Today In The Past
Events
1194 – King Richard I of England gives Portsmouth its first Royal Charter.
1230 – William de Braose, 10th Baron Abergavenny is hanged by Prince Llywelyn the Great.
1335 – Otto the Merry, Duke of Austria, becomes Duke of Carinthia.
1345 – “Quaden Maendach” in Gent: Battles between volders & weavers
1497 – John Cabot departs to North-America
1536 – King Henry VIII accused Anna Boleyn of adultery & incest
1668 – Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle/1st peace of Aken: ends War of Devolution, French-Spanish war in The Netherlands
1776 – France & Spain agreed to give weapons to American rebels
1780 – William Herschel discovers 1st binary star, Xi Ursae Majoris
1829 – After anchoring nearby, Captain Charles Fremantle of the HMS Challenger, declares the Swan River Colony in Australia.
1863 – South defeats North in Battle of Chancellorsville, Va
1863 – Stonewall Jackson attacks Chancellorsville, wounded by his own men
1865 – Pres Johnson offers $100,000 reward for capture of Jefferson Davis
1866 – Peruvian defenders fight off Spanish fleet at the Battle of Callao.
1885 – “Good Housekeeping” magazine is 1st published
1887 – Hannibal W Goodwin patents celluloid photographic film
1903 – 29th Kentucky Derby: Hal Booker aboard Judge Himes wins in 2:09
1904 – 30th Kentucky Derby: Shorty Prior aboard Elwood wins in 2:08.50
1906 – 32nd Kentucky Derby: Roscoe Troxler aboard Sir Huon wins in 2:08.8
1908 – 1908 “Take me out to the Ball Game registered for copyright.
1909 – Honus Wagner steals his way around bases in 1st inning against Cubs
1916 – US president Wilson signs Harrison Drug Act
1918 – General Motors acquires the Chevrolet Motor Company of Delaware.
1919 – 1st US air passenger service starts
1923 – Senator Walter Johnson pitches his 100th shutout, beats Yanks 3-0
1926 – US military intervenes in Nicaragua
1932 – Jack Benny’s 1st radio show premieres (NBC Blue Network)
1932 – Pulitzer prize awarded to Pearl S Buck (Good Earth)
1936 – 62nd Kentucky Derby: Ira Hanford aboard Bold Venture wins in 2:03.6
1938 – Ella Fitzgerald records “A-Tisket, A-Tasket”
1938 – Pulitzer prize awarded to Thornton Wilder (Our Town)
1939 – Lou Gehrig ends 2,130 consecutive game streak, Yanks beat Tigers 22-2
1941 – Martin Bormann succeeds Rudolf Hess as Hitler’s deputy
1941 – Ted Williams lowest average (.308) in year he hit over .400
1942 – 68th Kentucky Derby: Wayne D Wright aboard Shut Out wins in 2:04.4
1942 – Japanese troops occupy Mandalay Burma
1945 – German Army in Italy surrenders
1945 – Russia takes Berlin; General Weidling surrenders
1946 – The “Battle of Alcatraz” takes place, killing two guards and three inmates.
1949 – Arthur Miller wins Pulitzer Prize for “Death of a Salesman”
1949 – Don Newcombe, 1st start, shuts out Cincinnati on 5 hits to win 3-0
1953 – 79th Kentucky Derby: Hank Moreno aboard Dark Star wins in 2:02
1955 – Pulitzer prize awarded Tennessee Williams for (Cat on Hot Tin Roof)
1956 – US Lab detects high-temperature microwave radiation from Venus
1956 – US Methodist church disallows race separation
1959 – 85th Kentucky Derby: Bill Shoemaker aboard Tomy Lee wins in 2:02.2
1960 – “American Bandstand’s” Dick Clark
1962 – OAS strikes in Algeria
1964 – 90th Kentucky Derby: Bill Hartack aboard Northern Dancer wins in 2:00
1964 – Mad Dog Vachon beats Verne Gagne in Omaha, to become NWA champ
1964 – First ascent of Shishapangma the fourteenth highest mountain in the world and the lowest of the Eight-thousanders.
1968 – Gold reaches then record high ($39.35 per ounce) in London
1969 – British liner Queen Elizabeth II leaves on maiden voyage to NY
1970 – 1st woman jockey at Kentucky Derby (Diane Crump)
1970 – 96th Kentucky Derby: Mike Manganello on Dust Commander wins 2:03.4
1972 – Electrical fire in Sunshine Silver mine. 126 die (Kellogg Idaho)
1972 – Lt General Vernon A Walters, USA, becomes deputy director of CIA
1974 – Former VP Spiro Agnew disbarred
1975 – Apple records closes down
1980 – Joseph Doherty & 3 other IRA men arrested for murder
1980 – Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in Wall (Part II)” is banned in South Africa
1981 – 107th Kentucky Derby: Jorge Velasquez on Pleasant Colony wins in 2:02
1982 – Falklands War: Argentine cruiser General Belgrano sunk by British submarine Conqueror, killing more than 350 men
1987 – 113th Kentucky Derby: Chris McCarron aboard Alysheba wins in 2:03.4
1988 – Jackson Pollock’s “Search” sold for $4,800,000
1988 – Reds manager Pete Rose is suspended for 30 days for pushing an ump
1992 – 118th Kentucky Derby: Pat Day aboard Lil E Tee wins in 2:03
1994 – Bus crashes into a tree at Gdansk Poland, 30 killed
1994 – Dr Kervokian found innocent on assisting suicides
1994 – Michael Bolton found plagurized Isley Bros “Love is Wonderful Thing”
1995 – Serb missiles exploded in the heart of Zagreb, killing six
1997 – Mercury Mail announces its 1 millionth internet subscriber
1997 – Police arrest transsexual hooker Atisone Seiuli with Eddie Murphy
1998 – 124th Kentucky Derby
1998 – The European Central Bank is founded in Brussels in order to define and execute the European Union’s monetary policy.
2000 – President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military.
2002 – Marad massacre of eight Hindus near Palakkad in Kerala.
2004 – Yelwa massacre of more than 630 nomad Muslims by Christians in Nigeria.
2008 – Cyclone Nargis makes landfall in Myanmar killing over 130,000 people and leaving millions of people homeless.
2011 – Osama bin Laden, the suspected mastermind behind the September 11 attacks and the FBI’s most wanted man is killed by the United States special forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan.
2012 – Edvard Munch’s famous painting ‘The Scream’ sells at auction for $119,922,500
Births
1360 – Yongle, Emperor of China (d. 1424)
1458 – Leonor of Viseu, queen of Portugal (d. 1525)
1551 – William Camden, English historian (Brittania, Annales)
1660 – Pietro Alessandro Gaspare Scarlatti, Palermo Italy, composer (Tigrane)
1695 – Giovanni Niccolo Servandoni, Italian-born architect (d. 1766)
1729 – Catherine the Great [Catherine II], Stettin, Pomerania, Kingdom of Prussia, Empress of Russia (1762-96)
1750 – John André, British Army officer of the American Revolutionary War (d. 1780)
1779 – John Galt, Scotland, novelist (Ayrshire Legatees, Lawrie Todd)
1821 – Abram Sanders Piatt, Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1908
1828 – Désiré Charnay, French archaeologist (d. 1915)
1837 – Henry Martyn Robert, parliamentarian (Robert’s Rules of Order)
1844 – Elijah McCoy, black inventor, held over 50 patents
1860 – D’Arcy Thompson, zoologist/classicist (On Growth & Form)
1869 – Tyrone Power Sr, London England, actor (Alexanders Ragtime Band)
1879 – James F. Byrnes, American statesman, and Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1972)
1885 – Hedda Hopper, American gossip columnist (d. 1966)
1890 – E[dward] E[lmer] “Doc” Smith, US, sci-fi author (Triplanetary). Died 1965
1892 – Manfred Freiherr von Richthofen [The Red Baron], Breslau, German World War I fighter ace
1895 – Lorenz Hart, American lyricist (d. 1943)
1897 – J. Fred Coots, American songwriter (d. 1985)
1902 – Brian Aherne, Worcestershire England, actor (Juarez)
1903 – Benjamin Spock, CT, pediatrician (Common Sense Book of Baby Care)
1906 – Aileen Riggin, Newport RI, springboard diver (Olympic-gold-1920, 24)
1906 – Philippe Halsman, American photographer (d. 1979)
1907 – Pinky Lee, children’s show host (Pinky Lee Show)
1910 – Alexander Bonnyman, U.S. Marine (d. 1943)
1912 – Axel Springer, German newspaper magnate
1917 – Albert Castelyns, Belgian water polo player and bobsledder
1924 – Theodore Bikel, Austrian/US folk singer/actor (Russians Are Coming)
1925 – Roscoe Lee Browne, Woodbury NJ, actor (McCoy, Saunders-Soap)
1932 – Bruce Glover, Chicago Ill, actor (Diamonds are Forever)
1933 – Bunk Gardner, rocker (Mothers Of Invention)
1935 – Link Wray, rocker (Link Wray & His Ray Men)
1937 – Lorenzo Music, Bkln NY, writer/actor/voice (Carlton-Rhoda, Garfield)
1939 – Sumio Iijima, Japanese physicist
1945 – Bianca Perez Morena de Macias Jagger, Nicaragua, model and socialite
1945 – Bob Henrit, English pop drummer (Kinks-Waterloo Sunset)
1945 – Goldy McJohn, rocker (Steppenwolf)
1945 – Judge Dread, English musician (d. 1998)
1946 – Lesley Gore, Tenafly NJ, singer (It’s My Party)
1948 – Larry Gatlin, Seminole Tx, country singer (Gatlin Bros-Broken Lady)
1950 – Lou Gramm, Rochester NY, rocker (Foreigner-Want to Know What Love Is)
1952 – Christine Baranski, Buffalo NY, actress (Maryann-Cybill, Birdcage)
1954 – Roberta Pedon, American glamour model (d. 1982)
1955 – Jay Osmond, rocker (Osmond Brothers)
1956 – David Rhodes, English guitarist
1961 – Doctor Robert, [Bruce R Howard], rocker (Blow Monkeys-Wicked Ways)
1962 – Jimmy White, English snooker player
1972 – Jill Savery, Fort Lauderdale Fl, synchronized swimmer (Olympics-gold-96)
1972 – Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, American professional wrestler and actor
1977 – Amy D’Entremont, Stoneham Mass, figure skater (1995 NE Jr champ)
1977 – Jenna Von Oy, actress (Seven-Blossom)
1980 – Pierre-Luc Gagnon, Canadian skateboarder
1983 – Christa Rigozzi, Swiss model
1985 – Kyle Busch, American race car driver
1985 – Sarah Hughes, American figure skater
Deaths
373 – Athanasius, Patriarch of Alexandria (b. 298)
649 – Maruta of Tagrit, theology/1st mafriaan Jakobitische church, dies
756 – Emperor Shōmu, Emperor of Japan (b. 701)
907 – Boris I of Bulgaria
1230 – William de Braose, Lord of Abergavenny (b. 1197)
1250 – Toeransa, sultan of Egypt, murdered
1300 – Blanche of Artois, regent of Navarre (b. 1248)
1450 – William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, English military leader (b. 1396)
1519 – Leonardo Da Vinci, artist/scientist, dies at 67
1669 – Pieter Jansz Post, master builder (Waag, Gouda), dies at 61
1683 – Stjepan Gradić, Croatian philosopher and scientist (b. 1613)
1736 – Albert Seba, Amsterdam pharmacist, dies at 71
1849 – David H Chasse, baron/gen (fought Napoleon at Waterloo), dies at 84
1945 – Martin Bormann, propoganda minister for Hitler, dies
1957 – Joseph McCarthy, commie hunting senator (R-Wisc), dies at 47
1960 – Caryl Chessman, rapist executed after 12 years of appeals at 39
1968 – Donald L Hall, airplane designer (Spirit of St Louis), dies at 69
1972 – J Edgar Hoover, first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (1924-72) dies at 77
1980 – George Pál, Hungarian-born film director (b. 1908)
1983 – Marius F Duintjer, architect, dies
1983 – Norm Van Brocklin, American football star (b. 1926)
1985 – Attilio Bettega, Italian rallydriver (b.1951)
1986 – Henri Toivonen, Finnish rallydriver (b.1956)
1990 – David Rappaport, 3’11’ actor (Wizard, LA Law), shoots himself at 38
1990 – Oleg Anatolyevich Yakovlev, Russian cosmonaut, dies at 49
1992 – Lee Salk, baby doctor/author, dies of cardiac arrest at 65
1992 – Wilbur Mills, (Rep-D-Ark)/involved with Fanne Foxe, dies at 82
1993 – Julio Gallo, wine maker (Gallo), dies in a car accident at 82
1994 – Wilson Charles Geoffery Baldwin, hero, dies at 75
1999 – Oliver Reed, English actor (b. 1938)
2002 – W. T. Tutte, English-born codebreaker (b. 1917)
2006 – Louis Rukeyser, American columnist (b. 1933)
2010 – Lynn Redgrave, British actress (b. 1943)
2011 – Osama bin Laden, leader of al-Qaeda and ‘the most wanted man in the world’ (b. 1957)
2012 – Junior Seau, NFL inside linebacker, commits suicide at 43
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