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Historical Events

Results 1 - 100 of 138

48 BC - Caesar's civil war: Battle of Pharsalus - Julius Caesar decisively defeats Pompey at Pharsalus and Pompey flees to Egypt.
378 - Battle of Adrianople, Visigoth Calvary defeats Roman Army
681 - Bulgaria is founded as a Khanate on the south bank of the Danube, after defeating the Byzantine armies of Emperor Constantine IV south of the Danube delta.
1173 - Construction of the Tower of Pisa begins, and it takes two centuries to complete.
1329 - Quilon the first Indian Diocese was erected by Pope John XXII and Jordanus was appointed the first Bishop
1378 - Cardinals declare pope Urbanus VI lawless (anti christian/devil)
1483 - Opening of the Sistine Chapel
1559 - Willem of Orange becomes viceroy of Holland/Zealand/Utrecht
1596 - Henry van Cuyk becomes bishop of Roermond
1638 - Jonas Bronck of Holland becomes 1st European settler in Bronx
1655 - Lord Protector Cromwell divides England into 11 districts
1666 - Rear Admiral Robert Holmes leads a raid on the Dutch island of Terschelling, destroying 150 merchant ships in the Vlie estuary, and pillaging the town of West-Terschelling, an act later known as "Holmes's Bonfire".
1673 - Admiral Cornelis Evertsen de Jonge recaptures NY
1673 - Dutch recapture NY from English; regained by English in 1674
1726 - Netherlands signs Covenant of Hannover
1757 - English Ft William Henry, NY, surrenders to French & Indians troops
1778 - Captain Cook reaches Cape Prince of Wales, Bering straits
1790 - Columbia returns to Boston after 3 year journey, 1st ship to carry US flag around the world
1803 - 1st horses arrive in Hawaii
1810 - Napoleon annexes Westphalia as part of the First French Empire.
1829 - "Stourbridge Lion" locomotive goes into service
1830 - Louis-Philippe formally accepts crown of France, following abdication of Charles X
1831 - 1st US steam engine train run (Albany to Schenectady, NY)
1832 - King Leopold I of Belgium marries Louisa Maria
1841 - Erie boat in Buffalo NY catches fire; 242 die
1842 - US-Canada border defined by Webster-Ashburton Treaty
1848 - Austria & Sardinia sign cease fire
1848 - Barnburners (anti-slavery) party merges with Free Soil Party nominateing Martin Van Buren for president
1849 - Hungarian Republic crushed by Austria & Russia
1854 - Henry David Thoreau publishes "Walden"
1855 - Battle of Acapulco during Mexican Liberal uprising
1859 - Elevator patented
1862 - Battle of Cedar Mountain VA (Slaughter Mountain, Southwest Mountain)
1862 - Berlioz' opera "Beatrice et Benedict," premieres in Baden-Baden
1862 - Prelude to 2nd Manassas, Jackson is victorious at Battle of Cedar Mt, however Gen Charles S Winder is killed
1864 - Battle of Ft Morgan AL
1890 - 1st 44 Javans arrive in Suriname, to work 5 year on sugar plantations
1893 - 1st US bowling magazine, Gut Holz, published in NY
1901 - 34-35°N/98-99°W open for US colonization
1902 - Edward VII of England crowned after death of his mother Victoria
1902 - Edward VII is crowned king of the United Kingdom.
1905 - Mistaking her husband for a burglar, Ty Cobb's mother kills him
1907 - The first Boy Scout encampment concludes at Brownsea Island in Southern England.
1910 - Alva Fisher patents electric washing machine
1914 - German submarine U-15 sinks British cruiser
1915 - British attack at Chanak Bair at Gallipolis
1918 - Reds manager Christy Mathewson suspects Hal Chase of taking bribes to fix games, & suspends him "for indifferent play"
1920 - Bulgarian & allied Peace of Neuilly-sur-Seine goes into effect
1923 - NY State Golf Assoc formed
1925 - Only time Babe Ruth pinch-hit for, Bobby Veach flies out
1930 - 113°F (45°C) at Perryville, Tennessee (state record)
1930 - Betty Boop debuts in Max Fleischer's animated cartoon Dizzy Dishes
1930 - Percy Williams runs world record 100m (10.3 sec)
1936 - Jesse Owens wins 4th gold medal at Berlin Olympics
1941 - Winston Churchill reaches Newfoundland for 1st talk with FDR
1942 - 200 Jews escape Mir Ghetto in Poland
1942 - Dmitri Shostakovitch's 7th Symphony performed in Leningrad
1942 - Vice-Adm Mikawa lands at Guadalcanal, Solomon Island
1942 - Mahatma Gandhi & 50 others arrested in Bombay after passing of a "quit India" campaign by the All-India Congress
1943 - Bertolt Brecht's "Leben des Galilei," premieres in Zurich
1944 - 12 workers of Dutch illegal paper "Trouw," executed at Camp Vught
1944 - Smokey Bear debuts as spokeman for fire prevention
1944 - US 79th/90th division enter Le Mans
1945 - US drops 2nd atomic bomb "Fat Man" on Japan destroys part of Nagasaki
1946 - 1st time all major-league baseball games (8) are played at night
1950 - Lusty Song wins Hambletonian
1951 - Dutch Korea volunteers win US Collective Unit Citation
1952 - General strike against overtime conscription in Belgium
1953 - Premier Mohammed Abdullah of Kashmir, fired
1956 - 1st state-wide, state-supported educational TV network, Alabama
1956 - South African women demonstrate against pass laws
1957 - 24th NFL Chicago All-Star Game: NY Giants 22, All-Stars 12 (75,000)
1960 - Race riot in Jacksonville Florida
1961 - James B Parsons is 1st black appointed to Federal District Court
1963 - Britains rock TV show, Ready Steady Go, premieres
1963 - NY Met Roger Craig's NL record-tying 18-game losing streak ends
1964 - 1st Rolling Stones concert in Netherlands
1964 - Shirley Englehorn wins LPGA Waterloo Women's Golf Open Invitational
1964 - Bunning continues pitching perfectly to NY Mets until 2 outs in 5th, when Joe Christopher beats out a bunt. He totals 15 innings
1965 - Fire in Titan II silo in Searcy Arkansas, 53 die
1965 - Singapore gains independence from Malaysia (National Day)
1967 - Biafran offensive against Nigerian army
1967 - KYAY TV channel 39 in West Monroe, LA (IND) begins broadcasting
1968 - Yugoslav president Tito visits Prague
1969 - "Zorba" closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 305 performances
1969 - Manson family commits Tate-LaBianca murders
1970 - Jane Blalock wins LPGA Lady Carling Golf Open
1970 - Peruvian Airlines jet carrying 45 US exchange students explodes
1971 - Le Roy (Satchel) Paige inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame
1972 - Rockwell receives NASA contract to construct Space Shuttle
1973 - Henry McCullough & Denny Seiwell quit Wings
1973 - USSR launches Mars 7
1974 - Richard Nixon resigns presidency, VP Gerald Ford becomes 38th pres
1975 - 1st NFL game in Louisiana Superdome, Houston beats Saints 13-7
1975 - Dodger Davey Lopes steals record 32nd consec base without being caught
1975 - Donna Caponi Young wins LPGA Colgate European Ladies Golf Open
1976 - Clive Lloyd scores double-ton in 120 mins, WI v Glamorgan
1976 - Pitt Pirate John Candelaria no-hits LA Dodgers, 2-0
1976 - USSR launches Luna 24, last Lunar flight to date from Earth
1977 - Chris Old completes a century in 37 mins, Yorks v Warwicks

Famous Birthdays

Results 1 - 100 of 219

1201 - Arnold Fitz Thedmar, English chronicler (d. 1274)
1593 - Izaak Walton, England, biographer/fisherman/writer (Compleat Angler)
1611 - Henry earl of Nassau-Siegen, colonel/governor of Hulst Neth
1631 - John Dryden, English poet/playwright (Heroic Stanzas) [NS=Aug 19]
1648 - Johann Michael Bach, German composer (d. 1694)
1653 - John Oldham, English poet (d. 1683)
1669 - Eudoxia Lopukhina, Tsarina of Russia (d. 1731)
1674 - František Maxmilián Kaňka, Czech architect (d. 1766)
1677 - Jacob Campo Weyerman, South Neth's adventurer/painter/writer
1686 - Benedetto Marcello, Venice It, composer (Lettera Famigliare) [or 7/24]
1690 - Lorenzo Gaetano Zavateri, composer
1696 - Jozef Wenceslas, monarch of Liechtenstein/general
1718 - Placidus Cajetan von Camerloher, composer
1722 - Augustus William, Prince of Prussia (d. 1758)
1726 - Francesco Cetti, Italian Jesuit scientist (d. 1778)
1757 - Thomas Telford, Scottish civil engineer (d. 1834)
1758 - Bruno Dalberg/Anonymus Belga, [Petrus the Wacker van Zon], writer
1776 - Amedeo Avogadro, Tuin Italy, 6.022 x 10 ^ 23 (Avogadro's Law)
1781 - Michael Umlauf, composer
1783 - Grand Duchess Alexandra Pavlovna of Russia (d. 1801)
1797 - Charles Robert Malden, British naval officer (d. 1855)
1805 - Joseph Locke, English railway and civil engineer (d. 1860)
1808 - William Thomas Ward, Bvt Major General (Union volunteers)
1809 - William Barret Travis, commander at Battle of the Alamo
1819 - William Thomas Green Morton, dentist, used ether (HOF 1920)
1823 - Daniel Marsh Frost, Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1900
1824 - Simon Goodell Griffin, Bvt Major General (Union volunteers)
1825 - Elisha Ferry, (Gov-R-Wash, 1872-80, 1889-93)
1834 - Elias Alvares Lobo, composer
1845 - Xavier Mellery, Belgian painter/illustrator
1845 - André Bessette, Canadian religious figure (d. 1937)
1847 - Maria Victoria al Pozzo della Cisterna, queen consort of Spain (d. 1876)
1861 - Wilhelm Berger, composer
1869 - Randle Ayrton, Chester England, actor (Manxman)
1872 - Archduke Joseph August of Austria, Austrian field marshal (d. 1962)
1875 - Albert William Ketelbey, Aston England, composer (Wonder Worker)
1875 - Reynaldo Hahn, French composer, conductor, music critic and diarist
1883 - George Hoyt, NBA hall of fame referee (elected 1961)
1884 - Maria "Mary" Beekman, actress (Genius against Violence)
1887 - Abraham Schierbeek, Dutch biologist (Swammerdam)
1888 - Hans Oster, German major general/spy/July 20th plotter
1890 - Cesar Cortinas, composer
1890 - Eino Kaila, Finnish psychologist/philosopher
1890 - Sandor Jemnitz, composer
1891 - Max Tak, Dutch violinist/radio commentator
1892 - Charles Delaney, NYC, actor (Air Police, Lonesome Trail)
1895 - Fred Badcock, cricketer (swing bowler in NZ's 1st Test matches)
1895 - Nat Pendleton, Davenport IA, Olympic wrestler/actor (Reckless)
1896 - Jean Piaget, Switz, pioneer developmental psychologist/zoologist
1896 - Leonide Massine, choreographer (Diaghilev Ballet Russe 1914-20)
1896 - Erich Hückel, German physicist (d. 1980)
1897 - Ralph Wyckoff, American pioneer in x-ray crystallography
1898 - David de Jong, Dutch writer (Mutiny on the Canal)
1899 - Armand Salacrou, French playwright
1899 - Pamela Lyndon Travers, writer (Mary Poppins)
1899 - P. L. Travers, Australian author (d. 1996)
1901 - Charles Farrell, Cape Cod Mass, actor (Vern-My Little Margie)
1902 - Zino Francescatti, Marseilles France, violinist (NY Phil-1939)
1903 - Tom Tyler, [Vincent Markowsky], Port Henry NY, actor (Mummy's Hand)
1905 - Elizabeth Lane, 1st female British supreme court justice
1905 - Leo Genn, London England, actor (Affair in Monte Carlo)
1907 - Berta Waterstradt, writer
1909 - John Baur, museum director/author (American Paintings in 19th Century)
1909 - Adam von Trott zu Solz, German diplomat (d. 1944)
1910 - Robert H van Gulik, Dutch diplomat/writer (Judge Ti)
1911 - Khurshed Meher-Homji, cricketer (Indian wicket-keeper 1936)
1911 - Robert McCormick, Danville Ky, NBC newscaster (Current Opinion)
1911 - William A Fowler, US, astrophysicist (Nobel 1983)
1911 - Eddie Futch, American boxing trainer (d. 2001)
1913 - Harry Mills, singer (Mills Brothers-Paper Moon)
1913 - Herman Talmadge, (Sen-D-Ga, Watergate Committee)
1914 - Ferenc Fricsay, Hungarian conductor
1914 - Gordon Cullen, architect
1914 - Tove Jansson, Finnish author (Moomins) (d. 2001)
1914 - Joe Mercer, English footballer (d. 1990)
1915 - Haim Alexander, composer
1918 - Robert Aldrich, US director/producer (Dirty Dozen)
1919 - Joop [Johannes] den Uyl, Dutch Premier (PVDA, 1973-77)
1919 - Ralph Houk, baseball manager (Yankees, Tigers)
1920 - Enzo Biagi, Italian journalist and writer
1921 - J James Exon, (Sen-D-Nebraska, 1979- )
1921 - Ernest Angley, televangelist
1922 - Philip Larkin, Coventry England, writer (North Ship, Jill)
1923 - Gerrit Kouwenaar, Dutch literary
1925 - Robert Heppener, composer (Hymns & Conversations, Movie Music)
1925 - David A. Huffman, creator of Huffman coding (d. 1999)
1926 - Denis Atkinson, cricketer (WI all-rounder, 219 v Australia 1955)
1926 - Michiel de Ruyter, Dutch jazz historian (Mister Jazz)
1927 - Marvin Minsky, Artifical intelligence computer scientist (MIT)
1927 - Robert Shaw, England, actor (Deep, Jaws, Sting, Black Sunday)
1927 - Daniel Keyes, American author
1928 - Bob Cousy, NBA guard (Boston Celtics, 1957 MVP)
1930 - Betty Boop, animation
1931 - Mark Weinberg, South African/British fiancier/multi-millionaire
1931 - Chuck Essegian, American baseball player
1932 - John Gomery, Canadian jurist
1933 - Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, Japanese television personality and children's author
1935 - George S Leotsakos, composer
1936 - Julián Javier, American baseball player
1938 - Dick Anthony Williams, Chicago Ill, actor (Our Family Honor)

Famous Deaths

Results 1 - 100 of 128

117 - Mark Ulpius Trajanus, emperor of Rome (98-117)
117 - Trajan, Roman Emperor (b. 53)
378 - Flavius Valens, emperor of Byzantium (364-78), dies in battle at 50
803 - Irene, Byzantine empress/wife of emperor Leo IV, dies
1048 - Pope Damasus II [Poppo] dies in Rome, after reigning for only 23 days
1107 - Emperor Horikawa of Japan (b. 1079)
1173 - Najm ad-Din Ayyub, father of Saladin
1250 - King Eric IV of Denmark (b. 1216)
1420 - Pierre d'ailly/Peter de Alliaco, French theologist/cardinal, dies
1516 - Jeroen Bosch, painter (Garden of the Lusten), dies at 66
1534 - Cardinal Cajetan, Italian theologian (b. 1470)
1601 - Michael the Brave, Prince of Wallachia (b. 1558)
1612 - Ottavio M Frangipani, Pope elect, dies
1613 - Giovanni Righi, composer, dies at 36
1634 - Pieter I de Jode, Flemish publisher, dies
1634 - William Noy, English jurist (b. 1577)
1652 - John Both, landscape painter/etcher, dies at about 37
1668 - Francois Anguier, French sculptor, dies at about 64
1672 - Jose Ximenez, composer, dies at 70
1710 - Gabriel Schutz, composer, dies at 77
1720 - Simon Ockley, English orientalist (b. 1678)
1727 - Johann Philipp Treiber, composer, dies at 52
1738 - Pierre Drevet, French engraver, dies
1744 - James Brydges, 1st Duke of Chandos, English patron of the arts (b. 1673)
1763 - John Althuysen, Fries vicar/poet (Frysk Jierboek), dies at 47
1806 - Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia Christian, composer, dies at 33
1816 - Johann August Apel, German jurist and writer (b. 1771)
1835 - Claus Nielsen Schali, composer, dies at 78
1837 - Xavier Sigalon, French painter (b. 1787)
1848 - Frederick Marryat, English captain/author (Mr Midshipman Easy), dies
1854 - Frederik Augustus II, king of Saxon (1836-54), dies at 57
1862 - Joseph Bennett Plummer, US Union-brig-gen, dies at 42 or 46
1886 - Samuel Ferguson, Northern Irish poet and artist (b. 1810)
1888 - Charles Cros, French mathematician/chemist/poet, dies at 45
1888 - Isaac Strauss, composer, dies at 82
1892 - Matthias de Vries, linguistic (spelling), dies
1896 - Otto Lilenthal, aircraft pioneer, killed during a glider test at 48
1904 - Friedrich Ratzel, German social-geographer (Lebensraum), dies at 59
1915 - Henry Longbottom, English lieutenant, dies in battle
1919 - Ernst Haeckel, German philosopher (Social Darwinism), dies at 85
1919 - Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Italian composer (Pagliacci), dies at 62
1924 - Jacob P Vis, Dutch founder (NV Royal Salt Industries), dies at 66
1928 - Frederik II W, grand duke of Baden (1907-18), dies at 71
1929 - Heinrich Zille, German cartoonist (Simplicissimus), dies at 71
1942 - Edith Stein, German philosopher, dies
1945 - Harry Hillman, American athlete (b. 1881)
1946 - A E E Vogler, cricketer (South Africa, 15 Tests, 64 wkts), dies
1949 - Harry Davenport, actor (Cowboy & Lady, Enchanted Forest), dies at 83
1955 - Marion Eugene Bauer, composer, dies at 57
1957 - Carl Clauberg, Nazi doctor (b. 1898)
1958 - Felipe Boero, composer, dies at 74
1959 - Emil Frantisek Burian, composer, dies at 55
1961 - Walter Bedell Smith, US general/WW II chief of staff, dies at 75
1962 - Hermann Hesse, German/Swiss poet/author (Nobel 1946), dies at 85
1965 - Creighton Hale, silent film actor (Cat & Canary), dies at 83
1966 - Gosta Nystroem, composer, dies at 75
1967 - Anton Walbrook, actor (Laura, I Accuse), dies of heart attack at 66
1967 - Jaromir Weinberger, Czech/US composer (Czech Rhapsody), dies
1967 - Joe Orton, English actor/playwright (Leaf, Murdered), dies at 34
1969 - Abigail Folger, US, coffee magnate (Folgers), murdered
1969 - George P Marshall, NFL president (Washington Redskins), dies at 72
1969 - Robert Lehman, US multi-millionaire/director (Met Museum of Art), dies
1969 - Sharon Tate, actress (Valley of Dolls), killed by Manson's gang at 26
1969 - Voyteck Freykowski, US director, murdered
1969 - Wojciech Frykowski, Polish writer (murdered) (b. 1936)
1969 - Jay Sebring, American hair stylist (murdered) (b. 1933)
1969 - Steven Parent, American student (murdered) (b. 1951)
1972 - Bill Berns, commentator (Television Screen Magazine), dies at 53
1972 - Richard Elsasser, composer, dies at 45
1973 - Charlie Daniels, US swimmer (Olympics-4 gold-1904, 08), dies at 88
1973 - Dean Corll, shot, he raped & killed 26 boys
1974 - Bill Chase, American trumpet player and bandleader (b. 1934)
1975 - Dimitri D Shostakovitch, composer (Sun Over Motherland), dies at 68
1975 - Dmitri Shostakovich, Russian composer (b. 1906)
1976 - Jose Lezama Lima, Cuban poet/novelist, dies at 65
1976 - Max Vredenburg, composer, dies at 72
1977 - Edward Chapman, actor (Promoter, Rembrandt), dies at 75
1978 - James G Cozzens, US writer (Guard of Honor, Pulitzer), dies at 74
1978 - Johan Daisne, [Thiery], Belgian writer (Lago Maggiore), dies at 66
1979 - Allan Frank, actor (Charade Quiz), dies at 64
1979 - Walter O'Malley, CEO (Dodgers), dies at 75
1979 - Raymond Washington, founder of Los Angeles, California gang, the Crips
1980 - Elliott Nugent, actor (Romance), dies
1980 - Oleg Grigoryevich Kononenko, Russian cosmonaut, dies at 41
1980 - P K "Perker" Lee, cricketer (Australian bowler 1931-33, 2 Tests), dies
1980 - Jacqueline Cochran, American aviatrix (b. 1906)
1982 - Aleksandr A Alekseyev, Russian director, dies
1985 - Clive Churchill, Australian rugby league footballer (b. 1927)
1986 - Joseph "Poeske" Scherens, Belgian cyclist, dies at 77
1987 - Kees de Galan, Dutch economist, dies at 55
1988 - Alan Napier, (Alfred the Butler-Batman), dies at 85
1988 - Giacinto Scelsi, Italian composer (b. 1905)
1990 - Dorothy Appleby, actress (Small Town Boy, Paradise Express), dies
1990 - Joe Mercer, English footballer (b. 1914)
1991 - Corrie Hartong, dance pioneer, dies
1992 - Christopher Todd, [Todd Wangberg], dies of AIDS at 30
1992 - Jan van Baal, antropologist/gov Dutch New-Guinea, dies
1992 - Patrick A Devlin, England, judge/lead house of Lords, dies
1992 - Thomas J McIntyre, (Sen-NH, 1963-79), dies at 77
1993 - Mohamed M Tabet, commissar of Casablanca, raped 518, executed at 54