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Historical Events

Results 1 - 100 of 180

334 BC - The Macedonian army of Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of the Granicus
760 - 14th recorded perihelion passage of Halley's Comet
1176 - Murder attempt by "Assassins" on Saladin near Aleppo
1200 - Peace of Goulet
1370 - Jews are expelled/massacred from Brussels Belgium
1377 - Pope Gregory XI issues five papal bulls to denounce the doctrines of English theologian John Wycliffe.
1455 - Open battle in England's 30-year War of the Roses (St Albans)
1455 - Richard of York takes St Albans, kidnapping King Henry VI
1526 - Pope Clemens VII, France, Genoa, Venice, Florence & Milan form Anti-French League of Cognac
1570 - 1st atlas, with 70 maps, published
1594 - Earl Mauritius & Willem Louis begins siege of Groningen
1629 - Emperor Ferdinand II & Danish King Christian IV sign Peace of Lubeck
1659 - France, England & Netherlands sign "Hedges Concerto" treaty
1712 - Emperor Karel VI crowned king of Hungary
1746 - Russia & Austria signs treaty of cooperation
1761 - 1st life insurance policy in US, issued in Phila
1762 - Sweden & Prussia sign peace treaty
1784 - Ceylonese student leader Pieter Quint Ondaatje demands democracy
1803 - 1st public library opens (Connecticut)
1807 - Former VP Aaron Burr is tried for treason in Richmond Va (acquitted)
1807 - Townsend Speakman 1st sells fruit-flavored carbonated drinks (Phila)
1819 - 1st steam propelled vessel to cross Atlantic (Savannah leaves Ga)
1826 - The HMS Beagle departs on its first voyage.
1836 - Felix Mendelssohn's oratorium "St Paul," premieres in Dusseldorf
1840 - The transporting of British convicts to the New South Wales colony is abolished.
1842 - Farmers Lester Howe and Henry Wetsel discover Howe Caverns when they stumble upon a large gaping hole in the ground.
1843 - 1st wagon train, 1000+ depart Independence Missouri for Oregon
1849 - Abraham Lincoln patents a buoying device
1856 - Violence in Senate, SC rep Brooks used a cane on Mass Sen Sumner
1858 - Confederación Granadina (now Colombia) forms
1863 - General Grant begins siege on Vicksburg
1863 - War Dept establishes Bureau of Colored Troops
1864 - Battle of N Anna River, VA (Totopotamy River, Haw's Shop, Hanovertown)
1868 - Great Train Robbery-7 men (Reno Brother) make off with $98,000 in cash
1872 - Amnesty Act restores civil rights to Southerners (except for 500)
1877 - 3rd Kentucky Derby: Billy Walker aboard Baden-Baden wins in 2:38
1883 - Cub's Billy Sunday's 1st at bat, begins 14 consecutive strikes out
1884 - 1-armed pitcher Hugh Daily fanned 13 hitters
1885 - 13th Preakness: Jim McLaughlin aboard Tecumseh wins in 2:49
1888 - Leroy Buffington patents a system to build skyscrapers
1891 - 1st motion picture shown to Natl Federation of Women's Clubs
1892 - Dr Washington Sheffield invents toothpaste tube
1893 - Montreal Athletic Assn beat Ottawa Generals 2-1, in 1st Cup Game
1897 - The Blackwall Tunnel under the River Thames was officially opened
1900 - Associated Press organizes in NYC as non-profit news cooperative
1900 - Edwin S Votey patents pneumatic piano player
1902 - 36th Belmont: John Bullman aboard Mastermam wins in 2:22.6
1903 - Launch of the White Star Liner, SS Ionic.
1905 - Royal Academy in Delft Holland becomes Technical High School
1906 - 10th anniversary Olympic games close at Athens, Greece
1906 - 31st Preakness: Walter Miller aboard Whimsical wins in 1:45
1906 - Wright Brothers patents an aeroplane
1907 - Albert Trott takes two hat-tricks in an innings, Mddx v Somerset
1909 - 1st SF fireboat, David Scannell, launched
1911 - Braves pitcher, Cliff Curtis, loses his 23rd game in a row
1915 - Local train collides with troop train killing 226 (Gretna Scotland)
1915 - Lassen Peak erupts with a powerful force, and is the only mountain, other than Mount St. Helens, to erupt in the continental US during the 20th century.
1916 - French troops occupy parts of Fort Douaumont Verdun
1923 - Stanley Baldwin succeeds Andrew Bonar Law as British premier
1924 - In Chicago, Nathan Leopold & Richard Loeb kidnap Robert Franks
1926 - "Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue" by Gene Austin hits #1
1926 - Chiang Kai-shek replaces communists in Guomindang China
1926 - Dutch Communist Party expels David Wijnkoop
1927 - 8.3 earthquake strikes Nan-Shan China, 200,000 killed
1927 - Dodgers beat Phillies, 20-4
1928 - US Congress accept Jones-White Merchant Naval Act
1930 - Ruth hits 3 consecutive HR (8th-10th of 60 in 1930)
1930 - Yankee "Bronx Bombers" hit 14 HRs in a game
1931 - Canned rattlesnake meat 1st goes on sale in Florida
1933 - Loch Ness Monster is 1st reportedly sighted by John Mackay
1933 - World Trade Day/National Maritime Day 1st celebrated
1936 - Aer Lingus (Aer Loingeas) is founded by the Irish government as the national airline of the Republic of Ireland.
1938 - Dodgers announce contracts to install lights at Ebbets Field
1939 - Hitler & Mussolini sign "Pact of Steel"
1940 - Dutch Premier De Geer begins working with nazis
1940 - Premier Winston Churchill flies to Paris to decide with General Maxime Weygand a strategy to save the city
1941 - British troops attack Baghdad
1942 - Mexico declares war on nazi-Germany & Japan
1942 - The Steel Workers Organizing Committee disbands, and a new trade union, the United Steelworkers, is formed.
1943 - 1st jet fighter is tested
1943 - RAF scatters 1st copies of "The Flying Hollander"
1943 - Stalin disbands Komintern
1945 - 6th Marine division reaches suburbs of Naha Okinawa
1945 - NSB-Fuhrer Rost van Tonningen attempts & fails at suicide
1946 - Yankees turn triple-play & defeat Tigers' 5-3
1947 - "Truman Doctrine" goes into effect, aiding Turkey & Greece
1947 - 1st US ballistic missile fired
1950 - Celal Bayar elected president of Turkey
1950 - Dutch poet Gerrit Achterberg wins PC Hooft prize
1950 - Richard Strauss' "4 Last Songs" (4 letzte Lieder) in London
1953 - President Eisenhower signs Offshore Oil Bill
1953 - Yankee Irv Noren hits into a triple-play, Yanks beat Wash 12-4
1954 - 80th Preakness: Johnny Adams aboard Hasty Road wins in 1:57.4
1954 - KREX TV channel 5 in Grand Junction, CO (CBS) begins broadcasting
1954 - Robert Zimmerman aka Bob Dylan is Bar Mitzvahed
1955 - Oldest man to drive in the Grand Prix (aged 55) finishes 6th
1956 - "Bob Hope Show," last airs on NBC-TV
1956 - KRIS TV channel 6 in Corpus Christi, TX (NBC) begins broadcasting
1957 - KBTX TV channel 3 in Bryan, TX (CBS) begins broadcasting
1957 - Red Sox set AL record by smashing 4 HRs in 6th inning in 11-0 win

Famous Birthdays

Results 1 - 100 of 196

1622 - Louis de Buade de Frontenac, Governor of New France (d. 1698)
1671 - Abraham Patras, governor-general of East-Indies (1735-37)
1715 - François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis, French cardinal and statesman (d. 1794)
1722 - Johannes Schmidlin, composer
1724 - Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, French explorer (d. 1772)
1759 - Gervais-Francois Couperin, composer
1770 - Princess Elizabeth of the United Kingdom (d. 1840)
1772 - Ram Mohan Roy, Hindu reformer (d. 1833)
1780 - Jan Emmanuel Dulezalek, composer
1783 - Thomas Forbes Walmisley, composer
1804 - John William (Turk) Livingston, Commander (Union Navy), died in 1885
1808 - G de Nerval, writer
1813 - Richard Wagner, Leipsig Germany, composer (Ring, Flying Dutchman)
1820 - Alexander Ernst Fesca, composer
1821 - Alfred Sully, Bvt Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1879
1823 - Solomon Bundy, American politician (d. 1889)
1823 - Isabella Glyn Dallas, British Shakepearean actress (d. 1889)
1826 - George Parr, cricketer (legendary Notts batsman, 1st Eng touring capt)
1841 - Catulle Mendès, French poet (d. 1909)
1844 - Mary Cassatt, US, Impressionist painter (Woman Bathing)
1849 - Louis Perrier, Swiss politician (d. 1913)
1850 - Johann Schrammel, composer
1852 - Emile Sauret, composer
1859 - Arthur Conan Doyle, UK, author brought Sherlock Holmes to life twice
1862 - August Cuppens, Flemish author/pastor
1865 - Enrique Morera, composer
1874 - Daniel F Malan, premier of South-Africa (1948-54)
1874 - Francesco Paolo Neglia, composer
1879 - Eastwood Lane, composer
1879 - Jean Emile Paul Cras, composer
1879 - Warwick Armstrong, cricketer (Big Ship Great Aussie skipper 1920-21)
1879 - Alla Nazimova, Ukrainian-born actress, scriptwriter, and producer (d. 1945)
1884 - Alceo Toni, composer
1885 - Julio Fonseca, composer
1885 - Giacomo Matteotti, Italian politician (d. 1924)
1891 - J R Becher, writer
1891 - Robert Gordon Sproul, educator/college pres (Univ of Calif)
1891 - Eddie Edwards, American jazz trombonist (d. 1963)
1892 - Louis van Tulder, Dutch tenor (From Office Stool to High C)
1895 - Jiddu Krishnamurti, India, philosopher (Songs of Life) [OS=May 12]
1897 - Robert Neumann, Austrian/British author (Waters of Babylon)
1898 - René de Vos, Dutch actor/composer (Jij Bent Mijn Leven)
1900 - Yvonne de Gaulle, wife of Charles de Gaulle (d. 1979)
1901 - Maurice J. Tobin, 56th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1953)
1902 - Al Simmons, Milwaukee, American baseball outfielder (A's), lifetime batting avg of .334 (d. 1956)
1903 - Yves Rocard, French physicist (d. 1992)
1904 - Anne de Vries, writer (Bartje)
1904 - Paul Viiding, Estonian poet (d. 1962)
1906 - Harry Ritz, US comic (Ritz Brothers-Silent Movie)
1907 - Laurence Olivier, England, actor (Rebecca, Hamlet, Jazz Singer)
1907 - Hergé, Belgian comic book creator (d. 1983)
1908 - Rattana Pestonji, Thai filmmaker (d. 1970)
1908 - Horton Smith. American golfer (d. 1963)
1910 - Johnny Olson, TV announcer (Price is Right)
1911 - Anatol Rapoport, Russ/US mathem/biologist (game theory)
1912 - Hendrik Koekoek, Dutch MP (Farmers Party)
1913 - Andrea C Bensddorp, Dutch/South African actress (Commensaal)
1913 - Carlyle Blackwell Jr, CA, actor (Docks of NY)
1914 - Vance Packard, Granville Summit Pa, author (Hidden Persuaders)
1914 - Sun Ra, American musician (d. 1993)
1916 - Gordon Binkerd, composer
1917 - Jean-Louis Laffitte Curtis, novelist
1917 - Georg Tintner, Austrian-born conductor (d. 1999)
1917 - Nathan Davis, American actor
1917 - Daniel Nagrin, American modern dancer and choreographer
1918 - David Land, impressario
1919 - Paul Vanden Boeynants, premier Belgium (1966-68, 1978-79)
1920 - Hugh Armstrong Clegg, industrial relations academic
1920 - Thomas Gold, astronomer (proposed steady-state theory of universe)
1920 - Thomas Gold, Austrian astrophysicist (d. 2004)
1922 - Judith Crist, NY, movie critic (TV Guide)
1922 - Quinn Martin, American television producer (d. 1987)
1924 - Charles Aznavour, Armenia, French singer (Monsieur Carnavel, Tin Drum)
1924 - Claude Andre Francois Ballif, composer
1924 - Helen Wedemeyer, Hilo Hawaii, actress (Hawaii Five-O)
1925 - Jean Tinguely, Swiss sculptor artist (movement objects)
1925 - James King, American tenor (d. 2005)
1927 - Eric Petrie, cricketer (NZ wicketkeeper of the late 1950's)
1927 - Michael Constantine, Penn, actor (Room 222, Don't Drink the Water)
1927 - Phil Tucker, American director
1928 - Roscoe Robinson, US gospel singer
1928 - T Boone Pickens, CEO (Shamrock, Mesa Petroleum Co)
1929 - Asher Ben-Yohanan, composer
1930 - Dieuwke Y W de Graaff-Nauta, Dutch undersecretary of the Interior
1931 - Kenny Ball, rocker
1933 - John Browning, Denver Colorado, pianist (Leventritt Award-1956)
1934 - Peter Nero, NYC, conductor/pianist (A Sunday in NY)
1934 - Arne Harris, American television sports director (d. 2001)
1935 - Ron Piché, Quebec baseball player
1936 - M. Scott Peck, American psychiatrist and writer (d. 2005)
1938 - Frank Converse, actor (It's About Time, Dr Cook's Garden, Movin' On)
1938 - Richard Benjamin, NYC, director/actor (Goodbye Columbus, He & She)
1938 - Susan Strasberg, NYC, actress (In Praise of Older Women, Manitou)
1940 - Bernard Shaw, news correspondant (CBS, CNN)
1940 - Erapalli Prasanna, cricketer (one of India's big four spinners)
1940 - Michael Sarrazin, actor (Seduction, They Shoot Horses Don't They)
1941 - Paul Winfield, LA, actor (Star Trek II, Huckleberry Finn, Mars Attack)
1941 - Sebastian Forbes, composer
1941 - Sir Menzies Campbell, British politician
1941 - Martha Langbein, German athlete

Famous Deaths

Results 1 - 81 of 81

337 - Constantine the Great, emperor of Rome (306-37)/anti semite, dies
748 - Empress Genshō of Japan (b. 680)
987 - Louis V le Faineant, the Lazy, king of France (986-87), poisoned at 20
1068 - Emperor Go-Reizei of Japan (b. 1025)
1455 - Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, English politician (killed in battle)
1455 - Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, English commander (killed in battle) (b. 1406)
1457 - Saint Rita of Cascia, Italian saint (b. 1381)
1501 - Robert Gaguin, French writer/diplomat (Arte Metrificandi), dies at 66
1538 - John Forrest, English Franciscan friar (martyred) (b. 1471)
1540 - Francesco Guicciardini, Italian historian/pres of Romagna, dies at 57
1666 - Gaspar Schott, German scientist (b. 1608)
1667 - Alexander VII, [Fabio Chigi], Italian Pope (1655-67), dies at 68
1688 - Johann A Quenstedt, German Lutherian theologist, dies at 70
1745 - François-Marie, 1st duc de Broglie, French military leader (b. 1671)
1746 - Thomas Southerne, Irish dramatist (b. 1660)
1760 - Israel ben Eliezer, Polish-born mystical rabbi (b. 1700)
1772 - Durastante Natalucci, Italian historian (b. 1687)
1781 - Garret Wesley Mornington, composer, dies at 45
1801 - Heinrich Gottfried Reichard, composer, dies at 58
1819 - John H van Kinsbergen, lt-admiral/founder (Corps Marines), dies at 84
1825 - Domenico Corri, composer, dies at 80
1851 - Mordecai Manuel Noah, American writer, journalist (b. 1755)
1859 - Ferdinand II, [Re Bomba], Dutch King of Sicily, dies at 49
1868 - Julius Plucker, German mathematician/physicist (formula of P), dies
1878 - Franz von Holstein, composer, dies at 52
1880 - Heinrich WA Freiherr von Gagern, German liberal politician, dies at 80
1885 - Victor(-Marie) Hugo, French writer (Les Miserables), dies at 83
1898 - Edward Bellamy, writer, dies at 48
1910 - Jules Renard, French writer (Le plaisir the rompre), dies at 46
1921 - Marie E Wilton, writer, dies
1925 - John [Denton Pinkstone] French, Brit field marshall (WWI), dies at 72
1928 - William HT Gairdner, Engl missionary (Nile Mission Press), dies at 54
1932 - Lady Augusta, [Isabella Gregory], playwright (Gold Apple), dies at 80
1939 - Ernst Toller, writer, dies at 45
1939 - Jiri Mahen, Czech author (b. 1882)
1945 - Carel A Lion Cachet, lithographer/wood carver, dies
1948 - Claude McKaye, Jamaican/US author (Banjo, Home to Harlem), dies at 57
1949 - Hans Erich Pfitzner, Russian/German composer, dies at 80
1949 - Klaus H T Mann, German/US writer (Turning Point), dies
1953 - Vaclav Klicka, composer, dies at 70
1957 - Langston Hughes, poet laureate, dies
1961 - Joan Davis, actress (I Married Joan), dies of heart attack at 53
1965 - Bobby Watson, comedian (Hitler Gang, Boys Town), dies at 77
1965 - Heinrich Barth, Swiss philosopher (Das Sein in der Zeit), dies
1965 - Christopher Stone, first disc jockey in the United Kingdom (b. 1882)
1966 - Tom Goddard, cricketer (22 wkts in 8 Tests for England 1930-39), dies
1967 - J Langston Hughes, US author (Tambourines to Glory), dies at 65
1970 - Joseph W Krutch, US writer (Measure of Man), dies at 76
1972 - Margaret Rutherford, English actress (Murder Ahoy, VIP's), dies at 80
1975 - Torben Meyer, actor (Viking, Roberta, Sunny), dies at 90
1975 - Lefty Grove, American Baseball Player (b. 1900)
1977 - Gijsbert van Hall, banker/mayor of Amsterdam (1957-67), dies at 73
1977 - Marius Monnikendam, Dutch choir composer, dies at 80
1978 - Bjarne Brustad, composer, dies at 83
1984 - John Marley, actor (Cat Ballou), dies at 77 following heart surgery
1986 - Martin Gabel, actor (Thief, Marnie), dies at 63
1987 - Mario Zafred, composer, dies at 65
1988 - Dennis Day, tenor/comedian (Jack Benny Show, Danny Boy), dies at 71
1988 - Giorgio Almirante, Italy, fascist (member of parliament), dies at 73
1989 - Steven DeGroote, South African classical pianist (b. 1953)
1990 - Max Wall, actor (Jabberwocky), dies
1990 - Rocky Graziano, boxer, dies at 71, of heart failure
1991 - Lino Brocka, director (Macho Dancer, Jaguar), dies in car crash at 51
1992 - Zellig Harris, American linguist (b. 1909)
1993 - Mieczyslaw Horszowski, Polish/US pianist (Carnegie Hall), dies at 100
1994 - Frederick Hemming McClintock, criminologist, dies at 68
1994 - Mitacq, [Michel Tacq], Belg comic strip artist (Beaver Patrol), dies
1995 - Robert Flemyng, actor (Kafka, Rebecca, Funny Face), dies at 83
1996 - Duncan Montgomery Stewart, academic, dies at 66
1996 - Rex Collings, writer/publisher, dies at 70
1997 - Alfred Hershey, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1908)
1998 - José Enrique Moyal, mathematical physicist (b. 1910)
2003 - Ousmane Zongo, Burkinabé shooting victim
2004 - Mikhail Voronin, Russian gymnast (b. 1945)
2004 - Richard Biggs, American actor (b. 1960)
2005 - Charilaos Florakis, Greek politician, long-time General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (b. 1914)
2005 - Thurl Ravenscroft, American voice actor and singer (b. 1914)
2005 - Julia Randall, American poet (b. 1924)
2006 - Lee Jong-wook, Korean Director-General of the World Health Organisation (b. 1945)
2006 - Heather Crowe, Canadian activist (b. 1945)
2008 - Robert Asprin, American author (b. 1946)