Today In The Past
Events
715 – St Gregory II begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1506 – Columbus selects his son Diego as sole heir
1515 – George van Saksen-Meissen sells Friesland for 100,000 gold guilders to arch duke Charles
1568 – English queen Elizabeth I arrests Scottish queen Mary
1571 – Miguel Lopez de Lagazpi founded Manila in the Phillipines
1585 – Spain confiscates English ships
1608 – Matthias von Habsburgs army reaches Lieben, at Prague
1635 – France declares war on Spain
1643 – Battle at Rocroi/Allersheim: French army destroys Spanish army
1643 – Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut & New Harbor form United Colonies of New England
1649 – An Act declaring England a Commonwealth is passed by the Long Parliament. England would be a republic for the next eleven years.
1780 – About midday, near-total darkness descends on much of New England to this day it’s cause is still unexplained
1828 – U.S. President John Quincy Adams signs the Tariff of 1828/Tariff of Abominations into law to protect industry in the North
1848 – 1st department store opens
1848 – Mexico gives Texas to US, ending the war
1862 – Homestead Act becomes law provides cheap land for settlement of West
1863 – Siege of Vicksburg, investment of city complete
1864 – Battle of Port Walthall Junction, VA (Bermuda Hundred)
1864 – Last engagement in series of battles known as Spotsylvania
1864 – Skirmish at Cassville Georgia
1865 – President Jefferson Davis is captured by Union Cavalry in Georgia
1884 – Ringling Brothers circus premieres
1892 – Charles Brady King invents pneumatic hammer
1892 – National Society of Colonial Dames of America founded
1893 – Heavy rain wash “quick clay” into a deep valley, kills 111 (Norway)
1896 – 1st auto (Benz) to arrive in Netherlands
1897 – Oscar Wilde is released from Reading Gaol.
1898 – Post Office authorizes use of postcards
1900 – World’s longest railroad tunnel (Simplon) links Italy & Switz, opens
1909 – Jack Johnson fights Jack O’Brien to no decision in 6 for boxing title
1916 – Escadrille Américaine (Lafayette) transfered to Verdun
1921 – Congress sharply curbs immigration, setting a national quota system
1923 – 49th Kentucky Derby: Earl Sande aboard Zev wins in 2:05.4
1926 – French air force bombs Damascus Syria
1929 – Cloudburst causes stampede in Yankee Stadium crushes 2 people to death
1931 – Ironclad cruiser Germany launched in Kiel
1937 – John Murray/Allen Boretz’ “Room Service,” premieres in NYC
1941 – New nazi battleship Bismarck leaves Gdynia, Poland
1943 – Churchill pledges England’s full support to US against Japan
1951 – 77th Preakness: Eddie Arcaro aboard Bold wins in 1:56.4
1951 – UN begins counter offensive in Korea
1956 – 82nd Preakness: Bill Hartack aboard Fabius wins in 1:58.4
1958 – Premiere of Harold Pinter’s “Birthday Party,” in London
1960 – Juan Marichal debuts as SF Giant pitcher, beats Phillies on 1 hitter
1960 – USAF Maj Robert M White takes X-15 to 33,222 m
1962 – 88th Preakness: John Rotz aboard Greek Money wins in 1:56.2
1962 – Indonesian paratroopers land in New Guinea
1964 – US diplomats find at least 40 secret microphones in Moscow embassy
1965 – Patricia R Harris named 1st US black female ambassador (Luxembourg)
1967 – US bombs Hanoi
1971 – USSR launches Mars 2, 1st spacecraft to crash land on Mars
1973 – 99th Preakness: Ron Turcotte aboard Secretariat wins in 1:54.4
1975 – Farm truck packed with wedding party struck by a train, killing 66 in truck, 40 miles south of Poona, India
1975 – Junko Tabei is 1st woman to climb to the top of Mount Everest
1976 – Gold ownership legalized in Australia
1977 – “Smokey & the Bandit,” premieres
1979 – “In The Navy” by Village People hits #3
1979 – 105th Preakness: Ron Franklin aboard Spectacular Bid wins in 1:54.2
1983 – NASA launches Intelsat V satellite, no. 506
1983 – Weird Al Yankovic gives live performance at Wax Museum in Wash DC
1984 – 110th Preakness: Angel Cordero Jr aboard Gate Dancer wins in 1:53.6
1984 – STS 41-D vehicle moves to launch pad
1989 – Dow Jones Avg passes 2,500 mark for 1st time, closes at 2,501.1
1990 – 116th Preakness: Pat Day aboard Summer Squall wins in 1:53.6
1991 – “Buddy – The Buddy Holly Story” closes at Shubert NYC after 225 perfs
1991 – Willy T Ribbs becomes 1st black driver to make Indianapolis 500
1992 – 27th Amendment ratified, prohibits Congress from raising its salary
1992 – Amy Fisher shoots Mary Jo Buttafuoco in Massapequa LI
1992 – Englishman Dave Gauder, 224 lbs, pulls 196 ton jumbo jet, 3 inches
1992 – VP Dan Quayle attacks Murphy Brown for being a single mother and as a poor example of family values
1993 – Dow Jones closes above 3,500 for 1st time (3,500.03)
1994 – Omar Sharif suffers a mild heart attack
1994 – Tennis star Jennifer Capriati (18), checks into a drug rehab center
1995 – World’s youngest doctor, Balamurali Ambati, 17, graduates Mount Sinai
Births
1469 – Giovanni della Robbia, Italian sculptor
1611 – Innocent XI, [Benedetto Odescalchi], Italy, 240th Pope (1676-89)
1616 – Johann Jakob Froberger, German singer/organist/composer
1700 – José de Escandón, Spanish colonial governor (d. 1770)
1724 – Augustus Hervey, 3rd Earl of Bristol, British admiral and politician (d. 1779)
1744 – Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (d. 1818)
1762 – Johann G Fichte German philosopher (Wissenschaftslehre)
1773 – Arthur Aikin, English mineralogist (d. 1854)
1795 – Johns Hopkins, philanthropist, founded Johns Hopkins University
1808 – Samuel Jameson Gholson, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1883
1812 – Felix Kirk Zollicoffer, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1862
1815 – John Gross Barnard, Bvt Major General (Union Army), died in 1882
1828 – Adin Ballou Underwood, Bvt Major General (Union volunteers)
1862 – Mikhail Nesterov, Russian painter (d. 1942)
1864 – Carl Ethan Akeley, US, naturalist, devoleped animal mount process
1870 – Albert Fish, American serial killer (d. 1936)
1881 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, 1st President of Turkey (d. 1938)
1890 – Ho Chi Minh, trail blazer/leader of Vietnam (1946, 1969)
1891 – Oswald Boelcke, German World War I pilot (d. 1916)
1892 – Konstatin G Paustovski, Russian author (Povestj Zjizni) [OS]
1897 – Frank Luke, American World War I pilot (d. 1918)
1898 – Julius Evola, Italian philosopher (d. 1974)
1904 – Sven Thofelt, Sweden, pentathlete (Olympic-gold-1928)
1906 – Bruce Bennett, American athlete and actor (d. 2007)
1913 – Albert Hardy, photographer
1914 – Max Perutz, Austrian-born molecular biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 2002)
1914 – Go Seigen, Japanese Go player
1918 – Abraham Pais, Dutch-born American physicist (d. 2000)
1925 – Malcolm X, [Little], [Detroit Red], Omaha NB, founder (Black Muslims)
1928 – Anthony C B Chapman, England, sports car builder/autoracer (Formula 1)
1928 – Pol Pot, Cambodian dictator (d. 1998)
1928 – Colin Chapman, founder of Lotus Cars (d. 1982)
1929 – Harvey Cox, US theologist (Secular City)
1931 – Bob Anderson, British racing driver (d. 1967)
1934 – James Charles Lehrer, Wichita Ks, news anchor (McNeil-Lehrer Report)
1935 – David Hartman, Pawtucket RI, TV personality (Good Morning America)
1936 – Elisabeth Schwartz, Austria, pairs figure skater (Olympic-gold-1956)
1937 – Sanne Sannes, Dutch photographer
1939 – Francis R Scobee, Wash, USAF/astronaut (STS 41C, 51L-Chal disaster)
1939 – James Fox, London England, actor (Greystoke)
1939 – Nancy Kwan, Hong Kong, actress (Flower Drum Song, World of Suzie Wong)
1940 – Frank Lorenzo, airline executive (Continental, Texas Air, Eastern)
1941 – Jimmy Hoffa Jr, son of Jimmy Hoffa/Teamster union leader
1941 – Nora Ephron, NY, novelist/screenwriter/director (Michael, Heartburn), (d. 2012)
1945 – Peter Townshend, England, rock guitarist/vocalist/composer (The Who-Tommy)
1946 – Phillip Rudd, Melbourne, rock drummer (AC/DC-Rock ‘n Roll Damnation)
1946 – André the Giant, French professional wrestler (d. 1993)
1947 – Jerry Hyman, Bkln, rock singer/trombonist (Blood Sweat & Tears)
1948 – Grace Jones, [Mendoza], Spanishtown Jamacia, singer/actress (Vamp)
1948 – Tom Scott, LA, saxophonist/bandleader (Pat Sajak Show)
1949 – Dusty Hill, rocker (ZZ Top)
1951 – Joey Ramone, [Jeffrey Hyman], lead singer of the punk rock band The Ramones (Baby I Love You)
1951 – Dick Slater, American professional wrestler
1952 – Barbara Loomis, rocker (BT Express)
1953 – Henry Lascelles, English grandson of princess Mary
1953 – Dawud M. Mu’Min, American convicted murderer (d. 1997)
1955 – Pierre J Thuot, Groton Conn, Lt Cmdr USN/astronaut (STS 36, 49, 62)
1959 – Nicole Brown Simpson, Frankford Germany, Mrs OJ Simpson (murdered)
1960 – Yazz, [Yasmin Evans], London, England, singer (Fine Time)
1962 – Iain Harvie, Scottish rock guitarist (Nothing Ever Happens)
1967 – Massimo Taccon, Italian painter and sculptor
1969 – David Wharton, Warminster PA, US Olympic swimmer (Olympic-silver-88)
1971 – Lori Ann Mundt, Yorkton Saskatchawan, volleyball player (Olympics-96)
1971 – Psicosis, Mexican professional wrestler
1972 – Jenny Berggren, Swedish singer (Ace of Base)
1976 – Kevin Garnett, NBA forward (Minnesota Timberwolves)
1981 – Georges St. Pierre, Mixed Martial Arts Fighter
1988 – Lily Cole, English model/actress
Deaths
804 – Alcuin of York, English scholar, dies in Tours France at 69
988 – Dunstan[us], English archbishop of Canterbury, dies
1102 – Stephen, Count of Blois (b. c. 1045)
1125 – Vladimir Monomakh, Russian prince (b. 1053)
1296 – Celestine V, [Pietro del Murrone], Pope (1294), dies
1526 – Emperor Go-Kashiwabara of Japan (b. 1464)
1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England/wife of Henry VIII, beheaded
1536 – Lord Rochford, English brother of Anna Boleyn, beheaded
1647 – Sebastian Vrancx, Flemish painter (captain of vigilante), dies
1715 – Charles Montagu, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1661)
1795 – Josiah Bartlett, US physician/judge (signed Decl of Ind), dies at 65
1795 – James Boswell, Scottish biographer (b. 1740)
1798 – William Byron, 5th Baron Byron, English dueler (b. 1722)
1800 – French Bosbeeck, veterinarian/robber, hanged
1864 – Nathaniel Hawthorne, US, writer (Scarlet Letter), dies
1885 – Peter W. Barlow, English engineer (b. 1809)
1898 – William Ewart Gladstone, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1809)
1907 – Benjamin Baker, English engineer (b. 1840)
1915 – John Simpson Kirkpatrick stretcher bearer with the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps at Gallipoli during World War I (b. 1892)
1918 – Raoul Lufbery, French-American World War I fighter pilot and flying ace (b. 1885)
1928 – Max Scheler, German philosopher, dies at 53
1935 – Thomas E Lawrence (of Arabia), dies in a motorcycle crash
1946 – Booth Tarkington, American novelist (b. 1869)
1958 – Archie Scott-Brown, English race car driver (b. 1927)
1966 – Tortoise, reportedly given to Tonga’s King by Capt Cook (1773), dies
1969 – Coleman Hawkins, US jazz musician/composer, dies
1971 – Ogden Nash, poet/TV panelist (Masquerade Party), dies at 68
1987 – Alice B[radley] Sheldon, sci-fi author (Byte Beautiful), dies at 71
1987 – James Tiptree, Jr, American author (b. 1915)
1989 – Robert Webber, actor (Alex-Moonlighting), dies of ALS at 64
1994 – Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, 1st lady (1961-63), dies of cancer at 64
1997 – Millie, dog of President Bush (Millie’s Book), dies at 12
2001 – Susannah McCorkle, American singer (b. 1946)
2004 – Tony Randall, actor (Felix Unger in The Odd Couple) dies aged 84
2006 – Freddie Garrity, English lead singer from the band Freddie and the Dreamers (b. 1940)
2009 – Robert F. Furchgott, American chemist, Nobel Laureate (b. 1916)
2009 – Herbert York, American physicist (b. 1921)
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