Today in History for January 1944

Months in 1944: February March April May June July August September October November December

Historical Events

Events 1 - 42 of 42

1st - 1st feature-length foreign movie, African Journey, shown on TV, NYC
1st - Army defeats Navy 10-7 in football "Arab Bowl," Oran, North Africa
1st - Gen Clark replaces Gen Patton as commander of 7th Army
2nd - 1st use of helicopters during warfare (British Atlantic patrol)
3rd - World War II: Top Ace Major Greg "Pappy" Boyington is shot down in his Corsair by Captain Masajiro Kawato flying a Zero.
4th - Ralph Bunche appointed 1st Negro official in US State Department
5th - The Daily Mail becomes the first transoceanic newspaper.
7th - Air Force announces production of 1st US jet fighter, the Bell P-59
10th - 1st mobile electric power plant delivered, Phila
10th - British troops conquer Maungdaw, Burma
11th - Crakow-Plaszow Concentration Camp established
12th - Churchill & de Gaulle begin a 2-day wartime conference in Marrakesh
12th - Failed resistance raid on distribution office of Borgerstraat Amsterd
14th - Soviet army begins offensive at Oranienbaum/Wolchow
15th - European Advisory Commission decides to divide Germany
15th - General Eisenhower arrives in England
15th - Vught Concentration Camp puts 74 women in 1 cell, 10 die
16th - Gen Eisenhower took command of Allied Invasion Force in London
17th - Korvet Violet sinks U-641 in Atlantic Ocean
Diplomat and Nobel Laureate Ralph Bunche 18th - 1st Chinese naturalized US citizen since repeal of exclusion acts
18th - The Metropolitan Opera House in New York City hosts a jazz concert for the first time. The performers were Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Artie Shaw, Roy Eldridge and Jack Teagarden.
20th - RAF drops 2300 ton bombs on Berlin
21st - 447 German bombers attack London
21st - 649 British bombers attack Magdeburg
22nd - During World War II, Allied forces begin landing at Anzio Italy
23rd - Arnold Schoenberg's "Ode to Napoleon," premieres in NYC
23rd - Det Red Wings score 15 goals against NY Rangers & NHL record 37 points, also most consecutive goals & most lopsided game 15-0
24th - Allied troops occupy Nettuno Italy
27th - Leningrad liberated from Germany in 880 days with 600,000 killed
27th - Casey Stengel, manager of the Boston Braves since 1938, resigns Lou Perini, Guido Rugo, & Joseph Maney buy control of Boston Braves
28th - 683 British bombers attack Berlin
28th - Leonard Bernstein's "Jeremiah," premieres in Pittsburgh
28th - U-271 & U-571 sunk off Ireland
29th - 285 German bombers attack London
Jazz Trumpeter Louis Armstrong 29th - USS Missouri the last battleship commissioned by the US Navy is launched.
29th - World War II: The Battle of Cisterna takes place in central Italy.
29th - World War II: About 38 men, women, and children die in the Koniuchy massacre in Poland.
30th - US invades Majuro, Marshall Islands
30th - World War II: United States troops land on Majuro.
31st - Operation-Overlord (D-Day) postponed until June
31st - U-592 sunk off Ireland
31st - US forces invade Kwajalein Atoll

Famous Birthdays

Birthdays 1 - 86 of 86

1st - Charlie Davis, cricketer (WI batsman in 15 Tests 1968-73)
1st - Jimmy Hart, American wrestling manager
1st - Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Pakistani politician
2nd - Peter Eotvos, composer
2nd - Prince Norodom Ranariddh, Cambodian politician
3rd - Christina von Saltza, US, swimmer (Olympic-3 gold/silver-1960)
3rd - David Atherton, English conductor
3rd - Blanche d'Alpuget, Australian novelist, biographer and second wife of Bob Hawke
4th - Volker Hornback, rocker (Tangerine Dream)
5th - Felix Arons, Dutch director/actor (Waaldrecht)
5th - Tommie Smith, US, 200m dash (Olympic-gold-1968) [or Jun 5]
6th - Bonnie Franklin, Santa Monica Cal, TV actress (Ann-1 Day at a Time), (d. 2013)
6th - Henry Kravis, author (The Money Machine)
6th - Robert Landers, Tarrant County TX, PGA golfer (Fort Worth-1976, 78, 80)
6th - Terry Venables, British soccer player/manager [or 1943]
6th - Van McCoy, US soul singer/songwriter (Hey Mr DJ, Hustle)
6th - Rolf M. Zinkernagel, Swiss immunologist, Nobel laureate
7th - Ad [GB] Nijhuis, Dutch MP (VVD)
7th - Mike McGear, Liverpool, singer (Paul McCartney's brother)
7th - Arne Scheie, Norwegian sports commentator
7th - Tony Whitlam, Australian judge
8th - Terry Brooks, US, sci-fi author (Sword of Shannara)
9th - Jimmy Page, London, rock guitarist (Led Zeppelin-Stairway to Heaven)
9th - Scott Engel, vocalist (Walker Brothers-Sun Aint Gonna Shine Anymore)
9th - Ian Hornak, American Painter, Draughtsman and Sculptor (d. 2002)
10th - Frank Sinatra Jr, Jersey City NJ, American singer/bandleader (Golddigers)
10th - Rory Byrne, South African racing car designer
10th - Bernard Derome, Canadian news presenter (Le Téléjournal)
10th - William Sanderson, American actor
11th - York Georg Holler, composer
11th - Mohammed Abed Elhai, Sudanese writer and academic (d. 1989)
11th - Shibu Soren, Indian politician
12th - Joe Frazier, Beaufort SC, HW boxer (Olympic-gold-1964)/champ (1968-73)
12th - Vlastimil Hort, Czech/German chess player
12th - Hans Henning Atrott, Prussian euthanasia advocate
12th - Viktoria Postnikova, Russian pianist
12th - Carlos Villagrán, Mexican actor
14th - Graham Vivian Marsh, Kalgoorlie Australia, PGA golfer (1977 Heritage)
14th - Marjoe Gortner, American evangelist
14th - Nina Totenberg, American journalist
16th - Chris de Marigny, painter/designer
16th - Jim Stafford, Eloise Fla, singer (Spiders & Snakes, My Girl Bill)
16th - Ronnie Milsap, Robbinsville NC, country singer (Legend in My Time)
17th - Françoise Hardy, French singer
18th - Larry "Legs" Smith, rocker (Bonzo Dog Band-Urban Spaceman)
18th - Relus ter Beek, Dutch Minister of defense (PvdA)
18th - Paul Keating, twenty-fourth Prime Minister of Australia
18th - Carl Morton, American baseball player (d. 1983)
19th - Dan Reeves, NFL Coach (NY Giants, Denver Broncos, Atlanta Falcons)
19th - Pehr Henrik Nordgren, composer
19th - Richard [Erskine Frere] Leakey, Nairobi Kenya, anthropologist
19th - Shelley Fabares, American actress
19th - Laurie London, English singer
19th - Peter Lynch, American investor
20th - Eddie Shah, English publisher (Today, Post)
20th - Isao Okano, Japan, middleweight judo (Olympic-gold-1964)
20th - Lieven Soete, Dutch publicist (Molotov-Ribbentrop-pact)
21st - John Kenneth Tavener, composer
21st - Neely Bruce, composer
23rd - Jerry Lawson, US singer (Persuasions-Under the Boardwalk)
23rd - Marty Russo, (Rep-D-IL, 1975- )
23rd - Rutger Hauer, Dutch actor (Blade Runner, Ladyhawke, Osterman Weekend)
23rd - Sergey Belov, USSR, basketball player (Olympic-gold-1972)
24th - David Gerrold, [Jerrold David Friedman], author (World of Star Trek)
24th - Klaus Nomi, German singer (d. 1983)
25th - Anita Pallenberg, Italian model
26th - Angela Yvonne Davis, black activist/professor
27th - Kevin Coyne, rocker
27th - Nicholas Berkeley Mason, drummer (Pink Floyd-Brick in the Wall)
27th - Peter Akinola, Nigerian religious leader
28th - Arnold Muhren, Dutch pop bassist/singer (The Cats-Sailin' Home)
28th - Brian Keenan, NYC, rock drummer (Chamber Bros-Time Has Come Today)
28th - James Cran, British MP
28th - John Edmonds, British trade unionist
28th - John Tavener, composer (The Whale)
28th - Martin Fried, rocker (Cyrkle-Red Rubber Ball)
29th - Barbara Moore, Wardell Mo, actress (Lisa Rogers-Man From UNCLE)
29th - Hans Plomp, Dutch writer/poet (Venus in Holland)
29th - Yoweri Museveni, President of Uganda
29th - Patrick Lipton Robinson, Jamaican judge
30th - John Thornton, English chocolate factory/multi-millionaire
30th - Lynn Harrell, NYC, cellist
31st - Anton Korteweg, Dutch poet (For the Good Order)
31st - Charley Musselwhite, blues musician (Stand Back, Louisiana Fog)
31st - Eugene Terre Blanche, S Afr leader of Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging
31st - John Inverarity, cricketer (Australian batsman 1968-72)

Famous Deaths

Deaths 1 - 23 of 23

1st - C T B Turner, cricket (17 Tests 1886-95, 101 wkt All time great), dies
1st - Sir Edward Lutyens, British architect who designed New Delhi (b. 1869)
1st - Charles Turner, Australian cricketer (b. 1862)
3rd - Jurgis Baltrušaitis, Lithuanian poet (b. 1873)
4th - Henri "Hans" Flu, Indonesian/Dutch family doctor/antifascist, murder
4th - Kaj Munk, [Harald Leininger], anti-fascist writer (Kaj Munk), dies
5th - Adolph Goldschmidt, German/Swiss art historian, dies at 80
6th - Ida Tarbell, American journalist (b. 1857)
7th - J Verleun, Dutch resistance fighter, executed
7th - Lou Hoover, U.S. First Lady (b. 1874)
7th - Napoleon Lapathiotis, Greek poet (b. 1888)
8th - William Kissam Vanderbilt II, member of the Vanderbilt family (b. 1878)
11th - Galeazzo count of Cortellazzo Ciano, Italian politician, dies
12th - Lance C. Wade, American pilot (b. 1915)
14th - Mohammed Emin Yurdakul, Turkish poet, dies at about 74
19th - Harold Fraser-Simson, composer, dies at 71
20th - James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist (b. 1860)
21st - Gustaaf DFL Schamelhout, Flemish physician/writer, dies at 74
21st - Heinrich zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, German major/pilot, shot down
Painter/Print Maker Edvard Munch (23rd) 23rd - Edvard Munch, Norwegian painter (The Scream), dies at 80
23rd - Viktor Gusev, Russian poet (b. 1909)
29th - William Allen White, US journalist (Emporia Gazette), dies at 75
31st - Jean Giraudoux, French writer (b. 1882)