Today In The Past
Events
896 - Pope Formosa crowned king Arnulf of Karinthie/French emperor
1071 - Battle of Cassel-Robert I the Frisian defeats Arnulf III/I
1281 - Simon de Brion elected Pope Martinus IV
1288 - Girolamo Masci elected Pope Nicolas IV
1300 - Pope Boniface VIII delegates degree
1349 - Jews are expelled from Zurich Switzerland
1495 - French King Charles VIII enters Naples to claim crown
1561 - William of Orange appointed viceroy of Burgundy/Charolais
1630 - Indians introduce pilgrims to popcorn, at Thanksgiving
1632 - Galileo’s Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems is published.
1744 - Battle at Toulon: English-French & Spanish fleet
1775 - 1st US joint stock company (to make cloth) offers shares at 10 cents
1784 - 1st US ship to trade with China, “Empress of China,” sails from NY
1797 - Last Invasion of Britain: 1797 The Last Invasion of Britain by the French, begins near Fishguard, Wales.
1819 - Spain renounces claims to Oregon Country, Florida (Adams-Onís Treaty)
1821 - Spain sells (east) Florida to United States for $5 million
1825 - Russia & Britain establish Alaska-Canada boundary
1847 - Battle of Buena Vista: US troops beat Mexican army
1854 - 1st meeting of Republican Party (Michigan)
1856 - 1st national meeting of Republican Party (Pittsburgh)
1861 - On a bet Edward Weston leaves Boston to walk to Lincoln’s inauguration
1864 - -27] Battle at Dalton Georgia
1864 - 2nd/last day of Battle of Okolona, MS
1864 - Skirmish at Calfkiller Creek (Sparta) Tennessee
1865 - Battle of Wilmington, NC (Fort Anderson) occupied by Federals
1865 - Tennessee adopts a new constitution abolishing slavery
1872 - 1st national convention of Prohibition Party (Columbus Ohio)
1876 - Johns Hopkins University opens
1879 - 1st 5 cent & 10 cent store opened by Frank W Woolworth (Utica NY)
1882 - With 120 miles James Saunders wins NYC’s 24 hour race & $100 prize
1888 - John Reid of Scotland demonstrates golf to Americans (Yonkers NY)
1889 - US President Cleveland signs bill to admit Dakotas, Montana & Washington state to the union
1898 - Black postmaster lynched, his wife & 3 daughters shot in Lake City SC
1900 - Battle at Wynne’s Hill, South-Africa (Boers vs British army)
1900 - Hawaii became a US territory
1903 - Due to drought the US side of Niagara Falls runs short of water
1904 - The United Kingdom sells a meteorological station on the South Orkney Islands to Argentina, the islands are subsequently claimed by the United Kingdom in 1908.
1907 - 1st cabs with taxi meters begin operating in London
1909 - Great White Fleet, 1st US fleet to circle the globe, returns to Va
1912 - J Vedrines makes 1st airplane flight over 100 mph-161.29 kph
1915 - Germany begins “unrestricted” submarine war
1917 - German Navy torpedoes 7 Dutch ships
1920 - 1st artificial rabbit used at a dog race track (Emeryville California)
1922 - Congress authorizes Grant Memorial $1 gold coin
1923 - Transcontinental airmail service begins
1924 - 1st presidential radio address (Calvin Coolidge)
1927 - Baruch Spinosa’s house of mourning opened as a museum
1928 - 1st solo England to Australia flight lands (Bert Hinkler)
1932 - Purple Heart award reinstituted
1933 - Goering forms SA/SS-police, shoots 40-50
1934 - ”It Happened One Night,” opens at NY’s Radio City Music Hall
1935 - Airplanes are no longer permitted to fly over the White House
1940 - Finnish troops vacate Koivisto island
1940 - German air force sinks 2 German destroyers, killing 578
1941 - Arthur T “Bomber” Harris becomes British Air Marshal
1941 - IG Farben decides building Buna-Werke in Auschwitz Concentration Camp
1941 - Nazi SS begin rounding up Jews of Amsterdam
1942 - World War II: President Franklin Roosevelt orders General Douglas MacArthur out of the Philippines as American defenses collapse
1943 - Members of White Rose are executed in Nazi Germany.
1944 - US 8th Air Force bombs Enschede, Arnhem & Nijmegen by mistake/800+ die
1955 - British aircraft carrier Ark Royal sets sail
1956 - Elvis Presley’s 1st hit in Billboard’s top 10: “Heartbreak Hotel”
1958 - Australian swimmer Jon Konrads sets 6 world records in 2 days
1959 - 1st Daytona 500 auto race-Lee Petty wins (135.521 MPH)
1967 - Sling-shot goal post & 6′ wide border around field are standard in NFL
1967 - 25,000 US & S Vietnamese troops launched Operation Junction City, offensive to smash Viet Cong stronghold near Cambodian border
1968 - Rock group Genesis release their 1st record “Silent Sun”
1971 - Lt Gen Hafiz al-Assad becomes President of Syria
1972 - President Nixon, meets with Chinese Premier Chou En-Lai in Beijing
1978 - 2 tankers with propane gas explode killing 15 at Waverly, Tenn
1980 - Afghanistan declares martial law
1980 - USA beats USSR in Olympic hockey 4-3 en route to a gold medal
1982 - NYC Mayor Koch announces he will run for NY governor (unsuccessful)
1983 - Harold Washington wins Chicago’s Democratic mayoral primary
1983 - Hindus kill 3000 Moslems in Assam, India
1988 - Bonnie Blair skates world record 500m (39.10 sec)
1989 - NY Lotto pays $26.9 million to one winner (#s are 1-5-12-19-44-50)
1989 - UK physicist Stephen Hawking calls Star Wars a “deliberate fraud”
1989 - US authors demonstrate against Iranian death treats against Salman Rushdee, author of “Satanic Rituals”
1991 - Bush & US Gulf War allies give Iraq 24 hrs to begin Kuwait withdrawal
1992 - Rockers Kurt Corbin (Nirvana) & Courtney Love (Hole), wed
1995 - Algiers police kill at least 99 prison rioters
1995 - Steve Fossett completes 1st air balloon over Pacific Ocean (9600 km)
1998 - 18th Winter Olympic games close at Nagano Japan
2002 - Angolan political and rebel leader Jonas Savimbi is killed in a military ambush.
2006 - At least six men stage Britain’s biggest robbery ever, stealing £53m (about $92.5 million or 78€ million) from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent.
2011 - An earthquake measuring 6.3 in magnitude strikes Christchurch, New Zealand, killing 181 people
Births
1040 - Rashi, French rabbi (d. 1105)
1403 - Charles VII, King of France (1422-61), drove out the English from Northern France. Died 1461.
1440 - Ladislaus V Posthumus, King of Hungary/Bohemia
1500 - Cardinal Rodolfo Pio da Carpi, Italian humanist (d. 1564)
1514 - Tahmasp I, shah of Persia (1524-76)/author (Tazkire-i Shah)
1599 - Anthony Van Dyck, Antwerp Belgium, painter
1612 - George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol, English statesman (d. 1677)
1634 - Petrus “Pieter” van Schooten, fortress architect
1705 - Peter Arctedius, [Artedi], Swedish biologist
1714 - Louis-Georges de Bréquigny, French historian (d. 1795)
1732 - George Washington, Westmoreland, Virginia, 1st American president (1789-97)
1778 - Rembrandt Peale, portrait/historical painter (Court of Death)
1788 - Arthur Schopenhauer, Germany, philosopher (Great Pessimist)
1796 - Adolphe Quetelet, Belgium, mathematician/astronomer/statistician
1797 - William I, Berlin, King of Prussia (1861-88)/German Emperor (1871-88)
1798 - Charles Mynn Thruston, Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1873
1817 - Carl Wilhelm Borchardt, German mathematician (d. 1880)
1822 - Adolf Kuszmaul, German physician (stomach pump, Kuszmaul disease)
1824 - Pierre Janssen, French astronomer (d. 1907)
1827 - James Barnet Fry, Bvt Major General (Union Army), died in 1894
1828 - Robert Alexander Cameron, Bvt Mjr Gen (Union volunteers), died in 1894
1838 - Pierre Jules Cesar Janssen, discoverer of hydrogen in Sun
1857 - Heinrich Hertz, physicist, 1st to broadcast & receive radio waves
1857 - Robert Baden-Powell, founder (Boy Scouts, Girl Guides)
1878 - Walter Ritz, Swiss physicist (d. 1909)
1880 - Frigyes Riesz, Hungarian mathematician (d. 1956)
1891 - ”Chico” Marx, NYC, actor/comedian (Marx Brothers, Animal Crackers)
1892 - David Dubinsky, labor leader (Freedom Award, 1969 Medal of Freedom)
1892 - Edna St Vincent Millay, poet/dramatist/feminist (Harp Weaver-Pulitzer Prize)
1901 - Charles E Whittaker, Kansas, US Supreme Court justice (1957-62)
1906 - Gale Gordon, LA California, actor (Conklin-Our Miss Brooks, Here’s Lucy)
1907 - Robert Young, Chic Ill, actor (Father Knows Best, Marcus Welby MD)
1907 - Sheldon Leonard, NYC, actor/director (Danny Thomas Show, Big Eddie)
1910 - Al Sears, jazz performer
1914 - Renato Dulbecco, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate
1915 - Gus Lesnevich, light heavyweight boxing champ (1947 fight of year)
1918 - Charles O Finley, baseball team owner (Oakland A’s)
1918 - Don Pardo, Westfield Mass, TV announcer (Jeopardy, Saturday Night Live)
1922 - Jesús Iglesias, Argentine racing driver (d. 2005)
1925 - Edward Gorey, Chicago, author/artist (Curious Sofa)
1925 - Raymond Joseph Cecil, British architect
1926 - Bud Yorkin, producer (All in the Family, 1959, 1960 Emmy)
1928 - Bruce Forsyth, London England, comedian/TV host (Generation Game)
1928 - Paul Dooley, Parkensburg WV, actor (16 Candles, Strange Brew, Wedding)
1929 - James Hong, American actor
1932 - Edward M “Ted” Kennedy, (Sen-D-Mass, 1962- ), (Don’t let him drive)
1934 - George “Sparky” Anderson, SD, baseball manager (Reds, Tigers)
1936 - Ernie K-Doe, [Ernest Kador Jr], New Orleans La, rocker
1936 - J. Michael Bishop, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate
1937 - Joanna Russ, US, sci-fi author (Hugo, Female Man, Alyx)
1937 - Samuel Whitbread, English brewer/multi-millionaire
1940 - Johnson P Mlambo, South African leader (Pan-African Congress)
1940 - Billy Name, American photographer
1942 - Christine Keeler, English model and showgirl
1944 - Jonathan Demme, Baldwin NY, actor/director (Caged Heat, Swing Shift)
1944 - Robert Kardashian, American lawyer (d. 2003)
1945 - Oliver, rock vocalist (Good Morning Starshine, Jean)
1949 - Leslie Charleson, KC Missouri, actress (Monica-General Hospital)
1949 - Nikki Lauda, Austria, formula 1 auto racer (world champ 1975, 77, 84)
1950 - Julie Walters, England, actress (Educating Rita, Prick Up Your Ears)
1950 - Julius Erving, ABA/NBA forward (Virg Squirers, NY Nets, Phila 76ers)
1950 - Sylvette Miou-Miou, Paris France, actress (Bottom Line, Menage)
1953 - Graham Lewis, English musician (Wire)
1956 - Amy Alcott, Kansas City MO, LPGA golfer (1983 Nabisco Dinah Shore)
1958 - Kyle MacLachlan, Yakima WA, actor (Blue Velvet, Dune, Hidden)
1961 - Mike Morris, NFL center (Minnesota Vikings)
1961 - Akira Takasaki, Japanese guitarist
1962 - Lenda Murray, Detroit Mich, body builder (4X Ms Olympia)
1962 - Lisa Jacquin, equestrian show jumper (Olympics-96)
1962 - Les Wallace, Scottish darts player
1963 - Vijay Singh, Lautoka Fiji, PGA golfer (1993 Buick Classic)
1964 - Gigi Fernandez, [Beatriz], San Juan PR, US tennis star (Olymp-gold-96)
1966 - Suave, singer
1968 - Jayson Williams, NBA center (NJ Nets)
1968 - Jeri Ryan, actress (7 of 9-Star Trek Voyager)
1969 - Joaquín Cortés, Spanish dancer
1969 - Hans Klok, Dutch illusionist
1971 - Lea Salonga, Philippines, singer/actress (Miss Siagon)
1971 - Lisa Fernandez, Lakewood California, softball pitcher (Olympics-gold-96)
1972 - Michael Chang, Hoboken NJ, tennis star (1989 French Open)
1973 - Ntala Skinner, Sun Valley Idaho, biathelete (Olympics-1994)
1974 - James Blunt, English musician
1975 - Drew Barrymore, LA California, actress (ET, Firestarter, Poison Ivy)
1975 - Gregory Maddalone, Schenectady NY, dance skater (& Demkowski)
1984 - Venetian Princess Internet (You tube) Star (Real Name: Jodie-Amy Rivera)
Deaths
606 - Sabinian, Italian Pope (604-06), dies
965 - Odo, Duke of Burgundy (b. 944)
1071 - Arnulf III, earl of Flanders/Hainault (Arnulf I), dies in battle
1076 - Godfried III, with the Hump, duke of Lower Lorraine, murdered [or Feb 26]
1078 - Johannes van Fecamp, Italian mystic writer, dies
1111 - Roger Borsa, King of Sicily
1213 - Wibert of Gembloers, benediction/writer/abbot of Gembloers, dies
1371 - David II Bruce, King of Scots (1331..71), dies at 46
1478 - Hendrik Herp (Herpius/Harphius), writer (Spieghel volcomenheit), dies
1512 - Amerigo Vespucci, Italian explorer (America), dies at 60
1627 - Olivier van Noort, Dutch navigator (b. 1558)
1680 - Catherine Monvoisin, French sorceress (b. c.1640)
1690 - Charles Le Brun, classical painter (Academie de Peinture), dies at 70
1731 - Frederik Ruysch, Dutch anatomist, dies at 92
1770 - Christopher Snider, 11, Boston, becomes 1st martyr of US Revolution
1797 - Karl Friedrich Hieronymus Freiherr von Münchhausen, German officer and adventurer (b. 1720)
1799 - Heshen, infamous Qing Dynasty Chinese official at court (b. 1750)
1816 - Adam Ferguson, Scottish sociologist/historian, dies at 92
1832 - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German writer, dies at 82
1875 - Charles Lyell, British geologist (Elements of Geology), dies at 77
1890 - John Jacob Astor III, American businessman (b. 1822)
1912 - Richard Andree, German geographer (Andree’s Handatlas), dies at 76
1913 - Francisco Indalecio Madero, Mex pres, assassinated in milt coup at 39
1913 - Suarez, Mexican vice pres, assassinated in a miltary coup
1943 - Hans Scholl, German resistance fighter (White Rose), beheaded at 24
1943 - Sophie Scholl, German resistance fighter (Die Weisse Rose), beheaded
1944 - Kasturba Gandhi, wife of Mohandas Gandhi (b. 1869)
1958 - Michael Todd, film magnate, killed in an New Mexico air crash
1961 - Nick LaRocca, American jazz musician (b. 1889)
1965 - Felix Frankfurter, Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (b. 1882)
1968 - Omer CFL Tulippe, Belgian geographer, dies at 71
1974 - Samuel Byck, American attempted assassin of Richard Nixon (b. 1930)
1976 - Florence Ballard, rocker (Supremes), dies of a heart attack at 32
1984 - David, spent most of his life in a plastic bubble, dies at 12
1985 - Alexander Scourby, actor (Victory at Sea, Ransom), dies at 71
1985 - Efrem A Zimbalist, Russian/US composer/violinist, dies at 95
1987 - Andy Warhol, pop artist, dies of a heart attack at 58
1987 - David Susskind, TV host (Open End, David Susskind Show), dies at 66
1994 - ”Papa” John Creach, US jazz musician (Papa Blues), dies at 76
1995 - Ed Flanders, actor (Dr Westphall-St Elsewhere), commits suicide at 60
1998 - Grandpa [Louis Marshall] Jones, country singer (Hee Haw), dies at 84
2002 - Chuck Jones, American cartoonist (b. 1912)
2002 - Jonas Savimbi, Angolan rebel leader (b. 1934)
2002 - Roden Cutler, Australian diplomat and war hero (b. 1916)
2002 - Daniel Pearl, American journalist (b. 1963)
2007 - Howard Verne Ramsey, oldest U.S. veteran of WWI (b. 1898)
2007 - George Jellicoe, Lord Privy Seal and Leader of the House of Lords & Special Boat Service veteran (b. 1918)
2012 - Billy Strange, American singer-songwriter, dies at 81
I’d have to check with you here. Which is not something I usually do! I enjoy reading a post that will make people think. Also, thanks for allowing me to comment