Today In The Past

 

 

Events

350 – Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, proclaims himself Roman Emperor, entering Rome at the head of a group of gladiators.

1083 – Henry IV of Germany storms Rome, capturing St Peter’s Cathedral

1098 – After 5-month siege in 1st Crusade, the Crusaders seize Antioch Turkey

1140 – French scholar Peter Abelard is found guilty of heresy.

1326 – Treaty of Novgorod delineates borders between Russia and Norway in Finnmark.

1357 – Peace of Aat

1539 – Hernando De Soto claims Florida for Spain

1540 – Hernando de Soto crosses Appalachian Mountain, 1st European to do so

1620 – Construction of the oldest stone church in French North America, Notre-Dame-des-Anges, begins at Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.

1621 – Dutch West India Company (WIC) receives charter for The West Indies (included, The Americas, Caribbean and West Africa)

1781 – Jack Jouett rides to warn Jefferson of British attack
1789 – Alex Mackenzie explores Mackenzie River (Canada)

1851 – 1st baseball uniforms worn, NY Knickerbockers wear straw hat, white shirt & blue long trousers

1856 – Cullen Whipple patents screw machine

1860 – Comanche, Iowa completely destroyed by 1 of a series of tornadoes

1861 – 1st Civil War land battle-Union defeats Confederacy at Philippi, WV

1864 – Gen Lee wins his last victory of Civil War at Battle of Cold Harbor

1871 – Jesse James & his gang robs Obocock Bank (Corydon Iowa), of $15,000

1875 – Alexander Graham Bell makes 1st voice transmission

1876 – Lacrosse introduced in Britain & Canada

1888 – “Casey at the Bat” published (SF Examiner)

1889 – The Canadian Pacific Railway is completed from coast to coast.

1916 – National Defense Act establishes ROTC

1918 – Supreme Court rules child labor laws unconstitutional

1919 – Liberty Life Insurance Co (Chicago) organized by blacks

1921 – A sudden cloudburst kills 120 near Pikes Peak, Colorado

1924 – Gila Wilderness Area established by Forest Service

1925 – Eddie Collins, is 6th to get 3,000 hits

1925 – Goodyear airship “Pilgrim” makes 1st flight (1st with enclosed cabin)

1932 – Lou Gehrig is 1st to hit 4 consecutive HRs; Yanks beat A’s 20-13

1934 – Dr Frederick Banting co-discoverer of insulin, is knighted

1935 – French Normandie sets Atlantic crossing record of 1,077 hours

1935 – One thousand unemployed Canadian workers board freight cars in Vancouver, British Columbia, beginning a protest trek to Ottawa, Ontario.

1939 – 71st Belmont: James Stout aboard Johnstown wins in 2:29.6

1939 – Beer Barrel Polka hits #1 on the pop singles chart by Will Glahe

1940 – Last British/French troop leave Dunkirk

1943 – A mob of 60 from the Los Angeles Naval Reserve Armory beat up everyone perceived to be Hispanic, starting the week-long Zoot Suit Riots.

1944 – 76th Belmont: G L Smith aboard Bounding Home wins in 2:32.2

1946 – Intl Milt Tribunal opens in Tokyo against 28 Japanese war criminals

1946 – US Supreme court rules race separation on buses, unconstitutional

1948 – 200″ (5.08 m) Hale telescope dedicated at Palomar Observatory

1948 – Korczak Ziolkowski begins sculpture of Crazy Horse near Mt Rushmore

1949 – 1st negro to graduate from US Naval Academy (Wesley Anthony Brown)

1949 – Dragnet is 1st broadcast on radio (KFI in Los Angeles)

1959 – 1st US Air Force Academy graduation

1959 – 1st class graduates from Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo

1961 – 93rd Belmont: Braulio Baeza aboard Sherluck wins in 2:29.2

1962 – Lee Harvey Oswald arrives by train in Oldenzaal Neth

1964 – Rolling Stones begin 1st US tour (with Bobby Goldsboro & Bobby Vee)

1967 – 99th Belmont: Bill Shoemaker aboard Damascus wins in 2:28.8

1967 – Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” reaches #1

1968 – Canada announces it will replace silver with nickel in coins

1968 – Valerie Solanas, author of SCUM Manifesto, attempts to assassinate Andy Warhol by shooting him three times.

1970 – Ray Davies of Kinks travels round trip NY-London to change 1 word in “Lola,” (Coca-Cola to Cherry Cola) because of BBC coml reference ban

1972 – “Hot Rod Lincoln,” by Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen hits #9

1972 – 1st female US rabbi installed, Sally J Priesand at 25

1973 – At Paris air show, Tupolev 144, a Soviet supersonic airliner, crashes

1976 – Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” goes gold

1976 – US presented with oldest known copy of Magna Carta

1977 – Balt Orioles pull their 6th triple play (9-6-4-6-6 vs KC Royals)

1978 – Phillies Dave Johnson is 1st to hit 2 pinch hit grand slams in a year

1979 – Ex-president Idi Amin of Uganda flees to Libya

1979 – Ixtoc I rig in Gulf of Mexico blows; 3 million bbl of oil spilled

1980 – Jimmy Carter wins enough delegates for renomination

1980 – NY Mets draft Darryl Strawberry, 18, #1

1986 – Battles in Beirut; 53 killed

1989 – Chinese troops kill hundred of pro-democracy students in Beijing

1989 – Nolan Ryan pitches his 2nd one-hitter this season & 11th overall

1991 – Mount Unzen erupts in Japan, worst eruption in Japanese history

1992 – Joan Lunden ordered to pay her ex-husband $18,000 a month support

1992 – World’s largest environmental summit opens (Rio De Janeiro Brazil)

1998 – Eschede train disaster: an ICE high speed train derails in Lower Saxony, Germany, causing 101 deaths.

2007 – USS Carter Hall (LSD-50) engaged pirates after they boarded the Danish ship Danica White off the coast of Somalia. 

2012 – Tiger Woods’ 73rd PGA tour victory equals Jack Nicklaus’s record

 

 

Births

1540 – Charles I of Austria (d. 1590)

1659 – David Gregory, Scottish astronomer (d. 1708)

1660 – Johannes Schenck, composer

1685 – Cornelis Hop, Amsterdam regent/diplomat

1723 – Giovanni Antonio Scopoli, Italian-born naturalist (d. 1788)

1726 – James Hutton, Edinburgh Scotland, geologist

1761 – Henry Scrapnel, English inventor (shrapnel shell)

1782 – Charles Waterton, eccentric naturalist/pioneer

1808 – Jefferson F Davis, Ky, Pres of Confederate States of America (1861-5)

1815 – Martin Edward Green, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1863

1824 – Charles Kinnaird Graham, Bvt Major General (Union volunteers)

1831 – Otho French Strahl, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1864

1844 – Garret Augustus Hobart, (R) 24th US VP (1897-99)

1853 – William Matthew Flinders Petrie, English Egyptologist (d. 1942)

1864 – Ransom Eli Olds, auto (Oldsmobile) & truck (REO) manufacturer

1870 – Jules JBV Bordet, Belgian bacteriologist (syphillis, Nobel 1919)

1873 – Otto Loewi, Frankfurt am Main Germany, physician (Nobel-1936)

1879 – Raymond Pearl, American biologist (d. 1940)

1904 – Charles R Drew, pioneer of blood plasma research

1905 – Martin Gottfried Weiss, German, commandant of Dachau concentration camp (d. 1946, by execution)

1906 – Josephine Baker, dancer/Parisian night club owner (Folies-Bergere)

1908 – Adele Dixon, actress (Calling the Tune)

1908 – Eddie Acuff, actor (Guns of the Pecos, Phantom Creeps, Outer Gate)

1911 – Olaf Okern, Norway, Nordic skier (Olympic-medal-1948)

1911 – Paulette Goddard, [Marion Levy], Switz, actress (Great Dictator)

1917 – Leo Gorcey, American actor (d. 1969)

1918 – Lili St. Cyr, American ecdysiast (d. 1999)

 

 

 

1924 – Jimmy Rogers, Ruleville, Mississippi, Blues musician (Muddy Waters’ Band), (d. 1997)

 

VIDEOS

 

 

 

 

1925 – Tony Curtis, [Bernard Schwartz], Bronx, NY, actor (Some Like It Hot)

1926 – Allen Ginsberg, Newark, New Jersey, American beat poet (Howl)

1926 – Colleen Dewhurst, Montreal Canada, actress (Maggie-Blue & Grey)

1926 – Hamilton Fish Jr, (Rep-R-NY, 1969- )

1926 – Roscoe G Bartlett, (Rep-R-Maryland)

1927 – Boots Randolph, Paducah KY, saxophonist (Yakety Sax)

1929 – Chuck Barris, Phila, TV game show producer/host (Gong Show) [or 6/2]

1929 – Howard Yanks, founder (Philadelphia folk festival)

1929 – Werner Arber, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate

1930 – Marion [Eleanor] Zimmer Bradley [Breen], sci-fi author (Storm Queen)

1932 – Dakota Staton, [Rabia Aliyah], US jazz singer (In the Night)(d. 2007)

1935 – Ted Curson [Theodore], Philadelphia, Jazz Trumpeter, (d. 2012)

1936 – Larry McMurtry, US scriptwriter (Lonesome Dove, Pulitzer 1986)

1936 – Philip J Attenborough, CEO/publisher (Hodder & Stoughton)

1942 – Curtis Mayfield, Chicago, rock vocalist (Freddie’s Dead, Superfly)

1944 – Edith McGuire, US 200m sprinter (Olympic-gold-1964)

1944 – Michael Clarke, NYC, rock drummer (Byrds-Turn! Turn! Turn!)

1946 – Ian Hunter, England, rocker (Mott the Hoople-All the Young Dudes)

1947 – Mickey Finn, British guitarist and percussionist (T. Rex) (d. 2003)

1947 – Mike Burgmann, Australian racing driver (d. 1986)

1950 – Marlene Elejarde, Havana Cuba, 4x100m runner (Olympic-silver-1968)

1950 – Suzi Quatro[cchio], Detroit, singer (Stumblin’)/actress (Happy Days)

1950 – Melissa Mathison, American screenwriter

1951 – Deniece Williams, [Chandler], IN, singer (Love Wouldn’t Let Me Wait)

1952 – Billy Powell, keyboards (Lynyrd Skynyrd-That Smell, Freebird)

1952 – David Richards, CBE, British motor racing entrepreneur

1956 – Danny Wilde, rocker (Rembrandts)

1956 – Suren Nalbandyan, USSR, lightweight (Olympic-gold-1976)

1958 – Ibrahim Hussein, marathoner, (Boston Marathon-1988, 91, 92)

1959 – Tom Arnold, former husband of Rosanne Barr/actor (True Lies, Stupids)

1961 – Peter Glen Vidmar, LA California, gymnast (Olympic-2 gold/silver-1984)

1961 – Lawrence Lessig, American lawyer and author

1962 – Connie Price-Smith, St Charles MO, discus thrower (Oly-5th-96)

1962 – Susannah Constantine, British fashion guru

1964 – Kerry King, American musician (Slayer)

1965 – Suzan Kaminga, Austin TX, bodybuilder

1965 – Mike Gordon, American musician

1967 – Tamas Darnyi, Hungary, backstroke swimmer (Oly-gold-88, 92)

1967 – William “Bill” Carlucci, Minneapolis Minn, rower (Olympics-bronze-96)

1967 – Anderson Cooper, American reporter

1970 – Lanee Butler, Manhasset NY, mistral sailboat yachter (Olymp-11th-1996)

1971 – Mark Parrish, Columbia MD, canoe (alt-Olympics-96)

1976 – Jamie McMurray, American NASCAR driver

1982 – Yelena Isinbayeva, Russian pole vaulter

1986 – Alexandros Karageorgiou, Greek archer

1986 – Rafael Nadal, Manacor, Majorca, Balearic Islands, Spanish tennis player

1986 – Tomas Verner, Czech Republic ice skater

1986 – Adrián Vallés, Spanish racing driver

1989 – Katie Hoff, American swimmer

 

 

 

Deaths

545 – Chlotilde, wife of French king Clovis/saint, dies at about 70

1107 – Kilidj Arslan I, Seldjoeken-sultan, dies in battle

1395 – Ivan Shishman of Bulgaria

1397 – William Montacute, 2nd Earl of Salisbury, English military leader (b. 1328)

1411 – Duke Leopold IV of Austria (b. 1371)

1548 – Juan de Zumárraga, Spanish Catholic bishop of Mexico (b. 1468)

1594 – Michel Renichon, priest, executed

1615 – Sanada Yukimura, Japanese samurai (b. 1567)

1657 – William Harvey, English physician (b. 1578)

1659 – Morgan Llwyd, Welsh Puritan preacher and writer (b. 1619)

1732 – Pieter Vuyst, Dutch gov-gen of Ceylon, executed

1780 – Thomas Hutchinson, American colonial governor of Massachusetts (b. 1711)

1861 – Stephen A Douglas, “Little Giant”, senator (Lincoln Debates), dies

1864 – James P McMahon, US Union colonel (164th NY), dies in battle

1864 – Peter A Porter, US Union colonel (8th NY), dies in battle

1865 – Okada Izō, Japanese samurai (b. 1838)

1875 – Georges Bizet, French composer, dies at 36

1877 – Frank Pocock, British explorer, drowned in the Congo

1881 – Japanese giant salamander, dies in Dutch zoo at 55; oldest amphibian

1899 – Johann Baptist Strauss, Austria, composer (Waltz King), dies at 73

1924 – Franz Kafka, Czech writer (Trial, Amerika, Metamorphosis), dies at 40

1967 – Arthur W Tedder of Glenguin, British air marshal (WW II), dies at 76

1975 – Ozzie Nelson, actor (Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet), dies at 69

1977 – Archibald Vivian Hill, English physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1886)

1977 – Roberto Rossellini, Italian film director (b. 1906)

1987 – Will Sampson, actor (From Here to Eternity, Yellow Rose), dies at 54

1989 – Ruhollah Khomeini, Iranian ayatollah, dies at 89

1991 – Takeshi Nagata, Japanese geophysicist (b. 1913)

1992 – Robert Morley, actor (Around the World in 80 Days), dies at 84

1992 – William E Gaines, publisher (Mad Magazine), dies at 70

1994 – Roger Wolcott Sperry, physicist, dies at 89

1997 – Dennis James, American television personality (b. 1917)

2001 – Anthony Quinn, Mexican-born actor (b. 1915)

2009 – David Carradine, American actor (b. 1936)

 

 

 

2009 – Koko Taylor, American blues musician, popularly known as the “Queen of the Blues.” (b. 1928)

 

VIDEOS

 

 

 

 

2009 – Sam Butera, American jazz musician (b. 1927)

2010 – John Hedgecoe, English photographer (b. 1932)

2010 – Rue McClanahan, American actress (b. 1934)

2011 – Jack Kevorkian, American pathologist, right-to-die activist (b. 1928)

2011 – James Arness, American actor (d. 1923)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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