Today in the Past
Events
642 - Arabs conquer Alexandria, library destroyed
1562 - Council of Trente takes ecclesiastical canon
1630 - The city of Boston, Massachusetts is founded.
1683 - Antonie van Leeuwenhoek reports existence of bacteria
1697 - Battle at Zenta: Prince Eugen of Savoye beats Turks
1776 - Presidio of SF forms as a Spanish fort
1778 - 1st treaty between the US & Indian tribes signed (Fort Pitt)
1787 - US constitution adopted by Philadelphia convention
1850 - Great fire in San Francisco
1861 - 1st day school for freedmen forms at Fortress Monroe Virginia
1862 - Battle of Antietam, bloodiest day in Civil War (Sharpsburg Md), 23, 100 die
1862 - American Civil War: The Allegheny Arsenal explosion results in the single largest civilian disaster during the war.
1872 - Phillip W Pratt patents his sprinkler system for extinguishing fires
1873 - 19 students attend opening class at Ohio State University
1900 - Commonwealth of Australia proclaimed
1908 - Thomas Selfridge becomes 1st fatality of powered flight
1911 - 1st transcontinental airplane flight, NY-Pasadena in 82 hrs 4 min
1922 - Radio Moscow begins transmitting (12 KWs-most powerful station)
1926 - Hurricane hits Miami & Palm Beach Florida; about 450 die
1928 - Hurricane hits Lake Okeechobee Florida drowning 1,800-2500
1934 - RCA Victor re leases 1st 33 1/3 rpm recording (Beethoven’s 5th)
1934 - USSR joins League of Nations (Netherland, Switz & Portugal vote no)
1939 - German U-29 sinks British aircraft carrier Courageous, 519 die
1944 - Operation Market Garden: British airborne division lands Arnhem Netherlands
1947 - Jackie Robinson is named Rookie of Year by Sporting News
1953 - 1st successful separation of Siamese twins
1953 - Ernie Banks becomes Chicago Cubs 1st black player
1954 - Rocky Marciano KOs Ezzard Charles in 8 for heavyweight boxing title
1959 - Typhoon kills 2,000 in Japan & Korea
1960 - Cuba nationalizes US banks
1961 - Minnesota Vikings’ 1st NFL game (beat Chicago Bears 37-13)
1963 - ”Fugitive” premieres on ABC TV
1967 - ”Mission Impossible” premieres on CBS-TV
1967 - Mount Washington cog railway train derails, kills 8 (NH)
1970 - Jordanian King Hussein moves against PLO guerrillas
1972 - ”M*A*S*H,” premieres on NBC TV
1974 - Courageous (US) beats Southern Cross (Aust) in 23rd America’s Cup
1978 - Begin, Sadat & Carter sign Camp David accord
1980 - Solidarity labor union in Poland forms
1983 - Vanessa Williams (NY), 20, crowned 56th Miss America 1984, 1st black
1986 - Bomb attack in Paris, 6 killed
1986 - US Senate confirms William Rehnquist as 16th chief justice
1989 - Hurricane Hugo begins 4 day sweep through Caribbean, killing 62
1991 - 4,355 turn out to see Expos play NY Mets at Shea Stadium
1991 - The first version of the Linux kernel (0.01) is released to the Internet.
1993 - Last Russian troops leave Poland.
2008 - The IAU named another dwarf planet, Haumea
2011 - Occupy Wall Street movement began in Zucotti Park, New York City.
Births
879 - Charles III, [The Simple], king of France (893-923)
1192 - Minamoto no Sanetomo, Japanese shogun (d. 1219)
1271 - Wenceslas II, king of Bohemia & Poland (1278-1305)
1639 - Hans Herr, Mennonite bishop (d. 1725)
1677 - Stephen Hales, English physiologist, chemist, and inventor (d. 1761)
1730 - Friedrich WLGA von Steuben, Prus/US inspector-gen of Washington’s army
1739 - John Rutledge, 2nd (appointed) Chief Justice of the United States (d. 1800)
1783 - Samuel Prout, water-color painter
1819 - Jean-Bernard-Leon Foucault, physicist (pendulum proved Earth rotates)
1820 - Earle Van Dorn, Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1863
1883 - William Carlos Williams, poet
1899 - Winnie Lightner, Greenport NY, comedienne (Sit Tight, Side Show)
1900 - John Willard Marriott, American hotelier (d. 1985)
1904 - Jerry Colonna, Boston MA, actor (Road to Morocco, Road to Singapore)
1907 - Warren E Burger, Minn, Supreme Court chief justice (1969-86)
1916 - Mary [Florence Elinor] Stewart, UK, sci-fi author (Crystal Cave)
1922 - Naomi Datta, geneticist
1923 - Hank Williams, country singer (Cold, Cold Heart, Hey Good Lookin‘)
1927 - George Blanda, Penn, NFL kicker/quarterback (Bears, Oilers, Raiders)
1929 - Stirling Moss, London England, race car driver
1931 - Anne Bancroft, Bronx, actr (Graduate, Miracle Worker), (d. 2005)
1934 - Little Milton [Campbell], rocker , see death of
1939 - David H Souter, Weir NH, 107th Supreme Court Justice (1990- )
1944 - Reinhold Messner, Italian mountain climber (Mount Everest)
1947 - Jeff MacNelly, Puliter Prize-winning cartoonist (Shoe)
1955 - Rita Rudner, comedienne (Funny People)
1975 - Jimmie Johnson, American race car driver
Deaths
1312 - Ferdinand V, king of Castile/Leon, dies at 26
1322 - Robert III of Flanders (b. 1249)
1574 - Pedro Menendez de Aviles, soldier/navigator, dies
1858 - Dred Scott, US slave (REV-decision Supreme court), dies
1873 - Alexander Berry, Scottish adventurer (b. 1781)
1884 - Louis Schubert, composer, dies at 56
1948 - Ruth Benedict, anthropologist, dies
1951 - Jimmy Yancey, American pianist (b. 1898)
1956 - Mildred E “Babe” Didrikson Zaharias, (Olympic-gold-1932), dies at 42
1972 - Akim Tamiroff, actor (Hotel Paradisio, Lord Jim), dies at 72
1980 - Anastasio Somoza, former Nicaraguan Pres, assassinated in Paraguay
1980 - Katherine A Porter, US author (Ship of Fools, Pulit-66), dies at 90
1985 - Laura Ashley, Welsh fashion designer, dies by accident
1994 - Karl R Popper, philosopher (Poverty of Historianism), dies at 92
1997 - Red Skelton, comedian (Red Skelton Show), dies at 84
