Today In The Past
Events
49 BC - Julius Caesar crosses the Rubicon, signaling the start of civil war.
69 - Roman emperor Galba adopts Marcus Piso Licinianus as Caesar
236 - St Fabian begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1072 - Robert Guiscard conquers Palermo
1356 - German emperor Charles I delegates Golden Degree
1429 - Order of Golden Fleece established in Austria-Hungary & Spain
1475 - Stephen III of Moldavia defeats the Ottoman Empire at the Battle of Vaslui.
1514 - Complutensian New Testament in Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek & Latin finished
1642 - King Charles I & family flee London for Oxford
1776 - ”Common Sense” by Thomas Paine, published
1811 - Louisiana slaves rebell in 2 parishes
1845 - Poets Elizabeth Barrett & Robert Browning begin corresponding
1861 - Ft Jackson & Ft Philip are taken over by LA state troops
1861 - US forts & property seized by Mississippi
1861 - American Civil War: Florida becomes 3rd state to secedes from the Union.
1862 - Battle of Big Sandy River, KY (Middle Creek)
1862 - Battle of Romney, WV
1863 - 1st underground railway opens in London
1863 - General McClernand’s Union troops surround Fort Hindman Ark
1870 - John D Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil
1878 - US Senate proposes female suffrage
1883 - Fire at uninsured Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin kills 71. General Tom Thumb of P T Barnum fame, escapes unhurt
1900 - Lord Roberts & Lord Kitchener reach Capetown
1901 - Oil discovered in Texas
1910 - 1st international air meet in US held, in LA
1910 - Lunt-Fontanne Theater (Globe) opens at 205 W 46th St NYC
1911 - 1st photo in US taken from an airplane, San Diego
1912 - World’s 1st flying boat’s maiden flight, (Glenn Curtiss in NY)
1914 - Oscar Mathisen skates world record 500 m in 43.7 sec in Oslo
1920 - League of Nations established
1920 - Silver reaches record $1.37 an ounce
1923 - Last US troops leave Rhineland (Germany)
1927 - Fritz Lang’s Metropolis premieres
1928 - Soviet Union orders exile of Leon Trotsky
1932 - ”Mickey Mouse” & “Silly Symphony” comics syndicated
1941 - Joseph Kesselring’s “Arsenic & Old Lace,” premieres in NYC
1941 - Seyss-Inquart begins registration of Jews
1941 - World War II: The Greek army captures Kleisoura.
1942 - Japan invades North-Celebes, Neth Indies
1943 - Russian offensive against German 6th/4th Armies near Stalingrad
1943 - 1st US pres to visit a foreign country in wartime-FDR leaves for Casablanca, Morocco
1944 - 1st mobile electric power plant delivered, Phila
1944 - British troops conquer Maungdaw, Burma
1946 - 1st radar contact with Moon
1946 - UN General Assembly meets for 1st time (London)
1946 - US Army establishes 1st radar contact with Moon, Belmar, NJ
1947 - British stop ships Independence & In-Gathering from landing in Israel
1949 - 1st Jewish family show “Goldbergs” premieres on CBS
1949 - RCA introduces 45 RPM record
1951 - 1st jet passenger trip made
1951 - UN headquarters opens in Manhattan NY
1953 - Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to Archibald MacLeish
1954 - Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to W H Auden
1956 - Elvis records “Heartbreak Hotel”
1957 - Anthony Eden resigns & Harold Macmillan becomes PM Britain
1958 - Jerry Lee Lewis’ “Great Balls of Fire” reaches #1 on the UK pop charts
1962 - 4,000 die in avalanche, Ranrahirca, Peru
1962 - Eruptions on Mount Huascaran in Peru destroy 7 villages & kill 3,500
1964 - Battles between moslems & hindus in Calcutta
1964 - Panama severs diplomatic relations with US
1966 - Julian Bond denied seat in Ga legislature for opposing Vietnam War
1967 - Edward Brooke, takes (Sen-R-Mass) seat as 1st popular elected black
1967 - Lester Maddox inaugurated as governor of Georgia
1967 - PBS (the National Educational TV) begins as a 70 station network
1968 - US Surveyor 7 lands near lunar crater Tycho
1969 - Sweden (1st Western country) recognizes North Vietnam
1969 - USSR’s Venera 6 launched for parachute landing on Venus
1972 - Triple album set “Concert for Bangladesh” released in UK
1973 - Gas tank on Staten Island explodes, 40 die
1978 - Soyuz 27 carring 2 cosmonauts to Salyut 6 space station, launched
1979 - 1st brother Billy Carter makes allegedly anti-Semitic remarks
1981 - El Salvador guerrilla group FMLN opens “general offensive”
1982 - Petra Schneider swims world record 1500 m freestyle (15:43.31)
1984 - Clara Peller 1st asks, “Where’s the Beef?”
1984 - US establishes full diplomatic relations with Vatican after 117 years
1985 - Daniel Ortega Saavedra inaugurated as president of Nicaragua
1986 - Palau signs Compact of Free Association with US
1990 - China lifts martial law (imposed after Tiananmen Square massacre)
1990 - NCAA approves random drug testing for college football players
1991 - Japan ends routine fingerprinting of all adult ethnic Koreans
1991 - US Congress begins debate on Persian Gulf crisis
1994 - Trial of Lorena Bobbitt who cut off her husband’s penis, begins
1994 - Ukraine says it will give up world’s 3rd largest nuclear arsenal
1996 - Israel frees hundreds of Palestinian prisoners
1997 - 1st Comet of 1997 Discovered: Comet 1997 A1
1997 - 4,000th episode of “Entertainment Tonight”
1997 - Dow Corning provides $295 billion to settle breast implant suits
1999 - Fatboy Slim (Norman Cook) achieves his third UK No.1 single with ‘Praise You’
2001 - A large piece of the chalk cliff at Beachy Head collapses into the sea.
2005 - A mudslide occurs in La Conchita, California, killing 10 people, injuring many more and closing the Highway 101, the main coastal corridor between San Francisco and Los Angeles, for 10 days.
Births
1480 - Margaret of Austria, Regent of the Netherlands (d. 1530)
1502 - Hendrik Niclaes, German/Dutch merchant/cult leader (Children of God)
1538 - Louis of Nassau, Dutch general (d. 1574)
1573 - Simon Marius, German astronomer (d. 1624)
1607 - Isaac Jogues, French Jesuit missionary (d. 1646)
1628 - Jan Theunisz Blanckerhoff, [Jan Maet], seascape painter)
1638 - Nicolas Steno, Danish Scientist and Bishop (d. 1686)
1644 - Louis Boufflers, marshall of France
1738 - Ethan Allen, Revolutionary War fighter (lead the Green Mtn Boys)
1769 - Michel Ney, French marshal (Waterloo)
1780 - M Heinrich C Lichtenstein, German zoologist
1797 - Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, German writer (d. 1848)
1812 - Georg Hermann Nicolai, German architect (d. 1881)
1815 - Alexander Brydie Dyer, Bvt Major General (Union Army), died in 1874
1815 - Thomas Williams, Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1862
1825 - Alexander Travis Hawthorn, Brig Gen (Confederate Army), died in 1899
1836 - Charles Ingalls, father of Laura Ingalls Wilder (d. 1902)
1843 - Frank James, American outlaw (d. 1915)
1850 - John Wellborn Root, American architect (d. 1891)
1855 - Peter J Blok, Dutch historian (History of the Dutch People)
1864 - George Washington Carver, agricultural scientist [or Jul 12]
1864 - Grand Duke Peter Nikolaevich of Russia, son of Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich (d. 1931)
1865 - Mary Ingalls, sister of Laura Ingalls Wilder (d. 1928)
1877 - Frederick Gardner Cottrell, inventor (elecrostatic precipitator)
1883 - Francis X Bushman, Norfolk VA, silent film actor (Ben Hur)
1888 - Grock, Switzerland, clown
1890 - Grigory Landsberg, Russian physicist (d. 1957)
1893 - Albert Jacka, Australian soldier, first Australian World War I Victoria Cross winner (d. 1932)
1898 - Sergei M Eisenstein, Russian director (Alexandr Nevski) [OS]
1904 - Ray Bolger, Dorchester Mass, actor/dancer (Wizard of Oz)
1908 - Bernard Lee, London, English actor (M in James Bond movies)
1910 - Dorothy Stroud, garden historian
1916 - Sune Bergström, Swedish biochemist, Nobel laureate (d. 2004)
1917 - Jerry Wexler, music producer (Aretha Franklin/Bob Dylan)
1921 - Rodger Ward, American race car driver (d. 2004)
1925 - Maxwell Roach, composer
1928 - Donald Brooks, fashion designer (Emmy 1983)
1930 - Byron “Wild Child” Gipson, blues singer
1930 - Roy Edward Disney, American film executive and CEO of Disney
1931 - Ron Galella, celebrity photographer (sued by Jackie O)
1935 - Ronnie Hawkins, American musician
1936 - Burnum Burnum, Australian Aboriginal activist, actor, author and dreamer (d. 1997)
1936 - Stephen Ambrose, American historian (d. 2002)
1936 - Robert Woodrow Wilson, American physicist and radio astronomer, Nobel laureate
1936 - Al Goldstein, American publisher and pornographer
1937 - Thomas Penfield Jackson, American judge
1938 - Ivan Twigden, English contractor/multi-millionaire (Twigden PLC)
1938 - Willie “Stretch” McCovey, 1st baseman (SF Giant #44)
1938 - Donald Knuth, American mathematician and computer scientist
1939 - Bill Toomey, Phila Pa, decathelete (Olympic-gold-68)
1939 - Sal Mineo, NYC, actor (Exodus, Rebel Without a Cause)
1939 - David Horowitz, American author and political commentator
1940 - Harry Gant, NASCAR driver
1942 - Aleksandr Yakovlevich Petrushenko, Russia, cosmonaut
1942 - Walter Hill, director (48 Hours, Extreme Prejudice)
1943 - Jim Croce, American singer (d. 1973)
1944 - Frank Sinatra Jr, Jersey City NJ, American singer/bandleader (Golddigers)
1944 - Rory Byrne, South African racing car designer
1945 - Rod Stewart, London, British singer (Maggie Mae, Do You Think I’m Sexy)
1946 - Alexis Nihon Jr, Bahamas, wrestler (Olympics-1968)
1946 - Aynsley Dunbar, rocker (Journey, Jefferson Starship)
1946 - Bob Lang, rock bassist (Wayne Fontana & The Mindbenders)
1947 - George Alec Effinger, US, sci-fi author (Nick of Time)
1947 - Afeni Shakur, mother of Tupac “2Pac” Shakur, member of the Black Panther Party
1948 - Cyril Neville, US singer/percussionist (Neville Bros-Yellow Moon)
1948 - Donald Fagen, Passaic NJ, rock vocalist/keyboardist (Steely Dan-Peg)
1948 - William Sanderson, Memphis Tenn, actor (Larry-Newhart, Blade Runner)
1949 - George Foreman, Houston Tx, world HW boxing champ (1973-74, 95)
1949 - Teresa Graves, Houston Tx, actress (Laugh-in, Get Christie Love)
1949 - Walter S Browne, US chess champion (1974-78, 1980-84)
1949 - James Lapine, American stage director
1953 - Bobby Rahal, Indy-car racer (over 15 wins)
1953 - Pat Benatar, [Andrezejewski], Bkln NY, singer (Hell Is for Children)
1958 - Shawn Colvin, singer/guitarist
1958 - Anatoly Pisarenko, Soviet weightlifter
1959 - Chandra Cheesborough, Jacksonville Fla, 4X100 runner (Olympic-gold-84)
1959 - Don Letts, rocker (Big Audio Dynamite)
1959 - Kirk & Curtwood, musician (Meat Puppets)
1961 - Nadja Salerni-Sonnenberg, Rome Italy, concert violinist
1964 - Karen Josephson, Bristol Ct, synchronized swimmer (Olympic-gold-1992)
1964 - Sarah Josephson, Bristol Ct, synchronized swimmer (Olympic-gold-1992)
1967 - Trini Alvarado, actor (Frighteners)
1967 - Johan Laats, Belgian judoka
1968 - Lyle Menendez, NY, accused of killing his parents (Menendez Brothers)
1969 - Doug E Doug, rapper/comedian (Operation Dumbo Drop, Jungle Fever)
1969 - Juanita Clayton, Manitou Manitoba, softball catcher (Olympics-96)
1970 - Cameron MacKenzie, Australian 100m/200m/400m (Olympics-96)
1971 - Guylaine Cloutier, Levis QUE, 100m breaststroke swimmer (Oly-4-92, 96)
1973 - Glenn Robinson, Gary In, NBA forward (Milw, Olympics-gold-96)
1975 - Shannon Kavanaugh, Boston Mass, rocker (Ivory Soul)
1979 - Chris H E Smith, [Daddy Mack], Atlanta, rapper (Kris Kross-Warm it Up)
1983 - Danilo Dirani, Brazilian racing driver
1983 - Li Nina, Chinese aerial free-style skier
1986 - Saleisha Stowers, American model
Deaths
681 - Agatho, Sicilian pope (678-81), dies
866 - Lin-chi I-hsuan, [J Rinzai Gigen], Zen teacher, dies
976 - John I Tzimisces/Tzimiskes, Byzantine Emperor (969-76), dies at 51
1094 - Caliph Al-Mustansir of Cairo (b. 1029)
1271 - Otto II, the Lame, earl of Gelre, dies
1276 - Pope Gregory X, (Tedaldo Visconti), dies. (bc. 1210)
1542 - Gerardus Noviomagus, [Gerrit Geldenhauer], Dutch theologist, die at 59
1645 - William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, beheaded, for treason, in the Tower of London at 71
1654 - Nicholas Culpeper, English botanist, herbalist, physician, and astrologer (b. 1616)
1698 - Louis-Sébastien Le Nain de Tillemont, French historian (b. 1637)
1754 - Edward Cave, English editor and publisher (b. 1691)
1761 - Edward Boscawen, British admiral (b. 1711)
1768 - Charles Cressent, French court furniture maker, dies at 82
1778 - Carolus Linaeus “Carl von Linne”, Swedish botanist/explorer, dies at 70
1789 - Pierre Lyonet, Dutch zoologist/cryptologist, dies at 82
1794 - Georg Forster, German scientist and revolutionary (d. 1754)
1851 - Karl Freiherr von Müffling, Prussian field marshal (b. 1775)
1862 - Samuel Colt, American inventor (6 shot revolver), dies at 47
1863 - Lyman Beecher, US Presbyterian clergyman, temperance movement leader (b. 1775)
1883 - Dr Samuel A. Mudd, American medical doctor (b. 1833)
1917 - Buffalo Bill Cody ,US , Soldier ,Hunter , Showman
1935 - Edwin H Flack, English 800/1500m runner (Oly-gold-1896), dies at 60
1941 - Joseph Schmidlin, German church historian, murdered at 67
1943 - J Arthur S Berson, Austrian meteorologist, dies at 83
1949 - Erich von Drygalski, German geographer, geophysicist, and polar scientist (b. 1865)
1951 - Sinclair Lewis, writer, (Nobel 1930), dies at 65
1951 - Yoshio Nishina, Japanese physicist (b. 1890)
1961 - Dashiell Hammett, US detective writer (Thin Man, Maltese Falcon), dies at 66
1970 - Pavel Ivanovich Belyayev, USSR, cosmonaut (Voskhod II), dies at 44
1971 - Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel, French fashion designer, dies at 87
1976 - Chester Arthur “Howlin’ Wolf ” Burnett, US blues guitarist/harmonica player, dies at 65
1978 - John D Rockefeller III, US billionaire/philanthropist, dies at 71
1978 - Pedro Joaquín Chamorro, of La Prensa, assassinated in Managua
1978 - Zeb Turner, country-rock performer (Chew Tobacco Rag), dies at 62
1980 - George Meany, labor leader, dies at 86
1981 - Richard Boone, actor (Paladin-Have Gun Will Travel), dies at 63
1982 - Paul Lynde, comedian (Uncle Arthur-Bewitched), dies at 55
1986 - Joseph Kraft, US columnist, dies at 61
1987 - Sir David Robinson, English philanthropist and entrepreneur (b. 1904)
1989 - Colin Winchester, Australian Assistant Police Commissioner, murdered (b. 1933)
1992 - Roberto Bonomi, Argentine racing driver (b. 1919)
1993 - Diana Adams, ballerina, dies
1993 - Noorjahan Begum, “adulterous” wife in Bangladesh, stoned to death
1994 - Charles “Chub” Feeney, baseball pres (National League), dies at 72
1995 - Souphanouvong, leader of Pathet Lao (1957), dies
1996 - Alexander Robertus, organic chemist, dies at 88
1996 - Arthur Sydney Martin, spycatcher, dies at 81
1997 - Hilary Grover Barratt Brown, conservationist, dies at 71
2000 - Sam Jaffe, American producer (b. 1901)
2004 - Spalding Gray, American actor and screenwriter (b. 1941)
2004 - Alexandra Ripley, American author (b. 1934)
2005 - Kalevi Hämäläinen, Finnish cross country skier (b. 1932)
2005 - Erwin Hillier, British cinematographer (b. 1911)
2007 - Carlo Ponti, Italian film producer (b. 1912)
2007 - Bradford Washburn, American explorer (b. 1910)
2008 - Christopher Bowman, American figure skater (b. 1967)
2008 - Maila Nurmi, aka Vampira, Finnish-born American actress (b. 1921)
2008 - Mikhail Minin, Russian Soviet soldier (b. 1922)
2009 - William Frederick “Bill” Stone, British World War I veteran (b. 1900)
2011 - Margaret Whiting, American singer (b. 1924)
2012 - Gregor Vartanian, Soviet intelligence agent, dies at 87
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