Today In The Past
Events
1086 - Abbott Dauferio/Desiderius becomes Pope Victor III
1153 - Malcolm IV becomes King of Scots
1218 - The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt.
1276 - Magnus Ladulås is crowned King of Sweden in Uppsala Cathedral.
1300 - King Philip IV occupies Flanders, Earl Gwijde captured
1370 - Hanzesteden signs peace treaty with Danish king Waldemar IV
1487 - Imposter Lambert Simnel ceremony crowned as King Edward VI of Dublin
1595 - Nomenclator of Leiden University Library appears, the first printed catalog of an institutional library.
1621 - The Protestant Union is formally dissolved.
1658 - Battle of Dunes (Spanish-French War) fought
1689 - English Parliament guarantees freedom of religion for Protestants
1738 - John Wesley is converted, essentially launching the Methodist movement; the day is celebrated annually by Methodists as Aldersgate Day.
1798 - Irish Rebellion of 1798 led by the United Irishmen against British rule begins.
1809 - Dartmoor Prison opens to house French prisoners of war
1818 - Gen Andrew Jackson captures Pensacola Florida
1822 - Battle of Pichincha, Bolívar secures independence of Quito from Spain
1830 - ”Mary Had A Little Lamb,” is published
1830 - 1st passenger rail service in US (Baltimore & Elliots Mill, Maryland)
1844 - Samuel Morse taps out “What hath God wrought” (1st telegraph message)
1854 - Lincoln University, Penn, 1st Black college in US founded by John Miller Dickey and Sarah Emlen Cresson
1856 - Pottawatomie Massacre took place in Kansas
1861 - Alexandria, VA occupied by Federal troops
1861 - Maj Gen Benjamin Butler declares slaves “contraband of war”
1862 - Beardslee field telegraph used for 1st time
1862 - Westminster Bridge across Thames opens
1877 - 5th Preakness: C Holloway aboard Cloverbrook wins in 2:45.5
1878 - CA Parker (Harvard) wins 1st American bike race, Beacon Park Boston
1879 - 7th Preakness: L Hughes aboard Harold wins in 2:40.5
1881 - Canadian ferry Princess Victoria sinks near London Ontario, 200 die
1883 - Brooklyn Bridge opened by Pres Arthur & Gov Cleveland
1884 - Anti-Monopoly party & Greenback Party forms People’s Party in US
1890 - Geo Train & Sam Wall circle world in record 67 days, Tacoma-Tacoma
1899 - 1st auto repair shop opens (Boston)
1900 - 34th Belmont: Nash Turner aboard Ildrim wins in 2:21¼
1901 - Seventy-eight miners die in the Caerphilly pit disaster in South Wales.
1902 - Cleve’s Bill Bradley is 1st ALer to hit a HR run in 4 consecutive games, not duplicated until Babe Ruth does it June 25, 1918
1905 - 39th Belmont: Eugene Hildebrand aboard Tanya wins in 2:08
1915 - Thomas Edison invents telescribe to record telephone conversations
1916 - Conscription begins in Britain
1916 - French driven out of Fort Douaumont after 500 killed or injured
1916 - US pilot William Thaw shoots down a German Fokker
1926 - Paavo Nurmi runs world record 3000 m (8:25.4)
1928 - Record 12 future Hall of Famers take the field, as Yanks beat A’s 9-7
1930 - 1st woman to fly from England to Australia solo, lands (Amy Johnson)
1930 - Ruth homers in both games of a doubleheader, giving him 9 in one week
1931 - 1st air-conditioned train installed-B&O Railroad
1935 - 1st major league night baseball game, in Cincinnati (Reds 2, Phil 1)
1936 - Tony Lazerri 2 grand slams (11 RBIs); Ben Chapman sets record reaching 1st 7 times safely, Yanks beat A’s 25-2
1941 - Bismarck sinks British battle cruiser HMS Hood, 1,416 die 3 survive
1943 - Admiral Donitz stops U-boat in Atlantic Ocean
1943 - U-441 shoots Sunderland seaplane down over Gulf of Biskaje
1951 - Racial segregation in Wash DC restaurants ruled illegal
1954 - 1st rocket attains 150 mi (241 km) altitude, White Sands, NM
1954 - Dr Peter Murray Marshall becomes 1st black to head an AMA unit
1954 - German airline Lufthansa forms
1954 - IBM announces vacuum tube “electronic” brain that could perform 10 million operations an hour
1956 - Conclusion of the Sixth Buddhist Council on Vesak Day, marking the 2,500 year anniversary after the Lord Buddha’s Parinibbāna.
1958 - Pres Batista opens offensive against Fidel Castro’s rebellion
1958 - UP & International News Service merge into United Press International
1959 - 1st house with built-in bomb shelter exhibited (Pleasant Hills Pa)
1960 - 1 millionth Dutch telephone installed
1961 - 27 Freedom Riders arrested in Jackson, Mississippi
1962 - M Scott Carpenter aboard Aurora 7 launched into Earth orbit
1963 - 1st Lockheed A-12 to crash, CIA pilot Ken Collins ejects safely
1964 - Longest HR (471′) in Balt Memorial Stadium (Harmon Killebrew, Minn)
1964 - Panic in Lima Peru soccer stadium, kills 300
1966 - ”Mame” opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 1508 performances
1967 - AFL grants a franchise to Cincinnati Bengals
1968 - FLQ separatists bomb the U.S. consulate in Quebec City.
1969 - Beatles’ “Get Back,” single goes #1 & stays #1 for 5 weeks
1970 - Peter Green quits Fleetwood Mac to join a religious cult
1970 - The drilling of the Kola Superdeep Borehole begins in the Soviet Union.
1971 - A commuter bus plunges into Panama Canal, killing 38 of 43 aboard
1974 - Dean Martin Show, last airs on NBC-TV
1976 - 1st commercial SST flight to North America (Concorde to Wash DC)
1976 - In the Judgment of Paris, wine testers rate wines from California higher than their French counterparts, challenging the notion of France being the foremost producer of the world’s best wines.
1980 - ”Rock Lobster” by B-52′s hits #56
1980 - Iran rejects a call to World Court to release US hostages
1981 - Bobby Unser wins, loses, & wins a controversial Indy 500
1981 - Hostage situation ends at Central Bank in Barcelona Spain
1982 - Liberation of Khorramshahr, Iranians recapture of the port city of Khorramshahr from the Iraqis during the Iran-Iraq War.
1985 - ”View to a Kill” premieres in US
1985 - -25) cyclone hits Bangladesh; about 10,000 die
1986 - Margaret Thatcher becomes 1st British PM to visit Israel
1987 - Al Unser Sr, 47, wins his 4th Indy 500
1988 - John Moschitta set record for fast talking: 586 words per minute
1989 - ”Indiana Jones & Last Crusade” premieres
1989 - French war criminal Paul Touvier arrested in monastery in Nice
1989 - Sonia Sutcliffe, wife of the Yorkshire Ripper, is awarded £600,000 in damages (later reduced to £60,000 on appeal) after winning a libel action against Private Eye.
1990 - Andre Dawson receives a record 5 intentional walks in a game
1990 - A car carrying American Earth First! activists Judi Bari and Darryl Cherney explodes in Oakland, California, critically injuring both.
1992 - Al Unser Jr wins Indy 500
1993 - Eritrea achieved independence from Ethiopia after 30-year civil war
1993 - Kim Basinger files for bankruptcy to avoid paying $7.4M settlement
1993 - Kurd rebellion kills 33 soldiers & 5 citizens in Turkey
1994 - Poison singer Bret Michaels gets into a car crash
1996 - ”Spy Hard,” starring Leslie Nielsen is released
2001 - Mountain climbing: 15-year-old Sherpa Temba Tsheri becomes the youngest person to climb to the top of Mount Everest.
2001 - The Versailles wedding hall disaster in Jerusalem, Israel, kills 23 and injures over 200 in Israel’s worst-ever civil disaster.
2001 - The Democrats gain control of the U.S. Senate for the first time since 1994 when Senator James Jeffords of Vermont abandons the Republican Party and declares himself an independent.
2004 - Communications in North Korea: North Korea bans mobile phones.
Births
15 BC - Julius Caesar Germanicus, Roman commander (d. 19)
1522 - John Jewel, English bishop (d. 1571)
1544 - William Gilbert, Essex England, physicist (researcher into magnetism)
1605 - Nikon, [Nikita Minin], patriarch of Russian-orthodox church
1650 - John Churchill, 1st duke of Marlborough, English general strategist
1671 - Gian Gastone de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1737)
1738 - George III, King of Great Britain (1760-1820)
1743 - Jean-Paul Marat, France , physician , revolutionary
1753 - Oliver Cromwell, Burlington NJ, decorated black soldier who served with Washington in US War of Independence
1794 - William Whewell, British philosopher (History of Inductive Science)
1811 - Charles Clark, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1877
1816 - Emanuel Leutze, US, painter (Washington Crossing the Delaware)
1816 - Robert Seaman Granger, (Union Army Bvt Major general, died in 1894)
1819 - Victoria Alexandrine, Queen of Great Britain (1837-1901)
1854 - Louis Mountbatten, admiral (WW I)
1854 - John Riley Banister, American law officer and cowboy (d. 1918)
1868 - Charles E. Taylor, First aircraft maintenance professional (d. 1956)
1870 - Benjamin Cardozo, American jurist (d. 1938)
1870 - Jan Christiaan Smuts, Prime Minister of South Africa and proponent of Commonwealth & League of Nations (d. 1950)
1878 - Lillian Moller Gilbreth, engineer (CIOS Gold Medal-1954)
1879 - H. B. Reese, American inventor of Reese’s and founder (d. 1956)
1882 - Creighton Hale, Cork Ireland, actor (Gorilla Man, Way Down East)
1887 - Edward “Mick” Mannock, Irish WWI flying ace (d. 1918)
1891 - Benedictus H Danser, Dutch botanist
1891 - William F Albright, US old testament scholar/archaeologist
1893 - W H Walter Baade, German/US astronomer (Andromeda)
1895 - Samuel I Newhouse, US millionaire publisher (Parade, Vogue, Glamour)
1903 - Aram Katchaturian, Armenian composer, (Earth)
1904 - Kenneth Buckley, British rear-admiral
1904 - Patrick Johnson, physicist
1905 - Mikhail Sholokhov, USSR, writer (And Quiet Flows the Don, Nobel 1965)
1909 - Wilbur Mills, (Rep-D-Ark)/involved with Fanne Foxe
1911 - Barbara West, English survivor of the Titanic sinking (d. 2007)
1913 - Audrey Brown, England, 4 X 100m runner (Olympic-silver-1936)
1914 - Lilli Palmer, [Peiser], Germany, actress (Gentle Sex, Lotte in Weimar)
1918 - Coleman A Young, civil rights leader (Mayor-D-Detroit)
1919 - Sid Couchey, Cleveland, Ohio, comic book artist (Richie Rich), (d. 2012)
1925 - Mai Zetterling, Vaeras Sweden, actress (Witches, Offbeat, Jet Storm)
1927 - John Kelly Jr, US, sculls (Oly-bronze-1956)/brother of Grace Kelly
1927 - Timothy Beven, CEO (Barclays Bank)
1928 - William Trevor, Brit writer (Children of Dynmouth, Fools of Fortune)
1938 - Glen Hall, cricket leg-spinner (South African in one Test v England 1964)
1938 - Tommy Chong, Edmonton, Alberta, comedian/actor (Cheech & Chong)
1940 - Gary Burghoff, Bristol CT, actor (Radar-M*A*S*H)
1941 - Bob Dylan, [Zimmerman], Minn, singer/songwriter (Blowin’ in Wind)
1942 - Derek Quinn, guitarist (Freddie & Dreamers-I’m Telling You Now)
1942 - Sarah Dash, Trenton NJ, rocker (LaBelle-Lady Marmalade)
1944 - Patti LaBelle, [Holt], Phila Pa, singer (LaBelle-Lady Marmalade)
1945 - Priscilla Presley, Bkln NY, actress (Jenna-Dallas, Naked Gun)
1946 - Irina Kirszenstein Szewinska, Lenningrad, long jumper (Oly-bron-1972)
1946 - Steve Upton, rock drummer (Wishbone Ash-There’s the Rub, Locked In)
1949 - John Illsley, rocker (Dire Straits)
1949 - Jim Broadbent, English actor
1951 - Rob Baker, rock drummer (Red Rider)
1955 - Rosanne Cash, Memphis Tn, country singer (Seven Year Ache, I Wonder)
1962 - Dorothy Trapp, equestrian 3-day (Olympics-96)
1963 - Ivan Capelli, Italian racing driver
1963 - Michael Chabon, American author
1965 - Shinichiro Watanabe, Japanese anime director
1966 - Ricky Craven, American NASCAR driver
1967 - Heavy D, rapper
1967 - Margaret Crowley, Australian 800m/1500m runner (Olympics-96)
1970 - Thomas Alden Page, Glenridge NJ, rocker (New Kids-Hangin’ Tough)
1973 - Ruslana, Ukrainian singer
1974 - Will Sasso, Canadian actor and comedian
1977 - Kym Valentine. Australian actress
1981 - Marketa Janska, Czech model and Playboy Playmate
1983 - Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw, Anglo-Australian videogame creator and critic
1985 - Tim Bridgman, British racing driver
1990 - Joey Logano, American racecar driver
1996 - Matthew Eappen, Boston Mass, baby killed by nanny Louise Woodward
Deaths
1144 - Petronella, wife of earl Floris II the Vette of Holland/regent, dies
1153 - David I, King of Scots (1124-53), dies at about 68
1351 - Abu al-Hasan ‘Ali, Sultan of Morocco (b. circa 1297)
1408 - Taejo of Joseon, ruler of Korea (b. 1335)
1425 - Murdoch Stewart, 2nd Duke of Albany, Scottish politician (b. 1362)
1456 - Ambroise de Loré, French military commander (b. 1396)
1543 - Nicolas Copernicus, astronomer, dies in Poland
1612 - Robert Cecil, 1st Earl of Salisbury/PM (1598-1612), dies at 48
1734 - Georg Ernst Stahl, German physician and chemist (b. 1660)
1806 - John Campbell, 5th Duke of Argyll, British field marshal (b. 1723)
1843 - Sylvestre François Lacroix, French mathematician (b. 1765)
1861 - Elmer Ellsworth, US warrior (Chicago Zouaves), shot to death at 23
1861 - James T Jackson, US landlord (doodde EE Ellsworth), shot dead)
1876 - Georgi Benkovski, Bulgarian revolutionary (b. 1843)
1879 - William Lloyd Garrison, abolitionist (Liberator), dies at 73
1908 - Old Tom Morris, Scottish golfer (b. 1821)
1941 - Lancelot Holland, British vice-admiral ((WW II/Hood), dies in battle
1949 - Aleksey Shchusev, Russian architect (b. 1873)
1950 - Archibald Wavell, British general (b. 1883)
1959 - John Foster Dulles, US Secretary of State (1953-59), dies at 71
1963 - Elmore James, blues guitarist, dies at 45 of a heart attack
1974 - Duke Ellington, Jazz musician ,band leader, dies of cancer at 75
1984 - Vincent J. McMahon, American professional wrestling promoter (b. 1914)
1986 - Stephen D Thorne, Lt Cmdr USN/astronaut, dies in a plane crash at 33
1986 - Yakima Canutt, actor/director (Diary of a Young Comic), dies at 91
1987 - Hermione Ferdinanda Gingold, actress (Gigi, Music Man), dies at 89
1991 - Gene Clark, folk-rocker (Byrds-Tambourine Man), dies at 49
1993 - Milton O Thompson, astronaut (Dynasoar, X-15), dies at 66
1994 - Yehuda Mor-Mirkovsky, Israeli kibbutz-founder, dies at 96
1995 - Mike Pyne, jazz Pianist, dies at 54
1996 - Alexander Langsdorf, physicist, dies at 83
1996 - Jack McCarthy, kiddie show host (Popeye), dies of cancer at 81
1997 - Edward Mulhare, actor (Ghost & Mrs Muir), dies of lung cancer at 74
2004 - Henry Ries, American photographer (b. 1917)
2008 - Dick Martin , American comedian (b. 1922)
2009 - Jay Bennett, American guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, engineer, producer, and singer-songwriter (b. 1963)
2010 - Paul Gray, American bassist (Slipknot) (b. 1972)
2011 - Huguette Clark, Heiress of the Clark Copper fortune, life-long reclusion from society. (b. 1906)
—
