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)
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)
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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