Today In The Past
Events
305 – Diocletian and Maximian retire from the office of Roman Emperor.
1006 – Supernova observed by Chinese & Egyptians in constellation Lupus
1048 – Bishop Bernold flees St Pieterskerk for Utrecht Neth
1328 – Wars of Scottish Independence end: Treaty of Edinburgh-Northampton – the Kingdom of England recognises the Kingdom of Scotland as an independent state.
1394 – Ekiho, exorcised the Zen temple & it’s surroundings from an old badger
1523 – Danish king Christian III arrives in Veere
1528 – Pánfilo the Narváez begins exploration with 350 men to Florida
1544 – Turkish troops occupy Hungary
1551 – Council of Trente resumes
1598 – Jacob van Necks merchant fleet departs for Java
1625 – Portuguese & Spanish expedition recaptures Salvador (Bahia)
1682 – Louis XIV & his court inaugurates Paris Observatory
1703 – Battle at Rultusk: Swedish army beats Russians
1707 – England, Wales & Scotland form UK of Great Britain
1715 – Prussia declares war on Sweden
1751 – 1st American cricket match is played
1753 – Publication of Species Plantarum by Linnaeus, and the formal start date of plant taxonomy adopted by the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature.
1776 – Adam Weishaupt founds secret society of Illuminati
1778 – American Revolution: The Battle of Crooked Billet begins in Hatboro, Pennsylvania.
1785 – Kamehameha, the king of Hawaiʻi defeats Kalanikupule and establishes the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi
1822 – John Phillips becomes 1st mayor of Boston
1840 – 1st adhesive postage stamps (“Penny Blacks” from England) issued
1841 – 1st emigrant wagon train leaves Independence, Missouri for Calif
1844 – Whig convention nominates Henry Clay as presidential candidate
1846 – Ida Pfeiffer (48) begins trip around world
1848 – The Fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta is founded at Jefferson College in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.
1857 – William Walker, conqueror of Nicaragua, surrenders to US Navy
1861 – Lee orders Confederate troops under T J Jackson to Harper’s Ferry
1862 – Union captain David Farragut conquers New Orleans
1863 – Battle of Chancellorsville, VA (29,000 injured or died)
1863 – Battle of Port Gibson, Mississippi
1863 – Confederate “National Flag” replaces “Stars & Bars”
1864 – -8] Battle at Alexandria, Louisiana (Red River Campaign)
1864 – Atlanta campaign, GA begins
1867 – Howard University chartered
1867 – Reconstruction of South begins, black voter registration
1869 – Folies Bergere opens in Paris
1873 – 1st US postal card issued
1875 – 238 members of “Whiskey Ring” accused of anti-US activities
1883 – “Buffalo Bill” Cody put on his 1st Wild West Show
1884 – Construction begins on Chicago 1st skyscraper (10 stories)
1889 – Bayer introduces aspirin in powder form (Germany)
1891 – Cy Young pitches 1st game played in Cleveland’s League Park Cleveland Spiders 12, Cincinnati Redlegs 3
1898 – George Dewey commands, “You may fire when you are ready, Gridley” as US route Spanish fleet at Manila
1900 – Premature blast collapses mine tunnel killing 200 at Scofield, Utah
1901 – Herb McFarland hit 1st grand slam in American League
1908 – World’s most intense shower (2.47″ in 3 minutes) at Portobelo Panama
1912 – Beverly Hills Hotel opens
1915 – British Lusitania leaves NY, for Liverpool
1919 – Mount Kelud (Indonesia) erupts, boiling crater lake which broke through crater wall killing 5,000 people in 104 small villages
1920 – Babe Ruth’s 1st Yankee HR & 50th of career, out of Polo Grounds
1922 – Charlie Robertson of Chicago pitches a perfect no-hit, no-run game
1925 – A’s Jimmie Foxx, 17, 1st game; he pinch-hits a single
1926 – Brooklyn Dodgers & Boston Braves deadlock at 1-1 in 26 innings
1926 – Satchel Paige makes pitching debut in Negro Southern League
1927 – 1st British airliner to serve cooked meals (Imperial Airways)
1928 – Pitcairn Airlines (later Eastern) begins service
1929 – Brooklyn’s Johnny Finn sets 100 yard sack race in 14.4 seconds
1931 – Empire State Building opens in NYC
1931 – Singer Kate Smith begins her long-running radio program on CBS
1935 – Boulder Dam completed
1935 – Canada’s 1st silver dollar is circulated
1936 – FBI’s J Edgar Hoover arrests Alvin Karpis
1937 – FDR signs act of neutrality
1939 – Batman comics hit street
1939 – Pulitzer Prize awarded to Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings (Yearling)
1941 – “Citizen Kane,” directed & starring Orson Welles, premieres in NY
1941 – General Mills introduces Cheerios
1941 – German assault on Tobruk
1942 – Radio Orange calls to defy order to wear “Jewish star”
1943 – 1st edition of illegal “The Free Artist” appears in Amsterdam
1943 – 69th Kentucky Derby: Johnny Longden aboard Count Fleet wins in 2:04
1943 – Food rationing begins in US
1943 – German plane sinks boat loaded with Palestinian Jews bound for Malta
1945 – 900 occupiers of Demmin Vorpommeren, commit suicide
1945 – Admiral Karl Doenitz forms German government
1945 – Australian & Dutch troops lands on Tarakan
1945 – Radio Budapest, Hungary re-enters shortwave broadcasting after WW II
1946 – Fieldmarshal Montgomery appointed British supreme commander
1946 – Mrs Emma Clarissa Clement named “American Mother of Year”
1947 – Lt General Hoyt S Vandenberg, USA, ends term as 2nd head of CIA
1947 – Radar for coml & private planes 1st demonstrated
1947 – Rear Admiral Roscoe H Hillenkoetter, USN, becomes 3th director of CIA
1948 – 74th Kentucky Derby: Eddie Arcaro aboard Citation wins in 2:05.4
1948 – North Korean proclaims itself People’s Democratic Republic of Korea
1948 – Glenn Taylor, Idaho Senator, arrested in Birmingham Alabama for trying to enter a meeting through a door marked “for Negroes”
1949 – A’s Elmer Valo is 1st AL’er to hit 2 bases-loaded triples in a game
1949 – Gerard Kuiper discovers Nereid, (2nd satellite of Neptune)
1950 – Gwendolyn Brooks, is 1st Black awarded a Pulitzer Prize (poetry)
1950 – Pulitzer prize awarded to Rodgers & Hammerstein (South Pacific)
1951 – 600,000 march for peace & freedom in Germany
1951 – Mickey Mantle’s 1st HR
1952 – Marines take part in an atomic explosion training in Nevada
1952 – Mr Potato Head, introduced
1952 – TWA introduces tourist class
1954 – 80th Kentucky Derby: Raymond York aboard Determine wins in 2:03
1955 – Bob Feller’s 15th 1 or less hitter (12 1-hitters, 3 no-hitters)
1956 – A doctor in Japan reports an “epidemic of an unknown disease of the central nervous system”, marking the official discovery of Minamata disease.
1957 – Larry King’s 1st radio broadcast
1957 – US give Poland credit of $95 million
1957 – Vanguard TV-1 booster test reaches 195 km
1959 – Floyd Patterson KOs Brian London in 11 for heavyweight boxing title
1959 – West Germany introduces 5 day work week
1960 – Russia shoots down Francis Gary Powers‘ U-2 spy plane over Sverdlovsk
1961 – 1st US airplane hijacked to Cuba
1961 – Fidel Castro announces there will be no more elections in Cuba
1961 – Pulitzer prize awarded to Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird)
1962 – Bo Belinsky pitches a no-hitter, in his 4th start
1962 – JFK authorizes Area Redevelopment Act (ARA)
1963 – 1st American (James Whittaker) conquers Mount Everest
1964 – 1st BASIC program runs on a computer (Dartmouth)
1965 – 91st Kentucky Derby: Bill Shoemaker on Lucky Debonair wins in 2:01.2
1965 – USSR launches Luna 5; later impacts on Moon
1965 – Battle of Dong-Yin, a naval conflict between ROC and PRC, takes place.
1966 – Last British concert by Beatles (Empire Pool in Wembley)
1967 – Anastasio Somoza Debayle becomes president of Nicaragua
1967 – Elvis Presley & Priscilla Beaulieu wed in Las Vegas
1969 – 43 Unification church couples wed in NYC
1969 – Leonard Tose buys NFL Philadelphia Eagles for $16,155,000
1969 – Pirate Radio Station 259 (England/France) begins transmitting
1971 – 97th Kentucky Derby: Gustavo Avila on Canonero II wins in 2:03.2
1971 – Amtrak Railroad begins operation
1971 – Rolling Stones release “Brown Sugar”
1972 – Radio’s Mutual Black Network premieres
1978 – Naomi Uemura became 1st to reach North Pole overland alone
1979 – Elton John becomes 1st pop star to perform in Israel
1979 – Marshall Islands (in Pacific) become self-governing
1981 – Harrison Williams (Sen-D-NJ) convicted on FBI Abscam charges
1981 – Radio Shack releases Model III TRSDOS 1.3
1982 – 108th Kentucky Derby: Ed Delahoussaye on Gato Del Sol wins in 2:02.4
1982 – 1982 World’s Fair in Knoxville Tennessee opens
1983 – Nolan Ryan surpasses Walter Johnson for most strikeouts (3,508)
1985 – US president Reagan ends embargo against Nicaragua
1986 – Bill Elliott sets stock car speed record of 212.229 mph
1986 – Tass reports Chernobyl nuclear power plant mishap
1986 – Will Stegers expedition reaches North Pole
1987 – 46 HRs hit in 13 baseball games
1988 – IRA attack in Roermond, kills 3
1989 – 135 acre Disney’s MGM studio officially opens to public
1989 – US Supreme Court rules employees have legal burden to prove non- discriminatory reasons for not hiring or promoting
1991 – Angola’s civil war ends
1991 – Rickey Henderson breaks Lou Brocks record with his 939th steal
1991 – Texas Ranger Nolan Ryan pitches record 7th no hitter (beats Toronto 3-0)
1991 – Skin-Spit-Skin featuring lesbian, homosexual & hetrosexual nude couples caressing, is seen by 5,000 in NYC
1992 – Eric Houston kills 4 in a California HS where he failed history 4 yrs prior
1992 – Rickey Henderson steals his 1,000th base
1993 – 119th Kentucky Derby: Jerry Bailey aboard Sea Hero wins in 2:02.4
1993 – Bomb attack on Sri Lankan president (26 die)
1994 – -3] Tornado & hail storms hit Jiangxi China, 95 killed
1994 – Charles Kuralt, retires as CBS newsman (On the Road)
1995 – Croatian forces launch Operation Flash during the Croatian War of Independence.
1997 – Tony Blair elected PM of UK
2000 – Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declares the existence of “a state of rebellion”, hours after thousands of supporters of her arrested predecessor, Joseph Estrada, storm towards the presidential palace at the height of the EDSA III rebellion.
2003 – 2003 invasion of Iraq: In what becomes known as the “Mission Accomplished” speech, U.S. President George W. Bush declares that “major combat operations in Iraq have ended” on board the USS Abraham Lincoln off the coast of California.
2006 – The Puerto Rican government closes the Department of Education and 42 other government agencies due to significant shortages in cash flow.
2007 – The Los Angeles May Day mêlée occurs, in which the Los Angeles Police Department’s response to a May Day pro-immigration rally become a matter of controversy.
2010 – Car bomb fails to go off in Times Square, New York City
2012 – Guggenheim Partners make the largest ever purchase of a sports franchise after buying the Los Angeles Dodgers for $2.1 billion
Births
1218 – John I, Count of Hainaut (d. 1257)
1218 – Rudolph I of Germany, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (d. 1291)
1238 – Magnus VI Lagabuter, King of Norway (1263-80)
1285 – Edmund FitzAlan, 9th Earl of Arundel, English politician (d. 1326)
1545 – Franciscus Junius, [Francois du Jon], French/Neth calvinist theologist
1592 – Johann A Schall von Bell, German missionaries/astronomer
1672 – Joseph Addison, England, essayist (Spectator)
1735 – John H van Kinsbergen, Dutch lt-admiral/founder of Dutch Marines Corp
1738 – Kamehameha I, King of Hawaii (1782-1819) (d. 1819)
1759 – Jacob Albright, [Albrecht], German/US predictor
1764 – Benjamin Henry Latrobe, engineer/architect (built Capitol)
1769 – Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington and British Prime Minister (Tory) (1828-30)
1800 – Thomas Aloysius Dornin, Comm (Union Navy), died in 1874
1807 – John Bankhead “Prince John” Magruder, Major General (Confederate Army)
1819 – William Steele, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1885
1835 – Alfred Napoleon Alexander “Natti” Duffie, Brig Gen (Union volunteers)
1839 – Chardonnet, inventor (rayon)
1852 – Calamity Jane , frontier adventurer/indian fighter
1872 – Sidónio Pais, Portuguese military and politician (d. 1918)
1884 – Francis Curzon, 5th Earl Howe, British politician, naval officer and racing driver (d. 1964)
1887 – Alan Gordon Cunningham, Irish/Brit gen/director of Palestine (1945-48)
1896 – Mark Wayne Clark, American general (d. 1984)
1896 – J. Lawton Collins, American general (d. 1987)
1898 – Eugene R Black, US, Pres of World Bank (1953-62)
1907 – Kate Smith, American singer (d. 1986)
1909 – Ethel Jane Cain, original UK Speaking Clock voice
1910 – Cliff Battles, Akron Oh, NFL hall of famer (Braves, Redskins)
1913 – Louis Nye, American comedian and actor (d. 2005)
1915 – Archie Williams, American athlete (d. 1993)
1916 – Glenn Ford, Quebec Canada, actor (Cade’s County, Big Heat, Midway)
1918 – Jack Paar, Canton Ohio, American television host of the Jack Paar Show (d. 2004)
1921 – 12th Lord Middleton, English large landowner/multi-millionaire
1923 – Joseph Heller, Bkln NY, novelist (Catch-22, 1963 Arts & Letters Award)
1924 – Patricia Roberts Harris, 1st US black woman cabinet member
1924 – Terry Southern, writer
1925 – Malcolm Scott Carpenter, Boulder Colo, astronaut (Mercury 7-Aurora 7)
1927 – Greta Andersen, Denmark, 100m freestyle swimmer (Olympic-gold-1948)
1929 – Sonny James, [James Loden], Hackelburg AL, rocker (Young Love)
1930 – Little Walter, [Marion Walter Jacobs], Bluesman , Harp Player
1939 – Judy Collins, Seattle Wash, singer (Send in the Clowns, Clouds)
1939 – Max Robinson, Richmond Virginia, American broadcast journalistr (ABC Evening News) (d. 1988)
1940 – Elsa Peretti, Italian jewelry designer
1944 – Rita Coolidge, Nashville Tn, singer (Higher & Higher, We’re All Alone)
1946 – Jerry Weiss, NYC, rocker (Blood Sweat & Tears)
1946 – Joanna Lumley, Kashmir India, actress (Abs Fab, OHM’s Secret Service)
1946 – Nick Fortune, [Nicholas Fortuna], rock bassist (Buckinghams Chicago)
1946 – Tony Ashton, rocker
1946 – Valentin Muratov, USSR, floor exercise gymnist (Olympic-gold-1956)
1946 – John Woo, Hong Kong director
1947 – Carlos Ward, rocker (B T Express)
1948 – James Wise, US soul singer (Archie Bell & the Drells)
1949 – Margo Miller, SF California, fencer-epee (Olympics-96)
1949 – Paul Teutul, Sr., founder of Orange County Choppers
1954 – Joel Rosenberg, science fiction author
1957 – Dick Swett, (Rep-D-New Hampshire)
1957 – Paul D Ronney, LA California, ScD/astronaut (STS 83 alt)
1961 – Steven Cauthen, jockey (1978 Kentucky Derby-Affirmed)
1964 – Ruth Picardie, journalist
1966 – Johnny Colt, Cherry Point NC, rock bassist (Black Crowes)
1967 – Yael Arad, Israel, Women’s half middleweight judoka (Oly-1996)
1967 – Tim McGraw, American musician
1968 – D’arcy Wretzky, American musician (The Smashing Pumpkins)
1969 – Wes Anderson, American director and writer
1975 – Jodhi May, London, British actress (A World Apart, The Other Boleyn Girl)
1980 – Jan Heylen, Belgian racing driver
1983 – The Human Tornado (Craig Williams), American professional wrestler
Deaths
408 – Arcadius, Eastern Roman emperor (b. 337/338)
1118 – Edith of Scotland, first wife of Henry I of England (b. c. 1080)
1171 – Dermot MacMurrough, last Irish King of Leinster, dies
1240 – Jacques de Vitry, Cardinal-Bishop of Frascati and dean of the Sacred College of Cardinals
1277 – Stefanus IV Uros I de Great, King of Serbia (1243-76), dies
1308 – Albrecht I van Habsburg, German King (1298-1308), murdered
1447 – Louis VII, Duke of Baveria (1413-43), dies
1539 – Isabella of Portugal, queen of Spain and empress of Germany (b. 1503)
1572 – Pius V, [Antonio Ghislieri], great-inquisiteur/Pope (1566-72), dies
1700 – John Dryden, English poet/playwright (Rival Ladies), dies
1731 – Johann Ludwig Bach, German composer (b. 1677)
1813 – Jean-Baptiste Bessières, French marshal (killed in combat) (b. 1768)
1863 – Edward Dorr Tracy, US Confederate brig-general, dies in battle at 29
1873 – David Livingstone, British physician/explorer (Africa), dies at 60
1899 – Ludwig Büchner, German philosopher and physician (b. 1824)
1902 – John Glover, English chemist (production sulfuric acid), dies at 85
1904 – Antonín Dvorak, Czech composer (Slavic Dancing), dies at 62
1913 – John Barclay Armstrong, Texas Ranger and U.S. Marshal (b. 1850)
1945 – Paul Josef Goebbels, Nazi minister on propoganda, commits suicide
1947 – Sanner, leader of Norger blood bath, executed
1965 – Spike Jones, composer (Spike Jones Show), dies at 53
1978 – Aram Katchaturian, Russian composer (The Earth), dies at 74
1991 – Richard Thorpe, director (Jailhouse Rock, Night Must Fall), dies
1994 – Ayrton Senna, Brazilian Grand prix driver, dies in crash at 34
1997 – Bebe, AKA Flipper, dolphin, dies at 40
1998 – Eldridge Cleaver, American activist (b. 1935)
2000 – Steve Reeves, American actor (b. 1926)
2003 – Miss Elizabeth, American wrestler (b. 1960)
2006 – Big Hawk, American rapper (b.1969)
2006 – Johnny Paris, American saxophonist (Johnny and the Hurricanes) (b. 1940)
2008 – Deborah Jeane Palfrey, Washington, D.C. prostitution service owner (b. 1956)
2009 – Danny Gans, Canadian-born Las Vegas entertainer (b. 1956)
2012 – Charles “skip” Pitts, American soul and blues guitarist, dies from lung cancer at 65
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