Today In The Past

 

 

 

Events 

334 BC – The Macedonian army of Alexander the Great defeats Darius III of Persia in the Battle of the Granicus

 

 

 

 

 

760 – 14th recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet

 

 

 

1176 – Murder attempt by “Assassins” on Saladin near Aleppo

 

 

 

 

 

 

1200 – Peace of Goulet

1370 – Jews are expelled/massacred from Brussels Belgium

1455 – Open battle in England’s 30-year War of the Roses (St Albans)

1455 – Richard of York takes St Albans, kidnapping King Henry VI

1570 – 1st atlas, with 70 maps, published

1629 – Emperor Ferdinand II & Danish King Christian IV sign Peace of Lubeck

1761 – 1st life insurance policy in US, issued in Phila

1803 – 1st public library opens (Connecticut)

1807 – Former VP Aaron Burr is tried for treason in Richmond Va (acquitted)

1807 – Townsend Speakman 1st sells fruit-flavored carbonated drinks (Phila)

1819 – 1st steam propelled vessel to cross Atlantic (Savannah leaves Ga)

1840 – The transporting of British convicts to the New South Wales colony is abolished.

1842 – Farmers Lester Howe and Henry Wetsel discover Howe Caverns when they stumble upon a large gaping hole in the ground.

1843 – 1st wagon train, 1000+ depart Independence Missouri for Oregon

1849 – Abraham Lincoln patents a buoying device

 

 

 

1856 – Violence in Senate, SC rep Brooks used a cane on Mass Sen Sumner

 

 

 

 

1863 – War Dept establishes Bureau of Colored Troops

1864 – Battle of N Anna River, VA (Totopotamy River, Haw’s Shop, Hanovertown)

1868 – Great Train Robbery-7 men (Reno Brother) make off with $98,000 in cash

1872 – Amnesty Act restores civil rights to Southerners (except for 500)

1877 – 3rd Kentucky Derby: Billy Walker aboard Baden-Baden wins in 2:38

1883 – Cub’s Billy Sunday’s 1st at bat, begins 14 consecutive strikes out

1885 – 13th Preakness: Jim McLaughlin aboard Tecumseh wins in 2:49

1888 – Leroy Buffington patents a system to build skyscrapers

1892 – Dr Washington Sheffield invents toothpaste tube

1900 – Associated Press organizes in NYC as non-profit news cooperative

1902 – 36th Belmont: John Bullman aboard Mastermam wins in 2:22.6

1903 – Launch of the White Star Liner, SS Ionic.

1906 – 31st Preakness: Walter Miller aboard Whimsical wins in 1:45

1906 – Wright Brothers patents an aeroplane

1909 – 1st SF fireboat, David Scannell, launched

1915 – Local train collides with troop train killing 226 (Gretna Scotland)

1915 – Lassen Peak erupts with a powerful force, and is the only mountain, other than Mount St. Helens, to erupt in the continental US during the 20th century.

1926 – “Five Foot Two, Eyes of Blue” by Gene Austin hits #1

1927 – 8.3 earthquake strikes Nan-Shan China, 200,000 killed

1928 – US Congress accept Jones-White Merchant Naval Act

1930 – Ruth hits 3 consecutive HR (8th-10th of 60 in 1930)

1930 – Yankee “Bronx Bombers” hit 14 HRs in a game

1931 – Canned rattlesnake meat 1st goes on sale in Florida

 

 

 

1933 – Loch Ness Monster is 1st reportedly sighted by John Mackay

 

 

 

 

 

 

1933 – World Trade Day/National Maritime Day 1st celebrated

1936 – Aer Lingus (Aer Loingeas) is founded by the Irish government as the national airline of the Republic of Ireland.

1938 – Dodgers announce contracts to install lights at Ebbets Field

1939 – Hitler & Benito Mussolini sign “Pact of Steel”

1940 – Premier Winston Churchill flies to Paris to decide with General Maxime Weygand a strategy to save the city

1941 – British troops attack Baghdad

1942 – Mexico declares war on nazi-Germany & Japan

1943 – 1st jet fighter is tested

1945 – 6th Marine division reaches suburbs of Naha Okinawa

1947 – “Truman Doctrine” goes into effect, aiding Turkey & Greece

1947 – 1st US ballistic missile fired

1953 – President Eisenhower signs Offshore Oil Bill

1954 – 80th Preakness: Johnny Adams aboard Hasty Road wins in 1:57.4

1955 – Oldest man to drive in the Grand Prix (aged 55) finishes 6th

1956 – “Bob Hope Show,” last airs on NBC-TV

1959 – Benjamin O Davis Jr becomes 1st black gen-major in USAF

1960 – Virtually all coastal towns between 37th & 44th parallels severly damaged by tsunami that strikes Hilo, Hawaii at 01:04 AM

1961 – “Mother-In-Law” by Ernie K-Doe hits #1

1961 – 1st revolving restaurant (Top Of The Needle in Seattle), opens

1962 – Robert A Rushworth, USAF major, takes X-15 to 30,600m

1962 – Roger Maris walks 5 times (record 4 intentionally) in a 9 inn game

1962 – Continental Airlines Flight 11 crashes after bombs explode on board.

1964 – LBJ presents “Great Society”

1965 – “Super-cali-fragil-istic-expi-ali-docious” hits #66

1965 – Beatles’ “Ticket to Ride,” single goes #1

1965 – Mad Dog Vachon beats Igor Vodic in Omaha, to become NWA champ

1967 – “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” debuts on NET (now PBS)

1967 – Fire at L’Innovation dept store kills 322 (Brussels, Belgium)

1968 – Pitts Pirate Willie Stargell hits 3 HRs, a double & a single

1969 – Stafford & Cernan pilot Apollo 10 LEM 9.4 mi(15km) above lunar surface

1970 – Arab terrorists kill 9 children & 3 adults on a school bus

1970 – Mel Stottlemyre sets record by walking 11, but wins 2-0

1972 – Ton Sijbrands becomes world checker champion

1972 – US president Nixon begins visit Moscow

1973 – President Nixon confesses his role in Watergate cover-up

 

 

 

1974 – Ruffian begins her racing career as a filly & dies 14 months later

 

 

 

 

 

1977 – Final European scheduled run of Orient Express (94 years)

1983 – Pat Bradley wins LPGA Chrysler-Plymouth Charity Golf Tournament

1983 – Toronto Blue Jay Cliff Johnson hits record 18th pinch hit HR

1985 – Pete Rose 2,108th run passes Hank Aaron as NL run scoring leader

1985 – US sailor Michael L Walker arrested for spying for USSR

1986 – Cher called David Letterman an asshole on Late Night on NBC

1987 – 30 killed in a Texas tornado

1990 – Andre Dawson sets record being intentionally walked 5 times

1990 – Dow Jones avg hits a record 2,852.23

1990 – Microsoft releases Windows 3.0

1990 – North & South Yemen merge to form Republic of Yemen

1992 – India launches its Agni rocket

1992 – Johnny Carson’s final appearance as host of Tonight Show

1993 – Riddick Bowe TKOs Jesse Ferguson in 2 for heavyweight boxing title

1995 – Laverne & Shirley 20th anniversary reunionn special, televised

1997 – Kelly Flinn, US Air Force’s first female bomber pilot certified for combat, accepts a general discharge in order to avoid a court martial.

1998 – Lewinsky scandal: a federal judge rules that United States Secret Service agents can be compelled to testify before a grand jury concerning the scandal, involving President Bill Clinton.

2002 – In Washington, DC, the remains of the missing Chandra Levy are found in Rock Creek Park.

2002 – American civil rights movement: a jury in Birmingham, Alabama, convicts former Ku Klux Klan member Bobby Frank Cherry of the 1963 murders of four girls in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church.

 

 

 

2004 – The U.S. town of Hallam, Nebraska, is wiped out by a powerful F4 tornado that broke a width record at an astounding 2.5 miles wide. It also kills one local resident.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2011 – An EF5 Tornado strikes the US city of Joplin, Missouri killing at least 158 people, the single deadliest US tornado since modern record keeping began in 1950.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2012 – 14 people die and 30 are injured in train collision in India 

 

 

Births 

1622 – Louis de Buade de Frontenac, Governor of New France (d. 1698)

1671 – Abraham Patras, governor-general of East-Indies (1735-37)

1715 – François-Joachim de Pierre de Bernis, French cardinal and statesman (d. 1794)

1724 – Marc-Joseph Marion du Fresne, French explorer (d. 1772)

1804 – John William (Turk) Livingston, Commander (Union Navy), died in 1885

1821 – Alfred Sully, Bvt Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1879

1844 – Mary Cassatt, US, Impressionist painter (Woman Bathing)

1849 – Louis Perrier, Swiss politician (d. 1913)

1859 – Arthur Conan Doyle, UK, author brought Sherlock Holmes to life twice

1885 – Giacomo Matteotti, Italian politician (d. 1924)

1891 – J R Becher, writer

1891 – Robert Gordon Sproul, educator/college pres (Univ of California)

1891 – Eddie Edwards, American jazz trombonist (d. 1963)

1903 – Yves Rocard, French physicist (d. 1992)

1906 – Harry Ritz, US comic (Ritz Brothers-Silent Movie)

1907 – Laurence Olivier, England, actor (Rebecca, Hamlet, Jazz Singer)

1908 – Rattana Pestonji, Thai filmmaker (d. 1970)

1908 – Horton Smith. American golfer (d. 1963)

1914 – Sun Ra, American musician (d. 1993)

1920 – Thomas Gold, astronomer (proposed steady-state theory of universe)Austrian astrophysicist (d. 2004)

1922 – Judith Crist, NY, movie critic (TV Guide)

1924 – Charles Aznavour, Armenia, French singer (Monsieur Carnavel, Tin Drum)

1927 – Michael Constantine, Penn, actor (Room 222, Don’t Drink the Water)

1928 – T Boone Pickens, CEO (Shamrock, Mesa Petroleum Co)

1930 – Kenny Ball, rocker, (d. 2013)

1930 – Harvey Milk, Woodmere, NY, politicians and gay activist, (d. 1978)

1934 – Peter Nero, NYC, conductor/pianist (A Sunday in NY)

1936 – M. Scott Peck, American psychiatrist and writer (d. 2005)

1938 – Richard Benjamin, NYC, director/actor (Goodbye Columbus, He & She)

1938 – Susan Strasberg, NYC, actress (In Praise of Older Women, Manitou)

1940 – Bernard Shaw, news correspondant (CBS, CNN)

1940 – Michael Sarrazin, actor (Seduction, They Shoot Horses Don’t They)

1941 – Paul Winfield, LA, actor (Star Trek II, Huckleberry Finn, Mars Attack)

1942 – Calvin Simon, US rock vocalist (Funkadelic-1 Nation Under a Groove)

1942 – Theodore Kaczynski, American terrorist

1943 – Tommy John, pitcher (Yankee/Dodger)

1946 – George Best, footballer/soccer player (Manchester United, Northern Ireland)

1950 – Bernie Taupin, lyricist (writes with Elton John)

1952 – Jan Todd, woman power lifter, once lifted 248 kg in a squat

1953 – John Edward Stevens, NYC, bank robber (FBI Most Wanted List)

1955 – Iva Davies, rock guitarist/vocalist (Icehouse)

1955 – Jimmy Lyon, American guitarist (Eddie Money)

1959 – Morrissey, rocker (Depeche Mode-Somebody)

1961 – Dana Williams, Dayton Ohio, singer (Diamond Rio-Meet in the Middle)

1966 – Kenny Hickey, American guitarist (Type O Negative)

1967 – John Vanderslice, American musician

1970 – Naomi Campbell, London England, model/actress (Cool as Ice, Unzipped)

1972 – Alison Eastwood, daughter of actor Clint/actress (Tightrope)

1974 – A. J. Langer, American actress

1978 – Ginnifer Goodwin, American actress

1978 – Katie Price, British model

1979 – Nadia Khan, TV Presenter

1979 – Maggie Q, American actress

1982 – Apolo Anton Ohno, American short track speed skater

1983 – John Hopkins, Anglo-American motorcycling racer

1984 – Joe Lauzon, American martial artist

1985 – Caridee English, American Model

 

 

Deaths

337 – Constantine the Great, Emperor of Rome (306-37) dies at 47

748 – Empress Genshō of Japan (b. 680)

987 – Louis V le Faineant, the Lazy, king of France (986-87), poisoned at 20

1068 – Emperor Go-Reizei of Japan (b. 1025)

1455 – Henry Percy, 2nd Earl of Northumberland, English politician (killed in battle)

1455 – Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset, English commander (killed in battle) (b. 1406)

1457 – Saint Rita of Cascia, Italian saint (b. 1381)

1538 – John Forrest, English Franciscan friar (martyred) (b. 1471)

1666 – Gaspar Schott, German scientist (b. 1608)

1745 – François-Marie, 1st duc de Broglie, French military leader (b. 1671)

1819 – John H van Kinsbergen, lt-admiral/founder (Corps Marines), dies at 84

1868 – Julius Plucker, German mathematician/physicist (formula of P), dies

 

 

 

1885 – Victor Hugo, French writer (Les Miserables), dies at 83

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1925 – John [Denton Pinkstone] French, Brit field marshall (WWI), dies at 72

1932 – Lady Augusta, [Isabella Gregory], playwright (Gold Apple), dies at 80

1961 – Joan Davis, actress (I Married Joan), dies of heart attack at 53

1965 – Bobby Watson, comedian (Hitler Gang, Boys Town), dies at 77

1965 – Heinrich Barth, Swiss philosopher (Das Sein in der Zeit), dies

1965 – Christopher Stone, first disc jockey in the United Kingdom (b. 1882)

1967 – James Langston Hughes, American poet laureate, dies at 65

1972 – Margaret Rutherford, English actress (Murder Ahoy, VIP’s), dies at 80

1975 – Lefty Grove, American Baseball Player (b. 1900)

1984 – John Marley, actor (Cat Ballou), dies at 77 following heart surgery

1988 – Dennis Day, tenor/comedian (Jack Benny Show, Danny Boy), dies at 71

1989 – Steven DeGroote, South African classical pianist (b. 1953)

1990 – Max Wall, actor (Jabberwocky), dies

 

 

 

1990 – Rocky Graziano, boxer/writer/actor (Mr Rock & Roll), dies at 71 of heart failure

 

 

 

 

 

 

1993 – Mieczyslaw Horszowski, Polish/US pianist (Carnegie Hall), dies at 100

1994 – Frederick Hemming McClintock, criminologist, dies at 68

1994 – Mitacq, [Michel Tacq], Belgium comic strip artist (Beaver Patrol), dies

1997 – Alfred Hershey, American biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1908)

2005 – Thurl Ravenscroft, American voice actor and singer (b. 1914)

2012 – Wesley Brown, 1st African American US Naval Academy graduate, dies at 85

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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