
1912 - Gustav Mahlers 9th Symphony premieres in Vienna
1915 - Germany suppresses its "Vorwarts" newspaper after it called for peace
1916 - Cleveland Indians experiment with #s on their jerseys (one game)
1917 - 1st US Expeditionary Force arrive in France during WW I
1919 - NY Daily News begins publishing
1924 - After 8 years of occupation, US troops leave Dominican Republic
1924 - Ziegfeld Follies opens on Broadway
1927 - Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke approaches within 0.0394 AUs of Earth
1927 - The Cyclone roller coaster opens on Coney Island
1929 - ENKA/Vereinigte Glanzstoff Factory merge AKU (Genl Kunstzijde Union)
1934 - FDR signs Federal Credit Union Act, establishing Credit Unions
1934 - Germany & Poland sign no-attack treaty
1934 - W E B Du Bois resigns position at NAACP
1935 - Andrew Sandham's 100th FC hundred, 103 v Hants
1935 - Lloyd Waner sets record of 18 putouts in center in doubleheader
1935 - SDAP & CPH achieve majority in city council in Amsterdam
1935 - Work service for recent graduate obligatory in Germany
1936 - 1st flight of Fw61 helicopter
1936 - Everett Marshall beats Ali Baba in Columbus, to become wrestling champ
1937 - Test cricket debut of Len Hutton v NZ at Lord's, scores 0 & 1
1938 - Cin Red Lonny Frey hits 8 doubles in a doubleheader
1940 - End of USSR experimental calendar; Gregorian readopted 6/27
1941 - Finland enters WW II against Russia
1941 - Lithuanian fascist massacre 2,300 Jews in Kovno
1942 - German assault on British at Mersa Matruh
1944 - 2nd British army reaches Grainville-Mouen line
1944 - Yanks, Dodgers & Giants play unique 6 inn game for War Bonds, each playing successive innings, final score Dodgers-5, Yanks-1 & Giants-0
1945 - England win the second Victory test cricket at Bramall Lane by 41 runs
1945 - UN Charter signed by 50 nations in SF
1946 - Dutch Nazi collaborator Arnold Meijer sentenced to 5 years
1946 - Fred Allen's last radio show, his guest is Jack Benny
1948 - US denounces Soviet blockade of Berlin
1949 - 1st Belgian parliamentary election where women can vote (CVP gains)
1950 - Pres Gottwald of Czech confirms Milada Horakova's death sentence
1952 - Dutch social democratic party wins elections (29%)
1952 - Nelson Mandela & 51 others infringe South Africa curfew
1953 - KCTV (now KLST) TV channel 8 in San Angelo, TX (CBS) 1st broadcast
1953 - Russian vice-premier/interior minister Beria arrested
1954 - Jim Peters runs marathon in 2:17:39.4
1955 - Actor Geoffrey Holder marries Carmen de Lavallade
1955 - Freedom Charter signed in South-Africa
1955 - Patty Berg wins LPGA Western Golf Open
1958 - Gaston Eyskens becomes premier of Belgium
1958 - Mackinac Straits Bridge, Michigan dedicated
1958 - Vanguard SLV-2 launched for Earth orbit (failed)
1959 - Ingemar Johansson TKOs Floyd Patterson in 3 for heavywgt boxing title
1959 - Queen Elizabeth & Pres Eisenhower open St Lawrence Seaway
1960 - British Somaliland (now Somalia) gains independence from Britain
1960 - Hall of Fame allows veteran committee to vote annually
1960 - Italian Somaliland declares independence from Italian-administration
1960 - Madagascar (formerly Malagasy Rep) declares independence from France
1962 - Blacks begin passive resistance in Cairo Ill
1962 - Boston Red Sox Earl Wilson no-hits LA Angels, 2-0
1962 - WSEC (now WLRN) TV channel 17 in Miami, FL (PBS) begins broadcasting
1963 - Alfons Gorbach forms Austrian govt
1963 - Dutch 2nd Chamber condemns commercial TV
1963 - Kennedy visits W Berlin "Ich bin ein Berliner" (I am a Berliner)
1964 - Beatles release "A Hard Day's Night" album

Famous Birthdays

Results 1 - 100 of 240

1575 - Anne Catherine of Brandenburg, queen of Denmark and Norway (d. 1612)
1582 - Johannes Schultz, composer
1655 - Jean Deutz, merchant/Amsterdam regent
1681 - Hedwig Sophia, duchess of Holstein-Gottorp, Swedish writer (d. 1708)
1689 - Edward Holyoke, American academic (d. 1769)
1694 - Georg Brandt, Swedish chemist and mineralogist (d. 1768)
1702 - Philip Doddridge, England, Dr/nonconformist clergyman
1703 - Thomas Clap, American academic (d. 1767)
1730 - Charles Joseph Messier, astronomer (cataloguer of "M objects")
1742 - Arthur Middleton, signer (Declaration of Independence)
1747 - Leopold Jan Antonin Kozeluh, composer
1749 - Louis Joseph Claude Saint-Amans, composer
1760 - Johan I Jozef, monarch of Liechtenstein/fieldmarshal
1763 - George Morland, England, artist of rural landscapes
1819 - Abner Doubleday, Mjr Gen (Union)/inventor (baseball) [or 1/26]
1821 - Bartolomé Mitre, Argentine general
1823 - Frederick Bowen Jewson, composer
1824 - Kelvin, [William Thomson], British physicist (Kelvin Scale)
1824 - Moritz Furstenau, composer
1831 - Julius Rodenberg, [Levy], German writer (Kriegs-Songs of War & Peace)
1837 - Martin Davis Hardin II, Brig General (Union volunteers), died in 1923
1837 - Victor Jean Baptiste Girardey, Brig General (Confederate Army)
1854 - Robert Laird Borden, (C), 8th Canadian PM (1911-20)
1865 - Bernard Berenson, art critic (Italian Painters of the Renaissance)
1865 - Charles E Bonin, French explorer/diplomat (China)
1865 - George C Pearce, actor (Country Kid, British Agent, Valiant)
1866 - Josef Swickard, Coblenz Germany, actor (Lost City, Tale of 2 Cities)
1869 - Martin Andersen Nexø, Danish writer (d. 1954)
1874 - Albert Relf, cricketer (England all-rounder in 13 Tests 1903-14)
1874 - Mikhail Vladimirovich Ivanov-Boretsky, composer
1875 - Camille Zeckwer, composer
1876 - Nico[laas P] de Jong, Dutch radio play actor (Laughter & Tears)
1878 - Albert Siklos, composer
1878 - Ernest Torrence, Edinburgh Scotland, actor (Hunchback of Notre Dame)
1880 - Natalia, Princess Brassova (d. 1952)
1885 - Andre Maurois, [Emile Herzog], French writer (Balzac)
1885 - Anna M F van Wageningen-Salomons, author (Girl Student) [or 9/26]
1885 - Billy Jenkins, [Erich Rosenthal], Magdeburg
1886 - Margaretha C E "Greta" Beekman, actress (Wrong Poes)
1887 - Anthony G de Rothschild, Britain, philanthropist
1891 - Heinrich Lemacher, composer
1891 - Sidney Coe Howard, US, dramatist (Swords, Pulitzer 1925)
1891 - Vladislav Vancura, Czech physician/(stage)author/resistance fighter
1892 - Pearl Sydenstricker Buck, China, author (Good Earth-Nobel 1938)
1893 - "Big Bill" Broonzy, Miss, blues singer/guitarist (Blues by Broonzy)
1894 - Bill Wirges, Buffalo NY, orch leader (Growing Paynes)
1894 - Jeanne Eagels, actress (Rain, Under False Colors)
1895 - Jankel Adler, Polish painter
1895 - George Hainsworth, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1950)
1897 - Viola Dana, Brooklyn, actress (Willow Tree, 40 Winks, Silent Lover)
1898 - Willy Messerschmitt, German aircraft designer
1898 - Chesty Puller, the most decorated Marine in history (d. 1971)
1899 - Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia (d. 1918)
1900 - Joseph E A "Jo" Spier, Dutch cartoonist/water color painter
1901 - Stuart Symington, (Sen-D-Mo)
1901 - William Busch, composer
1902 - Antonia Brico, Rotterdam Holland, conductor/pianist (Antonia)
1902 - William Lear, engineer/manufacturer/CEO (Lear Jet Corp)
1902 - Hugues Cuénod, Swiss Tenor
1903 - Ashley Clarke, president (Venice in Peril Fund)
1903 - Floyd "Babe" Herman, Brooklyn Dodgers' slugger (.324 lifetime average)
1904 - Peter Lorre, Hungarian/US, actor (M, Casablanca, Beast with 5 Fingers)
1904 - Frank Scott Hogg, Canadian astronomer (d. 1951)
1905 - Jack Longland, British director of education (Derbyshire)
1905 - Jan Louis Guillaume "Yvan" Doornik, Neth resistance fighter in France
1906 - Stefan Andres, German writer (Wir sind Utopia)
1906 - Viktor Schreckengost, American industrial designer (d. 2008)
1907 - Debs Garms, American baseball player (d. 1984)
1909 - "Col Tom" Parker, [Dries Van Kruijk], Neth, rock mgr (Elvis Presley)
1909 - Betty Askwith, author
1909 - Nicholas Polunin, environmentalist
1910 - Charles Spry, Australian security chief
1911 - Edward Levi, professor (Intro to Legal Reasoning)
1911 - Babe Didrikson Zaharias, American athlete (d. 1956)
1913 - Babe [Mildred Ella] Didrikson, Port Arthur TX, hurdler (Oly-gold-32)
1913 - Maurice Wilkes, inventor (stored program concept for computers)
1913 - Aimé Césaire, French Martinican poet and politician (d. 2008)
1914 - John J "John" Beautiful Garden, sculptor
1914 - Laurie Lee, male poet/author (I Can't Stay Long)
1914 - Richard Maltby, orch leader (Vaughn Monroe Show)
1914 - Wolfgang Windgassen, Annemasse Germany, tenor (Stuttgart Opera)
1914 - Laurie Lee, British writer (d. 1997)
1915 - Paul Castellano, American mafia boss (d. 1985)
1915 - Charlotte Zolotow, American author
1916 - Paul Derrick, co-operator/Christian socialist
1917 - William Hamilton, British MP
1919 - Lord Rawlinson, British attorney general (Ewell)
1920 - Michael Eastham, high court judge
1921 - Abe Jan Koldijk, SS-physician (Limburg's family doctor)
1921 - Violette Szabo, French WWII secret agent (d. 1945)
1922 - Alan Peacock, economist
1922 - Campbell Adamson, CEO (Abbey National Pictures)
1922 - Eleanor Parker, Ohio, actress (Caged, Detective Story, Hans Brinker)
1922 - Frances Rafferty, Sioux City Iowa, actress (December Bride)
1923 - David Haslam, British rear admiral (hydrographer)
1923 - Barbara Graham, American murderer (d. 1955)
1924 - Peter Miles, British keeper of privy purse
1924 - Syd Lawrence, bandleader (Syd Lawrence Orch)
1924 - Costas Axelos, Greek philosopher
1925 - Pavel Ivanovich Belyayev, USSR, cosmonaut (Voskhod II)

Famous Deaths

Results 1 - 100 of 105

363 - Flavius C Julianus, [Apostata], emperor of Rome (361-63), dies
363 - Julian the Apostate, Roman Emperor (b. 331)
1291 - Eleanor of Provence, wife of Henry III of England
1541 - Francisco Pizarro, Spanish conqueror of Peru, assassinated in Lima
1631 - Justinus van Nassau, ltalian admiral (Armada), dies
1657 - Tobias Michael, composer, dies at 65
1661 - Lazaro Valvasensi, composer, dies at 76
1666 - Richard Fanshawe, diplomat/translator/poet, dies
1688 - Ralph Cudworth, philospher/cleric, dies
1778 - Angelo Antonio Caroli, composer, dies at 77
1793 - Gilbert White, naturalist/cleric, dies
1798 - Eugene Godecharle, composer, dies at 56
1810 - Joseph Michel Montgolfier, French inventor (b. 1740)
1819 - Johann Wilhelm Stadler, composer, dies at 71
1819 - Slome Duikelar, [Abraham J Swalff], Yiddish writer, dies
1827 - Christian A Vulpius, German writer (Ornaldo Ornaldini), dies
1827 - Samuel Crompton, English inventor (mule-jenny), dies at 73
1836 - Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle, author/composer (Marseillaise), dies
1863 - Andrew Hull Foote, US Union lt admiral, dies
1878 - Mercedes of Orleans, queen of Spain (b. 1860)
1896 - Louis CPR of Orleans, French duke (chosen king of Belgian), dies at 81
1906 - Alexander Muir, poet (Maple Leaf Forever), dies at 76
1918 - Peter Rosegger, Austrian poet and Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1843)
1922 - Albert H K, monarch of Monaco (1889-1922), dies at 73
1923 - Edward Rae, cricketer (introduced cricket into Russian Lapland), dies
1926 - Christina Goedvolk, wife of Henry Jut, dies
1937 - Georg A Erman, Ger egyptologist (Grammar of Ancient Egypt), dies at 82
1938 - James Weldon Johnson, black leader (NAACP), dies in car crash at 67
1939 - Ford M Ford, [Hueffer], British writer, (Tietjens Saga) dies at 65
1942 - Titus Brandsma, [Anno Sjoerd], Dutch RC priest (Dachau), dies
1943 - Fritz Schmidt, Nazi commissioner in Holland, commits suicide at 39
1944 - Billy Newham, cricketer (England Test 1887), dies
1945 - Erno Rapee, composer, dies at 54
1945 - Nikolay Nikolayevich Tcherepnin, composer, dies at 72
1946 - Max Kögel, SS officer (b. 1895)
1946 - Yosuke Matsuoka, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan (b. 1880)
1947 - Richard Bedford Bennett, eleventh Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1870)
1948 - Lilian Velez, Filipino actress (b. 1924)
1949 - Kim Gu, President of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea (b. 1876)
1956 - Clifford Brown, US jazz trumpeter (Joyspring, Jordu), dies at 25
1957 - Alfred Döblin, German writer (b. 1878)
1958 - Martinus Ballings, Flemish jesuit/author (Vocation), dies at 93
1958 - George Orton, Canadian athlete (b. 1873)
1958 - Andrija Štampar, Croatian physician and United Nations diplomat (b. 1888)
1959 - Audley Miller, cricketer (Test for England 1896), dies
1960 - John Brenden Kelly, rower (Olympic-gold-1920, 24), dies at 70
1961 - Kenneth F Fearing, US, poet (Afternoon of a pawnbroker), dies at 58
1963 - Obe Postma, Fries, poet/geography/historian (Own Cart), dies
1964 - Leo Dandurand, American-born Canadian sports executive (b. 1889)
1965 - Johan C T Kikkert, painter/etcher/critic, dies at 82
1965 - Reginald Beckwith, actor/writer (39 Steps, Dr in Love), dies at 56
1967 - Errol Hunte, cricketer (WI batsman in 3 Tests v England 1930), dies
1967 - Françoise Dorléac, French actress (b. 1942)
1971 - Guillermo Uribe Holguin, composer, dies at 91
1971 - Inia Te Wiata, opera singer, dies
1971 - Juan Manen, composer, dies at 88
1972 - David Lichine, [Lichtenstein], Russian/US choreographer, dies at 61
1973 - Arnold Richardson, composer, dies at 59
1973 - Ernest Truex, actor (Fluffy, Scared, His Girl Friday), dies at 82
1975 - St. Josemaría Escrivá, Spanish Catholic priest (b. 1902)
1977 - Lou Reizner, rock vocalist/producer (Rod Stewart, Tommy), dies at 43
1977 - Oskar Morgenstern, German/US economist, dies at 75
1978 - Rabbaji, president of South-Yemen, executed
1979 - Charles Clore, financier, dies
1981 - Peter Kreuder, German composer, dies
1982 - Alexander Mitscherlich, German psychotherapist, dies
1982 - Andre Tchaikowsy, pianist/composer, dies
1982 - Charles Russhon, USAF lt col/liaison for James Bond films, dies at 71
1982 - Sandy Powell, costume designer, dies at 82
1983 - Walter O'Keefe, songwriter/TV host (Mayor of Hollywood), dies at 82
1984 - Carl Foreman, producer, dies of cancer at 69
1984 - George H Gallup, pollster (Gallup Poll), dies at 82
1986 - Laurie Fishlock, cricketer (4 Tests for England), dies
1987 - Glen Hall, cricketer (Test for South Africa 1965), commits suicide
1990 - Anni Blomqvist, Finnish novelist (b. 1909)
1991 - Carmine Coppola, composer/conductor (Godfather II), dies at 80
1991 - Paul Andor, actor (Mad Lover, Enemy of Women), dies
1992 - Geert Vissers, Dutch TV host (Gay Dating Show), dies
1992 - Phil Rubenstein, US, actor (Tango & Cash, Robocop), dies
1992 - Herman Rohde, professional wrestler (b. 1921)
1993 - Catherine Leno, mother of Tonight Show host Jay, dies of cancer at 82
1993 - Jack Bittner, entertainer, dies
1993 - Roy Campanella, 3xMVP catcher (Dodgers), dies of a heart attack at 71
1993 - Willy C of Hemert, director/(text)poet (Small Truth), dies at 81
1993 - William H. Riker, American political scientist (b. 1920)
1994 - A "Bob" den Doolaard, author (Inn with the horseshoe), dies at 93
1994 - Ian Board, barkeeper, dies at 64
1994 - Jaharna Imam, Bangladeshi writer/political activist, dies at 65
1994 - Roelof Kiers, VPRO-programmer/director (Macchiavelli), dies at 56
1994 - Thomas henry Wait Armstrong, organist, dies at 96
1996 - Veronica Guerin, journalist, dies at 36
1997 - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, Hawaiian singer (b. 1959)
2001 - Soccer (dog actor) (b. 1988)
2002 - Arnold Brown, the 11th General of The Salvation Army (b. 1913)
2002 - Jay Berwanger, American football player (b. 1914)
2003 - Marc-Vivien Foé, Cameroon footballer (b. 1975)
2003 - Denver Randleman, U.S. Army Seargent (b. 1920)
2003 - Strom Thurmond, U.S. Senator (b. 1902)
2003 - Sir Dennis Thatcher MBE, husband of Margaret Thatcher (b. 1915)
2004 - Yash Johar, Indian film producer (b. 1929)