Today In The Past
Events
1066 – King Harald of England crowned
1099 – Henry V crowned German king
1205 – Philip of Swabia becomes King of the Romans.
1227 – Ferrand of Portugal freed from the Louvre
1352 – French king Jean II introduces Order of the Star
1449 – Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI is crowned at Mistra.
1494 – The first Mass in the New World is celebrated at La Isabela, Hispaniola.
1496 – Moorish fortress Alhambra, near Grenada, surrenders to the Christians
1579 – Artois/Hainault/Dowaai sign pro-Spanish Union of Arras
1639 – Virginia is 1st colony to order surplus crops (tobacco) destroyed
1649 – The Rump Parliament votes to put Charles I on trial for treason and other “high crimes”
1661 – The Fifth Monarchists unsuccessfully attempt to seize control of London.
1663 – Great earthquake in New England
1681 – 1st recorded boxing match (Duke of Albemarle’s butler vs his butcher)
1745 – Bonnie Prince Charlies army draws to Glasgow
1773 – Massachusetts slaves petition legislature for freedom
1781 – Battle of Jersey (Island in UK)
1832 – New England Anti-Slavery Society organizes (Boston)
1839 – 2 day storm off Irish & English coast immortalized as “Big Wind”
1842 – 16,000 British & Indian troops leave Kabul, massacred before India
1857 – Patent for reducing zinc ore granted to Samuel Wetherill, Penn
1861 – Florida troops seize Federal arsenal at Apalachicola
1861 – NYC mayor proposes NY become a free city, trading with N & S
1873 – US Congress begins investigating Crédit Mobilier scandal
1880 – Record snow cover in Seattle – 120 cm
1887 – `Abd-allah II of Harar opens the Battle of Chelenqo with an attack on the camp of the Shewan army of Negus Menelik II.
1893 – Great Northern Railway connects Seattle with east coast
1893 – The Washington National Cathedral is chartered by Congress. The charter is signed by President Benjamin Harrison.
1896 – 1st US women’s 6-day bicycle race starts, Madison Square Garden
1896 – Cecil Rhodes resigns as premier of Cape colony
1898 – 1st telephone message from a submerged submarine, by Simon Lake
1900 – Boers attack Ladysmith, about 1,000 killed or injured
1907 – Maria Montessori opens her 1st (Montessori) school (Rome)
1912 – New Mexico becomes 47th state
1914 – Stock brokerage firm of Merrill Lynch founded
1925 – Paavo Nurmi, sets indoor record, 4:13.6 mile & 14:44.6 5,000m
1927 – US marines sent to Nicaragua
1929 – Mother Teresa arrives in Calcutta to begin a her work amongst India’s poorest and diseased people.
1930 – 1st diesel engine automobile trip (in a Packard sedan) completed
1931 – Thomas Edison submits his last patent application.
1938 – Bronze memorial statue of Henry Hudson erected in Bronx
1939 – Daily newspaper comic strip “Superman” debuts
1940 – Mass execution of Poles, committed by Germans in the city of Poznań, Warthegau.
1942 – Bob Feller, enlists in Navy & reports for duty to Norfolk Virginia
1942 – Pan American Airlines becomes the first commercial airline to schedule a flight around the world.(“Pacific Clipper“)
1946 – Pope Pius XII publishes encyclical Quemadmodum
1951 – Indianapolis beats Rochester 75-73 in NBA-record 6 overtimes
1956 – Federal court bars former Little League Commissioner Carl Stotz from forming a rival group
1957 – Elvis Presley makes his 7th & final appearance on Ed Sullivan Show
1958 – Bollingen Prize for poetry awarded to ee cummings
1958 – Gibson patents Flying V Guitar
1963 – “Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom” with Marlin Perkins begins on NBC
1964 – Rolling Stones’ 1st tour as headline act (with Ronettes)
1967 – “Milton Berle Show” last airs on ABC-TV
1967 – 2 homemade buses collided on a mountain road in Terpate, Philippines plunging off a cliff, killing 84, injuring 140
1967 – United States Marine Corps and ARVN troops launch “Operation Deckhouse Five” in the Mekong River delta.
1968 – Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour,” album goes #1 & stays #1 for 8 weeks
1968 – Dr N E Shumway performs 1st US adult cardiac transplant operation
1968 – Surveyor 7 (last of series) launched by US for soft-landing on Moon
1971 – Berkeley chemists announces 1st synthetic growth hormones
1971 – Neil Young returns to his homeland of Canada for his first concert there since his pre-stardom days
1972 – US female Figure Skating championship won by Janet Lynn
1972 – US male Figure Skating championship won by Kenneth Shelley
1972 – Vladimir Bukovski is exiled from USSR
1974 – In response to the 1973 energy crisis, daylight saving time commences nearly four months early in the United States.
1975 – “Wheel Of Fortune,” debuts on NBC-tv
1975 – 1000 Led Zeppelin fans, waiting overnight inside the lobby of the Boston Garden for tickets to the group’s February 4th gig to go on sale, cause a riot and an esimated $30,000 damage
1976 – Ted Turner purchases Atlanta Braves for reported $12 million
1978 – 1st postage stamp copyrighted by US (Carl Sandburg stamp)
1979 – The Village People’s Y.M.C.A becomes their only UK No.1 single. At it’s peak it sold over 150,000 copies a day
1980 – Indira Gandhi’s Congress Party wins elections in India
1986 – British Defense Secretary Michael Heseltine resigns
1986 – Impala Platinum fires 20,000 black mine workers in Johannesburg
1986 – STS 61-C scrubbed at T-31sec because of liquid oxygen valve problem
1987 – Astronomers at University of California see 1st sight of birth of a galaxy
1990 – NY Lotto pays $35 million to one winner (#s are 18-25-26-32-42-44)
1991 – Qian Hong swims female world record 50m butterfly (27.30 sec)
1993 – Bill Wyman announces he will leave Rolling Stones
1994 – Dow-Jones hits record 3803.88
1994 – Ice skater Nancy Kerrigan is attacked by Tonya Harding’s bodyguard
1995 – A chemical fire in an apartment complex in Manila, Philippines, leads to the discovery of plans for Project Bojinka, a mass-terrorist attack.
1996 – Record $65.2 million British lottery won by 3 people (2-3-4-13-42-44)
1998 – Don Sutton selected to Baseball Hall of Fame
2002 – Daniel Bedingfield returns to No.1 on the UK singles chart for the second time with Gotta Get Thru This
2005 – Mississippi Civil Rights Workers Murders: Edgar Ray Killen is arrested as a suspect for the 1964 murders of three Civil Rights workers.
Births
1367 – Richard II, Bordeaux, France, King of England (1377-99) (d. 1400)
1412 – Joan of Arc, Domrémy, Roman Catholic Saint and national heroine of France (legendary date) (d. 1431)
1561 – Thomas Fincke, Danish mathematician (d. 1656)
1580 – (baptised) John Smith of Jamestown (d. 1631)
1655 – Jakob Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (d. 1705)
1714 – Percivall Pott, English physician (d. 1788)
1745 – Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier, France, aeronaut (1st pioneer balloonist)
1745 – Étienne Montgolfier, French inventor (d. 1799)
1776 – Ferdinand von Schill, Prussian officer/rebel
1795 – Anselme Payen, French chemist (d. 1871)
1799 – Jedediah Strong Smith, US fur trader/explorer
1807 – Joseph Holt, Bvt Major General (Union Army), died in 1894
1807 – Jozef Maximilián Petzval, Slovak inventor (d. 1891)
1808 – Joseph Pitty Couthouy, American naval officer (d. 1864)
1811 – Charles Sumner, leading Reconstruction senator, died in 1874
1812 – Melchora Aquino, Filipino revolutionary hero (d. 1919)
1822 – Heinrich Schliemann, German polyglot/archeologist (Troje)
1827 – John Calvin Brown, Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1889
1827 – John Wesley Frazer, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), die in 1906
1842 – Clarence King, mining engineer (geologist)
1864 – Ban Johnson, Norwalk Ct, baseball founder (American League)
1872 – Alexander N Scriabin, Moscow, hallucinogenic composer (Prometheus)
1878 – Carl Sandburg, US, poet/biographer of Lincoln (The People, Yes)
1880 – Tom Mix, Mix Run PA, silent screen cowboy actor (Dick Turpin), died 1940
1882 – Samuel Rayburn, Tenn, (Rep-D-Tx), speaker of the House (1940-57)
1883 – Khalil Gibran, Lebanon, mystic poet (The Prophet, Broken Wings)
1896 – Abram N Pritzker, US businessman (Hyatt Hotels, McCall’s magazine)
1905 – Eric Frank Russell, UK, sci-fi author (Hugo, Deep Space, Dark Tides)
1907 – David Fleay, Australian naturalist (d. 1993)
1911 – Joey Adams, Bkln NY, comedian/actor/columnist (ABC’s Back That Fact)
1913 – Loretta Young, Salt Lake City Ut, actr (Farmer’s Daughter, Stranger)
1914 – Danny Thomas, Deerfield Mich, comedian (Danny Thomas Show)
1919 – Sylvia Syms, US singer (Hello Dolly, Dream Girl, Them There Eyes)
1920 – Sun Myung Moon, evangelist (Unification Church-Moonies), (d. 2012)
1921 – Lou Harris, pollster (Lou Harris Poll)
1923 – Leah Chase, master chef, in the creole tradition
1923 – Jacobo Timerman, Argentine writer (d. 1999)
1924 – Earl Scruggs, NC, bluegrass musician ( Flat &–Ballad of Jed Clampett), (d. 2012)
The Ballad Of Jed Clampett with Lester Flatt
1925 – John Z DeLorean, former automaker (DeLorean)
1926 – Pat Flaherty, American racecar driver (2002)
1926 – Kid Gavilan, Cuban boxer (d. 2003)
1926 – Mickey Hargitay, Hungarian-born actor and bodybuilder (d. 2006)
1926 – Ralph Branca, American baseball player
1926 – Kim Dae-jung, President of South Korea and Nobel laureate
1929 – Wilbert Harrison, R & B singer (Kansas City)
1929 – Babrak Karmal, Afghani politician (d. 1996)
1930 – Vic Tayback, Bkln NY, actor (Mel-Alice, Khan, Portrait of a Stripper)
1931 – Capucine, [Germaine Lefebvre], Toulon France, actress (Pink Panther, What’s New Pussycat?) (d. 1990)
1931 – E. L. Doctorow, American author
1932 – Sacha Distel, French singer
1932 – Stuart A. Rice, American chemist
1933 – Emil Steinberger, Swiss comedian
1934 – Harry M. Miller, Australian entrepreneur
1935 – Paul Wilson, US R&B-singer (Flamingos-Lovers Never Say Goodbye)
1937 – Lou Holtz, US, football coach (NJ Jets)
1938 – Prof Adrienne Clarke, Australian botanist, Lieutenant Governor of Victoria
1939 – Murray Rose, Nairn Scotland, Australian Olympic swimmer (4x oly gold), (d. 2012)
1940 – Penny Lernoux, American journalist (d. 1989)
1941 – Sandy Denny, country singer (Fairport Convention-If You Gotta Go)
1943 – Paul James Nunn, mountaineer
1943 – Terry Venables, British soccer player/manager
1944 – Bonnie Franklin, Santa Monica Cal, TV actress (Ann-1 Day at a Time)
1944 – Rolf M. Zinkernagel, Swiss immunologist, Nobel laureate
1945 – Pepe Le Pew, cartoon skunk (Au Dorable Kitty)
1947 – Ian Millar, Halifax NS, dressage rider (World Cup 1988, 89, Oly-96)
1948 – Guy Spencer Gardner, Alta Vista Va, Lt Col USAF/astro (STS 27, STS 35)
1949 – Michael Boit, Nandi Kenya, 800m runner (Olympic-bronze-1972)
1950 – Louis Freeh, former Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
1951 – Kim Wilson, bluesman (Fabulous Thunderbirds)
Got My Mojo Working with Jimmy Rogers
1952 – Grant Goodeve, New Haven Conn, actor (David-8 is Enough, Dynasty)
1952 – Moondog Spot, American professional wrestler (d. 2003)
1953 – Malcolm Young, Glasgow Scotland, guitarist (AC/DC-Highway to Hell)
1954 – Norbert Hahn, German DR, 2 man luge (Olympic-gold-1976, 80)
1954 – Hans Robert Hiegel, German architect
1954 – Yuji Horii, Japanese video game designer
1954 – Trudie Styler, English actress
1955 – Rowan Atkinson, England, comedian/actor (Mr Bean, Blackadder)
1957 – C Michael Foale, Louth England, astronaut (STS 45, 56, 63, 84/86)
1959 – Kapil Dev, cricketer (India’s finest all-rounder 1978-94, Cup-1982)
1959 – Kathy Sledge, Phila, vocalist (Sister Sledge-We are Family)
1960 – Paul William Azinger, Holyoke MA, PGA golfer (1987 Phoenix Open)
1960 – Nigella Lawson, English chef and writer
1961 – Howie Long, former NFL tackle/actor/broadcaster (Broken Arrow)
1962 – Philip Brown, Birmingham Engl, 4x400m runner (Olympic-silver-1984)
1962 – Sean Landeta, NFL place kicker (NY Giants)
1963 – Philippe Perrin, Meknes Morocco, Lt Col FAF/astronaut
1964 – Mark O’Toole, bassist/drummer (Frankie Goes to Hollywood-Relax)
1964 – Jacqueline Moore, American wrestler
1965 – Lindsay H Burns, Big Timber Mont, rower (Olympics-silver-96)
1965 – Bjorn Lomborg, Danish,writer , environmental studies
1967 – David Belcher, Australian rower (Olympics-96)
1967 – Larry Donald, Cincinnati Ohio, US boxer (Olympic-92)
1967 – Peter Loran, Teaneck NJ, rock vocalist (Trixter-Give It To Me Good)
1970 – Gabrielle Reece, California, volleyball star/model (Extremists)
1970 – Kerrin Petty, Townshend Vt, cross country skier (Olympics-1994)
1970 – Julie Chen, American television presenter
1972 – Denis Montana, CFL receiver (Montreal Alouettes, Toronto Argonauts)
1972 – Shae Marks, New Orleans LA, playmate (May, 1994)
1972 – Nek, Italian singer
1975 – Laura Berg, Whittier CA, softball outfielder (Olympics-gold-96)
1976 – Jeremy Linn, US, 100m breaststroke (Olympics-silver/gold-96)
1977 – Stacey Gartrell, Sydney NSW Australia, swimmer (Olympics-96)
1978 – Steve Hartsell, Ann Arbor Mich, pairs skater (& Danielle Hartsell)
1980 – Hiromi Oshima, Japanese adult model
1981 – Rinko Kikuchi, Japanese actress
1982 – Tiffany Pollard, American reality television personality
Deaths
664 – Amr ibn al-A’as, Arab general (bc. 583)
1088 – Berengarius of Tours, French theologist, dies
1275 – Raymundus of Penafort, Spanish church law scholar, dies
1374 – Andreas Corsini, Italian saint/bishop of Fiesole, dies
1481 – Akhmat Khan, Khan of the Golden Horde
1536 – Baldassare Peruzzi, Italian architect/painter, dies
1646 – Elias Hill, German architect of Augsburg, dies at 72
1689 – Seth Ward, English mathematician and astronomer (b. 1617)
1693 – Mehmed IV, sultan (Turkey), dies at 51
1694 – Francesco Morosini, Italian army general, dies
1718 – Richard Hoare, English goldsmith and banker (b. 1648)
1725 – Chikamatsu Monzaemon, Japan, playwright (Yotsugi Soga), dies at about 71
1731 – Étienne François Geoffroy, French chemist (b. 1672)
1813 – Louis Baraguey d’Hilliers, French general (b. 1764)
1852 – Louis Braille, French teacher of the blind and inventor of braille (b. 1809)
1855 – Giacomo Beltrami, Italian explorer (b. 1779)
1882 – Richard Henry Dana, U.S. novelist (Two Years Before the Mast) (b. 1815)
1913 – Frederick Hitch, English Victoria Cross Winner (b. 1856)
1918 – Georg F L P Cantor, German mathematician: collection, dies at 72
1919 – Theodore Roosevelt, 26th Pres (1901-09), dies in NY at 60
1919 – Max Heindel, Danish astrologer and mystic (b. 1865)
1922 – Jakob Rosanes, German mathematician (b. 1842)
1928 – Alvin C Kraenzlein, track star (Olympic-4 gold-1900), dies at 51
1934 – Herbert Chapman , Legendary Manager of Arsenal and Huddersfield Town (b. 1878)
1945 – Vladimir Vernadsky, Russian mineralogist (b. 1863)
1950 – Isaiah Bowman, geographer/co-founder (Geographical Review), dies at 71
1960 – Erik Lindahl, Swedish economist (Scope & Means), dies at 68
1963 – Lourens GM Baas Becking, Dutch botanist/resistance fighter, dies at 68
1964 – Edgar Maass, German/US author (Verdun), dies at 67
1972 – Chen Yi, Chinese military commander and politician (b. 1901)
1978 – John D MacArthur, US insurance billionaire, dies at 80
1978 – Burt Munro, New Zealand motorcycle racer (b. 1899)
1981 – A[rchibald] J[oseph] Cronin, physician/author (Citadel), dies at 84
1984 – Ernest Laszlo, Hungarian-U.S. cinematographer (b. 1898)
1985 – Robert H W Welch Jr, US founder/leader John Birch Society, dies at 85
1989 – Hirohito, Japan`s emperor (1922-89), dies at 87 after 62-year reign
1993 – John B “Dizzy” Gillespie, jazz trumpeter, dies of cancer at 75
1993 – Rudolph Nureyev, Russian ballet dancer (Kirov), dies of AIDS at 54
1994 – “Iron” Adriaan van Es, Dutch undersec of Navy (1963-72), dies at 80
1994 – Gerardus J Sizoo, physicist/director of Dutch Free University, dies
1994 – Morty the Moose, (Northern Exposure), dies at 6
1994 – Tip O’Neill, speaker of the house, dies of cancer
1994 – Virginia Kelley Clinton, Mother of Pres Clinton, dies at 70
1996 – John Phillipps Kenyon, historian/teacher, dies at 68
1999 – French Jazz piano virtuoso Michel Petrucciani dies in New York following a brief respiratory illness at age 36
2000 – Don Martin, American cartoonist (b. 1931)
2004 – Francesco Scavullo, American photographer (b. 1921)
2006 – Lou Rawls, American singer (b. 1933)
YOU’LL NEVER FIND ANOTHER LOVE LIKE MINE
2006 – Hugh Thompson, Jr., decorated Vietnam War helicopter pilot (b. 1943)
2007 – Roberta Wohlstetter, military historian and strategist (b. 1912)
2007 – Sneaky Pete Kleinow, American musician and special-effects artist (b. 1934)
2009 – Ron Asheton, The Stooges guitarrist (b. 1948)
2012 – Roger Boisjoly, American aerodynamicist, dies at 73
