Today In The Past
Events
1077 - German King Heinrich IV petitions Pope Gregory VII for forgiveness
1189 - Philip II, Henry II & Richard Lion hearted initiate 3rd Crusade
1276 - Pierre de Tarantaise elected Pope Innocence V
1287 - The treaty of San Agayz is signed. Minorca is conquered by King Alfons III of Aragon.
1324 - Zen Buddhist religious debate between Tendai & Shingon
1522 - Head inquisitor Adrian Florisz Boeyens elected pope
1525 - The Swiss Anabaptist Movement is born when Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, George Blaurock, and about a dozen others baptize each other in the home of Manz’s mother in Zürich, breaking a thousand-year tradition of church-state union.
1542 - Parliament passes bill of attainder against Queen Katherine Howard
1664 - Count Miklos of Zrinyi sets out to battle Turkish invasion army
1677 - 1st medical publication in America (pamphlet on smallpox), Boston
1749 - The Verona Philharmonic Theatre was destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt in 1754.
1789 - 1st American novel, WH Brown’s “Power of Sympathy,” is published
1799 - Edward Jenner’s smallpox vaccination is introduced
1827 - Freedom Journal, 1st Black paper, begins publishing
1846 - 1st edition of Charles Dickens’ “Daily News”
1853 - Envelope-folding machine patented by Russell Hawes, Worcester, Mass
1861 - Jefferson Davis of Mississippi & 4 other southern senators resign
1863 - City of Dublin leases part of Cattle Market for 100,000 years
1880 - 1st US sewage disposal system separate from storm drains, Memphis
1887 - Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) forms
1887 - Brisbane receives a daily rainfall of 465 millimetres (18.3 inches), a record for any Australian capital city.
1894 - Oscar Fredriksen skates world record 500m in 47.8 sec
1899 - Opel manufactured its first automobile.
1903 - ”Wizard of Oz,” premieres in NYC
1903 - Harry Houdini escapes police station Halvemaansteeg in Amsterdam
1908 - NYC regulation makes it illegal for a woman to smoke in public
1910 - British-Russian military intervention in Persia
1915 - Kiwanis International founded in Detroit
1919 - Sinn Fein proclaims parliament of Free Ireland
1922 - 1st slalom ski race run, Murren, Switzerland
1935 - 12.0″ (30.5 cm) of rain falls, Quinault RS, Wash (state record)
1935 - Wilderness Society forms
1941 - 1st anti-Jewish measures in Bulgaria
1941 - 1st commercial extraction of magnesium from seawater, Freeport, TX
1941 - Australia & Britain attack Tobruk Libya
1942 - Count Basie records “One O’Clock Jump”
1942 - Tito’s partisans occupy Foca
1943 - Soviet forces reconquer Worosjilowsk
1943 - Soviet forces reconquer Gumrak airport near Stalingrad
1943 - Vice-admiral Cunningham appointed Brit adm of fleet
1944 - 447 German bombers attack London
1944 - 649 British bombers attack Magdeburg
1949 - 1st inaugural parade televised (Harry Truman)
1950 - NY jury finds former State Dept official Alger Hiss guilty of perjury
1951 - Babe Didrikson-Zaharias wins LPGA Tampa Women’s Golf Open
1953 - John Foster Dulles appointed as Secretary of State
1954 - 1st gas turbine automobile exhibited (NYC)
1958 - Phillies agree to televise 78 games into NYC (doesn’t happen)
1960 - Little Joe 4 suborbital Mercury test reaches 16 km
1960 - Rock falls traps 437 at Coalbrook South Africa, 417 die of methane poisoning
1961 - Portuguese rebels seize cruise ship Santa Maria
1962 - Snow falls in SF
1964 - Carl T Rowan named director of US Information Agency
1967 - US female Figure Skating championship won by Peggy Fleming
1968 - US B-52 bombers with nuclear bomb crashes in Greenland
1968 - Vietnam War: Battle of Khe Sanh – One of the most publicized and controversial battles of the war begins.
1970 - Panama Boeing 747 1st flight NY-London
1971 - ”Alias Smith & Jones” premieres on ABC TV
1974 - Gold hits record $161.31/silver hits record $3.97 an ounce in London
1976 - Supersonic Concorde, 1st commercial flights, by Britain & France
1977 - Italy legalizes abortion
1977 - Pres Jimmy Carter pardons almost all Vietnam War draft evaders
1978 - Bee Gees’ “Saturday Night Fever” album goes #1 for 24 weeks
1979 - Neptune becomes outermost planet (Pluto moves closer)
1979 - Price of gold increases to record $875 troy oz
1979 - Superbowl XIII: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Dallas Cowboys, 35-31 in Miami Superbowl MVP: Terry Bradshaw, Pittsburgh, QB
1980 - Gold hits record $850 an ounce
1980 - Les Henson, Virginia Tech, makes 89′ 3″ basketball field goal
1981 - Bernhard Goetz is assault for 1st time on a NY subway train
1982 - NY Islanders begin then NHL record 15 game winning streak
1983 - Reagan certifies El Salvador human-rights abuses have decreased making country eligible for US military aid
1984 - US male Figure Skating championship won by Scott Hamilton
1985 - -19°F (-28°C), Caesar’s Head, South Carolina (state record)
1985 - -34°F (-37°C), Mt Mitchell, North Carolina (state record)
1985 - Bomb attack on Borobudur temple in Java
1985 - Dennis Potvin ties Bobby Orr’s career record of 270 NHL goals
1986 - 100 participate in Nude Olympics race in 38°F (3°C), Indiana
1986 - Bomb attack in East-Beirut, 27 killed
1987 - BB King donates his 7,000 record collection to U of Mississippi
1988 - US accept immigration of 30,000 US-Vietnamese children
1989 - Wayne Gretzky passes Marcel Dionne to become NHL’s 2nd all time scorer
1990 - John McEnroe becomes 1st ever player to be expelled from the Australian Open
1993 - Nigerian singer Fela Kuti arrested on suspicion of murder
1994 - Dow Jones passes 3900 (record 3,914.20)
1994 - Lorena Bobbitt found temporarily insane of chopping off spouse’s penis
1999 - War on Drugs: In one of the largest drug busts in American history, the United States Coast Guard intercepts a ship with over 4,300 kg (9,500 lb) of cocaine on board.
2002 - The Canadian Dollar sets all-time low against the US Dollar (US$0.6179).
2004 - NASA’s MER-A (the Mars Rover Spirit) ceases communication with mission control. The problem lies with Flash Memory management and is fixed remotely from Earth on February 6.
2008 - Black Monday in worldwide stock markets. FTSE 100 had its biggest ever one-day points fall, European stocks closed with their worst result since 9/11, and Asian stocks drop as much as 15%.
2008 - The Eyak language in Alaska becomes extinct as its last native speaker dies.
Births
1337 - Charles V, the Wise, king of France (1364-80)
1338 - King Charles V of France (d. 1380)
1571 - John I Pontanus, physicist/historian (Amsterdam)
1659 - Adriaen van der Werff, Dutch portrait painter/engraver/architect
1721 - James Murray, British military officer, governor of Quebec (d. 1794)
1743 - John Fitch, inventor (had a working steamboat years before Fulton)
1815 - Horace Wells, dentist (pioneered use of medical anethesia)
1821 - John Cabell Breckinridge, (D) 14th US VP (1857-61)/mjr-gen (Confed)
1824 - Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson , Clarksburg, Virginia, Lt Gen 2nd Corps (ANV, Confed), (d. 1863)
1827 - Ivan Mikheevich Pervushin, Russian mathematician (d. 1900)
1855 - John M Browning, US, weapons manufacturer
1882 - Pavel Florensky, Russian mathematician (d. 1937)
1884 - Katie Sandwina, Germany, legendary woman weight-lifter
1884 - Roger Nash Baldwin, founder (American Civil Liberties Union)
1885 - Umberto Nobile, Italian general
1897 - J Carrol Naish, NYC, actor (Charlie Chan-Adv of Charlie Chan)
1905 - Christian Dior, Normandy France, fashion designer (long-skirted look)
1905 - Karl Wallenda, German acrobat (d. 1978)
1912 - Konrad Bloch, Germany, biochemist (studied cholesterol-Nobel 1964)
1918 - Richard D. Winters, American war hero(see UE Deaths 1.2.13)
1921 - Barney Clark, 1st to receive a permanent artificial heart
1921 - Howard Unruh, American mass murderer
1922 - Paul Scofield, Hurst England, actor (Man for All Seasons, Train)
1923 - Judith Merril, [Josephine Juliet Grossman], sci-fi writer
1924 - Benny Hill, Southampton England, comedian (Benny Hill Show)
1924 - Telly Savalas, Garden City NJ, actor (Acapulco, Kojak)
1926 - Steve Reeves, Glasgow Montana, actor (Hercules, Hercules Unchained)
1930 - Valentin Ignatyevich Filatyev, Russia, cosmonaut
1933 - William Wrigley III, chewing gum mogul (Wrigleys)
1935 - Ann Wedgeworth, Abilene Tx, actress (Tiger’s Tale, Men’s Club, Bogie)
1938 - Wolfman Jack, [Bob Smith], Bkln NY, DJ (Midnight Special)
1940 - Jack Nicklaus, Columbus Ohio, golfer (Player of Yr 1967,72,73,75,76)
1940 - Marquis of Tavistock, English large landowner/multi-millionaire
1941 - Edwin Starr, [Charles Hatcher], US singer (War)
1941 - Placido Domingo, Madrid Spain, opera tenor (Pinkerton-Mme Butterfly)
1941 - Richie Havens, Bkln, folk singer (Here Comes the Sun)
1942 - Mac Davis, Lubbock Tx, singer/actor (Mac Davis Show, North Dallas 40)
1945 - Chris Britton, rocker (Troggs-Rock & Roll Goldmine)
1947 - Jill Eikenberry, New Haven Ct, (Ann Kelsey-LA Law, Manhattan Project)
1947 - Jimmy Ibbotson, Penn, country singer (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band)
1950 - Billy Ocean, [Leslie S Charles], Trinidad, singer (Caribbean Queen)
1953 - Paul Allen, American entrepreneur, co-founder of Microsoft
1955 - Robby Benson, Dallas Tx, actor (One on One, Running Brave, Chosen)
1955 - Jeff Koons, American artist
1957 - Geena [Virginia] Davis, Wareham Mass, actress (Beetlejuice, Fly)
1962 - Marie Trintignant, French actress (d. 2003)
1962 - Tyler Cowen, American economist
1963 - Hakeem Abdul Olajuwon, Nigeria, NBA center (Rockets, Oly-gold-96)
1965 - Cordell Crockett, rocker (Ugly Kid Joe-Mad Man, Too Bad)
1968 - Charlotte Ross, Chicago, actress (Eve-Days of Our Lives)
1968 - Ulrica Messing, Swedish politician
1971 - Alan McManus, Scottish snooker player
1972 - Cat Power (Chan Marshall), American musician
1974 - Alex Sperafico, Brazilian racing driver
1975 - Anette Oldenborg, Miss Universe-Denmark (1996)
1975 - Faghma Absalom, Miss Universe-Namibia (1996)
1975 - Casey FitzRandolph, American speed skater
1975 - Yuji Ide, Japanese racing driver
1976 - Emma Lee Bunton, “Baby Spice”, Finchley London, vocalist (Spice Girls)
1976 - Lynn Thomas, Newport News VA, playmate (May 1997)
1978 - Tamir “Nokio” Ruffin, American Singer
1978 - Phil Stacey, American Idol finalist
1979 - Spider Loc, American rapper, member of G-Unit
1981 - Izabella Miko, Polish-born actress and model
1985 - Sasha Pivovarova, Russian Model
1986 - Coffin Joe, English drummer ( The Horrors)
Deaths
304 - Saint Agnes (martyred) (b. 291)
879 - Boudouin with the Iron Arm, earl of Flanders, dies
917 - Erchanger, Duke of Swabia (c. 880)
1118 - Pope Paschal II, born Raniero (1099-1118) dies
1519 - Vasco Núñez de Balboa, Spanish explorer (b. 1475)
1527 - Juan de Grijalva, Spanish conquistador (c. 1489)
1546 - Azai Sukemasa, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1491)
1686 - Nicolas-Francois Blondel, French architect, dies
1704 - Willem B Schepers, Dutch merchant/ship owner, dies at about 83
1774 - Mustafa III, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1717). Reigns 1757 to 1774. Dies at 56
1793 - Louis XVI, French King (1774-93), beheaded by revolutionaries at 38
1795 - Samuel Wallis, English navigator (b. 1728)
1809 - Josiah Hornblower, American statesman (b. 1729)
1892 - John Couch Adams, English co-discoverer of Neptune, dies
1901 - Elisha Gray, American inventor (b. 1835)
1924 - Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin, Russian leader, dies of a stroke at 53
1928 - George Goethals, American army engineer (b. 1858)
1932 - [Giles] Lytton Strachey, British biographer/critic, dies at 51
1950 - George Orwell, author (Animal Farm, 1984), dies in London at 46
1959 - Cecil B de Mille, producer (10 Commandments), dies at 77(b. 1881)
1967 - Ann Sheridan, actress (Pistols ‘n’ Petticoats), dies of cancer at 51
1974 - Lewis L Strauss, head US Atomic Energy Comm (1953-58), dies at 78
1984 - Jackie Wilson, US singer (I Get the Sweetest Feeling), dies at 49
1985 - Barbara Cowsill, rocker (Cowsills), dies of emphysema
1985 - James Beard, American chef and author (b. 1903)
1989 - Billy Tipton, American musician (b. 1914)
1991 - Howard “Red” Grange, football’s galloping ghost, dies at 87
1991 - Richard Bolling, (Rep-D-Mo)/US civil-rights leader, dies at 74
1992 - William T “Champion Jack” Dupree, US boxer/pianist, dies at 81
1994 - Basel al-Assad, Syrian pres Assad son, dies in car accident at 31
1996 - Sam Green, industrialist/inventor, dies at 88
1997 - Colonel Tom Parker, manager (Elvis Presley), dies at 87
1998 - Jack Lord, American actor (b. 1920)
1999 - Charles Brown, American blues singer and pianist (b. 1920)
2001 - Byron De La Beckwith, American white supremacist (b. 1921)
2002 - Peggy Lee, American singer (b. 1920)
2008 - Marie Smith Jones, last native speaker of the Eyak language (b. 1918)
2012 - Roy John Britten, American molecular biologist, dies at 92
