Today In The Past
Events
217 – Roman Emperor Caracalla is assassinated (and succeeded) by his Praetorian Guard prefect, Marcus Opellius Macrinus.
1093 – The new Winchester Cathedral is dedicated by Walkelin.
1139 – Roger II of Sicily is excommunicated.
1149 – Pope Eugene III takes refuge in the castle of Ptolemy II of Tusculum.
1195 – Alexius III Angelus drives out brother Isaak II as Byzantine emperor
1271 – In Syria, sultan Baybars conquers the Krak of Chevaliers.
1341 – Francesco Petrarca crowned in Rome
1455 – Alfonso de Borgia elected as Pope Callistus III
1513 – Explorer Juan Ponce de Leon claimed Florida for Spain
1766 – 1st fire escape patented, wicker basket on a pulley & chain
1789 – House of Representives 1st meeting
1801 – Soldiers riot in Bucharest, kill 128 Jews
1820 – The Venus de Milo is discovered on the Aegean island of Melos.
1848 – 1st battle at Gioto: Sardinia-Piemonte beats Austrians
1862 – John D Lynde patents aerosol dispenser
1864 – Battle of Mansfield, La Federals routed by Gen Richard Taylor
1869 – American Museum of Natural History opens (NYC)
1879 – Milk was sold in glass bottles for 1st time
1886 – William Ewart Gladstone introduces the first Irish Home Rule Bill into the British House of Commons.
1893 – The Critic reports that ice cream soda is our national drink
1898 – Battle of Atbara River, Anglo-Egyptian forces crush 6,000 Sudanese
1904 – British mystic Aleister Crowley transcribes the first chapter of the Book of the Law.
1908 – Lord Asquith succeeds Henry Campbell-Bannerman as British premier
1912 – Steamers collide in Nile, drowning 200
1914 – US & Colombia sign a treaty concerning Panama Canal Zone
1935 – Works Progress Administration approved by Congress
1940 – Germany battle cruisers sink British aircraft carrier Glorious
1941 – Joe Louis TKOs Tony Musto in 9 for heavyweight boxing title
1943 – Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya convicted of involvement with Mau Mau
1943 – U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, in an attempt to check inflation, freezes wages and prices, prohibits workers from changing jobs unless the war effort would be aided thereby, and bars rate increases to common carriers and public utilities.
1945 – Nazi occupiers executed, Nazi general Christiansen flees Netherlands
1946 – League of Nations assembles for last time
1947 – Largest recorded sunspot (7,000) observed
1952 – Pres Harry Truman seizes steel mills to avert a strike
1956 – 6 marine recruits drown during exercise at Paradise Is SC
1961 – British liner “Dara” explodes in Persian Gulf, kills 236
1966 – OAO 1, 1st orbiting astronomical observatory, launched
1971 – 1st legal off-track betting system begins (OTB-New York)
1973 – Thirty-two terrorist bombings in Cyprus take place.
1974 – Discovery Island opens
1974 – Hammerin’ Hank Aaron hits 715th HR, breaks Babe Ruth’s record
1979 – 204th & final episode of “All in the Family”
1982 – Penguins 2-Isles 4-Preliminary-Isles hold 2-0 lead
1982 – Tracy Caulkins, 19, wins her 36th US swimming title
1985 – Amdahl releases UTS/V, 1st mainframe Unix
1985 – India files suit against Union Carbide over Bhopal disaster
1986 – Clint Eastwood elected mayor of Carmel California, Make his day
1990 – “Twin Peaks” with Peggy Lipton premieres on ABC-TV
1991 – Jockey, Bill Shoemaker, paralyzed in a car accident
1991 – Michael Landon announces he has inoperable cancer of pancreas
1992 – After 151 years Britain’s “Punch Magazine” final issue
1994 – Smoking banned in Pentagon & all US military bases
1995 – Oliver McCall beats Larry Holmes in 12 for heavyweight boxing title
1996 – Bruce Seldon TKOs Tony Tucker in 7 to win vacated WBA boxing title
1997 – Microsoft Corp releases Internet Explorer 4.0
2000 – Nineteen Marines are killed when a V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft crashes near Marana, Arizona.
2004 – U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice testifies before the 9/11 Commission.
2006 – Shedden massacre: The bodies of eight men, all shot to death, are found in a field in Ontario, Canada. The murders are soon linked to the Bandidos motorcycle gang.
2008 – The construction of the world’s first building to integrate wind turbines completes, in Bahrain.
2012 – Gunter Grass labelled persona non gratta by Israeli internal affairs minister Eli Yishai
Births
1320 – King Peter I of Portugal (d. 1367)
1460 – Ponce de Leon, Spain, searched for fountain of youth, found Florida
1533 – Claudio Merulo, organist/composer
1541 – Michele Mercati, Italian physician (d. 1593)
1605 – Louis de Vadder, Flemish painter
1605 – Philip IV, King of Spain & Portugal (1621-65)
1642 – Gerard Callenbach, Dutch admiral
1726 – Lewis Morris, US framer (signed Decl of Independence)
1731 – William Williams, US merchant (signed Decl of Independence)
1732 – David Rittenhouse, American astronomer, inventor, and mathematician (d. 1796)
1741 – Jose B da Gama, Portuguese poet (O Uraguai)
1826 – Pancha Carrasco, Costa Rican war heroine (d. 1890)
1828 – George Baird Hodge, Brigadier General (Confederate Army)
1832 – Alfred von Waldersee, Prussian fieldmarshal
1842 – Elizabeth Bacon Custer, wife of George Armstrong Custer (d. 1933)
1850 – William Henry Welch, US, pathologist (founded John Hopkins)
1859 – Edmund Husserl, Germany, philosopher (founded Phenomenology)
1865 – Charles W. Woodworth, American entomologist (d. 1940)
1869 – Harvey Cushing, US, neurosurgeon (blood pressure studies)
1871 – Clarence Hudson White American photographer (d. 1925)
1874 – Stanisław Taczak, Polish general (d. 1960)
1892 – Mary Pickford, [Gladys Smith], actress (Poor Little Rich Girl)
1892 – Richard Neutra, American architect (d. 1970)
1903 – Ilka Chase, NYC, actress (Masquerade Party, Trials of O’Brien)
1911 – Melvin Calvin, US chemist (photosynthesis, Nobel 1961)
1912 – Sonja Henie, Oslo Norway, ice skater/actress (Olympic-gold-1928,32,36)
1912 – Alois Brunner, Austrian Nazi
1919 – [Douglas] Ian Smith, premier of Rhodesia (1964-..)
1920 – Carmen McRae (Clark), US jazz singer/pianist (Dream of Life)
1920 – Erik Pausin, Austria, figure skating pairs (Olympics-silver-1936)
1921 – Alfie Bass, London England, actor (Moonraker, Are You Being Served)
1923 – Edward Mulhare, Cork Ireland, actor (Daniel Gregg–Ghost & Mrs Muir)
1924 – Sir Anthony Farrar-Hockley, English soldier and historian (d. 2006)
1925 – Shecky Greene, Chicago Ill, comedian/actor (Love Machine, Combat)
1926 – Henry N. Cobb, American architect
1928 – Monty Sunshine, jazz bandleader (Gotta Travel On)
1929 – Jacques Brel, Belgium, singer/actor (Pain in the A__)
1930 – John Bartholomew Tucker, Pa, TV host (Candid Camera, Treasure Island)
1934 – Kisho Kurokawa, Japanese architect (d. 2007)
1935 – Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, epidemiologist (Living legacy award-1984)
1937 – Seymour Hersh, award winning investigative reporter (NY Times)
1940 – John Havlicek, Martin’s Ferry Ohio, NBA hall-of-famer (Boston Celtics)
1941 – Peggy Lennon, LA California, singer (Lennon Sisters)
1943 – Carol Lavell, Fairfax Vt, equestrian dressage (Oly-bronze-92, 96)
1944 – Santiago Jimenez Jr, US accordionist (El Mero Mero, Viva Seguin)
1945 – Derrick Walker, British racing team owner
1946 – Jim “Catfish” Hunter, major-league pitcher (A’s, Yankees)
1946 – Tim Thomerson, American actor
1947 – Steve Howe, London, rock guitarist (Asia, Yes-Roundabout)
1948 – Gerald McRaney, Collins Miss, actor (Rick-Simon & Simon, Major Dad)
1948 – Robert Alan Litchfield, Mass, bank robber (FBI most wanted in the 1980s)
1949 – Jim Lampley, Hendersonville NC, newscaster (Monday Night Baseball)
1952 – Adam Woods, rock drummer/pianist (Fixx)
1954 – Gary Carter, catcher (Mont Expos, NY Mets)
1954 – John Schneider, Mt Kisco NY, actor (Bo-Dukes of Hazzard)
1955 – John Campbell, harness racer (3-time winner of Hambletonian)
1955 – Kane Hodder, American actor and stuntman
1955 – Barbara Kingsolver, American novelist
1961 – Richard Hatch, American reality television personality
1962 – Izzy Stradlin, [Jeff Isabelle], Lafayette IN, guitarist (Guns & Roses)
1964 – Lisa Guerrero, American sports broadcaster
1968 – Patricia Arquette, NYC, actress (Ed Wood, Nightmare on Elm Street 3)
1974 – Chris Kyle, Odessa, Texas, Navy SEAL sniper (160 kills), (d. 2013)
1975 – Anouk, Dutch singer
1976 – Jim Farnum, Honolulu Hawaii, kayak (alt-Olympics-96)
1977 – Mark Spencer, American computer programmer
1981 – Rebecca Wilson, Queensland Australia, gymnast (Olympics-96)
1981 – Taylor Kitsch, Canadian actor and model
Deaths
217 – Caracalla, [Marcus Antoniius], Roman emperor (198-217), murdered at 29
956 – Gilbert of Chalon, Duke of Burgundy
1143 – John II Comnenus, Emperor of Byzantium (1118-43), dies in an accident
1364 – John II, the Good, King of France (1350-64), dies at 44
1461 – Georg Purbach, German mathematician and astronomer (b. 1423)
1492 – Lorenzo I de’ Medici”il Magnifico”, ruler of Florence (1469-92), dies
1498 – Charles VIII, King of France (1483-98), beheaded at 27
1537 – Willem Aerts, Flemish architect, dies
1697 – Niels Juel, Danish admiral (b. 1629)
1735 – Francis II Rákóczi, leader of the Hungarian uprising against the Habsburg (b. March 27, 1676)
1848 – Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti, Italian composer, dies at 50
1861 – Elisha G Otis, US elevator builder (Otis), dies at 50
1890 – Junius Morgan, philanthropist, dies at 76
1902 – Sipyagain, Russian min of interior/headed Secret Service, assassinated
1906 – Auguste D, First recorded Alzheimer’s victim (b. 1950)
1919 – Loránd Eötvös, Hungarian physicist (b. 1848)
1936 – Robert Bárány, Austrian physician, Nobel laureate (b. 1876)
1947 – Henry Ford, US industrialist (Ford cars), dies at 83
1969 – Denton Cooley, got 1st fully artificial heart, dies at 48
1973 – Pablo (Ruiz y) Picasso, Spanish/French painter (Guernica), dies at 91
1976 – Phil Ochs, rock producer (Joe Hill), dies at 35
1981 – Omar Bradley, last US 5-star general, (Normandy) dies in NY at 88
1984 – Pyotr Kapitsa, Russian physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1894)
1985 – J. Fred Coots, American songwriter (b. 1897)
1987 – Francis C Denebrink, US Naval officer (WW I, WW II, Korea) dies at 90
1990 – Ryan White, hemophiliac aids sufferer, dies at 18
1991 – Dead (musician), Swedish metal singer (b. 1969)
1992 – Daniel Bovet, Swiss-born pharmacologist, Nobel laureate (b. 1907)
1993 – Marian Anderson, US contralto (My Lord, What a Morning), dies at 96
1994 – Frank Wells, president (Disney), dies in helicopter crash
1996 – Ben Johnson, cowboy actor (Tex, Dillinger), dies of heart attack at 77
1997 – Laura Nyro, singer, dies of ovarian cancer at 49
2000 – Claire Trevor, American actress (b. 1910)
2010 – Jack Agnew, American World War II veteran (b. 1922)
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