Today In The Past
Events
781 BC – The first historic solar eclipse is recorded in China.
1039 – Henry III becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
1070 – Roquefort cheese created in a cave near Roquefort, France
1133 – Rome-Innocentius II crowns Lotharius III Roman-German emperor
1391 – Mob led by Ferrand Martinez surounds & sets fire to Jewish quarter of Seville Spain, surviving Jews sold into slavery
1487 – Lord Lovell & John de la Poles army land at Furness Lancashire
1615 – Siege of Osaka, Forces under the shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu take Osaka Castle in Japan.
1632 – Prince Frederik Henry conquerors Venlo
1647 – British army seizes King Charles I as a prisoner
1666 – Battle at Duinkerk: English vs Dutch fleet
1745 – Battle at Hohenfriedberg Silezie: Frederick the Great (Prussia) defeats Austrians & Saxons
1756 – Quakers leave assembly of Pennsylvania
1760 – Great Upheaval: New England planters arrive to claim land in Nova Scotia, Canada taken from the Acadians.
1769 – A transit of Venus is followed five hours later by a total solar eclipse, the shortest such interval in history.
1783 – Montgolfier brothers launch 1st hot-air balloon (unmanned)
1784 – Madame Elizabeth Thible becomes the first female balloonist.
1789 – US constitution goes into effect
1792 – Capt George Vancouver claims Puget Sound for Britain
1794 – Congress passes Neutrality Act, bans Americans from serving in armed forces of foreign powers
1805 – Tripoli forced to conclude peace with US after war over tribute
1812 – Louisiana Territory officially renamed “Missouri Territory”
1825 – Unseasonable hurricane hits NYC
1845 – Mexican-US war starts
1850 – Empire Engine Company No 1 organized
1862 – Confederates evacuate Ft Pillow, Tenn
1870 – 4th Belmont: W Dick aboard Kingfisher wins in 2:59.5
1873 – 1st contract workers of British-Indies Co arrives in Suriname
1875 – Pacific Stock Exchange opens
1884 – 18th Belmont: Jim McLaughlin aboard Panique wins in 2:42
1892 – Oil City & Titusville Penn, destroyed by oil tank explosion; 130 die
1892 – Sierra Club forms in SF
1896 – Henry takes his 1st Ford through streets of Detroit
1907 – Automatic washer & dryer introduced
1912 – Cone of Mount Katmai (Alaska) collapses
1912 – Massachusetts passes 1st US minimum wage law
1916 – Russian General Brusilov fails on his Eastern Front attack
1917 – American men begin registering for the draft
1917 – Order of British Empire inaugurated
1919 – Senate passes Women’s Suffrage bill
1919 – US marines invade Costa Rica
1927 – 1st Ryder Cup: US beats England, 9½-2½ at Worcester Country Club (Worcester, Massachusetts, US)
1927 – Johnny Weissmuller set swim records in 100-yard & 200-yard free-style
1928 – President of the Republic of China Zhang Zuolin is assassinated by Japanese agents.
1929 – George Eastman demonstrates 1st technicolor movie (Rochester NY)
1932 – 64th Belmont: Tom Malley aboard Faireno wins in 2:32.8
1938 – 70th Belmont: James Stout aboard Pasteurized wins in 2:29.6
1940 – British complete miracle of Dunkirk by evacuating 300,000 troops
1940 – The synthetic rubber tire unveiled
1940 – Winston Churchill says “We shall fight on the seas & oceans”
1942 – Battle of Midway begins; Japan’s 1st major defeat in WW II
1942 – Capitol Record Co opens for business
1942 – USS Yorktown sinks near Midway Island
1943 – Argentina taken over by Gen Rawson & Col Juan Peron
1943 – Race riots in LA
1944 – 1st British gliders touches down on French soil for D-Day
1944 – 1st submarine captured & boarded on high seas-U 505
1944 – 5th Army enters & liberates Rome from Mussolini’s Fascist armies
1945 – 6th Marine division occupies Orokoe Peninsula Okinawa
1945 – US, Russia, England & France agree to split occupied Germany
1946 – Largest solar prominence (300,000 mi/500,000 km) observed
1947 – House of Reps approves Taft-Hartley act
1954 – Arthur Murray flies X-1A rocket plane to record 27,000 m
1954 – France grants Vietnam independence inside French Union
1962 – Lee Harvey Oswald departs Rotterdam on SS Maasdam to US
1965 – Rolling Stones release “Satisfaction”
1966 – “Batman & His Grandmother” by Dickie Goodman hits #70
1966 – 98th Belmont: William Boland aboard Amberoid wins in 2:29.6
1967 – Monkees take home an Emmy for their Outstanding comedy Series
1967 – Curt Flood’s record 568 straight chances without an error ends (227 straight games)
1968 – Don Drysdale pitches his 6th straight shutout, en route to 58 innings
1969 – 22-year-old sneaks into wheel pod of a jet parked in Havana & survives 9-hr flight to Spain despite thin oxygen levels at 29,000 ft
1972 – Record 8 shutouts pitched in 16 major league games (AL=5, NL=3)
1973 – A patent for the ATM is granted to Don Wetzel, Tom Barnes and George Chastain.
1974 – Never repeated 10 cent Beer Night at Cleveland, unruly fans stumble onto field & cause Indians to forfeit the game to Rangers with score tied 5-5 in 9th
1975 – Oldest animal fossils in US discovered in NC
1977 – Apple II, the 1st personal computer, goes on sale
1982 – “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan,” released in USA
1982 – Israel attacks targets in south Lebanon
1984 – Arnold Palmer fails to make US Open golf tournament 1st time in 32 yrs
1984 – DNA is successfully cloned from an extinct animal
1985 – Supreme Court strikes down Alabama “moment of silence” law
1986 – Jonathan Pollard, spy for Israel, pleads guilty in US court
1987 – Danny Harris beats Edwin Moses, ends streak of 122 cons hurdle wins
1988 – Rickey Henderson steals 2 bases for record 249 as a NY Yankee
1989 – Beijing cop shoots & wounds Chinese priemer Li Ping
1989 – Eastern Europe’s 1st somewhat free election in 40 years held in Poland
1989 – Gas explodes near 2 passenger trains in USSR, kills 100s
1989 – Largest parade in Bronx history honors 350th anniversary
1990 – Greyhound Bus files bankruptcy
1990 – Dr Jack Kevorkian assisted an Oregon woman to commit suicide, beginning a national debate over the right to die
1992 – San Jose voters reject Giants plan to build a new stadium
1992 – USPO announces young Elvis beats old Elvis stamp
1998 – Terry Nichols is sentenced to life in prison for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing.
2012 – US drone attack kills 15 militants in Pakistan, including high ranking al-Qaeda official, Abu Yahya al-Libi
2012 – Japan’s stock market plummets to record lows with the S&P/TOPIX 150 reaching its lowest level since 1983
Births
1394 – Philippa of England, queen of Denmark, Norway and Sweden (d. 1430)
1489 – Antoine, Duke of Lorraine (d. 1544)
1604 – Claudia de’ Medici, Grand Duchess of Tuscany (d. 1648)
1665 – Zacharie Robutel de La Noue, Canadian soldier (d. 1733)
1694 – Francois Quesnay, French personal physician of Louis XIV
1704 – Benjamin Huntsman, English inventor and manufacturer (d. 1776)
1738 – George III, English King during American Revolution (1760-1820)
1744 – Patrick Ferguson, Scots army officer and rifle designer (d. 1780)
1754 – Franz Xaver, Baron Von Zach, Austrian editor and astronomer (d. 1832)
1787 – Constant Prévost, French geologist (d. 1856)
1801 – James Pennethorne, architect
1803 – Gabriel James Rains, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1881
1815 – Paul Jones Semmes, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1863
1816 – Phillipe Regis Denis de Keredern de Trobriand, Bvt Mjr Gen (Union)
1828 – Alexander William Campbell, Brigadier General (Confederate Army)
1864 – Nassau William Senior, British economist
1887 – Tom Longboat, marathon runner (d. 1949)
1894 – Blanch Knopf, publishing CEO (Knopf)
1899 – Hassan Fathy, Egyptian architect (d. 1989)
1908 – Rosalind Russell, Waterbury CT, actress (Mame, Take a Letter Darling)
1910 – Christopher Cockerell, inventor (Hovercraft)
1916 – Cecil Blacker, CEO (British Equestrian Federation)
1917 – Allen Greenwood, deputy CEO (British Aerospace)
1917 – Charles Collingwood, Mich, news commentator (CBS, Chronicles)
1917 – Robert Merrill, Bkln NY, baritone (NY Metropolitan Opera)
1918 – LeRoy Walker, Atlanta Ga, CEO (US Olympic Committee)
1924 – Dennis Weaver, Joplin Mo, actor (Chester-Gunsmoke, Duel, Battered)
1927 – Priscilla Morrill, Medford Mass, actress (Edie Grant-Mary Tyler Moore)
1930 – Morgana King, jazz singer/actress (Godfather)
1932 – John Barrymore Jr, Beverly Hills California, actor (Pantomine Quiz)
1932 – Oliver Nelson, American jazz composer and arranger (d. 1975)
1934 – Seamus Elliott, Irish cyclist (d. 1971)
1936 – Bruce Dern, Winnetka Ill, actor (Coming Home, Silent Running, Tattoo)
1937 – Freddie Fender, Mexico, country singer (Feelings)
1937 – Mortimer B Zuckerman, CEO (US News & World Report, NY Daily News)
1937 – Robert Fulghum, American author
1937 – Gorilla Monsoon, American professional wrestler (d. 1999)
1938 – Art Mahaffey, baseball player
1943 – Sandra Haynie, Fort Worth TX, LPGA golfer (1974 US Women’s Open)
1944 – Charlie Whitney, rock guitarist (Family)
1944 – Michelle Phillips, Long Beach CA, singer/actress (Mamas & Papas)
1944 – Roger Ball, Scotland, saxophonist (Average White Band)
1945 – Gordon Waller, Scotland, singer (Peter & Gordon-World Without Love)
1945 – Ivan “Ironman” Stewart, Mickey Thompson off-road champ (1983, 84, 90)
1946 – Bettina Gregory, correspondent/journalist (ABC-TV)
1952 – Carlene Watkins, Hartford CT, actress (Tough Enough)
1952 – Parker Stevenson, Phila Pa, actor (Falcon Crest, Stroker Ace)
1953 – Paul Samson, British guitarist (Samson) (d. 2002)
1956 – John Treacy, marathonr (Olympics-silver-1984)
1956 – Martin Adams, English darts player
1956 – John Hockenberry, American journalist
1959 – Lord Rayleigh, agri-businessman (Lord Rayleigh Farms)
1961 – El Debarge, Grand Rapids Mich, rocker (Debarge-All this Love)
1963 – Mossimo Giannulli, fashion designer (hot)
1964 – Chris Kavanagh, rocker (Sigue Sigue Sputnik-Love Missile F-111)
1965 – Andrea Jaeger, Chicago, tennis player (retired as a teenager)
1965 – Mick Doohan, Australian motorcycle racer
1968 – Al B. Sure, American R&B singer
1969 – Tine Moberg-Parker, Oslo Norway, Canada Europe class yachter (Oly-96)
1971 – Noah Wyle, Hollywood California, actor (Dr John Carter-ER)
1971 – Joseph Kabila, Congolese politician
1975 – Russell Brand, British comedian and television personality
1975 – Angelina Jolie, Los Angeles, California, American actress (Girl, Interrupted, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider)
1981 – T. J. Miller, American actor and comedian
1985 – Bar Refaeli, Israeli model
1985 – Ana Carolina Reston, Brazilian fashion model (d. 2006)
1992 – Earvin Johnson III, son of NBA foward Magic Johnson
Deaths
1039 – Conrad II the Salian, King/Emperor of Germany (1024/27-39), dies at 49
1135 – Emperor Huizong of China (b. 1082)
1267 – Hendrik of Vianden, bishop of Utrecht (1252-67), dies
1316 – Louis X, King of France (1314-16), dies at 26
1394 – Mary de Bohun, wife of Henry IV of England (b. c 1369)
1463 – Flavio Biondi, Italian writer (Rome instaurata), dies at about 65
1558 – Maximilian of Burgundy, leader of Holland/admiral, dies at 43
1663 – William Juxon, archbishop of Canterbury (1660-63), dies
1792 – Gen John Burgoyne, soldier/playwright, dies
1798 – Giacomo Casanova, Italian adventurer/writer/librarian and womanizer, dies at 73
1801 – Frederick Muhlenberg, American statesman (b. 1750)
1830 – Antonio José de Sucre, Great Marshall of Ayacucho (b. 1795)
1880 – Eugen Adam, painter, dies
1916 – Mildred J Hill, composer/musician (Happy Birthday To You), dies at 56
1921 – Heinrich E Albers-Schoenberg, German x-ray experimenter, dies at 56
1922 – William Halse Rivers, British psychologist/anthropologist, dies
1959 – Charles Vidor, director (Gilda, Farewell to Arms), dies at 58
1962 – William Beebe, US biologist/explorer, dies at 84
1989 – Ayatalloh Ruhollah Khomeini, Iranian leader (-1989), dies at 89
1989 – Dik Browne, cartoonist (Hi & Lois, Hagar the Horrible), dies at 71
1990 – Jack Gilford, comedic actor (Cocoon II), dies at 82 of stomach cancer
1994 – Derek Lek Leckenby, rock guitarist (Herman’s Hermits), dies at 48
1995 – William J Law, sailor, dies at 84
1997 – Ronnie Lane, bassist (Faces), dies of multiple sclerosis at 51
2001 – John Hartford, American musician (b. 1937)
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