Today In The Past
Events
374 - 9th recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet
600 - Pope Gregory the Great decreea saying “God bless You” is the correct response to a sneeze
1249 - Andrew of Longjumeau is dispatched by Louis IX of France as his ambassador to meet with the Khan of the Mongols.
1486 - Diet of Frankfort
1512 - Battle at Valeggio: French troops beat Venetianen
1559 - Pope Paul IV calls for deposition of sovereigns supporting heresy
1646 - Battle of Great Torrington, Devon – the last major battle of the first English Civil War.
1659 - 1st known check (£400) (on display at Westminster Abbey)
1677 - Earl of Shaftesbury arrested/confined in London Tower
1741 - Benjamin Franklin’s General Magazine (2nd US Mag) begins publishing
1760 - Native American hostages killed in Ft Prince George SC
1771 - Messier presents his original list of 45 M-objects to French Academy
1777 - Messier adds M53 to his catalog (globular cluster in Coma Berenice)
1804 - Lt Stephen Decatur raids Tripoli Harbor & burns Navy frigate “Philadelphia” after pirates seized it
1824 - Athenaeum founded
1840 - American Charles Wilkes discovers Shackleton Ice Shelf, Antarctica
1846 - Battle of Sobraon ends 1st Sikh War in India
1852 - Studebaker Brothers wagon company, precursor of the automobile manufacturer, is established.
1862 - Ft Donelson captured by Gen Grant (1,400 confederates surrender)
1864 - Battle of Mobile, AL – operations by Union Army
1868 - Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks forms (NY)
1878 - Silver dollar became US legal tender
1880 - American Society of Mechanical Engineers forms (NYC)
1883 - ”Ladies Home Journal” begins publishing
1903 - -59°F (-51°C), Pokegama Dam, Minnesota (state record)
1909 - 1st subway car with side doors goes into service (NYC)
1913 - President Taft agrees not to intervene in Mexico
1914 - 1st airplane flight (LA to SF)
1917 - 1st synagogue in 425 years opens in Madrid
1923 - Howard Carter finds Pharaoh Tutankhamen
1923 - US female Figure Skating championship won by Theresa Weld Blanchard
1923 - US male Figure Skating championship won by Sherwin Badger
1932 - 1st patent issued for a tree, to James Markham for a peach tree
1934 - Austrian Civil War ends with the defeat of the Social Democrats and the Republican Schutzbund.
1937 - DuPont Corp patents nylon, developed by employee Wallace H Carothers
1938 - US Federal Crop Insurance program authorized
1940 - British search plane finds German Altmark off Norway
1943 - -32°F (-36°C), Falls Village, Connecticut (state record)
1943 - Red army conquers Kharkov
1943 - World War II: The USSR reconquers Kharkov.
1945 - US forces land on Corregidor, complete conquest on March 3
1946 - 1st commercially designed helicopter tested, Bridgeport Ct
1948 - Miranda, famous moon of Uranus, photographed for 1st time
1950 - Longest-running prime-time game show, “What’s My Line” begins on CBS
1951 - NYC passes bill prohibiting racism in city-assisted housing
1951 - SF City Hall dome fire
1952 - Hall of Famer Honus Wagner, 77, retires; Pirates retire his #33
1956 - Britain abolishes death penalty
1959 - Fidel Castro named himself Cuba’s premier after overthrowing Batista
1960 - US nuclear submarine USS Triton set off on underwater round-world trip
1961 - 1st all-solid-propellant rocket put in orbit, Wallops Island, Va
1961 - China uses it’s 1st nuclear reactor
1961 - US satellite Explorer 9 is launched
1963 - 1st round-trip swim of Strait of Messina, Italy (Mary Revell of US)
1963 - Beatles top British rock charts with “Please, Please Me”
1965 - Pegasus 1 launched to detect micro-meteors
1968 - Country’s 1st 911 phone system went into service in Haleyville, Ala
1968 - Elvis Presley receives gold record for “How Great Thou Art”
1970 - Joe Frazier TKOs Jimmy Ellis in 5 for heavyweight boxing title
1972 - 1st NBA to score 30,000 points (Wilt Chamberlain in 940 games
1972 - German mass murderers “Three of Breda” freed
1972 - Wilt Chamberlain hit 30,000 point mark during a game with Phoenix Suns
1978 - 1st Computer Bulletin Board System (Ward & Randy’s CBBS, Chicago)
1980 - Continuous traffic jam extends 176 km north of Lyons, France
1980 - Eric Heiden skates 5k in 7:02.29 (Olympic Record)
1983 - The Ash Wednesday bushfires in Victoria and South Australia claim the lives of 75 people in Australia’s worst ever fires.
1984 - Bill Johnson becomes 1st American to win Olympic downhill skiing gold
1985 - Livingston Bramble defeats Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini to win WBA champ
1985 - NJ Devils score their fastest hat trick in 42 seconds
1985 - The founding of Hezbollah.
1986 - French air force bombs Ouadi Doum airport in Chad
1987 - John Demjanjuk, accused of being “Ivan the Terrible” trial begins
1988 - 1st documented combat action by US military advisors in El Salvador
1989 - Orel Hershiser, Dodger pitcher signs $7.9M-3 year contract
1989 - Roger Clemens, Red Sox pitcher signs $7.5M-3 year contract
1991 - US female Figure Skating championship won by Tonya Harding
1992 - Former silver Goodyear blimps are now painted yellow & blue
1992 - LA Lakers retire Magic Johnson’s #32 uniform
1994 - 6.5 earthquake strikes SE Sumatra, kills 200
1997 - At age 25, Jeff Gordon is youngest winner in Daytona 500 history
1999 - O.J. Simpson’s 1968 Heisman Trophy is sold for $230,000 to help settle a $33.5 million civil judgement against Simpson for the deaths of his ex-wife and her friend
1999 - Across Europe, Kurdish rebels take over embassies and hold hostages after Turkey arrested one of their rebel leaders, Abdullah Öcalan.
2005 - The Kyoto Protocol comes into force, following its ratification by Russia.
2006 - The last Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) is decommissioned by the United States Army.
Births
1032 - Emperor Yingzong of China (d. 1067)
1075 - Ordericus Vitalis, French monk/historian/poet
1222 - Nichiren, Japan, Buddhist priest/saint
1497 - Philipp Melanchthon, Germ, Protestant reformer (Augsburgse Confessie)
1519 - Gaspard de Coligny, Huguenot leader/French admiral
1543 - Kano Eitoku, Japanese painter (d. 1590)
1698 - Pierre Bouguer, French mathematician (heliometer)
1727 - Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin, Austrian scientist (d. 1817)
1761 - Charles Pichegru, French general (d. 1804)
1807 - Lysander Cutler, Bvt Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1866
1813 - Joseph Reid Anderson, Brigadier General (Confederate Army) died in 1892
1821 - Heinrich Barth, Hamburg Germany, geographer/explorer (Central Africa)
1822 - James Patton Anderson, Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1872
1823 - John Daniel Imboden, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1895
1824 - Peter Kozler, Slovenian cartographer and geographer (d. 1879)
1838 - Henry Adams, Boston Mass, historian, writer (Education of Henry Adams)
1848 - Hugo de Vries, Dutch botanist (How species emerge)
1856 - Rudolph Karstadt, German entrepreneur (d. 1944)
1858 - Laurence “Lon” Myers, US, track star (top US miler)
1866 - Johann Strauss, Austria, composer (Waltz King)
1876 - George Macauley Trevelyan, England, historian (Giuseppi Garibaldi)
1884 - Robert Flaherty, Mich, father of documentary film (Nanook of North)
1891 - Hans F. K. Günther, German eugenicist (d. 1967)
1903 - Edgar Bergen, Chicago, ventriloquist (Charlie McCarthy)
1904 - George F Kennan, Milwaukee Wisc, US ambassador (to Moscow)
1909 - Hugh Beaumont, Lawrence Ks, actor (Ward Cleaver-Leave it to Beaver)
1909 - Richard McDonald, American fast food pioneer (d. 1998)
1920 - Patty Andrews, Minneapolis MN, vocalist (Andrews Sisters)
1920 - Anna Mae Hays, American army general
1921 - Jean Behra, auto racer
1921 - Vera-Ellen [Westmeier Rohe], Norwood, Ohio, American actress/dancer (Wonder Man)
1925 - Carlos Paredes, Portuguese guitar master (d. 2004)
1926 - Jack Levy, mechanical engineer
1926 - John Schlesinger, film director, (Midnight Cowboy)
1935 - Brian Bedford, England, actor (Anthony-Coronet Blue)
1935 - Sonny Bono, Detroit, vocalist (Sonny & Cher)/(Rep-R-Ca, 1995-98)
1936 - Jill Kinmont, American skier
1937 - Valentin Vasilyevich Bondarenko, cosmonaut
1938 - Barry Primus, NYC, actor (Sgt McKenna-Cagney & Lacey, Boxcar Bertha)
1941 - Vitali Kuznetsov, USSR, judo (Olympic-silver-1972)
1942 - Kim Jong-il, Supreme Leader of North Korea (1994-2011) [disputed birthdate, 1941]
1946 - Aleksandr Shaparenko, USSR, 1K kayak (Olympic-gold-1972)
1950 - William Katt, LA California, actor (Greatest American Hero, 1st Love)
1953 - Roberta Williams, computer game designer
1954 - Iain Banks, UK, sci-fi author (Wasp Factory)
1954 - Margaux Hemingway, Portland Or, actress (Lipstick, They Call Me Bruce)
1955 - Jeff Clayton, US jazz saxophonist/composer (Groove Shop)
1956 - James Ingram, vocalist (On the Wings of Love)
1957 - LeVar Burton, Landstuhl Germany, (Roots, Star Trek Next Generation)
1958 - Ice-T [Tracy Marrow], Newark, New Jersey, American rapper and actor (New Jack City, Tank Girl, Crazy Six)
1958 - Lisa Loring, actress (As the World Turns, Wednesday-Addams Family)
1959 - John McEnroe, American tennis great (US Open 1979-81, 84 Wimb 1981, 83, 84)
1961 - Andy Taylor, Engld, rock guitarist (Duran Duran-Hungry Like the Wolf)
1962 - Tony Kiley, rocker (Blow Monkeys-Wicked Ways)
1965 - Dave Lombardo, Cuban drummer (Slayer)
1966 - Eric Uptagrafft, Spokane Wash, prone rifle (Olympics-1996)
1969 - Claude Lambert, Montreal Quebec, boxer (Olympics-96)
1969 - Fermin Cacho, Barcelona Spain, 1500m (Olympics-2 gold-92, 96)
1970 - Saskia Linssen, Venlo Holland, playmate (Jun, 1991)
1970 - D.J. Wallis, American fitness competitor
1973 - Cathy Freeman, Mackay Aust, 100m/200m/400m (Olympics-silver-92, 96)
1974 - Kimberly Dawn Whipany, Oklahoma, rocker (PC Quest-Can You See)
1975 - Vanina Ickx, Belgian racing driver
1977 - Trina Jackson, 4X200m freestyle swimmer (Olympics-gold-96)
1978 - Caroline Hunt, Chic Ill, rhythmic gymnast (US team-96)
1979 - Valentino Rossi, Italian motorcycle racer
1981 - Jay Howard, British racing driver
Deaths
309 - Pamphilus van Caesarea, Palestinian scholar/martyr, beheaded
923 - Abu Dja’far Mohammed Djarir al-Tabari, islamic historian, dies at 83
1247 - Heinrich Raspe, Landgrave of Thuringia (b. 1204)
1279 - Afonso III, King of Portugal (1248-79), dies
1391 - Johannes V Palaeologus, Emperor of Byzantium (1341-91), dies
1531 - Johannes Stöffler, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1452)
1653 - Johannes Schultz, composer, dies at 70
1754 - Richard Mead, physician, dies
1779 - William Boyce, English organist/composer (Cathedral Music), dies
1791 - Richard earl d’Alton, Austria general of S Neth, commits suicide at 58
1820 - Georg Carl von Döbeln, Swedish Lieutenant General and war hero (b. 1758).
1834 - Lionel Lukin, life boat pioneer, dies
1844 - Joseph Crosfield, English soap and alkali manufacturer (b. 1792)
1857 - Elisha Kent Kane, Arctic explorer (Kane Basin), dies at 37
1892 - Henry Walter Bates, naturalist/explorer (South America), dies
1900 - George Labram, US mine engineer in South Africa, dies in battle
1912 - Edgar Evans, British explorer (Antarctica), dies
1919 - Vera Kholodnaya, Russian film star (b. 1893)
1928 - Eddie Foy, American singer and dancer (b. 1856)
1966 - Hendrik W Tilanus, artillery officer/leader (CHU 1939-63), dies at 81
1967 - Smiley Burnette, cowboy (Charlie-Petticoat Junction), dies at 55
1974 - John C Garand, Canadian rifle engineer and manufacturer (b. 1888)
Commence Firing – John Garand
A Brief History Of The Development Of The M1 Garand
1978 - E. Roland Harriman, American financier (b. 1895)
1979 - Nematullah Nassiri, Iran general/head of Savak, executed
1980 - Erich Hückel, German physicist (b. 1895)
1991 - Enrique B Varela, commandant Nicaragua contra’s, dies
1992 - Abbas Musawi, leader of Hezbollah, assassinated
1995 - John Everett Allen, US businessman, dies at 91
1996 - Edmund G “Pat” Brown, politician, dies at 90
1996 - Roger Bowen, actor (M*A*S*H, Main Event, What about Bob), dies at 62
1996 - Walter Brown “Brownie” McGhee, American blues singer/guitarist, dies at 80
1997 - Chien-Shiung Wu, Chinese-American physicist (b. 1912)
2000 - Karsten Solheim, Norwegian-born engineer and inventor (b. 1911)
2000 - Lila Kedrova, Russian-born actress (b. 1918)
2001 - Howard W. Koch, American film director (b. 1916)
2001 - William Masters, American gynecologist and sexologist (b. 1915)
2006 - Johnny Grunge, American professional wrestler (b. 1966)
2012 - Anthony Shadid, New York Times foreign correspondent and two time Pulitzer winner, dies from asthma at 43
2012 - Gary Carter, American Hall of Fame baseball catcher dies from brain tumor at 57
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