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Historical Events

Results 1 - 100 of 180

363 - Roman Emperor Julian moves from Antioch with an army of 90,000 to attack the Sassanid Empire, in a campaign which would bring about his own death.
1046 - Naser Khosrow begins the seven-year Middle Eastern journey which he will later describe in his book Safarnama.
1179 - 3rd Lateran Council (11th ecumenical council) opens in Rome
1461 - Henry VI was deposed by Duke of York during War of the Roses
1496 - English king Henry VII hires John Cabot (Giovanni Caboto) to explore
1528 - Utrecht governor Maarten van Rossum plunders The Hague
1558 - Smoking tobacco introduced in Europe by Francisco Fernandes
1579 - Betuwe joins Union of Utrecht
1616 - Copernicus' "de Revolutionibus" placed on Catholic Forbidden index
1623 - 1st American temperance law enacted, Virginia
1651 - South Sea dike in Amsterdam breaks after storm
1684 - Emperor Leopold I, Poland & Venice sign Heilig Covenant of Linz
1743 - 1st US religious journal, The Christian History, published, Boston
1746 - Jakobijnse troops leave Aberdeen
1750 - 1st American Shakespearean production-"altered" Richard III, NYC
1760 - Princess Carolina marries Gen Charles Christian van Nassau-Weilburg
1766 - Don Antonio de Ulloa takes possession of Louisiana Terr from French
1770 - Blanche Kelso Bruce sworn in as a US Senator (Mississippi)
1770 - Boston Massacre, British troops kill 5 in crowd. Crispus Attackus becomes 1st black to die for American freedom
1783 - King Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowski grants rights to Jews of Kovno
1784 - Thomas Townshend, 1st Viscount Sydney is named President of the Board of Trade.
1793 - French troops are defeated by Austrian forces and Liège is recaptured.
1795 - Amsterdam celebrates Revolution on the Dam; Square of Revolution
1795 - Treaty of Basel-Prussia ends war with France
1807 - 1st performance of Ludwig von Beethoven's 4th Symphony in B
1820 - Dutch city of Leeuwarden forbids Jews to go to synagogues on Sundays
1821 - Monroe is 1st pres inaugurated on March 5th, because 4th was Sun
1824 - First Burmese War: The British officially declare war on Burma.
1836 - Mexico attacks Alamo
1836 - Samuel Colt manufactures 1st pistol, 34-caliber "Texas" model
1842 - Over 500 Mexican troops led by Rafael Vasquez invade Texas, briefly occupy San Antonio and then head back to the Rio Grande.
1845 - Congress appropriates $30,000 to ship camels to western US
1848 - Louis Antoine Garnier-Pages is named French minister of Finance.
1849 - Zachary Taylor sworn in as 12th president
1850 - The Britannia Bridge across the Menai Strait between the Isle of Anglesey and the mainland of Wales is opened.
1856 - Covent Garden Opera House destroyed in a fire
1856 - Georgia becomes 1st state to regulate railroads
1860 - Parma, Tuscany, Modena and Romagna vote in referendums to join the Kingdom of Sardinia.
1862 - Union troops under brig-gen Wright occupy Fernandina Florida
1864 - 1st track meet between Oxford & Cambridge
1868 - Arrigo Boito's opera "Mefistofele," premieres in Milan
1868 - Stapler patented in England by C H Gould
1868 - US Senate organizes to decide charges against Pres Andrew Johnson
1872 - George Westinghouse Jr patents triple air brake for trains
1877 - Rutherford B Hayes inaugurated as 19th US president
1894 - Seattle authorizes 1st municipal employment office in US
1894 - Archibald Philip Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery becomes First Lord of the Treasury.
1896 - Italian premier Crispi resigns
1896 - Italians governor of Eritrea, Gen Baldissera, reaches Massawa
1897 - American Negro Academy forms
1899 - 1st performance of Edward MacDowell's 2nd Concerto in D
1900 - American Hall of Fame found
1903 - Definitive treaty for construction of Baghdad railway drawn
1904 - Nikola Tesla, in Electrical World and Engineer, describes the process of the ball lightning formation.
1907 - 1st radio broadcast of a musical composition aired
1907 - The second Duma opens in St. Petersburg, Russia and 40,000 demonstrators have to be dispersed by Russian troops.
1908 - 1st ascent of Mt Erebus, Antarctica
1910 - Ramon Inclan's "La Farsa Infantil de la Cabeza del Dragon," premieres
1910 - Stanley Cup: Montreal Wanderers beat Ottawa Senators, 3-1
1912 - Spanish steamer "Principe de Asturias" sinks NE of Spain, 500 die
1912 - Italian forces are the first to use airships for military purposes, using them for reconnaissance behind Turkish lines.
1915 - World War I: The LZ 33, a zeppelin, is damaged by enemy fire and stranded south of Ostend.
1917 - 1st jazz recording for Victor Records released
1919 - Louis Hirsch & Harold Atteridge's musical premieres in NYC
1922 - "Nosferatu" premieres in Berlin
1923 - 1st old age pension plans in US established by Montana & Nevada
1923 - Montana & Nevada become 1st states to enact old age pension laws
1924 - Computing-Tabulating-Recording Corp becomes IBM
1924 - Frank Carauna, becomes 1st to bowl 2 successive perfect 300 games
1924 - King Hussein of Hedzjaz appoints himself kalief
1927 - 1,000 US marines land in China to protect American property
1928 - Karl Zuckmayer's "Der Hauptmann von Köpenick," premieres in Berlin
1931 - Gandhi & British viceroy Lord Irwin sign pact
1933 - FDR proclaims 10-day bank holiday
1933 - Germany's Nazi Party wins majority in parliament (43.9%-17.2M votes)
1934 - Mother-in-law's day 1st celebrated (Amarillo, Tx)
1935 - 1st premature baby health law in US (Chicago)
1936 - Spitfire makes it's 1st flight (Eastleigh Aerodrome in Southampton)
1942 - Bosnia Tito establishes 3rd Proletarit Brigade in Bosnia
1942 - Dmitri Shostakovitch' 7th Symphony, premieres in Siberia
1942 - Japanese troop march into Batavia
1943 - Anti fascist strikes in Italy
1943 - RAF bombs Essen Germany
1944 - 1st performance of Walter Piston's 2nd Symphony
1945 - Allies bombs The Hague, Netherlands
1945 - Generals Eisenhower, Patton & Patch meet in Luneville
1945 - US 7th Army Corps captures Cologne
1945 - US Ladies Figure Skating championship won by Gretchen Merrill
1945 - World War II: The "Battle of the Ruhr" begins.
1946 - Winston Churchill's "Iron Curtain" speech (Fulton Missouri)
1946 - Hungarian Communists and Social Democrats co-found the Left Bloc.
1948 - Actor Eli Wallach marries actress Anne Jackson
1948 - US rocket flies record 4800 KPH to 126k height
1949 - Bradman plays his last innings in 1st-class cricket, gets 30
1949 - The Jharkhand Party is founded in India.
1952 - Terence Rattigan's "Deep Blue Sea," premieres in London
1954 - "Girl in Pink Tights" opens at Mark Hellinger NYC for 115 perfs
1955 - Elvis Presley's 1st TV appearance on "Louisiana Hayride" show
1955 - WBBJ TV channel 7 in Jackson, TN (ABC) begins broadcasting
1956 - "King Kong," 1st televised

Famous Birthdays

Results 1 - 100 of 241

1133 - King Henry II of England (d. 1189)
1324 - David II Bruce, king of Scotland (1331..71)
1326 - Louis I, [the Great], King of Hungary (1342-82), Poland (1370-82)
1512 - Gerardus Mercator, Rupelmonde (Belgium), geographer/mapmaker
1563 - John Coke, English politician (d. 1644)
1574 - William Oughtred, England, mathematician/inventor (slide rule)
1585 - Johan Georg I, elector of Saxon (1611-56) (Peace of Prague)
1585 - John George I, Elector of Saxony (d. 1656)
1637 - John van der Heyden, Dutch painter/inventor (fire extinguisher)
1658 - Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, french colonial governor of America
1668 - Francesco Gasparini, composer
1693 - Johann Jakob Wettstein, Swiss theologian (d. 1754)
1696 - Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Venetian Rococo painter (Isaac's Sacrifice)
1703 - Vasily Kirillovich Trediakovsky, Russian poet (d. 1768)
1723 - Princess Mary of Great Britain (d. 1773)
1733 - Vincenzo Galeotti, [Tomazelli], Italian dancer/choreographer
1739 - Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge, doctor, Massachusetts militia officer, member of the Massachusetts legislature (d. 1819)
1746 - Jacob Wallenberg, Swedish writer/naval chaplain
1748 - William Shield, composer
1748 - Jonas C. Dryander, Swedish botanist (d. 1810)
1750 - Jean B G d'Ansse de Villoison, French classical (Apollonii Lexicon)
1751 - Jan Krtitel Kuchar, composer
1756 - Thomas Linley, composer
1774 - Christoph Ernst Friedrich Weyse, composer
1794 - Jacques Babinet, French physicist/mathematician/astronomer
1794 - Robert Cooper Grier, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1870)
1805 - Theodore Labarre, composer
1814 - Wilhelm von Giesebrecht, German historian (d. 1889)
1815 - John Wentworth, American politician (d. 1888)
1817 - Austen H Layard, British archaeologist/diplomat
1824 - Elisha Harris, US, physician/found American Public Health Assoc
1824 - James Merritt Ives, lithographer (Currier & Ives)
1825 - John Dunovant, Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1864
1825 - Joseph Albert, German photographer (albertotype)
1828 - Johann Gungl, composer
1836 - Charles Goodnight, American cattle rancher (d. 1929)
1840 - Constance Fenimore Woolson, NH, writer (Jupiter Lights)
1843 - William F Sudds, composer
1845 - Alfonse Hasselmans, composer
1850 - Daniel Brink Towner, composer
1852 - Isabella Gregory, Ireland, writer/playwright (Golden Apple)
1853 - Arthur W Foote, Salem Mass, organist/composer (Suite for Strings in E)
1853 - Howard Pyle, illustrator/painter/author (King Stork)
1862 - Siegbert Tarrasch, German chess player (d. 1934)
1867 - Louis-Alexandre Taschereau, Premier of Quebec (d. 1952)
1868 - Prosper Poullet, Belgian viscount/jurist/minister
1869 - Michael von Faulhaber, cardinal/archbishop of Munich
1870 - [B] Franc[lin] Norris, US, writer (McTeague, Octopus)
1871 - Maria do Carmo Geronimo, Brazilian lives to be at least 126
1871 - Rosa Luxemburg, Socialist revolutionary (d. 1919)
1873 - Olav Bjaaland, Norwegian explorer and cross-country skier (d. 1961)
1874 - Arthur van Schendel, Dutch writer (The World a Dancing Party)
1874 - Henry Travers, England, actor (Bells of St Mary, High Sierra)
1877 - Malcolm D Whitman, tennis champ (US Open-1898)
1879 - Walter Long, actor (Moby Dick, Sheik, Sea Devils, Dragnet Patrol)
1879 - Sir William Beveridge, British economist (d. 1963)
1883 - Marius Barbeau, French Canadian ethnographer and folklorist (b. 1969)
1886 - Paul Radmilovic, England, swimmer (Olympic-3 gold-1908)
1886 - Dong Biwu, High-ranking member of the Communist Party of China (d. 1975)
1887 - Heitor Villa-Lobos, Rio de Janeiro Brazil, composer (Salon Waltz)
1888 - Friedrich Schnack, German journalist/writer (Rosewood)
1889 - Frits Slomp, [Frits de Rover], Dutch vicar/resistance fighter
1891 - Harold Ogden "Chic" Johnson, Chicago Ill, comedian (Olsen & Johnson)
1893 - Emmett J Culligan, founder of water treatment organization
1894 - Henry Daniell, London, actor (Camille, Phila Story, Body Snatchers)
1895 - Fritz Usinger, German writer (Eternal Struggle)
1897 - Mei-ling Soong, Madame Chiang Kai-shek
1897 - Set Persson, Swedish communist politician (d. 1960)
1898 - Zhou Enlai, Premier of the People's Republic of China (d. 1976)
1899 - Patrick Hadley, composer
1900 - Ludwig Donath, actor (Jolson Story, Jolson Sings Again)
1901 - Julian Przybos, Polish poet (Sruby)
1903 - Lowell Peters, Cleveland Tn, vocalist (Southernaires)
1904 - Karl Rahner, German theologian (d. 1984)
1905 - Gilroy Roberts, US chief engraver (1948-64)
1908 - Rex Harrison, England, actor (My Fair Lady, Dr Doolittle)
1908 - Sophie Stewart, Scotland, actress (As You Like It, Under the Red Robe)
1908 - Irving Fiske, American writer, playwright, (d. 1990)
1908 - Sir Rex Harrison, English actor (d. 1990)
1909 - Sutan Sjahrir, premier of Indonesia (1945-47)
1910 - Joan Sterndale Bennett, NJ, actress (Elizabeth-Dark Shadows)
1911 - Joseph Tomelty, actor/playwright (Bedevilled, Moby Dick, Melba)
1913 - Yulian Grigor'yevich Kreyn, composer
1914 - Philip Farkas, American horn player and teacher (d. 1992)
1915 - Laurent Schwartz, French mathematician (d. 2002)
1916 - Horace Ian Parrott, composer
1917 - Joseph Stone, lawyer
1917 - Virginia Christine, Stanton Iowa, actress (Tales of Wells Fargo)
1918 - Halsey S Colchester, British SAS/spy (MI6)/priest
1918 - Ranga Sohoni, Indian cricketer (pace bowler of late 40's avg 101)
1918 - Red Storey, Canadian football player and ice hockey referee (d. 2006)
1918 - James Tobin, American economist, Nobel laureate (d. 2002)
1920 - Delbert L Latta, (Rep-R-OH, 1959- )
1920 - Leontine Tg Kelly, 1st black female bishop (Methodist)
1920 - Virginia Christine, actress (Mrs Olson)
1920 - José Aboulker, Jewish Communist
1921 - Berkley Bedell, (Rep-D-IA, 1975- )
1921 - Elmer Valo, American baseball player (d. 1998)
1922 - Ebrahim Maka, Indian cricket wicketkeeper (2 Tests 1952)
1922 - James Noble, Dallas Tx, actor (Gov Gatling-Benson)

Famous Deaths

Results 1 - 100 of 117

254 - Lucius I, bishop of Rome (253-54), dies
254 - St Lucius I, Pope (253-54), dies
1291 - Sa'ad al'Da'ulah, Jewish grand vizier of Persia, assassinated
1534 - Antonio da Correggio, Italian painter (b. 1489)
1539 - Nuno da Cunha, Portuguese governor in India (b. 1487)
1561 - Carlo Caraffa, Italian cardinal, dies at 41
1574 - Philip of Saint-Aldegonde, Flem viceroy Holland/Zealand/Utrecht, dies
1576 - Don Luis de Requesens y Zuniga, viceroy of Neth (1573-76), dies at 70
1605 - Clement VIII, [Ippolito Aldofireini], Pope (1592-1605), dies at 69
1611 - Shimazu Yoshihisa, Japanese warlord and samurai (b. 1533)
1622 - Ranuccio I Farnese, Duke of Parma (b. 1569)
1625 - James I (VI), king of England (1603-25)/poet/author, dies at 58
1644 - Louise Juliana, countess of Nassau, dies at 73
1695 - Henry Wharton, English writer (b. 1664)
1726 - Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, English politician
1732 - Joseph-Francois Salomon, composer, dies at 82
1770 - Crispus Attuks, slave, is 1st of 5 killed during Boston Massacre
1776 - Yeongjo of Joseon, ruler of Korea (b. 1694)
1778 - Thomas A Arne, English composer (Alfred, Rule Britannia), dies at 67
1795 - Josef Reicha, composer, dies at 42
1815 - Franz Mesmer, Austrian developer of hypnotism (b. 1734)
1827 - Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist (made 1st battery), dies at 82
1827 - Pierre-Simon Laplace, French mathematician (b. 1749)
1829 - John Adams, last surviving HMS Bounty mutineer (b. 1766)
1849 - David Scott, Scottish painter (b. 1806)
1853 - Georg A Kestner, German art collector/diplomat, dies at 75
1873 - Marie-Alexis Castillon de Saint-Victor, composer, dies at 34
1876 - Marie-C-S de Flavigny Agoult, [Daniel Stern], Fren author, dies at 70
1876 - Marie d'Agoult, German-born writer (b. 1805)
1893 - Hippolyte Taine, French philosopher/historian, dies at 64
1893 - Richard Samuel Hughes, composer, dies at 37
1895 - Nikolai Leskow, writer, dies at 64
1895 - Henry Rawlinson, British soldier and scholar (b. 1810)
1903 - George Francis Robert Henderson, British soldier (b. 1854)
1904 - Alfred von Waldersee, Prussian field marshal/chief-staff, dies at 71
1907 - Friedrich Blass, German classical scholar (b. 1843)
1919 - Jozef Surzynski, composer, dies at 67
1926 - Clément Ader, French aviation pioneer (b. 1841)
1927 - Franz Mertens, German mathematician (b. 1840)
1929 - David Dunbar Buick, Scottish-born American automobile pioneer (b. 1854)
1931 - Fr. Arthur Tooth SSC, Anglican Clergyman prosecuted and imprisoned for ritualist activities (b. 1839)
1932 - Takuma Dan, Japanese baron/financier/industrial, murdered
1940 - Cai Yuanpei, Chinese educator (b. 1868)
1941 - Ludwig Quidde, German historian/politician (Nobel 1927), dies at 82
1944 - Max Jacob, French writer, dies in nazi concentration camp at 67
1945 - Lena Baker, American murderer (b. 1901)
1947 - Alfredo Casella, Italian composer/conductor (La Giara), dies at 63
1948 - Charles Prince, cricketer (5 & 1 in only Test for S Africa), dies
1952 - Vladimir Vladimirovich Scherbachov, composer, dies at 63
1953 - Josef V Stalin, soviet leader responsible for 11M murders, dies at 73
1953 - Sergey Sergeyevich Prokofiev, composer, dies at 61
1953 - Herman J. Mankiewicz, American screenwriter (b. 1897)
1954 - Julian Lowell Coolidge, mathematician (Study-Segre school), dies at 80
1955 - Antanas Merkys, President of Lithuania (b. 1888)
1956 - Erich Itor Kahn, composer, dies at 50
1962 - Anne C Veth, Dutch cartoonist/art critic, dies at 82
1962 - Otakar Jeremias, composer, dies at 69
1963 - Cyril Smith, actor (Adv of Sir Lancelot), dies at 70
1963 - Hawkshaw Hawkins, country singer (Ozark Jubilee), dies at 41
1963 - Patsy Cline, country singer (Crazy), dies in a plane crash at 30
1963 - Cowboy Copas, American singer (b. 1913)
1965 - Chen Cheng, Chinese politician (b. 1897)
1965 - Pepper Martin, American baseball player (b. 1904)
1966 - Anna Achmatova, Ukrainian poet, dies at 76
1966 - Enrique E Ecker, Curacaos/US bacteriologist, dies at 79
1967 - Mischa Auer, actor (My Man Godfrey), dies at 61 of a heart attack
1967 - Mohammed H Mossadeq, premier of Persia (1951-53), dies
1967 - Georges Vanier, Governor General of Canada (b. 1888)
1971 - Winnie Lightner, actress (Gold Dust Gertie, Sit Tight), dies at 71
1972 - Nils Bjorkander, composer, dies at 78
1973 - Rupert Crosse, actor (Too Late Blues), dies of cancer at 45
1973 - Michael Jeffery, British music manager (b. 1933)
1974 - Billy DeWolfe, actor (Good Morning World), dies at 67
1974 - Solomon I "Sol" Hurok, US impresario, dies at 85
1974 - Billy De Wolfe, American actor (b. 1907)
1977 - Lockrem Johnson, composer, dies at 52
1977 - Moses Pergament, composer, dies at 83
1977 - Tom Pryce, Welsh Formula One driver (b. 1949)
1977 - Jansen Van Vuuren, Dutch volunteer safety marshall at the 1977 South African Grand Prix
1979 - Vicente Ascone, composer, dies at 81
1980 - Jay Silverheels, Canadian actor (Tonto-Lone Ranger), dies at 60
1980 - Winifred Wagner-William, German World Festival organizer, dies at 82
1981 - Brenda De Banzie, actress (39 Steps, Hobson's Choice), dies at 64
1981 - Paul Horbiger, actor (3rd Man), dies at 86
1982 - John Belushi, comedian (Sat Night Live), dies of drug overdose at 33
1984 - Harry Salter, orch leader (Stop the Music), dies at 85
1984 - Michael Sklar, Calif, comedian (Laugh-in, Sha Na Na), dies at 39
1984 - Tito Gobbi, Italian baritone (Scarpia in Tosca), dies at 68
1984 - William Powell, actor (My Man Godfrey), dies at 91
1986 - Teddy Hoad, cricketer (West Indian captain 1930), dies
1988 - Alberto Olmedo, Argentine comedian (b. 1933)
1990 - Gary Merrill, actor (Time Tunnel, Huckleberry Finn), dies at 75
1990 - Gloria Carter Spann, Pres Carter's sister, dies at 63 of cancer
1991 - August de Schryver, Belgian politician/founder (CVP), dies at 92
1991 - Trijntje Jansma-Boskma, oldest person in Netherland, dies at 109
1992 - Andrew Samuel, child actor (Our Gang), dies at 82
1992 - Yevgeny Yevstigneev, Russian actor (Welcome Kosta), dies at 65
1993 - Diana Ochoa, dies after long illness at 80
1993 - Peter Bierdrager, Dutch Fokker's-test pilot, dies in air crash
1994 - Abdullah Al-Sallal, pres of Yemen (1962-67), dies