Today In The Past
Events
374 – Comet 1P/374 E1 (Halley) approaches within 0.0884 AUs of Earth
527 – Byzantine Emperor Justin I names his nephew Justinian I as co-ruler and successor to the throne
705 – Greek pope John VII chosen as successor to John VI
1064 – Body of bishop Eleutherius of Blandain moved to Doornik
1318 – Berwick-upon-Tweed is captured by the Scottish from the English.
1340 – Niels Ebbesen kills Gerhard III of Holstein in his bedroom, ending the 1332-1340 interregnum in Denmark.
1504 – English guilds/corp goes under state control
1581 – Portugese Cortes subjects himself on Philip II
1663 – Gemert fines unwed motherhood (50 guilder penalty)
1793 – Volcano Unsen on Japan erupts killing about 53,000
1826 – Samuel Mory patents internal combustion engine
1862 – Shenandoah Valley campaign, Jackson’s Battle of Woodstock, VA
1863 – 1st wartime conscription law in US goes into effect
1865 – -9] Battle at Blakely Alabama
1865 – Battle of 5 Forks Virginia, signalling end of Lee’s army
1866 – US Congress rejects presidential veto gives all equal rights in US
1873 – British White Star steamship Atlantic sinks off Nova Scotia, 547 die
1889 – 1st dishwashing machine marketed (Chicago)
1891 – The Wrigley Company is founded in Chicago, Illinois.
1910 – Dumitru Dan (Romania) completes a 62,137 mile (100,000 m) walk
1918 – United Kingdom’s Royal Flying Corps replaced by Royal Air Force
1924 – Crown takes over Northern Rhodesia from British South Africa Co
1924 – Hitler sentenced to 5 years labor but Gen Ludendorff acquitted
1924 – The Royal Canadian Air Force is formed.
1925 – Hebrew University, Jerusalem dedicated [see May 9, 1925]
1927 – 1st automatic record changer introduced by His Master’s Voice
1928 – Chiang Kai-shek’s army crosses Yang-tse
1929 – Louie Marx introduces Yo-Yo
1929 – Morehouse College, Spellman College & Atlanta University affiliate
1931 – Jackie Mitchell became 1st female in professional baseball
1934 – Bonnie & Clyde kill 2 police officers
1935 – 1st radio tube made of metal announced, Schenectady, NY
1938 – Baseball Hall of Fame opens in Cooperstown, NY
1938 – Joe Louis KOs Harry Thomas in 5 for heavyweight boxing title
1941 – Navy takes over Treasure Island (SF Bay)
1944 – Japanese troops conquer Jessami, East-India
1945 – US forces invade Okinawa during WW II
1946 – 400,000 US mine workers strike
1946 – Tsunamis generated by a quake in Aleutian Trench strike Hilo Hawaii
1946 – Weight Watchers forms
1947 – 1st Jewish immigrants to Israel disembark at Port of Eilat
1952 – Big Bang theory proposed in Physical Review by Alpher, Bethe & Gamow
1954 – 1st army helicopter battalion forms, Fort Bragg, NC
1954 – Earthquake/tsunami ravage Aleutians, 200 killed
1954 – US Air Force Academy forms
1955 – Armed military action taken against bureaucratic strike in Amsterdam
1955 – EOKA-bomb attacks against British government buildings in Cyprus
1956 – Violent clashes in Algeria, kills at least 380
1960 – Census determines the resident population of the United States to be 179,245,000
1960 – 1st weather satellite launched (TIROS 1)
1964 – 10°F lowest temperature ever recorded in Cleveland in April
1966 – 1st world festival of black art (Dakar Senegal)
1969 – The Hawker Siddeley Harrier enters service with the RAF.
1970 – Pres Nixon signs bill limiting cigarette advertisements on 1/1/71
1973 – Japan allows its citizens to own gold
1974 – Ayatollah Khomeini calls for an Islamic Republic in Iran
1976 – Stephen Wozniak & Steven Jobs founded Apple Computer
1976 – Conrail takes over operations from six bankrupt railroads in the northeastern U.S..
1976 – Jovian-Plutonian gravitational effect is first reported by the astronomer Patrick Moore.
1979 – Iran proclaimed an Islamic Republic following fall of Shah
1980 – Failed assassination attempt on Iraqi vice-premier Tariq Aziz
1980 – New York City’s Transit Worker Union 100 begins a strike lasting 11 days.
1981 – CNN airs a videotape that shows that Tamara Rand predicted that Reagan is in danger from someone named Jack Humley (a hoax)
1982 – US formally transfers Canal Zone to Panama
1983 – Anti-nuke demonstrators link arms in 14-mile human chain in England
1984 – 3rd NCAA Womens Basketball Championship: Southern Cal beats Tenn 72-61
1984 – 8 men record longest distance (13 miles) rowed in 24 hours
1986 – US sub Nathaniel Green runs aground in Irish Sea
1986 – World oil prices dip below $10 a barrel
1990 – Guns & Roses’ Duff divorces Mandy Brix, lead singer for Lame Flames
1990 – It becomes illegal in Salem Oregon to be within 2′ of nude dancers
1991 – Iran releases British hostage Roger Cooper after 5 years
1991 – Supreme Court rules jurors can’t be barred from serving due to race
1991 – US minimum wage goes from $3.80 to $4.25 per hour
1991 – Warsaw Pact officially dissolves
1992 – Battleship USS Missouri (on which, Japan surrendered) decommissioned
1992 – Last defendant in St John sex assault case sentenced to 3 yrs prob
1995 – NY Islanders retire Bobby Nystrom’s uniform #23
1997 – 69 year old Gordie Howe begins playing AHL game with Syracuse Crunch
1997 – Comet Hale-Bopp Perihelion (0.914 AU)
2001 – Former president of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Slobodan Milošević surrenders to police special forces, to be tried on charges of war crimes.
2002 – The Netherlands legalizes euthanasia, becoming the first nation in the world to do so.
2004 – Google introduces its Gmail product to the public. The launch is met with scepticism on account of the launch date.
2009 – Croatia and Albania joined NATO
2011 – After protests against the burning of the Quran turned violent, a mob attacked a United Nations compound in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan and killed thirteen people, including eight foreign workers.
Births
1220 – Emperor Go-Saga of Japan (d. 1272)
1283 – Ludwig IV of Baveria, Roman Catholic Bavarian emperor (1314-47)
1543 – François de Bonne, duc de Lesdiguières, Constable of France (d. 1626)
1578 – William Harvey, England, physician (discovered blood circulation)
1610 – Charles de Saint-Évremond, French soldier (d. 1703)
1640 – Georg Mohr, Danish mathematician (d. 1697)
1647 – John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, English poet (d. 1680)
1697 – Antoine François Prévost, French author and novelist (d. 1763)
1755 – Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, French lawyer (Fisiologia del Gusto)
1765 – Luigi Schiavonetti, Italian engraver (d. 1810)
1776 – Sophie Germain, French mathematician (d. 1831)
1815 – Otto Von Bismarck, Germany, chancellor (1866-90)
1823 – Simon Bolivar Buckner, Lt Gen (Confederate Army), died in 1914
1834 – Big Jim Fisk, American entrepreneur (d. 1872)
1847 – Jules-Nicolas Crevaux, French explorer (South America)
1852 – Edward Austin Abbey, US, painter (Quest of the Holy Grail)
1856 – Acacio Gabriel Viegas, Indian physician (d. 1933)
1865 – Richard Zsigmondy, Germany, chemist (Nobel-1925)
1873 – Sergei Rachmaninoff, Novgorod Russia, composer (Prelude in C# Minor)
1882 – Paul Anspach, Belgian Olympic champion fencer (d. 1991)
1883 – Lon Chaney, CO, man of 1000 faces, actor (High Noon, Phantom of Opera)
1886 – Wallace Beery, KC MO, actor (Alias a Gentleman, Dinner at 8)
1895 – Alberta Hunter, blues singer/composer (Downhearted Blues)
1898 – William James Sidis, American genius (d. 1944)
1901 – Whittaker Chambers, American writer, editor, and defector (d. 1961)
1905 – Clara “Mother” Hale, US social worker (Hale House)
1906 – Sigve Lie, Norway, yachtsmans (Olympic-gold-1948, 52)
1909 – Eddie Duchin, Mass, society pianist/bandleader (Eddie Duchin Orch)
1919 – Joseph Murray, American surgeon, Nobel laureate, (d. 2012)
1920 – Toshiro Mifune, Tsing-tao China, writer/actor (Shogun)
1922 – William Manchester, Attleboro Mass, historian (Death of a President)
1926 – Anne [Inez] McCaffrey, US, sci-fi author (Dragonflight, Dragondrums)
1928 – George Grizzard, NC, actor (Wrong is Right, Bachelor Party, Attica)
1928 – Jane Powell, Portland Oregon, singer/actress (7 Brides for 7 Brothers)
1929 – Milan Kundera, Czech poet/writer (Joke, Unbearable Lightness of Being)
1929 – Bo Schembechler, American football coach (d. 2006)
1932 – Debbie Reynolds, El Paso Texas, actress (Singin’ in the Rain)
1932 – Gordon Jump, Dayton Ohio, actor (Arthur Carlson-WKRP, Growing Pains)
1934 – Vladimir Posner, Russian journalist
1938 – John Quade, American actor
1939 – Ali MacGraw, Pound Ridge NY, actress (Love Story, Goodbye Columbus)
1939 – Phil Niekro, knuckleball pitcher (NY Yankees, Atlanta Braves)
1939 – Rudolph Isley, Cincinnati Ohio, rocker (Isley Brothers-Shout)
1942 – Phil Margo, Bkln, rock vocalist (Tokens-Lion Sleeps Tonight)
1942 – Samuel R[ay] Delany Jr, US, sci-fi author (Towers of Toron, Neveryona)
1944 – Rusty Staub, American baseball player
1946 – John Barbata, drummer (Turtles-Happy Together, Eleanor)
1946 – Ronnie “Plonk” Lane, London, rock bassist (Small Faces-Hey Girl)
1946 – William Frederick Fisher, Dallas Texas, MD/astronaut (STS 51-I)
1948 – Jimmy Cliff, Reggae singer
1948 – Simon Crowe, rock drummer (Boomtown Rats-Maxinguaye)
1949 – Gill Scott-Heron, US, writer/poet/singer (Whities on the Moon)
1950 – Leonard van Spirit, Dutch/British fruit/food magnate
1950 – Samuel Alito, U.S. Supreme Court Justice
1951 – John Philip Abizaid, U.S. Army General, former CENTCOM commander
1952 – Abdel Basset Ali Al-Megrahi, Tripoli Libya, bomber (Pan Am 103), (d. 2012)
1952 – Annette O’Toole, Houston Texas, actress (Cat People, Superman III)
1952 – Billy Currie, rock keyboardist/violinist (Ultravox-We Came to Dance)
1952 – Rey Robinson, US, 100m sprinter (Olympic-1972)
1953 – Barry Sonnenfeld, director (When Harry Met Sally, Big, Misery)
1954 – Jeff Porcaro, LA California, drummer/percussionist (Toto-Roxanne, Africa)
1955 – Stan Ridway, rocker (Wall Of Voodoo)
1962 – Dave Ulliott, English poker player
1965 – John “Jumbo” Elliot, NFL tackle (NY Giants, NY Jets)
1970 – Wes Barnett, St Joseph MO, 238lb (108kg) weightlifter (Oly-6th-92, 96)
1971 – Shinji Nakano, Japanese race car driver
1972 – Allen and Albert Hughes, American film directors
1973 – Rachel Maddow, American radio personality and political analyst
1975 – Kristine Quance, 100m breaststroke/200m medley (Olympics-96)
1975 – Magdalena Maleeva, Sofia Bulgaria, tennis star (1995 Chicago Moscow)
1977 – Haimar Zubeldia, Spanish cyclist
1980 – Bijou Phillips, American actress
1982 – Sam Huntington, actor (Jungle 2 Jungle)
1982 – Gemma Hunt, British children’s television presenter
1989 – Vietoris Krisztián, German racecar driver
Deaths
1085 – Emperor Shenzong of China (b. 1048)
1132 – St-Hugues, Bishop of Grenoble (b. 1053)
1204 – Eleanor of Aquitaine, wife of Louis VII & Henry II, dies at 81
1205 – Amalrik II, King of Cyprus/Jerusalem, dies
1528 – Francisco de Peñalosa, Spanish composer
1548 – Sigismund I, the Elder, King of Poland, dies at 81
1637 – Niwa Nagashige, Japanese warlord (b. 1571)
1791 – Richard Butler American soldier (b. 1743)
1814 – Jozef de Ferraris, French/Austrian general/cartographer, dies at 87
1832 – Robert the Hermit, US ex-slave/hermit in Massachusetts, dies
1839 – Benjamin Pierce, American politician (b. 1757)
1870 – Patrick Gass, sgt of Lewis & Clark Expedition, dies at 98
1872 – William Frederick Horry, English convicted murderer (b. 1843)
1901 – Francois M Raoult, Fren physicist/chemist (Law of Raoult), dies at 70
1916 – Gabrielle Petit, Belgian resistance fighter, executed
1917 – Scott Joplin, ragtime composer (Sting), dies at 48
1930 – Zawditu, 1st reigning female monarch of Ethiopia, dies
1933 – Frederick Lord Chelmsford, viceroy of Brit-Ind (1916-21), dies at 64
1941 – Hippolyte Delehaye, Flemish historian, dies at 81
1946 – Noah Beery, actor (Beau Geste, Cimarron Kid, Mammy), dies at 62
1950 – Charles R Drew, surgeon/developer of blood bank concept, dies at 45
1965 – Henry D G Crerar, Canadian general (WW I, Normandy), dies at 76
1965 – Helena Rubinstein, Polish-born American cosmetics manufacturer (b. 1870)
1968 – Lev D Landau, Russian physicist (Nobel 1962), dies at 59
1976 – Max Ernst, German/French surrealist painter/sculptor, dies at 85
1981 – D[ennis] F[eltham] Jones, sci-fi author (Colossus), dies at 65
1984 – Marvin Gaye, singer (Sexual Healing), shot to death by his father Marvin Gaye Sr in LA at 44
1991 – Martha Graham, US, choreographer (Appalachian Spring), dies at 96
1993 – Alan Kulwicki, stock car racer, dies in plane crash at 38
1993 – Ihsan Mohamed Salem, [Yunis Awad], Palestinian Al-Fatah leader, killed
1993 – Juan of Borbon y Battemberg, father of king Juan Carlos I, dies
1994 – Rosalind Laura Burke, aviatrix, dies at 86
1994 – Stuart Sloan, war hero/test pilot, dies at 72
1995 – Richard Pool, naval Officer, dies at 75
1995 – H. Adams Carter, American Alpine Club President, 10th Mountain Division trainer (b. 1914)
1997 – Jolie Gabor, mother of Zsa Zsa & Eva, dies at 97
1998 – Rozz Williams, American musician (Christian Death) (b. 1963)
2004 – Aaron Bank, American OSS officer and founder of the US Army Special Forces (b. 1902)
2004 – Carrie Snodgress, American actress (b. 1946)
2010 – John Forsythe, American actor (b. 1918)
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