Today In The Past
Events
927 – Battle of the Bosnian Highlands: Simeon I of Bulgaria is defeated by King Tomislav of Croatia.
1120 – Richard III of Capua is anointed as prince two weeks before his untimely death.
1281 – Flemish Earl Gwijde Dampierre takes financial responsibility of Brugge
1328 – French king Philip VI Valois crowned
1529 – 30 Jews of Posing Hungary, charged with blood ritual, burned at stake
1679 – Habeaus Corpus Act (no false arrest & imprisonment) passes in UK
1703 – St Petersburg (Leningrad) founded by Peter the Great
1796 – James S McLean patents his piano
1798 – The Battle of Oulart Hill takes place in Wexford, Ireland.
1813 – Americans capture Ft George, Canada
1849 – The Great Hall of Euston station in London is opened.
1862 – Battle of Hanover Court House, VA (Slash Church, Peake’s Station)
1863 – CSS Chattahoochie explodes on Chattahoochie River GA, 18 die
1863 – Siege of Port Hudson LA
1864 – Skirmish at Salem Church (Haw’s Shop), Virginia
1878 – 6th Preakness: C Holloway aboard Duke of Magenta wins in 2:41.75
1881 – 9th Preakness: T Costello aboard Saunterer wins in 2:40.5
1882 – 10th Preakness: T Costello aboard Vanguard wins in 2:44.5
1895 – British inventor Birt Acres patents film camera/projector
1896 – Tornado hit St Louis, killing 255 & leaving thousands homeless
1902 – 27th Preakness: L Jackson aboard Old England wins in 1:45.8
1903 – 37th Belmont: John Bullman aboard Africander wins in 2:21.75
1905 – 30th Preakness: W Davis aboard Cairngore wins in 1:45.8
1905 – Japanese fleet destroys Russian East Sea fleet in Straits of Tushima
1907 – Bubonic Plague breaks out in SF
1917 – Race riot in East St Louis Illinois, 1 black killed
1918 – Battle of Aisne
1919 – 1st transatlantic flight ends; US Navy flying boat takes 11 days
1921 – Afghanistan gains sovereignty
1921 – After 84 years of British control, Afghanistan achieves sovereignty
1930 – Richard Drew invents masking tape
1930 – The 1,046-foot (319-meter) Chrysler Building in New York City, the tallest man-made structure at the time, opens to the public.
1931 – 1st full scale wind tunnel for testing airplanes, Langley Field Va
1931 – Piccard & Knipfer make 1st flight into stratosphere, by balloon
1933 – Federal Securities Act signed
1933 – Trailing 11-3, Yanks score 12 runs in 8th & beat White Sox 15-11
1933 – Walt Disney’s “3 Little Pigs” released
1935 – Supreme Court declares FDR’s Natl Recovery Act unconstitutional
1936 – RMS Queen Mary leaves Southampton for NY on maiden voyage
1937 – Golden Gate Bridge, SF, dedicated
1940 – British & French begin evacuation of Dunkirk (Operation Dynamo)
1940 – WWII: In the Le Paradis massacre, 97 soldiers from a Royal Norfolk Regiment unit are shot after surrendering to German troops.
1941 – German battleship Bismarck sunk by British naval force
1942 – Dorie Miller, awarded navy cross for deeds at Pearl Harbor
1942 – Top German Nazi Reinhard Heydrich is shot & mortally wounded in Prague
1949 – Russian stop train traffic West-Berlin
1951 – Chinese Communists force Dalai Lama to surrender his army to Beijing
1955 – Red Buttons Show, last airs on NBC-TV
1957 – Toronto’s CHUM-AM, (1050 kHz) becomes Canada’s first radio station to broadcast only top 40 Rock n’ Roll music format.
1958 – The F-4 Phantom II first flight.
1961 – 1st black light is sold
1961 – Pres Kennedy announces US goal to reach Moon
1961 – Ralph Boston of US, sets then long jump record at 27′ ½”
1964 – “From Russia With Love” premieres in US
1966 – 6 French fighters crash above Spain
1969 – Walt Disney World construction begins
1970 – British expedition climbs south face of Annapurna I
1971 – UCLA wins NCAA basketball championship
1972 – “Jimmy Castor Bunch’s Troglodyte” (Cave Man) hits #6
1975 – Worst motor vehicle disaster in UK; bus full of elderly women plunges Dibble’s Bridge Yorkshire, killing 38
1980 – South Korean police ends people’s uprising; 2,000 killed
1980 – The Gwangju Massacre: Airborne and army troops of South Korea retake the city of Gwangju from civil militias, killing at least 207 and possibly many more.
1983 – Former EPA official Rita Lavelle indicted for contempt of Congress
1985 – Inaugural bands parade for Pres Reagan
1986 – Pres Reagan orderes 2 Poseidon-class submarines be dismantled
1987 – Jim & Tammy Bakker appear on “Nightline” after PTL scandal
1987 – Yank Phil Niekro is 3rd pitcher to make 700th start (Young & Sutton)
1990 – 74th Indianapolis 500 runs
1994 – Alexander Solzhenitsyn returned to Russia after 20 years in exile
1994 – Final broadcast of Arsenio Hall talk show
1995 – In Culpeper, Virginia, actor Christopher Reeve is paralyzed from the neck down after falling from his horse in a riding competition.
1997 – 1st all female (20 British women) team reaches North Pole
1997 – Arie Luyendyk wins his 2nd Indianapolis 500
1998 – Oklahoma City bombing: Michael Fortier is sentenced to 12 years in prison and fined $200,000 for failing to warn authorities about the terrorist plot.
Births
1332 – Ibn Khaldun, Tunis, Arab historian/sociologist (Muqaddimah)
1519 – Girolamo Mei, Italian historian (d. 1594)
1576 – Caspar Schoppe, German scholar (d. 1649)
1595 – Benedictus Carpzovius, [Benedikt Carpzov], German lawyer
1623 – William Petty, English scientist and philosopher (d. 1687)
1651 – Louis-Antoine, Cardinal de Noailles, French cardinal (d. 1729)
1774 – Francis Beaufort, admiral/hydrographer (Beaufort wind force scale)
1794 – Cornelius Vanderbilt, millionaire (B & O railroad)
1818 – Amelia Jenks Bloomer, suffragette known for her pantaloons
1819 – Julia Ward Howe, US, author/lecturer (Battle Hymn of the Republic)
1823 – John Gray Foster, Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1874
1836 – Edwin Gray Lee, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1870
1836 – Jay Gould, US railroad executive, financier
1837 – “Wild Bill” Hickok, [James Butler], cowboy/scout
1837 – Robert Frederick Hoke, Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1912
1850 – Thomas Neill Cream, Glasgow, Scotland, serial killer (Lambeth poisoner), (d. 1892)
1894 – Dashiell Hammett, Maryland, detective novelist (Sam Spade, Maltese Falcon)
1897 – John Douglas Cockroft, English physicist (Radar, Nobel 1951)
1908 – Alex Brown, snooker player
1911 – Hubert Humphrey, (Sen-D-Minn) 38th VP (1965-69), 1968 Pres candidate
1911 – Vincent Price, St Louis MO, actor (House on Haunted Hill, Fly, Laura)
1912 – John Cheever, writer (Wapshot Chronicle)
1912 – Sam Snead, Hot Springs VA, PGA golfer (PGA-1963, 65, 67, 70, 72, 73)
1914 – Rose Stainton, CEO (British Airways)
1915 – Herman Wouk, NYC, novelist (Caine Mutiny, Winds of War)
1918 – Yasuhiro Nakasone, premier of Japan (1982-87)
1919 – Kam Fong, Honolulu Hawaii, actor (Hawaii Five-0)
1921 – Caryl Chessman, kidnapper who got death penalty (1960)
1922 – Christopher Lee, London England, actor (Hound of Baskervilles)
1923 – Henry Kissinger, Secretary of State (1973-77)/Nobel Peace Prize (1973)
1923 – Lord Freyberg, British Colonel of General Staff
1923 – Sumner Redstone, American entrepreneur
1925 – Tony Hillerman, American writer
1927 – Bryan Cowgill, deputy chairman (Mirror Group)
1927 – Jan Blokker, Dutch writer/journalist (VPRO, People’s Newspaper)
1931 – James Q Wilson, Boston, Massachusetts, criminologist (‘Zero Tolerance’ policing), (d. 2012)
1932 – [Herman] Junior Parker, Arkansas, blues vocalist/songwriter (Mystery Train)
1934 – Harlan Ellison, US, sci-fi author (7 Hugos, Doomsman, Babylon 5)
1935 – Lee Meriwether, LA California, Miss America (Time Tunnel, Barnaby Jones)
1935 – Ramsey Lewis, Chic, pop jazz artist (Hang on Sloopy)
1936 – Louis Gossett Jr, Bkln NY, actor (Officer & Gentleman, Deep)
1939 – Earl Cairns, CEO (S G Warburg & Co)
1939 – Jerry Mercer, rock drummer (April Wine Montreal Montreal)
1942 – Kent Bede Bernard, Trinidad, 4X400 runner (Olympic-bronze-1964)
1942 – Lee Baca, American law enforcement official
1943 – Bruce Weitz, Norwalk Ct, actor (Hill St Blues, Death of a Centerfold)
1945 – Bruce Cockburn, Ottawa Canada, folk rock vocalist (Waterwalker)
1947 – Robert Reinacher Jr, horse trainer
1948 – Pete Sears, bassist (Jefferson Starship)
1951 – Norma Jean Almodovar, Binghampton, auto-biographer (Cop to Call Girl)
1954 – Catherine Carr, US breaststroke swimmer (Olympics-2 gold-1972)
1955 – Eric Bischoff, American professional wrestling promoter
1956 – Lisa Niemi, Houston Tx, actress (Dirty Dancing, Will Rodgers Follies)
1956 – Steve Pagano, horse trainer
1956 – Cynthia McFadden, American television anchor
1957 – Bruce Furniss, US swimmer (Olympics-2 gold-1976)
1957 – Siouxsie Sioux, [Susan Ballion], Kent England (Siouxsie & Banshees)
1958 – Linnea Quigley, Davenport Iowa, actress (Night of Demons, Virgin High)
1958 – Neil Finn, rocker (Split Enz-I Got You, Crowded House)
1960 – Ray Armsetad, Kirksville Mo, 4X400 runner (Olympic-gold-1984)
1961 – Cathy Silvers, NYC, actress (Jenny-Happy Days, Foley Square)
1961 – Jill Sterkel, US swimmer (Olympics-bronze-1976, 84, 88)
1961 – Peri Gilpin, Waco Tx, actor (Roz Doyle-Frasier)
1964 – Adam Carolla, American comedian and television personality
1965 – Todd Bridges, SF CA, actor (Diff’rent Strokes, Fish)
1966 – Sean Kinney, US rock drummer (Alice in Chains-We Die Young)
1967 – Chin Yang, jockey
1969 – Todd Hundley, Martinsville VA, catcher (NY Mets)
1970 – Michael Blackburn, Australian laser yachter (Olympics-96)
1970 – Joseph Fiennes, Salisbury, Wiltshire, English actor (Enemy at the Gates, Shakespeare in Love)
1971 – Paul Bettany, English actor
1971 – Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, American singer (TLC) (d. 2002)
1972 – Antonio Freeman, NFL wide reciever (Green Bay Packers-Superbowl 31)
1975 – André 3000, American musician (OutKast)
1975 – Jadakiss, American rapper (The Lox)
1975 – Jamie Oliver, British chef and television personality
1981 – Özgür Çevik, Turkish singer and actor
Deaths
366 – Procopius, Roman usurper (b. 326)
866 – Ordono I, King of Asturia (850-66), dies
927 – Tsar Simeon I of Bulgaria (b. 864 or 865)
1039 – Dirk III Hierosolymita, Count of Holland, dies
1178 – Godfried van Rhenen, bishop of Utrecht, dies
1444 – John Beaufort, 1st Duke of Somerset, English military leader (b. 1404)
1525 – Thomas Muentzer, German rebel leader
1541 – Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury (b. 1473) beheaded for treason in Tower of London by Henry VIII
1569 – Francois de Coligny, French general (Jarnac), dies
1576 – Louis de Boisot, Dutch admiral, drowns at about 44
1610 – François Ravaillac, French assassin of Henry IV of France (b. 1578)
1661 – Archibald Campbell, Scottish politician, beheaded at about 53
1675 – Gaspard Dughet, French painter (b. 1613)
1781 – Giovanni Battista Beccaria, Italian physicist (b. 1716)
1790 – Jeremiah Carlton, laziest man in history, heir to a large fortune at 19 went to bed & stayed there for next 70 yrs, dies at 89
1831 – Jedediah Smith, American explorer (b. 1799)
1840 – Niccolo Paganini, composer/violinist, dies at 57
1863 – Edward Payson Chapin, Union Brigadier General, dies at 31
1887 – Coenraad J van Houten, Dutch cocoa manufacturer, dies at 86
1896 – Aleksandr Grigorievich Stoletov, Russian physicist (b. 1839)
1910 – Robert Koch, German bacteriologist (TB, Cholera, Nobel), dies
1914 – Joseph Wilson Swan, physicist/chemist, dies
1918 – Henry Adams, US literature historian (Esther), dies at 80
1949 – Robert L Ripley, cartoonist (Believe It or Not), dies at 55 in NY
1953 – Jesse Burkett, American baseball player (b. 1868)
1960 – James Montgomery Flagg, American illustrator (b. 1877)
1964 – Jawaharial Nehru, Independent India’s 1st PM, dies at 74
1969 – Jeffrey Hunter, actor (Christopher Pike-Star Trek Cage), dies at 43
1975 – Ezzard Charles, heavyweight boxing champion (1949-51), dies at 53
1987 – John Howard Northrop, American chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1891)
1988 – Florida Friebus, actress (Bob Newhart Show), dies of a stroke at 79
1991 – Ed Dodd, cartoonist (Mark Trail), dies at 88
1992 – Tony “Big Tuna” Accardo, mobster (St Valentines Day), dies at 86
1992 – Uncle Charlie Osborne, American fiddler (b. 1890)
1994 – Red Rodney, [Albino Red/The Red Arrow], bebop-trumpeter, dies at 66
2000 – Kazimierz Leski, Polish engineer, fighter pilot, intelligence and counter-intelligence officer (b. 1912)
2006 – Paul Gleason, American actor (b. 1939)
2006 – Alex Toth, American cartoonist (b. 1928)
2006 – Rob Borsellino, American columnist (b. 1949)
2011 – Jeff Conaway, American actor (b. 1950)
2011 – Gil Scott-Heron, American poet, musician and author (b. 1949)
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