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Historical Events

Results 1 - 100 of 198

421 - Flavius Constantine becomes emperor Constantine III of West Roman emp
421 - Constantius III becomes co-Emperor of the Western Roman Empire.
1526 - Heavy storm strikes Dutch coast, many die
1575 - University of Leiden Neth opens
1575 - Universiteit Leiden founded, and given the motto "Praesidium Libertatis".
1600 - Vatican convicts scholar Giordano Bruno to death
1601 - Earl Robert Devereux of Essex armies draws into London
1622 - King James I disbands the English parliament
1672 - Isaac Newton reads 1st optics paper before Royal Society in London
1690 - French & Indian troops set Schenectady settlement NY on fire
1690 - Lord Halifax resigns as Lord Privy Seal
1693 - William & Mary college is 2nd college chartered in US
1726 - The Supreme Privy Council is established in Russia.
1735 - 1st opera in US "Flora," opens in Charleston, SC
1743 - Comet C/1743 C1 approaches within 0.0390 AUs of Earth
1744 - French/Spanish fleet leaves Toulon
1750 - Minor earthquake in London
1775 - Leidse U 400th anniversary dinner
1776 - Wolfgang von Goethes' "Stella," premieres in Hamburg
1802 - Simon Willard patents banjo clock
1807 - Napoleon defeats Russians in battle of Eylau
1809 - Franz I of Austria declares war on France
1837 - 1st VP chosen by Senate, Richard Johnson (Van Buren admin)
1849 - New Roman Republic established.
1855 - The Devil's Footprints mysteriously appear in southern Devon.
1861 - Confederate States of America organizes in Montgomery, Ala
1862 - Battle of Roanoke Island NC, Federals gain control of Pamlico Sound
1862 - Opera "Lily of Killarney," premieres in London
1865 - 1st black major in US army, Martin Robinson Delany
1867 - The Ausgleich results in the establishment of the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary.
1879 - Sandford Fleming first proposes adoption of Universal Standard Time at a meeting of the Royal Canadian Institute.
1883 - Louis Waterman begins experiments to invents fountain pen
1887 - Aurora Ski Club of Red Wing, Minn became the 1st US ski club
1887 - Dawes Act passed (indians living apart from tribe granted citizenship)
1887 - The Dawes Act authorized the President of the United States to survey Native American tribal land and divide it into individual allotments.
1889 - Flood ravages Dutch coast
1894 - Enforcement Act repealed, making it easier to disenfranchise blacks
1895 - Tchaikovsky/Petipa's "Swan Lake," premieres in Petersburg
1896 - Georges Feydeaus' "Le Dindon," premieres in Paris
1896 - Western Conference forms of Midwestern U, later renamed Big 10 Conf
1898 - John Ames Sherman patents 1st envelope folding & gumming mach (Mass)
1904 - Russo-Japanese War begins
1905 - Cyclone hit Tahiti & adjacent islands, killing some 10,000 people
1908 - Wilhelmina '08 soccer team forms in Weert Neth
1909 - France & Germany sign treaty about Morocco
1910 - The Boy Scouts of America is incorporated by William D. Boyce.
1911 - US helps overthrow Pres Miguel Devila of Honduras
1911 - Victor Herbert's opera "Natoma," premieres in NYC
1912 - 1st eastbound US transcontinental flight lands in Jacksonville, Fla
1914 - General Zamon becomes president of Haiti
1915 - "Birth of a Nation" opens at Clune's Auditorium in LA
1916 - French cruiser "Admiral Charner" torpedoed off Syrian coast, kills 374
1916 - NL votes down Charlie Ebbets proposal to limit 25 cent seats
1918 - "Stars & Stripes," weekly US armed forces newspaper, 1st published
1920 - Swiss men vote against women's suffrage
1922 - Radio arrives at the White House
1923 - Coal mine explosion at Dawson, New Mexico kills 120
1923 - German NSDAP Volkischer Beobachter newspaper becomes a daily
1924 - 1st coast-to-coast radio hookup: Gen John Joseph Carty speech in Chic
1925 - Kaufman & Berlin's "cocoanuts," premieres in NYC
1925 - Marcus Garvey enters federal prison in Atlanta
1926 - German Reichstag decides to apply for League of Nations membership
1926 - Sean O'Casey's "Plough & Stars" opens at Abbey Theater Dublin
1926 - Walt Disney Studios forms
1927 - Belgian-Swiss treaty signed
1928 - 1st transatlantic TV image received, Hartsdale, NY
1928 - Scottish inventor J Blaird demonstrates color-TV
1929 - KOY-AM in Phoenix Arizona begins radio transmissions
1930 - "Happy Days Are Here Again" by Benny Mereoff hits #1
1931 - Gas explosion Fire in Fushun-coal mine, Manchuria kills 3,000
1933 - -23°F (-31°C), Seminole, Texas (state record)
1933 - 1st flight of all-metal Boeing 247
1934 - Export-Import Bank organizes in Washington, DC
1934 - Gaston Doumergue forms new French govt
1935 - 1st NFL draft; Jay Berwanger of U Chicago is 1st pick (by Eagles) He never plays in NFL
1936 - 1st NFL draft, Eagles select Heisman Trophy winner Jay Berwanger
1936 - 1st ski jumping tournament, Red Wing, Minn
1936 - 1st successful Toronto Maple Leaf penalty shot, Conacher vs Rangers
1936 - Pandit Jawaharlal follows Gandhi as chairman of India Congress Party
1937 - Maxwell Anderson's "Masque of Kings," premieres in NYC
1940 - Lewis & Hamilton's musical "Two for the Show," premieres in NYC
1940 - Lodtz, 1st large ghetto established by Nazis in Poland
1941 - Japanese armored barges cross Strait of Johore to attack Singapore
1941 - NSB'er Max Blokzijl begins nazi propaganda on Dutch radio
1942 - Stravinsky's "Danses Concertantes," premieres in Los Angeles
1942 - Congress advises FDR that, Americans of Japanese descent should be locked up en masse so they wouldn't oppose the US war effort
1943 - Red Army recaptures Kursk
1944 - 1st black reporter accredited to White House, Harry McAlpin
1944 - U-762 sunk off Ireland
1945 - Allied air attack on Goch/Kleef/Kalkar/Reichswald
1946 - Béla Bartók's 3rd Concert for piano/orchestra premieres in Philadelphia, PA, US
1946 - Premier Salazar of Portugal forbids opposition parties
1947 - Jan van der Hoorn wins 8th Dutch 11-cities skating race (10:51)
1947 - KSD (now KSDK) TV channel 5 in St Louis, MO (NBC) begins broadcasting
1948 - 5th Winter Olympic games close at St Moritz, Switzerland
1949 - Hungarian Cardinal Mindszenty sentenced to life in prison
1952 - "RCA Victor Show Starring Dennis Day," debuts on NBC TV
1952 - Elizabeth II is proclaimed Queen of the UK.
1953 - Betty Jameson wins LPGA Serbin Golf Open
1953 - WLVA (now WSET) TV channel 13 in Lynchburg-Roanoke, VA (ABC) begins

Famous Birthdays

Results 1 - 100 of 236

412 - St Proclus, patriarch of Constantinople
1191 - Yaroslav II of Russia (d. 1246)
1291 - Afonso IV, King of Portugal (1325-57)
1487 - Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg (d. 1550)
1552 - Agrippa d'Aubigné, French poet and soldier (d. 1630)
1577 - Robert Burton, writer, Anglican clergyman (Anatomy of Melancholy)
1586 - Jacob Praetorius, composer
1612 - Samuel Butler, England, poet/satirist (Hudibras) (baptized)
1649 - Gabriel Daniel, French Jesuit historian (d. 1728)
1685 - Charles-Jean-François Hénault, French historian (d. 1770)
1708 - Vaclav Jan Kopriva, composer
1720 - Emperor Sakuramachi of Japan (d. 1750)
1741 - Andre-Ernest-Modeste Gretry, composer
1764 - Joseph Leopold von Eybler, Austrian composer
1789 - Ludwig Wilhelm Maurer, composer
1792 - Caroline Augusta of Bavaria, queen of Hungary and Bohemia (d. 1873)
1795 - Friedlieb F Runge, German chemist (Chinoline)
1795 - Moritz G [Moses] Saphir, Hungarian journalist/serial writer
1804 - Richard Lemon Lander, British explorer (d. 1834)
1807 - Franciscus J van Vree, Dutch Catholic foreman
1807 - Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins, English sculptor and naturalist (d. 1889)
1810 - Norbert Burgmuller, composer
1811 - Edwin Denison Morgan, Sect of War (Confederacy), died in 1883
1813 - Jacob G Agarah, Swedish algologist
1817 - Richard Stoddert Ewell, Lt Gen (Confederate Army), died in 1872
1818 - Austin Blair, Gov/MC (Union), died in 1894
1819 - John Ruskin, writer/critic/artist/Gothic Revivalist (Prerafaelite)
1820 - William Tecumseh Sherman, Major General (Union Army), died in 1891
1822 - Maxime Du Camp, France, writer/traveler (Les Buveurs de Cendres)
1824 - Barnard Elliot Bee, Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1861
1828 - Antonio Cagnoni, composer
1828 - Jules Verne, France, pioneered sci-fi (From the Earth to the Moon)
1847 - Hugh Price Hughes, English social reformer (d. 1902)
1851 - Kate O'Flaherty Chopin, novelist
1852 - Nikolai Garin [Michailovski], Russ author (Tjoma Kartashov) [NS=2/20]
1859 - John H Been, town's archivist of Brielle (Baasje & Witkop)
1876 - Paula Modersohn-Becker, German "entartet" painter
1878 - Martin Buber, German/Israeli philosopher/theologist (Ich und Du)
1880 - Franz Marc, German painter (Blaue Reiter)
1882 - George Siegmann, actor (Birth of Nation, Queen of Sheba, Oliver Twist)
1882 - Thomas Selfridge, First person to die in an airplane crash (d. 1908).
1883 - Joseph A Schumpeter, Austria/US economist/minister of finance
1884 - Reginald Baker, Australian athlete and actor (d. 1953)
1885 - Edith Evans, London England, actress (Tom Jones, David Copperfield)
1886 - Charlie Ruggles, LA Calif, actor (Ruggles, Aesop-Bullwinkle Show)
1888 - Matthijs Vermeulen, Dutch composer/music critic
1888 - Dame Edith Evans, British actress (d. 1976)
1890 - Claro Mayo Recto, Filipino nationalist/opponent of US colonialism
1891 - Edgar Palm, Curacao, pianist/composer
1892 - Fritz Todt, German Reichs minister (Organization Todt)
1893 - Ba Maw, Burmese politician (d. 1977)
1894 - Ludwig Marcuse, German philosopher
1895 - King Vidor, director (War & Peace, Stella Dallas)
1896 - Orville Caldwell, Ca, actor (Patsy, French Doll, Last Warning)
1900 - Guy Douglas Hamilton Warrack, composer
1900 - John Cameron, judge
1900 - Ivan Ivanov-Vano Soviet animator and Russian animation director (d. 1987)
1901 - Janina Spychajowa-Kurkowska, Poland, women's world champion archer
1902 - Lyle Talbot, [Lysle Hollywood], Pittsburgh, actor (Glen or Glenda)
1902 - Demchugdongrub, Mongolian politician (d. 1966)
1903 - Abdulrahman, minister of Internal affairs/premier of Malaysia
1903 - Greta Keller, Austrian-born cabaret singer and actress (d. 1977)
1904 - Igor' Fyodorovich Belza, composer
1905 - Truman Bradley, MO, TV host (Science Fiction Theater)
1906 - Artur Balsam, Polish/US pianist (Begeleidde Menuhin, Milstein)
1906 - Chester F Carlson, inventor (photocopy)
1906 - Henry Roth, Austria-Hungary/US writer (Call it Sleep)
1908 - Grigor Eghiazaryan, composer
1908 - Leslie Kenneth O'Brien, Lord O'Brien of Lothbury, missionary
1908 - Myron McCormick, Albany, actor (Hustler, Jolson Sings Again)
1909 - Henry Roth, writer
1911 - Anne Aitken, [nee Hopkins], Chicago, co-found (Diamond Sangha)
1911 - Elizabeth Bishop, US poet (North & South)/Pulitzer Prize (1956)
1911 - Henri Knap, Dutch resistance fighter/journalist/writer
1912 - Simon Jurovsky, composer
1913 - Betty Field, Boston MA, actress (Kings Row, Bus Stop)
1913 - John Grandy, Brits RAF-marshal
1914 - Bert Haas, baseball player
1914 - Jules van Ackere, Flemish musicologist (Eternal Music)
1915 - Lambros Georges Guetary Worloou, singer
1918 - John Intoxication, resistance fighter
1918 - Lord Maxd Rayne, English broker/multi-millionaire
1918 - Fred Blassie, American professional wrestler (d. 2003)
1919 - Buddy Morrow, orch leader (Jimmie Rodgers Show)
1920 - Buddy Blattner, baseball player
1920 - Lana Turner, Wallace Idaho, actress (Survivors, Falcon Crest)
1921 - Hoot Evers, baseball player
1922 - Joeri Averbach, Russian chess grandmaster
1922 - Audrey Meadows, American actress (d. 1996)
1923 - Andrew MacElhone, bar owner
1924 - Audrey Meadows, Wu Chang China, actress (Alice-Honeymooners)
1924 - Joe Black, baseball player
1925 - Alvin Brehm, composer
1925 - Jack Lemmon, Boston Mass, actor (Days of Wine & Roses, Missing)
1925 - Raimondo d'Inzeo, It, equestrian (Oly-gold/2 silver/3 bronze-1948-76)
1926 - Neal Cassady, American writer (d. 1968)
1927 - John T Myers, (Rep-R-IN, 1967- )
1927 - Stanley Baker, Ferndale Wales, actor (Concrete Jungle, Zorro, Zulu)
1927 - Zdenek Zouhar, composer
1928 - Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher, lawyer

Famous Deaths

Results 1 - 100 of 122

1124 - Stefanus of Thiers/Muret, founder of order of Grammond/saint, dies
1245 - Johannes de Rupella/de la Rochelle, French theologist, dies
1250 - Robert I of Artois, French crusader (b. 1216)
1250 - William II Longespee
1265 - Hulagu Khan, Mongol ruler (b. 1217)
1296 - King Przemysł II of Poland (b. 1257)
1303 - Nanshu, Zen teacher (Rinzai line)/founder (Zounan temple), dies
1513 - Alonso de Ojeda, Spanish explorer (Curacao & Bonaire), dies
1529 - Baldassare Castiglione, Italian writer and diplomat (b. 1478)
1587 - Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots (1560-87), beheaded at 44 [NS=Feb 18]
1599 - Robert Rollock, Scottish educator
1611 - Jan H Van Linschoten, traveller/writer (Reys-Gheschrift), dies
1623 - Thomas Cecil, 1st Earl of Exeter, English politician (b. 1546)
1650 - John Adriaensz, hydraulic engineer (Haarlemmermeer), dies at about 74
1676 - Aleksei M Romanov, 1st Romanov-czar of Russia, dies at 46
1686 - Francois Tak, Dutch diplomat on Java, murdered
1691 - Carlo Rainaldi, composer, dies at 79
1691 - Carlo di Girolamo Rainaldi, Italian architect/composer, dies at 79
1709 - Giuseppi Torelli, Italian composer, dies at 50
1725 - Peter I "the Great" Romanov, czar of Russia (1682-1725), dies at 52
1740 - Clement XII, [Lorenzo Corsini], blind Pope (1730-40), dies at 87
1749 - Jan van Huysum, Dutch still life painter, dies at 66
1750 - Aaron Hill, English writer (b. 1685)
1768 - George Dance the Elder, English architect (b. 1695)
1771 - Augusta von Saxen-Gotha, German prince Frederick Louis of Wales, dies
1797 - Johann Friedrich Doles, composer, dies at 81
1801 - Johann Chrysostomus Drexel, composer, dies at 43
1821 - Paul Anton Wineberger, composer, dies at 62
1824 - Rhijnvis Feith, Dutch mayor/writer (Zwolle, Julia), dies at 71
1849 - France Preseren, Slovenian poet (Sonetni Venec), dies at 48
1849 - Francois-Antoine Habeneck, composer, dies at 68
1856 - Agostino Bassi, Italian entomologist (b. 1773)
1874 - David F Strauss, German theologist, dies at 66
1878 - Elias M Fries, Swedish botanist (mycologicum), dies at 83
1884 - Arnold Henry Guyot, Swiss/US geologist/meteorologist, dies at 76
1907 - Hendrik W Bakhuis Roozeboom, chemist (fasenleer), dies at 52
1909 - Edouard Silas, composer, dies at 80
1909 - Mieczyslaw Karlowicz, composer, dies at 32
1910 - Hans Jæger, Norwegian writer and political activist (b. 1854)
1920 - Richard Dehmel, writer, dies at 56
1921 - Pjotr A Kropotkin, Russian ruler/anarchist, dies at 78
1921 - George Formby (Senior), English entertainer (b. 1876)
1924 - Gee John, US mobster (1st executed in gas chamber-Nevada), dies
1929 - Maria Christina, Queen Regent of Spain (b. 1858)
1932 - Vincent "Mad Dog" Coll, mobster, killed by Dutch Schultz gang
1935 - Max Liebermann, Ger impressionist painter/graphic artist, dies at 87
1937 - Scato Gocko de Vries, Dutch paleographer/librarian, dies at 75
1942 - Fritz Todt, German Reichs minister (Organization Todt), dies at 50
1944 - Clem Wilson, cricketer (bro of Rockley, 2 Tests for Engld 1896), dies
1946 - Miles Mander, actor/director (Murder, 3 Musketeers), dies at 57
1947 - Ernest Samuel Williams, composer, dies at 65
1949 - Franco Leoni, composer, dies at 81
1949 - Leonid Alexeyevich Polovinkin, composer, dies at 54
1953 - Cliff Clark, actor (Golden Hoofs, Kid Glove Killer), dies at 63
1954 - Mabel Paige, actress (Lucky Jordan), dies at 73
1956 - Connie Mack, baseball manager (Phila A's, 1901-50), dies at 93
1957 - John Von Neumann, astronomer, dies at 53
1959 - William J "Wild Bill" Donovan, Office Strategic Services, dies at 76
1960 - Giles Gilbert Scott, British architect (b. 1880)
1960 - John Langshaw Austin, British philosopher, (b. 1911)
1961 - William Duncan, actor (Hopalong Rides Again), dies at 81
1963 - Abdul Karim Kassem, PM of Iraq (58-63), assassinated in Baghdad at 48
1963 - George Dolenz, Italian actor (Count of Monte Cristo), dies at 55
1964 - Tom Terriss, English director (His Buddy's Wife, Sumuru), dies at 91
1968 - J Borremans, Belgian politician (Communist), dies at 56
1972 - Markos Vamvakaris, Greek musician and songwriter (b. 1905)
1973 - Herbie Taylor, cricketer (2936 runs in 42 Tests for S Africa), dies
1974 - Fern Andra, dies at 80
1974 - Fritz Zwicky, Swiss/US astronomer (supernova), dies at 75
1975 - Martyn Green, actor (Gilbert & Sullivan, Mikado), dies at 75
1975 - Robert Robinson, British chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1886)
1977 - Eivind Groven, Norwegian composer and ethnomusicologist (b. 1901)
1979 - Nikolay Semyonovich Tikhonov, Russian poet, dies at 82
1980 - Nikos Xilouris, Greek singer (b. 1936)
1982 - John Hay Whitney, US newspaper magnate, dies at 76
1984 - Karel Miljon, Dutch boxer (b. 1903)
1985 - Marvin Miller, actor (Michael Anthony-Millionaire), dies at 71
1985 - Tom Greenway, actor (Miami Story), dies of a heart attack at 75
1985 - William Lyons, British automobile manufacturer (b. 1901)
1987 - Bronislawa Wajs [Papuscha], writer, dies
1987 - Harriet MacGibbon, actress (Mrs Drysdale-Beverly Hillbillies), dies
1987 - Hendrik Koekoek, founder (Dutch Boer party), dies at 74
1988 - Allan Cuthbertson, actor (Running Man, 7th Dawn), dies at 67
1989 - Maurits Kok, Dutch writer/poet (Railroad Strike), dies at 81
1990 - Del Shannon, rock vocalist (Runaway), shoots self at 50
1990 - Del Shannon, American entertainer (suicide) (b. 1934)
1991 - Miran Bux, cricketer (2 Tests for Pakistan 1954-55), dies at 47
1992 - Baruch Lumet, actor (Killer Shrews), dies at 93
1993 - Casper van den Berg, Dutch poet (Fashionable inconvenience), dies
1993 - Douglas Heyes, director/writer (Kitten with a Whip), dies at 73
1993 - Eliot Janeway, financial columnist (Eliot Doomsday), dies at 80
1993 - Franz Schnyder, Swiss director (10th of May), dies at 82
1993 - Paul Brickhill, Dutch/US WW II pilot/physician, dies
1993 - N. Shanmugathasan, Sri Lankan communist leader
1994 - Jacob Firet, Dutch theologist (Agogic Moment), dies at 70
1994 - Ken Hall, Australian director/producer (Kokoda front line), dies at 92
1994 - Raymond Scott, composer (Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm), dies at 85
1995 - B G Hooghoudt, radiotelescope build (Dwingeloo/Westerbork), dies at 70
1995 - Wilhelm J Soukop, Austrian/British sculptor, dies at 88
1995 - William Fulbright, US politician, dies