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
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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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