Today In The Past
Events
1256 – The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull Licet ecclesiae catholicae.
1303 – Flemings conquers Middelburg
1415 – Religious reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus are condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance.
1471 – Battle of Tewkesbury – King Edward IV vs Ex-queen Margaretha
1493 – Spanish Pope Alexander VI divides America between Spain & Portugal
1494 – Christopher Columbus lands in Jamaica
1626 – Peter Minuit becomes director-general of New Netherlands
1652 – Battle at Etampes: French army under Turenne beats Fronde rebels
1686 – Municipality of Ilagan is founded in the Philippines.
1715 – French manufacturer debuts 1st folding umbrella (Paris)
1776 – Rhode Island declares independence from England
1799 – Fourth Anglo-Mysore War: The Battle of Seringapatam: The siege of Seringapatam ends when the city is assaulted and the Tipu Sultan killed by the besieging British army, under the command of General George Harris.
1805 – Henry C Overing buys 80 acres of Throggs Neck in Bronx
1814 – Bourbon reign restored in France
1839 – The Cunard Steamship Company Ltd forms San Bonifacio
1843 – Great-Britain annexes Natal
1846 – US state Michigan ends death penalty
1851 – 1st major SF fire
1861 – At Gretna LA, one of 1st guns of Rebel navy is cast
1862 – -5] Battle at Williamsburg, Virginia
1862 – Yorktown, VA – McClellan halted his troop before town as it is full of armed torpedoes left by CS Brigadier General Gabrial Rains
1863 – Battle of Chancellorsville-action at Salem Church
1863 – End of Chancellorsville – Beaten Union army withdraws
1864 – -16] actions at Drewry’s Bluff, Virginia
1864 – Gen Grant’s Army at Potomac attacks at Rappahannock
1864 – Ulysses S. Grant crosses Rapidan & begins his duel with Robert E Lee
1865 – Battle of Citronville, AL; Richard Taylor surrenders
1865 – Battle of Mobile, AL
1869 – The Naval Battle of Hakodate takes place in Japan.
1878 – Phonograph shown for 1st time at Grand Opera House
1886 – Haymarket riot in Chicago; bomb kills 7 policemen
1893 – Cowboy Bob Pickett invents bulldogging
1896 – 1st edition of London Daily Mail (halfpenny)
1896 – Grease fire ignites half ton of dynamite at Cripple Creek Colorado
1897 – 23rd Kentucky Derby: Buttons Garner aboard Typhoon II wins in 2:12.5
1897 – Fire in Paris bazaar at Rue Jean Goujon kills 200
1898 – 24th Kentucky Derby: Willie Simms aboard Plaudit wins in 2:09
1899 – 25th Kentucky Derby: Fred Taral aboard Manuel wins in 2:12
1904 – Construction begins by the United States on the Panama Canal.
1904 – Charles Stewart Rolls meets Frederick Henry Royce at the Midland Hotel in Manchester, England.
1910 – Canadian parliament accept creation of Royal Canadian Navy
1910 – Tel Aviv founded
1916 – At request of US, Germany curtails its submarine warfare
1917 – Arabs sack Tel Aviv
1919 – Giants play their 1st legal Sunday home game, 35,000 see Phils win 4-3
1923 – Bloody street battles between nazi’s, socialist & police in Vienna
1923 – NY state revokes Prohibition law
1927 – 1st balloon flight over 40,000 feet (Scott Field, Ill)
1929 – Lou Gehrig hits 3 consecutive HRs, Yankees 11, Tigers 9
1932 – Al Capone, convict of income tax evasion, enters Atlanta Penitentiary
1933 – Pulitzer prize awarded to Archibald Macleish (Conquistador)
1935 – 61st Kentucky Derby: Willie Saunders aboard Omaha wins in 2:05
1938 – Douglas Hyde (a protestant) becomes 1st president of Eire
1940 – 66th Kentucky Derby: Carroll Bierman aboard Gallahadion wins in 2:05
1942 – Battle of Coral Sea begun (1st sea battle fought solely in air)
1942 – Food 1st rationed in US
1945 – German troops in Netherlands, Denmark & Norway surrender
1946 – 5 die in a 2 day riot at Alcatraz prison in SF bay
1946 – 72nd Kentucky Derby: Warren Mehrtens aboard Assault wins in 2:06.6
1948 – The Hague Court of Justice convicts Hans Rauter (SS) to the death
1953 – Pulitzer prize awarded to Ernest Hemingway (Old Man & The Sea)
1957 – 83rd Kentucky Derby: Bill Hartack aboard Iron Liege wins in 2:02.2
1959 – 1st Grammy Awards: Perry Como & Ella Fitzgerald win
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1961 – CORE begins freedom rides from Washington, DC
1963 – 89th Kentucky Derby: Braulio Baeza aboard Chateaugay wins in 2:01.8
1964 – 70 GATT-countries confer in Geneva
1964 – Pulitzer prize awarded to Richard Hofstadter (Anti-intellectualism)
1965 – Willie Mays 512th HR breaks Mel Ott’s 511th NL record
1968 – 94th Kentucky Derby: Ismael Valenzuela aboard Forward Pass wins
1968 – Dancer Image DQ due to drugs after winning 94th Kent Derby in 2:02½
1970 – National Guard kills 4 at Kent State in Ohio
1970 – Premier Kosygin affirms existence Russian military advisors in Egypt
1972 – The Don’t Make A Wave Committee, a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changes its name to “Greenpeace Foundation”.
1973 – 1st TV network female nudity-Steambath (PBS)-Valerie Perrine
1973 – Longest game in Veterans’ Stadium, Phillies beat Braves 5-4 in 20
1974 – 100th Kentucky Derby: Angel Cordero Jr. aboard Cannonade wins in 2:04
1979 – Margaret Thatcher elected prime minister of England
1982 – British torpedo boat Sheffield off Falkland hit by Exocet rocket
1984 – Dave Kingman’s fly ball never comes down (stuck in Metrodome ceiling)
1985 – 111th Kentucky Derby: Angel Cordero Jr on Spend A Buck wins 2:00.2
1989 – Junior Felix of Toronto becomes 53rd to hit HR on 1st at bat
1991 – 117th Kentucky Derby: Chris Antley aboard Strike the Gold wins in 2:03
1996 – 122nd Kentucky Derby: Jerry Bailey aboard Grindstone wins in 2:01
1998 – A federal judge in Sacramento, California, gives “Unabomber” Theodore Kaczynski four life sentences plus 30 years after Kaczynski accepts a plea agreement sparing him from the death penalty.
2002 – Barry Bonds hits his 400th home run as a Giant, leading his team to a 3-0 win over Cincinnati. Bonds is the first player to hit 400 homers for one team and 100 with another
2007 – Greensburg, Kansas is almost completely destroyed by a 1.7m wide EF-5 tornado.
2007 – The Scottish National Party wins the Scottish general election and becomes the largest party in the Scottish Parliament for the first time ever.
2012 – 14 decapitated bodies and 9 hung from a bridge are found in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico
Births
1006 – Khajeh Abdullah Ansari, The Persian Sufi (d. 1088), Herat, Khorasan (now Afghanistan)
1008 – King Henry I of France (d. 1060)
1631 – Mary I Henriette Stuart, daughter of Charles I/queen of England
1655 – Bartolomeo di Francesco Cristofori, Italy, piano builder
1733 – Jean-Charles de Borda, French mathematician, physicist, political scientist, and sailor (d. 1799)
1767 – Tyagaraja, Composer of Indian classical Carnatic music (d. 1847)
1776 – Johann Friedrich Herbart, Germany, philosopher/psychologist
1781 – Karl Christian Friedrich Krause, German philosopher (d. 1832)
1796 – Horace Mann, US, educator/author/editor (pioneered public schools)
1796 – Joseph Pannell Taylor, Brigadier General (Union Army), died in 1864
1796 – William H. Prescott, American historian (d. 1859)
1820 – Julia Gardiner Tyler, 2nd wife of Pres John Tyler (1841-45)
1825 – Thomas Henry Huxley, scientist/humanist/Darwinist
1826 – Frederick Church, US romantic landscape painter (Hudson River Sch)
1827 – John Hanning Speke, British explorer (d. 1864)
1852 – Alice Pleasance Liddell, English schoolgirl model for Alice in Wonderland (d. 1934)
1881 – Aleksandr F Kerenski, Russian premier (1917-Prelude to Bolshevism)
1889 – Francis J Spellman, US Cardinal
1902 – Rodney Meredith Thomas, architect/painter
1907 – Lincoln Kirstein, American impresario (d. 1996)
1916 – Maurice “Moe” Purtill, jazz drummer
1923 – Ed Cassidy, American musician (Spirit)
1925 – Maurice R. Greenberg, American businessman
1926 – Milton “Milt” Thompson, US NASA-test pilot/chief-engineer (X-15)
1927 – Terry (Owen John) Scott, Watford UK, English actor and comedian (Carry On Films)
1928 – Hosni Mubarak, Kafr-El Meselha, Egypt, Egyptian president (1981-2011)
1928 – Maynard Ferguson, Verdun Quebec, jazz trumpeter (Roulette)
1928 – Wolfgang von Trips, German racing driver (d. 1961)
1929 – Audrey Hepburn, Brussels Belg, (Breakfast at Tiffany’s, My Fair Lady), (d. 1993)
1930 – Roberta Peters, NYC, operatic soprano (NY Met)
1936 – El Cordobés, Spanish matador
1937 – Ron Carter, jazz bassist (Ron Carter Meets Bach)
1937 – Mr. Fuji, Former professional wrestler
1937 – Dick Dale, American guitarist
1939 – Amos Oz, Jerusalem, Israel, author (My Michael)
1940 – Robin Cook, American novelist
1941 – George F Will, political analyst (Night Line)
1942 – Ronnie Bond, drummer (Troggs-Wild Thing)
1943 – Nickolas Ashford, SC, singer (Ashford & Simpson-Solid as a Rock)
1944 – Paul Gleason, Jersey City NJ, actor (Breakfast Club, Die Hard)
1945 – George Wadenius, rocker (Blood, Sweat & Tears)
1946 – John Watson, Northern Irish racecar driver
1948 – Billy O’Donnell, harness racer driver of year (1984)
1948 – Hurley Haywood, American race car driver, and three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
1949 – Sybil Danning, [Danninger], Weis Austria, actress (Chained Heat)
1949 – Zal Cleminson, rocker (Alex Harvey Band)
1949 – John Force, American race car driver
1950 – Darryl Hunt, English pop bassist (Pogues-Pair of Brown Eyes)
1951 – Mick Mars, American guitarist (Mötley Crüe)
1954 – Pia Zadora, American actress
1956 – Ulrike Meyfarth, Frankfurt West Germany, high jumper (Olympic-gold-1972)
1956 – Sharon Jones, Augusta Georgia, soul/funk singer (Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings)
1958 – Keith Haring, Kutztown Pa, graffiti artist (Vanity Fair, Paris Review)
1959 – Randy Travis, Marshville NC, country singer (Diggin’ Up Bones)
1962 – Tracy Vaccaro, Glendale California, playmate (October, 1983)
1966 – Jane McGrath, co-founder of the McGrath Foundation for breast cancer (d. 2008)
1970 – Dawn Staley, Phila, basketball guard (Olympics-gold-96)
1971 – Luiz Garcia, Jr., Brazilian racing driver
1975 – Laci Peterson, American murder victim (d. 2002)
1979 – Lance Bass, American singer (*NSYNC)
1987 – Jorge Lorenzo, Spanish motorcycle racer
Deaths
1436 – Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson, Swedish statesman (b. 1390s)
1471 – Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales (killed in battle) (b. 1453)
1471 – Edmund Beaufort, 4th Duke of Somerset, English military commander (executed)
1566 – Luca Ghini, Italian physician and botanist (b. 1490)
1605 – Ulisse Aldrovandi, Italian biologist/medical, dies at 82
1615 – Adriaan van Roomen, Flemish mathematician (b. 1561)
1677 – Isaac Barrow, English mathematician (b. 1630)
1684 – John Nevison, English highwayman (b. 1639)
1734 – James Thornhill, English painter
1790 – Matthew Tilghman, American delegate to the Continental Congress (b. 1718)
1799 – Tipu Sultan, Indian military leader killed during Battle of Seringapatam (b. 1750)
1811 – Nikolay Kamensky, Russian general (b. 1776)
1832 – Jan van Speyck, Dutch admiral, buried in New Church
1855 – Camille Pleyel, Austria piano builder/composer, dies at 66
1858 – Aimé Bonpland, French explorer and botanist (b. 1773)
1859 – Joseph Diaz Gergonne, French mathematician (b. 1771)
1879 – William Froude, Brit civil eng/shipbuilder (F Integer), dies at 68
1916 – Joseph Mary Plunkett, Irish revolutionary (b. 1887)
1955 – Louis Breguet, French aviation pioneer, dies at 75
1970 – 4 students, at Kent State University killed by Ohio National Guard
1970 – William Schroeder (b. 1950)
1971 – Donald Dexter Van Slyke, US chemist (Cyanosis), dies at 88
1972 – Edward Calvin Kendall, American chemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1886)
1973 – Jane Bowles, writer, dies at 56
1975 – Moe Howard, [Moses Horowitz], comedian (3 Stooges), dies at 77
1980 – Josip Broz Tito, leader of Yugoslavia (1943-80), dies at 87
1984 – Diana Dors, actress (Berserk!), dies at 52 of cancer
1984 – Bob Clampett, American cartoonist (b. 1913)
1987 – Cathryn Damon, actress (Mary Campbell-Soap), dies at 56
1987 – Paul Butterfield, singer/harmonica player, dies of drug abuse at 44
1991 – Dennis Crosby, son of Bing, commits suicide at 54
1994 – Karl Francis Hettinger, onion Field survivor, dies at 59
1996 – Jean Crepin, soldier/industrialist, dies at 87
1997 – Alvy Moore, actor/producer (Mr Kimball-Green Acres), dies at 75
2001 – Bonnie Lee Bakley, American murder victim (b. 1956)
2005 – David Hackworth, U.S. Army officer and military journalist (b. 1930)
2009 – Dom Deluise, American comedian, actor (b. 1933)
2012 – MCA [Adam Yauch], beastie boys vocalist, dies from cancer at 47
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