• Home
• Articles
• Dates
• Days
• Today in History
• Topics
• Quiz

Historical Events

Results 1 - 100 of 167

1418 - Jacoba van Bayern marries her cousin John IV van Brabant
1586 - Johan van Oldenbarnevelt becomes Dutch chief legal advisor
1658 - Peace of Roskilde between Sweden & Denmark
1702 - England Queen Anne ascends throne upon death of King William III
1706 - Vienna's Wiener Stadtbank established
1711 - Antoin de Guiscard tries English premier Haley for murder
1722 - Afghan monarch Mir Mahmud occupies Persia
1746 - Cumberland's troops occupy Aberdeen
1754 - Marquis of Ensenada becomes premier of Spain
1766 - Willem V (18) becomes governor of United Provinces
1777 - Regiments from Ansbach and Bayreuth, sent to support Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War, mutiny in the town of Ochsenfurt.
1782 - Gnadenhutten Massacre - Ohio militia kills 90 indians
1801 - British drive French forces from Abukir, Egypt
1813 - 1st concerto of Royal Philharmonic
1817 - The New York Stock Exchange is founded.
1838 - US mint in New Orleans begins operation (producing dimes)
1844 - King Oscar I ascends to the throne of Sweden-Norway.
1854 - US Commodore Matthew C Perry's 2nd trip to Japan
1855 - 1st train crosses 1st US railway suspension bridge, Niagara Falls
1858 - Opera "I Pagliacci" is produced (Naples)
1861 - St Augustine Florida surrenders to Union armies
1862 - Battle of Elkhorn Tavern ends with Confederate withdrawal
1862 - Confederate ironclad "Merrimack" launched
1862 - Naval Engagement at Hampton Roads, VA CSS Virginia, Jamestown & Yorktown vs USS Cumberland, Congress & Monitor
1865 - Battle of Kingston, NC (Wilcox's ridge, Wise's Forks)
1884 - 1st performance of Edward MacDowell's 2nd Piano suite
1884 - Susan B. Anthony addresses the U.S. House Judiciary Committee arguing for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting women the right to vote. Anthony's argument came 16 years after legislators had first introduced a federal women's suffrage amendment.
1887 - Everett Horton, CT, patents fishing rod of telescoping steel tubes
1894 - NY passes 1st state dog license law
1894 - The state of New York enacts the nation's first dog-licensing law.
1896 - Volunteers of America forms (NYC)
1898 - Richard Straus' "Don Quixote," premieres in Keulen
1900 - NL decides to go with 8 teams They exclude Baltimore, Cleveland, Louisville & Washington (in 1953 Boston Braves move to Milwaukee)
1902 - 1st performance of Jean Sibelius' 2nd Symphony
1904 - Hugh Trumble takes a hat-trick in his final Test Cricket match
1906 - Stanley Cup: Ottawa Silver 7 sweep Smiths Falls (Ont) in 2 games
1908 - Dutch utopist Frederick of Eden speaks in Carnegie Hall, NY
1910 - Baroness Raymonde de Laroche of Paris is 1st licensed female pilot
1911 - 1st International Woman's Day
1911 - International Women's Day is launched in Copenhagen, Denmark, by Clara Zetkin, leader of the Women's Office for the Social Democratic Party in Germany.
1913 - Federal League organizes with 6 teams
1913 - Internal Revenue Service begins to levy & collect income taxes
1915 - 1st US navy minelayer, Baltimore, commissioned
1916 - US invades Cuba for 3rd time, this to end corrupt Menocal regime
1917 - Russian revolution breaks out [OS=Feb 24] (in Petrograd)
1918 - The first case of Spanish flu occurs, the start of a devastating worldwide pandemic.
1920 - Denmark & Cuba join the League of Nations
1921 - Spanish Premier Eduardo Dato Iradier is assassinated while exiting the parliament building in Madrid.
1924 - Coal mine explosion kills 171 at Castle Gate Utah
1927 - Pan American Airlines incorporates
1929 - US worker union commission reports of slavery in Liberia
1930 - Mahatma Gandhi starts civil disobedience in India
1930 - Babe Ruth signs 2-year contract for $160,000 with NY Yankee GM Ed Barrow, wrongly predicts "No one will ever be paid more than Ruth"
1934 - Edwin Hubble photo shows as many galaxies as Milky Way has stars
1936 - The first stock car race is held in Daytona Beach, Florida.
1939 - Lenore Coffee & William Joyce Cowan's "Family Portrait," premieres
1941 - 1st baseball player drafted into WW II (Hugh Mulcahy, Phillies)
1942 - Japanese forces captures Rangoon Burma
1942 - KNIL, Dutch colonial army on Java, surrenders to Japanese armies
1943 - 335 allied bombers attack Neurenberg
1943 - Limited gambling legalized in Mexico
1943 - US Ladies Figure Skating championship won by Gretchen Merrill
1943 - US Mens Figure Skating championship won by Arthur Vaughn
1944 - US resumes bombing Berlin
1945 - "Kiss Me Kate" opens in Britain
1945 - 53 Amsterdammers executed by nazi occupiers
1945 - International Women's Day is 1st observed
1945 - Phyllis M Daley is 1st black nurse sworn-in as US Navy ensign
1946 - 1st helicopter licensed for coml use (NYC)
1948 - Supreme Court rules relg instructions in pub schools unconstitutional
1949 - WAGA TV channel 5 in Atlanta, GA (CBS) begins broadcasting
1949 - WBAP-FM, Fort Worth Texas, begins broadcasting
1950 - 1st woman medical officer assigned to naval vessel (BR Walters)
1950 - Marshall Voroshilov of USSR announces they developed atomic bomb
1951 - Intl Table Tennis Federation bans Egypt (for refusing to play Israel)
1952 - Antoine Pinay forms French government
1952 - Ronald Reagan marries Nancy Davis
1953 - "Two's Company" closes at Alvin Theater NYC after 90 performances
1953 - Census indicates 239,000 farmers gave up farming in last 2 years
1953 - KSWO TV channel 7 in Lawton, OK (ABC) begins broadcasting
1953 - Patty Berg wins LPGA Jacksonville Golf Open
1953 - WFMJ TV channel 21 in Youngstown, OH (NBC) begins broadcasting
1954 - Herb McKinley sets quarter mile record of 0:46.8 in Melbourne, Australia
1957 - 1st performance of David Diamond's 6th Symphony in Boston
1957 - Israeli troops leave Egypt; Suez Canal re-opened for minor ships
1957 - USSR performs atmospheric nuclear test
1958 - Silky Sullivan comes from 40 lengths back to win by 3 at Santa Anita
1958 - William Faulkner says US school degenerated to become babysitters
1959 - Groucho, Chico & Harpo's final TV appearance together
1959 - KUAT TV channel 6 in Tucson, AZ (PBS) begins broadcasting
1959 - Mickey Wright wins LPGA Jacksonville Golf Open
1959 - Pro-Egyptian coup fails in Mosul Iraq
1960 - "Greenwillow" opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 95 performances
1961 - Jean Kerr's "Mary, Mary," premieres in NYC
1961 - US nuclear submarine Patrick Henry arrives at Scottish naval base of Holy Loch from SC in a record underseas journey of 66 days 22 hrs
1962 - Beatles, with Pete Best, TV debut (perform "Dream Baby" on BBC)
1962 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1963 - Syrian Arab Rep Revolution Day - Military coup in Syria
1964 - Malcolm X leaves Black Muslim Movement
1965 - 1st US combat forces arrive in Vietnam (3,500 Marines)

Famous Birthdays

Results 1 - 100 of 250

1075 - Abu 'l-Kasim Mahmud ibn Omar al-Zamachshari, Arab theologist
1286 - John III, Duke of Brittany (d. 1341)
1293 - Beatrice of Castile, queen of Portugal (d. 1359)
1495 - Juan de Dios, Port/Sp saint/founder (Brothers of Mercy)
1495 - John of God, Portuguese-born friar and saint (d. 1550)
1514 - Amago Haruhisa, Japanese samurai and warlord (d. 1562)
1560 - Don Carlo Gesualdo, Italian composer (d. 1613)
1607 - Johann Rist, composer
1659 - Isaac de Beausobre, French Protestant pastor (d. 1738)
1700 - Anne Bonny Irish-American pirate (d. 1782)
1712 - John Fothergill, English physician (d. 1780)
1714 - Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, German composer, son of JS Bach
1726 - Richard Howe, British admiral (d. 1799)
1743 - Bendix Friedrich Zinck, composer
1746 - André Michaux, French botanist (d. 1802)
1748 - Willem V Batavus, prince of Orange-Nassau
1748 - William V of Orange, Stadtholder of the Dutch Republic
1778 - Friedrich August Kanne, composer
1783 - Gottfied Wilhelm Fink, composer
1783 - Hannah Hoes Van Buren, NY, wife of pres Martin (1837-41) (died 1819)
1787 - Karl Ferdinand von Grafe, help create modern plastic surgery
1799 - Simon Cameron, Secy War (Union), died in 1889
1814 - Ede Szigligeti, Hungarian dramatist (d. 1878)
1822 - Ignacy Lukasiewicz, Polish inventor (d. 1882)
1825 - George William Martin, composer
1827 - Wilhelm Bleek, German linguist (d. 1875)
1830 - João de Deus, Portuguese poet (d. 1896)
1836 - Matthew Calbraith Butler, Major General (Confederate Army)
1839 - James Mason Crafts, US chemist (Friedel-Crafts-synthesis)
1840 - Franco Faccio, Italian composer/conductor
1841 - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Mass, 59th Supreme Court justice (1902-32)
1843 - Per Jonas Fredrik Vilhelm Svedbom, composer
1847 - Karl von Bach, German engineer (Maschinenelemente)
1853 - Edward Hubertus Joannes Keurvels, Flemish composer (Parisina)
1854 - Tom Felix Horan, cricketer (Ireland Pioneering Aust all-rounder)
1856 - Bramwell Booth, the 2nd General of The Salvation Army (d. 1929)
1856 - Tom Roberts, Australian artist (d. 1931)
1857 - Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (I pagliacci/Zaza)
1859 - Kenneth Grahame, author (Wind, Willows)
1859 - Otto Taubmann, composer
1862 - Joseph Lee, helped develop playgrounds
1865 - Frederick William Goudy, US, printer/type designer
1872 - Paul Juon, Russian/Swiss violinist/composer
1872 - Anna Held, Polish-born actress and singer (d. 1918)
1876 - Franco Alfano, Italian opera composer (Il dottore Antonio)
1879 - M Lichnowsky, writer
1879 - Otto Hahn, German physicist/chemist (Nobel 44, radiothorium/actinium)
1883 - Manuel Gomez Carillo, composer
1886 - Anton Portielje, Dutch radio host/zoo director (Artis)
1886 - Edward Kendall, chemist, isolated cortisone (Nobel 1950)
1888 - Stuart Chase, NH, writer/economist (Tragedy of Waste)
1889 - Oscar Ewing, US govt official (Everybody's Business)
1890 - Oswald von Nell-Breuning, German theologist/philosopher
1891 - Sam Jaffe, NYC, actor (Gunga Din, Dr Zorba-Ben Casey)
1892 - Mátyás Rákosi, Hungarian party leader/premier (1952-53)
1896 - Charlotte Whitton, Canadian politician (d. 1975)
1898 - Louise Beavers, Cin Ohio, actress (Beulah-Beulah, Made for each other)
1899 - Eric Linklater, Scotland, novelist/poet (Blue Swallows)
1899 - Elmer Keith, Firearms enthusiast and Author (d. 1984)
1902 - Jennings Randolph, (Sen)
1902 - Louise Beavers, American actress (d. 1962)
1907 - Charles Boost, movie critic
1907 - Constantine Karamanlis, Greek politician, President of Greece (d. 1998)
1909 - Anthony Donato, composer
1909 - Claire Trevor, [Wemlinger], NYC, actress (Marjorie Morningstar)
1909 - Hugh Murphy, English multi-millionaire
1910 - Bernard Benjamin, statistician, actuary and demographer (d. 2002)
1911 - Alan Hovhaness, Somerville Mass, composer (Lousadzak, Ukiyo)
1911 - Elsie Agnes Giorgi, physician/humanitarian
1912 - Preston Smith, Governor of Texas (d. 2003)
1914 - Jacob B Bakema, urban developer (St Louis Missouri)
1914 - Yakov Borisovich Zel'dovich, Russian physicist (d. 1987)
1915 - Vivien John, artist
1915 - Tapio Rautavaara, Finnish athlete, actor, and singer (d. 1979)
1916 - R W Schnell, writer
1916 - John Seybold, American economist and computer typesetting pioneer (d. 2004)
1917 - A Marja, [ATE Mooy], Dutch literary (Shreds on the River)
1918 - Alan Hale [MacKahan] Jr, LA Calif, actor (Skipper-Gilligan's Island)
1919 - Ivor Keys, musician/teacher
1920 - Eileen Herlie, Glasgow Scot, actress (Myrtle Fargate-All My Children)
1920 - Eva Dahlbeck, Saltsjo-Duvnas Sweden, actress (Dreams, Lesson in Love)
1920 - James Daniel "Danny" Turner, saxophonist
1921 - Cyd Charisse, [Tula Finklea], Amarillo Tx, dancer/actress (East Side)
1921 - Egbert George "Pete" Pitterson, trumpeter
1921 - Alan Hale, Jr., American actor (d. 1990)
1922 - Carl Furillo, Brooklyn Dodger (NL Batting Champ 1953)
1922 - H Kipphardt, writer
1922 - Shigeru Mizuki, Japanese soldier and Mangaka
1922 - Ralph Baer, Creator of the first video game console
1923 - Juan M G "Wancho" Evertsz, premier of Dutch Antilles (NVP, 1973-77)
1923 - Sembene Ousmane, Senegalese author/novelist/director (Doctor Noir)
1924 - Sean McClory, Dublin Ireland, actor (Jack-Californians, My Chauffeur)
1924 - Victor "Toby" Neuberg, teacher/writer
1925 - Darwin Horacio Vargas-Wallis, composer
1925 - Francisco Rabal, Aguilas Spain, actor (Holy Innocents, Camorra)
1925 - Petrus Steenkamp, Dutch politician (KVP/CDA)
1927 - Jaromir Podesva, composer
1927 - Joseph Berg, composer
1928 - Frank Michael Beyer, composer
1928 - Judy Johnson, Norfolk Va, singer (Your Show of Shows)

Famous Deaths

Results 1 - 100 of 115

883 - Albumasar, [Ahmad Aboe M Gafar al-Balkhi], Arabic astronomer, dies
1126 - Urraca of Castile (b. 1082)
1144 - Celestine II, [Guido], Italian Pope (1143-44), dies in battle
1202 - Sverre of Norway
1223 - Wincenty Kadłubek, Polish chronicler (b. 1161)
1403 - Bajezid I Jildirim, 4th sultan of Turkey (1389-1403), dies at 42
1466 - Francesco Sforza, Italian condottiere/duke of Milan, dies at 64
1550 - Juan de Dios, Port/Sp saint (Brothers of Mercy), dies at 55
1638 - Jacob C van Neck, admiral/mayor of Amsterdam, dies at about 73
1640 - Guillaume van Messaus, composer, dies at 50
1641 - Xu Xiake, Chinese adventurer (b. 1587)
1661 - Jules Mazarin, Italian cardinal/premier of France, dies at 58
1674 - Charles Sorel, sieur de Souvigny, French writer (b. 1597)
1702 - John de Baen, portrait painter/etcher, buried at 69
1702 - William III, Dutch King of England (1689-1702), dies at 51 [NS-Mar 19]
1702 - William III of England (b. 1650)
1709 - William Cowper/Cooper, English anatomist, dies at about 62
1716 - Harald Vallerius, composer, dies at 69
1720 - Georg Bronner, composer, dies at 53
1724 - Enrico Giovanni Zuccalli, Swiss architect, dies at about 81
1728 - Gian M Crescimbeni, Italian literary/critic (Arcadia), dies at 64
1731 - Ferdinand Brokoff, Czech sculptor (b. 1688)
1734 - Carolomannus Pachschmidt, composer, dies at 33
1754 - Don Jose de Carvajal bon Lancaster, Sp min of Foreign affairs, dies
1757 - Thomas Blackwell, Scottish classical scholar (b. 1701)
1771 - Louis August le Clerc, French-born sculptor (b. 1688)
1819 - Benjamin Ruggles Woodbridge, doctor, Massachusetts militia officer, member of the Massachusetts legislature (b. 1739)
1828 - Johann Anton Sulzer, composer, dies at 75
1844 - Charles XIV John of Sweden (b. 1763)
1855 - William Poole, Infamous member of New York City's Bowery Boys gang (b. 1821)
1862 - Adrien de La Fage, composer, dies at 56
1862 - Nat Gordon, last pirate, hanged in NYC for stealing 1,000 slaves
1869 - Louis Hector Berlioz, French composer (Symphony Fantastic), dies at 65
1874 - Millard Fillmore, 13th president (1850-53), dies of at 74
1887 - Pavel Annenkov, Russian literature historian/critic, dies at 73
1887 - Henry Ward Beecher, American clergyman (b. 1813)
1887 - James Buchanan Eads, American engineer (b. 1820)
1889 - Jens/John Ericsson, Swed/US, engineer (fire extinguisher), dies at 85
1901 - Karl Freiherr von Stumm-Halberg, German politician, dies at 64
1901 - Peter Benoit, Flemish composer/conductor (High Mass), dies at 66
1917 - Ferdinand von Zeppelin, Dutch count/air pioneer, dies at 78
1919 - Auguste Tolbecque, composer, dies at 88
1920 - Rafael Obligado, Argentine writer (Santos Vega), dies at 69
1923 - Johannes S van der Waals, Dutch physicist (Nobel 1910), dies at 85
1923 - Krišjānis Barons, Latvian writer (b. 1835)
1930 - William Howard Taft, 27th US pres (1909-13)/Chief Justice, dies at 72
1930 - Edward Terry Sanford, Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court (b. 1865)
1931 - Clara Kathleen Rogers, composer, dies at 87
1932 - Jan de Louter, Dutch lawyer/tutor of Queen Wilhelmina, dies at 84
1937 - Albert Verwey, Dutch poet/literature historian (Motion), dies at 71
1937 - Howie Morenz, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1902)
1941 - Jose Serrano Simeon, composer, dies at 67
1941 - Sherwood Anderson, US writer/publisher (Winesburg Ohio), dies at 64
1942 - Jose R Capablanca, Cuban chess player (world champ 1927), dies at 53
1945 - H J Jamin, Dutch resistance fighter, dies in Buchenwald
1945 - Jan Beekes, resistance fighter, executed at 26
1950 - Jaroslav Kocian, composer, dies at 67
1951 - Honeymoon Killers, dies in electric chair
1951 - John Winter Thompson, composer, dies at 83
1954 - Percy Twentyman-Jones, cricketer (pair in only Test for S Afr), dies
1955 - Clementine, Princess of Belg, wife of V Napoleon Bonaparte, dies at 82
1957 - Othmar Schoeck, composer, dies at 70
1958 - Josephina OFF "Frieda" Herberich, actress (Salontiroler), dies at 85
1959 - Abdel Wahab Shawwaf, Iraqi colonel/putschist, murdered
1961 - Thomas Beecham, English conductor (Last Night of the Prom), dies at 81
1963 - John Hartley, cricketer (bowl avg 115 in 2 Tests for Eng 1906), dies
1965 - Esther Howard, actress (Detour), dies of heart attack at 72
1967 - John F Bothwell, actor (Freckles-Our Gang), dies at 46
1971 - Harold Lloyd, US comic/actor (Why Worry), dies of cancer at 77
1972 - Erich von dem Bach, Nazi official (b. 1899)
1973 - Gordon Leggat, cricketer (9 Tests for NZ, 351 runs at 21 93), dies
1973 - Ron "Pigpen" McKernan, rocker (Grateful Dead, Grass Roots), dies at 27
1974 - Christian van Geel, Dutch poet/sculptor (Spinroc), dies at 56
1974 - Willem "Wim" Sonneveld, Dutch actor (Silk Stockings), dies at 56
1975 - George Stevens, US director (Swing Time, Gunga Din), dies at 70
1976 - Alfons Rebane, Estonian military commander (b. 1908)
1977 - Henry Hull, actor (Werewolf of London, Boys Town), dies at 86
1983 - William T Walton, English composer (Belhazzar's feast), dies at 80
1985 - Edward Andrews, actor (Broadside), dies at 70 of a heart attack
1985 - Thomas Creighton, US heart patient (3 implants in 46 hrs), dies at 33
1986 - Hubert Fichte, writer, dies at 50
1988 - Werner Hartmann, German physicist (b. 1912)
1988 - Henryk Szeryng, Polish-born violinist (b. 1918)
1992 - Red Callender, US jazz bassist (Unfinished dream), dies at 76
1993 - Billy Eckstine, jazz singer (Fools Rush In), dies at 78 of stroke
1993 - Johan Bodegraven, radio host (Purses Open, Dikes Closed), dies at 78
1993 - Joop Scheltens, TV host/director (Explore Your Place), dies at 69
1993 - Wells Root, US screenwriter (Prisoner of Zenda), dies at 92
1994 - John Ewart, Sydney Australia, dies of cancer at 55
1994 - Joop C Swart, publisher/founder (World Press Photo), dies at 69
1994 - Knut Haukelid, Norway/US resistance fighter (Rjukan 1943), dies at 82
1995 - Ota Adler, Czech/British fur trader (Jewish Aid Fund), dies at 83
1995 - Paul George Vincent O'Shaughnessy Horgan, novelist, dies at 91
1995 - Ingo Schwichtenberg, German drummer (b. 1965)
1996 - Alison McCartney, pathologist/Breast Cancer campaigner, dies at 45
1996 - Jack Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill, commando, dies at 89
1996 - Paul Lewis Harrhy, actor/opera singer (Intelligence Park), dies at 38
1997 - Alexander Salkind, producer (Superman), dies at 75
1998 - Ray Nitschke, American football player (b. 1936)
1999 - Peggy Cass, American actress and comedian (b. 1924)