Today In The Past

 

 

Events 

46 BC – Julius Caesar defeats Caecilius Metellus Scipio and Marcus Porcius Cato (Cato the Younger) in the battle of Thapsus.

402 – Battle at Pollentia: Roman army under Stilicho beats Visigoten

610 – Lailat-ul Qadar, night koran descended to Earth

774 – Charles the Great affirms Pippins promise of Quiercy

1106 – Fire in Venice

1320 – The Scots reaffirm their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath.

1362 – Robber bastion Tard-Venus strikes at Brignais France

1385 – John, Master of the Order of Aviz, is made king John I of Portugal.

1516 – A Willaert installed as singer of cardinal Ippolito I d’Este

1652 – Cape Colony, the 1st European settlement in South Africa, established by Dutch East India Company under John of Riebeeck

1672 – France declares war on Netherlands

1712 – Slave revolt in NY

1722 – Peter the Great ends tax on men with beards

1757 – English king George II fires minister William Pitt Sr

1789 – 1st US Congress begins regular sessions, Federal Hall, NYC

1808 – John Jacob Astor incorporates the American Fur Company.

1815 – English militia shoots prisoners, 100’s killed

1830 – Joseph Smith & 5 others organizes Mormon church in Seneca Co, NY

1859 – US recognizes Liberal government in Mexico’s War of Reform

 

 

 

1862 – Battle of Shiloh, Union defeats Confederacy in SW Tennessee

 

 

 

 

 

 

1865 – Battle of Sayler’s Creek during US Civil War, 1/4 of Lee’s army cut off

 

 

 

 

 

1865 – Skirmish at High Bridge VA (Appomattox) during US Civil war;

1869 – 1st plastic, Celluloid, patented

1889 – George Eastman places Kodak Camera on sale for 1st time

1896 – 1st modern Olympic games open in Athens Greece [3/25 OS] American, James Connolly, wins 1st Olympic gold medal in mod history

1900 – James J Jeffries KOs Jack Finnegan in 1 for heavyweight boxing title

1903 – The Kishinev pogrom in Kishinev (Bessarabia) begins, forcing tens of thousands of Jews to later seek refuge in Israel and the Western world.

1906 – 1st animated cartoon copyrighted

1909 – 1st credit union forms in US

1909 – North Pole reached by Americans Robert Peary & Matthew Henson

1912 – Electric starter 1st appeared in cars

1916 – German parliament OKs unrestricted submarine warfare

1917 – US declares war on Germany, enters World War I

1919 – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi orders a General Strike.

1924 – 4 planes leave Seattle on 1st successful around-the-world flight

1925 – 1st film shown on an airplane (British Air)

1930 – 1st transcontinental glider tow completed

1930 – Hostess Twinkies invented by bakery executive James Dewar

1931 – 1st Scottsboro (Ala) trial begins – 9 blacks accused of rape

1934 – 418 Lutheran ministers arrested in Germany

1936 – Tornado, kills 203 & injuring 1,800 in Gainesville Georgia

1938 – Teflon invented by Roy J Plunkett

1939 – Great Britain & Poland sign military pact

1941 – British general Gambier-Parry caught in North Africa

1941 – German bombardment on Piraeus (munitions ship explodes)

1941 – Italian held Addis Ababa surrenders to British & Ethiopian forces

1943 – British & US army link up in Africa during WW II

1943 – British offensive at Wadi Akarit, South-Tunisia

1943 – Lou Jansen, leader of illegal Dutch political party (CPN) arrested

1945 – Japanese giant battleship Yamato heads to Okinawa

1945 – Massive kamikaze-attack on US battle fleet near Okinawa

1945 – US marines explore Tsugen Shima near Okinawa

1954 – TV Dinner was 1st put on sale by Swanson & Sons

1957 – NYC ends trolley car service

1965 – Intelsat 1 (“Early Bird”) 1st coml geosynchronous comm satellite

1968 – Gunpowder stocks at a sporting-goods store explode, killing 43 (Va)

1968 – In Richmond, Indiana’s downtown district, a double explosion kills 41 and injures 150.

1973 – Pioneer 11 launched toward Jupiter & Saturn

1973 – Roberto Clemente Day, Pirates retire his #

1973 – Launch of Pioneer 11 spacecraft.

1974 – 200,000 attend rock concert “California Jam” in Ontario

1975 – Bundy victim Denise Oliverson disappears from Grand Junction, Colo

1975 – Fastest hat trick by a Wash Cap 3 mins 26 secs (Stan Gilbertson)

1976 – 1st quadrophonic movie track: “Ladies & Gentlemen the Rolling Stones”

1980 – Gordie Howe completes a record 26th season

1980 – Post It Notes, introduced

1984 – 1st time 11 people in space

1987 – Sugar Ray Leonard upsets Marvelous Marvin Hagler

1988 – Black pole explorer M Henson buried next to R Peary in Arlington

1989 – Orel Hershiser ends his record 59 consecutive scoreless streak

1991 – Former child actor Adam Rich arrested for breaking into a pharmacy

1992 – Microsoft announced Windows 3.1, upgrading Windows 3.0

1992 – Serbian troops begin siege of Sarajevo

1992 – US Supreme Court rules a Nebraska farmer was entrapped by postal agents into buying mail-order child pornography

1993 – 1st test flight of Ilyushin IL-96M (Moscow)

1994 – Chuck Jones found guilty of breaking into Marla Maples home

1994 – Liberal Supreme Court Justice Blackmun (Roe v Wade) resigns

1994 – Palestinian suicide bomber kills 7 Israelis & himself

1994 – Rockwell B-1B Lancers break 11 world speed records

1996 – Albert Belle shows off his arm by hitting Sports Illustrated photographer Tony Tomsic in the hand prior to a game

1998 – Pakistan tests medium-range missiles capable of hitting India.

2004 – Rolandas Paksas becomes the first president of Lithuania to be peacefully removed from the post by impeachment.

2009 – A 6.3 magnitude earthquake strikes near L’Aquila, Italy, killing at least 253.

2012 – US F-18 Hornet crashes into side of apartment building in Virginia with no fatalities

 

 

 

Births

1483 – Raphael Sanzio, Italian painter/master builder (Madonna Sistina)

1613 – Stjepan Gradić, Croatian philosopher and scientist (d. 1683)

1671 – Jean-Baptiste Rousseau, French playwright/poet (Sacred Odes & Songs)

 

 

 

1773 – James Mill, Scotland, philosopher/historian (Hist of British India)

 

220px-James_Mill

 

 

 

 

 

 

1828 – Charles William Field, Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1892

1851 – Guillaume Bigourdan, French astronomer (d. 1932)

1884 – Walter Huston, Tor, actor (Maltese Falcon, Treasure of Sierra Madre)

1886 – Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII, The Last Nizam of Hyderabad state (d. 1967)

1890 – Anton Hermann Fokker, avation pioneer born

1890 – Andre L Danjon, French astronomer

1892 – Donald Wills Douglas, US, aircraft pioneer (McConnell Douglas)

1894 – Gertrude Baines, American Supercentarian

 

 

 

1903 – Harold Edgerton, foremost high-speed photographer

 

 

 

haroldedgerton19

 

 

 

 

 

 

1903 – Mickey Cochrane, baseball hall of fame catcher (.320 avg)

1909 – Hermann Lang, German race car driver (d. 1987)

1910 – Desmond Dreyer, British admiral

1917 – Julian Faber, CEO (Willis Faber)

 

 

 

1917 – Big Walter “Shakey” Horton , Miss, harmonica player (Everybody’s Fishin’)

 

VIDEOS

 

 

 

 

1922 – Barry Levinson, director (Rain Man)

1925 – John Knox, British supreme court justice

 

 

 

1927 – Gerry Mulligan, British saxophonist/orchestra leader (Jazz on a Summer Day)

 

VIDEOS

 

 

 

 

1928 – James Dewey Watson, chemist (co-discovered structure of DNA)

1929 – “Crazy” Joe Gallo, mobster

1929 – Andre Previn, Berlin Germany, conductor (London Symphony)/pianist

1931 – Ivan Dixon, NYC, actor (Car Wash, Hogan’s Heroes)

1933 – Dudley Sutton, British actor (Leather Boys, Brimstone & Treacle)

1934 – Antonius Geesink, Holland, judo (Olympic-gold-1964)

1937 – Billy Dee Williams, Harlem NYC, actor (Chiefs, Empire Strikes Back)

1937 – Merle Haggard, Bakersfield California, country singer (Death Valley Days)

1942 – Phil Austin, comedian (Firesign Theater)

1943 – Roger Cook, investigative journalist/broadcaster

1944 – John Stax, rocker (Pretty Things-Don’t Bring Me Down)

1945 – Neal Boortz, American talk radio personality

1947 – John Ratzenberger, Bridgeport Ct, actor (Cliff Clavin-Cheers)

1949 – Mary Maples Dunn, college president (Smith College)

1951 – Ralph Cooper, Australia, drummer (Air Supply-All Out of Love)

1951 – Bert Blyleven, Dutch-born baseball player

1952 – Marilu Henner, Chicago, actress (Taxi, Man Who Loved Women, Eve Shade)

1952 – Udo Dirkshneider, heavy metal rocker (Accept-Balls to the Wall, Udo)

1953 – Janet Lynn, ice skater (Olympics-bronze-1972)

1955 – Keith Hunter Jesperson, Canadian-born serial killer

1957 – Paolo Nespoli, Italian astronaut

1959 – Dianne Brill, Tampa, fashion designer/party girl (Queen of the Night)

1961 – Rory Bremner, impressionist

1964 – Johnny Dee, heavy metal drummer (Britny Fox-Boys in Heat, King Kobra)

1966 – Kymberly Paige, Newport Beach Ca, playmate (May, 1987)

1969 – Ari Meyers, San Juan PR, actress (Emma McArdle-Kate & Allie)

1969 – Paul Rudd, Passaic, New Jersey, American actor (Clueless, The 40-Year-Old Virgin)

1972 – Jason Hervey, actor (Wayne Arnold-Wonder Years)

1975 – Zach Braff, South Orange, New Jersey, American actor (Dr. John Dorian-Scrubs)

1982 – Ilan Hall, Israeli-American chef

1983 – Jade Seah, Singaporean model, host and actress

1983 – James Wade, English Darts Player

1984 – Max Bemis, American musician/songwriter

 

 

 

Deaths

885 – Methodius, Greek apostle of the slaves/archbishop of Sirmium, dies

912 – Nottker “the Stamelaar”, benedictine monk/poet, dies at about 71

1147 – Frederick II, Duke of Swabia (b. 1090)

 

 

 

1199 – Richard I, the Lion-hearted, King of England (1189-99), dies at 41

 

 

 

 

 

 

1199 – Pierre Basile, French soldier

1252 – Peter of Verona, [Peter Martyr], Italian inquisitor/st, dies at 45

1348 – Petrarch’s Laura, dies of plague

1362 – Jacques de Bourbon, count of Marche, killed in battle

1472 – Pieter Bladelin, Belgium, land owner (Middelburg castle), dies

1489 – Hans Waldmann, Swiss military/mayor (Zurich), beheaded

1520 – Raphael [Sanzio], artist (Sistine Madonna), dies on his 37th birthday

1593 – Henry Barrow, English puritian/Congressionalist, hanged

1593 – John Greenwood, English Congressionalist, hanged

1605 – John Stow, British historian, dies

1755 – Richard Rawlinson, English minister and antiquarian (b. 1690)

1829 – Niels H Able, Norwegian mathematician (infinite series), dies at 26

1854 – William Strickland, US architect, dies

1862 – Adley Hogan Gladden, Confederate brig-general, dies in battle at 51

 

 

 

1862 – Albert Sidney Johnston, US Confederate general, dies in battle at 59

 

johnston-albert-sidney2

 

 

 

 

 

 

1865 – John Austin Wharton, US Confederate general-major, dies at 36

1865 – Reuben B Boston, US Confederate cavalery colonel, dies in battle

1933 – Elizabeth Bacon Custer, wife of George Armstrong Custer (b. 1842)

1935 – Edward Arlington Robinson, US poet, dies

1945 – Benjamin M Telders, president (Dutch Liberal States Party), dies at 42

1963 – Otto Struve, Russian-born astronomer (b. 1897)

1968 – Bobby Hutton, US Black Panther leader, shot to death

1970 – Sam Sheppard, American accused murderer (b. 1923)

1970 – Maurice Stokes, American basketball player (b. 1933)

1974 – Willem Dudok, Dutch architect (Hilversum Town Hall), dies at 89

1974 – Hudson Fysh, Australian aviator and businessman (b.1895)

1975 – Chiang Kai-Shek, Nationalist Chinese leader, dies at 87

1976 – Sidney Franklin, American bullfighter (b. 1903)

1983 – Ana Maria, Salvador guerilla leader, murdered

1990 – Ronald E Evans, astronaut (Apollo 17), dies of a heart attack at 57

 

 

 

1992 – Isaac Asimov, Sci-Fi author (I Robot), dies from kidney failure at 72

 

 

 

 

 

 

1992 – Molly Picon, Yiddish actress (Milk & Honey), dies of Alzheimers at 94

1993 – Divya Bharati, “Baby Doll” Indian Bollywood actress (Diwana), dies at 19 by mysteriously falling from her husband’s apartment

1994 – Theo Bosch, humanist/architect (Amsterdam), dies at 54

1996 – Greer Garson, actress (Goodbye Mr Chips), dies at 92

1997 – Jack Kent Cooke, NFL owner (Wash Redskins), dies at 84

1998 – Tammy Wynette, American country singer, dies at 55

1998 – Wendy O. Williams, American singer (Plasmatics) (b. 1949)

1999 – Red Norvo, American jazz vibraphonist (b. 1908)

2003 – David Bloom, American reporter (b. 1963)

2004 – Larisa Bogoraz, Soviet dissident (b. 1929)

2004 – Niki Sullivan, American guitarist (The Crickets) (b. 1937)

2005 – Rainier III, Prince of Monaco (b. 1923)

2006 – Francis L. Kellogg, U.S. diplomat and prominent socialite (b. 1917)

2010 – Wilma Mankiller, Native-American activist, chief of the Cherokee Nation (b. 1945)

2012 – Fang Lizhi, Chinese astrophysicist/dissident, dies at 76

2012 – Thomas Kinkade, American artist, dies from acute intoxication at 54

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

—