Today in the Past
Events
451 – 10th recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet
843 – Vikings destroy Nantes
1314 – Battle of Bannockburn; Scotland regains independence from England
1441 – Eton College founded by Henry VI
1509 – Henry VIII crowned King of England
1540 – Henry VIII divorces his 4th wife, Anne of Cleves
1664 – The colony of New Jersey is founded.
1795 – US & Great Britain sign Jay Treaty, 1st US extradition treaty
1817 – 1st coffee planted in Hawaii on Kona coast
1853 – Gadsden Purchase 29,670-square-mile (76,800 square km) from Mexico (now southern Arizona and New Mexico) for $10 million signed by President Franklin Pierce
1861 – Tennessee becomes 11th (& last) state to secede from US
1863 – Planning an invasion of Pennsylvania, Lee’s army crosses Potomac
1884 – John Lynch is 1st black elected chairman of Republican convention
1894 – Decision to hold modern Olympics every 4 years
1916 – Mary Pickford becomes the first female film star to get a million dollar contract.
1917 – Russian Black Sea fleet mutiny at Sebastopol
1930 – 1st radar detection of planes, Anacostia DC
1938 – 500 ton meteorite lands near Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
1939 – Pan Am’s 1st US to England flight
1947 – Jackie Robinson swipes home for 1st of 19 times in his career
1948 – Soviet Union begins Berlin Blockade
1962 – Jack Reed’s 22nd-inning HR wins longest NY Yankee game in history
1968 – Jim Northrup hits 2 grand-slammers to help Tigers beat Cleve 14-3
1970 – “Catch 22” opens in movie theaters
1970 – Bobby Murcer ties record of 4 consecutive HRs
1972 – “Troglodyte (Cave Man)” by Jimmy Castor Bunch peaks at #6
1972 – Yvonne Braitwaite Burke becomes 1st black chair in Dem convention
1980 – Affirmed wins $500,000 Hollywood Cup, 1st horse to win $2 million
2004 – In New York, capital punishment is declared unconstitutional.
Births
1386 – Giovanni da Capistrano, Italian saint (d. 1456)
1771 – E I Du Pont, France, chemist/scientist (Du Pont)
1813 – Henry Ward Beecher, Litchfield Ct, clergyman/orator (Independent)
1842 – Ambrose Bierce, Meigs County, Ohio, American writer and satirist (Devil’s Dictionary, Nuggets & Dust)
1850 – Horatio Herbert Kitchener, England, original Order of Merit member
1897 – Daniel K. Ludwig, American shipping magnate (d. 1992)
1899 – Chief Dan George, actor (Harry & Tonto, Little Big Man. Smith!)
1903 – Phil Harris, Linton In, actor (Anything Goes, Robin Hood)
1911 – Juan Manuel Fangio, racing driver
1944 – Jeff Beck, Surrey England, singer/guitarist (Jeff Beck Group)
1950 – Mercedes R Lackey, US, sci-fi author (Arrow’s Fall, Magic’s Pawn)
Deaths
1398 – Hongwu Emperor of China (b. 1328)
1519 – Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Pope Alexander, dies at 39
1817 – Thomas McKean, US attorney/signer (Decl of Independence), dies at 83
1908 – Grover Cleveland, 22nd & 24th Pres (1885-89, 93-97), dies at 71
1946 – Louise Whitfield Carnegie, American philanthropist (b. 1857)
1987 – Jackie Gleason, comedian (Honeymooners), dies of colon cancer at 71
2007 – Chris Benoit, Canadian professional wrestler (b. 1967)
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