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Historical Events

Results 1 - 100 of 160

707 - John VII ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1009 - The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a Christian church in Jerusalem, is completely destroyed by the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who hacks the Church's foundations down to bedrock.
1016 - Danes defeat Saxons at Battle of Assandun (Ashingdon)
1081 - Battle at Durazzo/Durres: Normans under Robert Guiscard beat Byzantine
1210 - Pope Innocent III excommunicates German emperor Otto IV
1267 - Battle at Marienholz: Henry III, Otto II van Gelre beat Keuls archbishop Engelbert III
1356 - Basel earthquake, the most significant historic seismological event north of the Alps, destroyed the town of Basel, Switzerland.
1386 - Opening of the University of Heidelberg
1534 - New pursuit of French protestants
1561 - Fourth Battle of Kawanakajima -- Takeda Shingen defeats Uesugi Kenshin in the climax of their ongoing conflicts.
1564 - John Hawkins begins 2nd trip to America
1572 - Spanish troops attack Maastricht
1622 - French King Louis XIII & Huguenots sign treaty of Montpellier
1648 - 1st US labor organization forms (Boston Shoemakers)
1667 - English fleet plunders Suriname plantations
1672 - Poland & Turkey sign Peace of Buczacz
1685 - French king Louis XIV revoked Edict van Nantes
1685 - Louis XIV revokes Edict of Nantes, outlaws Protestantism
1748 - Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, ends War of Austrian Succession
1752 - Premiere of Rousseau's opera "Le Devin du Village"
1767 - Boundary between MD & PA, Mason Dixon line, agreed upon
1775 - African-American poet Phillis Wheatley freed from slavery.
1776 - In a NY bar decorated with bird tail, customer orders "cock tail"
1776 - Battle of Pelham: Col John Glover & Marblehead regiment meet British Forces in Bronx
1855 - Franz Liszt's "Prometheus," premieres
1860 - The Second Opium War finally ends at the Convention of Peking with the ratification of the Treaty of Tientsin, an unequal treaty.
1862 - Morgan's raiders capture federal garrison at Lexington, KY
1863 - Battle of Charlestown, WV
1867 - US takes formal possession of Alaska from Russia ($7.2 million)
1869 - Henrik Ibsen's "De Unges Forbund," premieres in Christiania (Oslo)
1873 - 1st football game between Toronto Argonauts & Hamilton Tigers
1873 - Columbia Princeton Rutgers & Yale set rules for collegiate football
1878 - Edison makes electricity available for household usage
1887 - Start of Sherlock Holmes adventure "A Case of Identity" (BG)
1889 - 1st all NYC World Series NY Giants (NL) play Bkln (AA)
1890 - John Owen is 1st man to run 100 yd dash in under 10 seconds
1891 - 1st international 6-day bicycle race in US (MSG, NYC) begins
1892 - 1st commercial long-distance phone line opens (Chicago-NY)
1898 - American flag raised in Puerto Rico
1901 - Belgium's Louise of den Plas begins activities towards women rights
1904 - Mahlers 5th symphony premieres in Cologne
1908 - Belgium annexes Congo Free State
1909 - Comte de Lambert of France sets airplane altitude record of 300 m
1910 - Edward Forster publishes "Howards End"
1912 - Beginning of 1st Balkan War
1912 - Italo-Turkish war ends
1913 - Austrian-Hungary demands that Serbia & Albania leave
1914 - The Schoenstatt Movement is founded in Germany.
1915 - 3rd Italians offensive at Isonzo
1918 - Czechoslovakia declares Independence from Austro-Hungarian Empire
1918 - NHL's Quebec Bulldogs sold to a Toronto businessman P J Quinn
1918 - Russian 10th Army drives out White armies of Tsaritsyn (Stalingrad)
1922 - British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) forms
1924 - Harold "Red" Grange, finest collegiate football game (4 long TD runs)
1924 - Notre Dame beats Army 13-7, NY Hearld Tribune dubs them (4 Horsemen)
1925 - -20] French Gen Sarrail bombs Damascus
1925 - Salt Lake City (PCL) Tony Lazzeri hits his 60th HR of the season
1926 - Frankfurter Zeitung publishes Lenins political testament
1929 - Women are considered "Persons" under Canadian law.
1930 - Joseph Sylvester becomes 1st jockey to win 7 races in 1 day
1932 - Belgium govt of Renkin falls
1934 - Chinese Red leader under Mao Tse Tung begins Long March
1939 - R Rodgers & Lorenz Harts "Too Many Girls," premieres in NYC
1940 - Kaufman & Harts "George Washington Slept Here," premieres in NYC
1941 - Spy Richard Sorge arrested in Tokyo
1942 - Hitler orders allied commandos to be killed
1943 - US bombing of Bougainville, Solomon Island
1944 - Eisenhower, Bradley & Montgomery confer in Brussel
1944 - Soviet troops invade Czechoslovakia during WW II
1945 - Nazi war crime trial opens in Nuremberg
1945 - Paul Robeson wins Spingarn Medal for singing & acting achievements
1946 - Aaron Copland's 3rd Symphony, premieres
1948 - Operation 10 Plagues - Israeli offensive against Egyptian army
1950 - Connie Mack retires as manager of A's after 50 years
1951 - USSR performs nuclear test
1952 - "Buttrio Square" closes at New Century Theater NYC after 7 perfs
1952 - Vinoo Mankad takes 13 Pakistan wkts to win 1st India-Pak clash
1953 - WLJT TV channel 11 in Lexington, TN (PBS) begins broadcasting
1953 - WTVK TV channel 26 in Knoxville, TN (NBC) begins broadcasting
1953 - Willie Thrower becomes 1st black NFL quarterback in modern times
1954 - Hurricane Hazel (3rd of 1954) becomes most severe to hit US
1954 - WBTW TV channel 13 in Florence, SC (CBS/ABC) begins broadcasting
1954 - WNBC radio changes call letters to WRCA (NYC)
1954 - Texas Instruments announces the first Transistor radio.
1955 - Track & Field names Jesse Owens all-time track athelete
1955 - University of California discovers anti-proton
1960 - Casey Stengel retired by NY Yankees (won 10 pennants in 12 years)
1960 - In Britain, News Chronicle & Daily Mail merge, & London Evening Star merges with Evening News
1961 - Emergency crisis proclaimed in South Vietnam due to commun attack
1962 - JFK meets Russian minister of Foreign affairs Andrei Gromyko
1962 - Tony Sheridan & Beat Brothers record "Let's Dance"
1962 - US launches Ranger 5 for lunar impact; misses Moon
1962 - US performs atmospheric nuclear test at Johnston Island
1962 - Dr Watson (US) & Drs Crick & Wilkins (Britain) win Nobel Prize for Medicine for work in determining structure of DNA
1963 - IOC votes Mexico City to host 1968 Olympics
1964 - Marlene Hagge wins LPGA Mickey Wright Golf Invitational
1966 - "Apple Tree" opens at Shubert Theater NYC for 463 performances
1967 - Nobel prize for physics awarded to Hans A Bethe
1967 - Soviet Venera 4 becomes 1st probe to send data back from Venus
1967 - Walt Disney's "Jungle Book" is released

Famous Birthdays

Results 1 - 100 of 240

1127 - Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan (d. 1192)
1239 - Stefanus V, prince of Transylvania/king of Hungary (1270-72)
1405 - Pius II, [Aenea S Piccolomini], Italian pope (1458-64) (Cynthia)
1517 - Manoel da Nóbrega, Portuguese Jesuit in Brazil (d. 1570)
1547 - Justus Lipsius, [Joost Lips], Dutch classic philologist/historian
1569 - Giambattista Marini, Italian poet (d. 1625)
1595 - Edward Winslow, Plymouth Colony founder (d. 1655)
1611 - Valentin Strobel, composer
1634 - Luca Giordano, Italian artist (d. 1705)
1638 - Lars Johnstown, [Lasse Lucidor], Swedish poet
1653 - Abraham van Riebeeck, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1713)
1662 - Matthew Henry, English non-conformist minister (d. 1714)
1663 - Frans Eugenius, duke/prince of Savoye/land guardian of Austria-Neth
1668 - Johan Georg IV, elector of Saxony (1691-94)
1668 - Wierich PL earl von Daun, Austrian prince of Thiano/fieldmarshall
1679 - Ann Putnam, Jr., American accuser in the Salem Witch Trials (d. 1716)
1697 - Giovanni Canaletto, Venetian painter (Venicei Regatta on Grand Canal)
1701 - Charles le Beau, French historian (d. 1778)
1706 - Baldassare Galuppi, Italian composer (opera's buffa)
1712 - Jeremias van Riemsdijk, gov-general of Dutch Indies (1775-77)
1741 - Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, French general and author (d. 1803)
1774 - Adolfs Muller, writer
1777 - Heinrich von Kleist, Germany, dramatist/poet (Penthesilea)
1785 - Thomas Love Peacock, English author (Headlong Hall)
1789 - Giovanni Tadolini, composer
1794 - Ferdinand Lukas Schubert, composer
1804 - Rama IV, [Phra Chomklao Chaoyuhua], king of Thailand (1851-68)
1806 - John Breckinridge Grayson, Brig Genl (Confederate Army), died in 1861
1811 - Hugh Thompson Reid, Brig General (Union volunteers), died in 1874
1818 - Edward Otho Cresap Ord, Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1883
1829 - Charles Sidney Winder, Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1862
1829 - Lucius Marshall Walker, Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1863
1831 - Frederik III NK of Hohenzollern, German Kaiser/king of Prussia
1833 - Johannes Habert, composer
1837 - Friedrich W Mengelberg, German sculptor/painter
1844 - Emille-Louis-Victor Mathieu, composer
1850 - Francis Thome, composer
1854 - Bill Murdoch, cricketer (great pioneer of Australian Test cricket)
1854 - Solomon A Andree, Swedish engineer/balloonist/Artic explorer
1859 - Henri Bergson, France, philosopher (Creative Evolution-Nobel 1927)
1865 - Arie de Jong, Dutch linguist (d. 1957)
1865 - Logan Pearsall Smith, American essayist and critic (d. 1946)
1868 - Ernst Didring, Swedish author (d. 1931)
1871 - Louis de Vries, Dutch actor (Ghetto)
1872 - Josephine CMA, princess of Belgium/nun
1873 - Ivanoe Bonomi, Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1951)
1875 - James E K Aggrey, Ghana, US theologian/educationalist
1875 - Len Braund, cricketer (great England all-rounder in 23 Tests 1901-08)
1877 - Florence Dahl Walrath, humanitarian, founded Cradle society
1878 - James Truslow Adams, historian (Pul-1921, Founding of New England)
1879 - Grzlegorz Fitelberg, composer
1882 - Lucien Petit-Breton, Argentine-French cyclist (d. 1917)
1889 - Fannie Hurst, novelist (Anatomy of Me)
1890 - [Agathe] Henriette [M de Beaufort], Dutch author (Rembrandt)
1891 - Vaclav Kalik, composer
1892 - Leo G Carroll, Weedon England, actor (Topper, Man From Uncle)
1893 - Roy Del Ruth, DE, director (About Face, Babe Ruth Story, Star Show)
1893 - Sidney Holland, NZ, PM of NZ (1949-57)
1893 - Georges Ohsawa, Japanese founder of Macrobiotics (d. 1966)
1894 - H. L. Davis, American author (d. 1960)
1895 - Raymond Brulez, Flemish author (Appearance at Kallista)
1897 - Isabel Briggs Myers, American psychological theorist (d. 1980)
1898 - George Cuzon, Amersham England, actor (Hooded Terror)
1898 - Lotte Lenya, Vienna Austria, actor/singer (Appointment, Semi-Tough)
1898 - Raymond Glenn, Frankfort KY, actor (Raisin in the Sun, Carmen Jones)
1898 - Shin'ichi Suzuki, composer
1900 - Lotte Lenya, Austrian singer and actress (d. 1981)
1901 - Vladimir Grigor'yevich Zakharov, composer
1902 - Miriam Hopkins, Bainbridge GA, actress (Becky Sharp, These Three)
1902 - Pascual Jordan, German physicist (d. 1980)
1903 - Ambrose Thibodeaux, cajun accordionist
1903 - Emile Enthoven, composer
1904 - A. J. Liebling, American journalist (d. 1963)
1905 - Felix Houphouet-Boigny, pres of Ivory coast (1960-93)
1906 - James Brooks, US mural painter (Acquisition of Long Island)
1906 - Sidney Kiescher Kingslei, playwright
1907 - Alexander Hardie Williamson, artist
1909 - Norberto Bobbio, Italian philosopher and legal theorist (d. 2004)
1910 - Albertus "Bert" Botterman, actor (Bridge Too Far)
1910 - Vojislav Vuckovic, composer
1913 - Robert Gilruth, American aviation and space pioneer (d. 2000)
1915 - Victor Sen Yung, SF Calif, actor (Hop Sing-Bonanza, Bachelor Family)
1916 - Peter Shepherd, English contractor/multi-millionaire
1918 - Bobby Troup, Harrisburg Pa, pianist/actor (Emergency, Acapulco)
1918 - James Cameron Tudor, politician
1918 - Konstantinos Mitsottakis, premier of Greece (1990- )
1918 - Willem J "Molly" Geertsema, Dutch liberal/interior minister)
1919 - Pierre Elliott Trudeau, (L) 15th Canadian PM (1968-79, 1980-84)
1919 - Ric Nordman, Canadian politician (d. 1996)
1920 - Anita O'Day, vocalist/actress (Outfit, Zigzag, Jazz on a Summer Day)
1920 - Melina Mercouri, Greek actress and political activist (d. 1994)
1921 - Jesse Helms, (Sen-D/R-North Carolina, 1973- )
1922 - Camillo Togni, composer
1922 - Little Orphan Annie, comic strip character
1922 - Richard Stankiewicz, US sculptor (1974 Akston Award, 1966 Brandeis)
1923 - Suzanne Perlman, Hungarian/Dutch Antilian painter
1924 - Allyn Ferguson, San Jose Calif, orch leader (Andy Williams Show)
1924 - Egil Hovland, composer
1924 - Frank Liedel, [Leo van Assche], Flemish writer (Kaperbrief)
1924 - Hugh Allan "Buddy" MacMaster, Canadian musician

Famous Deaths

Results 1 - 100 of 128

707 - John VII, Greek Pope (705-07), dies
1035 - Sancho III of Navarre
1101 - Hugh of Vermandois, son of Henry I of France (b. 1053)
1141 - Margrave Leopold IV of Austria
1216 - John, king of England (1199-1216, Magna Charta), dies
1340 - Henry Henricus of Friemar, Augustine philosopher, dies
1382 - James Butler, 2nd Earl of Ormonde (b. 1331)
1417 - Gregorius XII, [Angelo Correr], Pope (1406-15), dies
1417 - Pope Gregory XII
1459 - Jan of Heinsberg, bishop of Luik (1419-56), dies
1503 - Pius III, [Francesco Todeschini], Pope (9/22-10/18/1503), dies
1541 - Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scotland (b. 1489)
1545 - John Taverner, English composer (Western Wynde), dies at about 55
1558 - Maria, queen of Hungary/guardian of Neth (1531-55), dies at 53
1564 - Johannes Acronius Frisius, German physician and mathematician (b. 1520)
1570 - Manoel da Nóbrega, Portuguese Jesuit in Brazil (b. 1517)
1589 - Adolf van Nieuwenaar & Meurs, viceroy of Utrecht, dies in battle
1604 - Igram van Achelen, Dutch statesman (b. 1528)
1634 - Pierre De La Barre, composer, dies at 42
1646 - Isaac Jogues, French Jesuit missionary (b. 1607)
1667 - Fasilides, Emperor of Ethiopia
1669 - Abraham Willaerts, painter (Brazil), dies
1676 - Nathaniel Bacon, rallied against Virginian govt, killed at 29
1678 - Cornelis Galle II, Flemish engraver/illustrator, dies at 63
1678 - Jacob Jordaens, Flemish barok painter, dies at 85
1708 - Henry Van Nassau, stable master/fieldmarshal, dies at 67
1739 - Antônio José da Silva, Brazilian-born dramatist (b. 1705)
1744 - Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, close friend of Queen Anne of Great Britain (b. 1660)
1767 - Joseph Paul Ziegler, composer, dies at 45
1770 - John Manners, Marquess of Granby, British soldier (b. 1721)
1771 - Robert Praelisauer, composer, dies at 62
1775 - Christian August Crusius, German philosopher and theologian (b. 1715)
1788 - Jean-Guillain Cardon, composer, dies at 56
1817 - Etienne-Nicolas Méhul, French composer (b. 1763)
1830 - Peter I Petrovic Njegos, bishop (Montenegro), dies
1832 - Othon Joseph Vandenbroek, composer, dies at 73
1839 - French Jozef Kinsoen, Flemish portrait painter, dies at 68
1862 - James Creighton, dies of rupture bladder from hitting HR on Oct 14th
1864 - David Bell Birney, US lawyer/Union general-major, dies at 39
1864 - Jacques Francois Gallay, composer, dies at 68
1865 - Lord Henry JT Palmerston, English min of Foreign affairs, dies at 80
1876 - Francis Preston Blair, newspaper editor (Washington Globe), dies at 85
1886 - Philipp Franz von Siebold, German physician (b. 1796)
1889 - Antonio Meucci, Italian inventor (b. 1808)
1893 - Charles F Gounod, French composer (La reine the Saba), dies at 75
1893 - Lucy [Blackwell-]Stone, US abolitionist/feminist, dies
1909 - Alfredo Oriani, Italian writer (La rivolta ideal), dies
1921 - King Ludwig III of Bavaria (b. 1845)
1931 - Thomas Alva Edison, inventor, dies in West Orange, NJ, at 84
1932 - Ioannis Chrysafis, Greek gymnast (b. 1873)
1938 - Karl J Kautsky, Austrian marxist/socialist, dies
1940 - Suze Groeneweg, 1st woman in Dutch 2nd Chamber (1918-37), dies at 65
1941 - Dirk Fock, governor-general van/of Neth-Indies 1921-6, dies at 83
1941 - Manuel Teixeira Gomes, 7th President of Portugal (b. 1860)
1942 - Mikhail Nesterov, Russian painter (b. 1862)
1943 - Adrianus M de Young, writer (Merijntje Gijzen's Youth), dies at 55
1943 - Benedictus H Dancer, botanist, dies at 52
1948 - [Heinrich A H] Walther von Brauchitsch, German fieldmarshal, dies
1953 - Douwe Kalma, Fries literature/christian-socialist, dies at 57
1953 - Federico Gerdes, composer, dies at 80
1955 - Jose Ortega y Gasset, Spanish philosopher, dies at 72
1959 - Boughera El Ouafi, Algerian athlete (b. 1898)
1961 - Tsuru Aoki, Japanese-born American actress (b. 1892)
1963 - Claudio Carneyro, composer, dies at 68
1965 - Frank Hutchens, composer, dies at 73
1965 - Henry Travers, actor (Bells of St Mary, High Sierra), dies at 91
1966 - Bill Nestell, US actor (Dangerous Venture), dies of heart attack at 73
1966 - Sebastian S. Kresge, American merchant (Kmart) (b. 1867)
1968 - Lee Tracy, actor (Doctor X, Bombshell, Best Man), dies of cancer at 70
1972 - Ken Wishart, cricketer (WI opening batsman in one Test 1935), dies
1973 - Crane Wilbur, dir/writer (Bat, Canon City, Yellow Cargo), dies at 86
1973 - Frank Knight, TV announcer (Chronoscope), dies at 79
1973 - Walt Kelly, US comic strip artist (Pogo), dies at 60
1973 - Margaret Caroline Anderson, American magazine publisher (b. 1886)
1975 - Al Lettieri, actor (Beautiful but Deadly, Don is Dead), dies at 47
1976 - Kavi Samrat Viswanatha Satyanarayana, Telugu writer (b. 1895)
1977 - Rolph Grant, cricketer (West Indian capt on 1939 England tour), dies
1977 - Andreas Baader (b. 1943)
1977 - Gudrun Ensslin (b. 1940)
1977 - Jan-Carl Raspe (b. 1944)
1978 - Frank Woolley, cricketer (58,969 1st-class runs), dies
1978 - Jacques Mornard, [Ramon Mercader], murderer of Trotsky, dies at 64
1982 - Bess Truman, 1st lady (1945-53), dies in Independence, Mo at 97
1982 - Maurice Gilliams, Flemish literary (Sources of Insomnia), dies at 82
1982 - Pierre Mendès-France, premier France (1954-55), dies
1982 - Dwain Esper, American film director (b. 1892)
1982 - John Robarts, Canadian politician, Premier of Ontario (b. 1917)
1983 - Vijay Manjrekar, cricketer (55 Tests for India), dies
1983 - Diego Abad de Santillán, Spanish anarchist (b. 1897)
1984 - Florence Rinard, TV panelist (20 Questions), dies at 82
1984 - Jon-Erik Hexum, actor (Bear), dies by a gun loaded with blanks at 26
1985 - Benjamin Moloisi, South African poet/Anc'er, hanged at 30
1987 - Theodore Brameld, author (Use of Explosive Ideas), dies at 83
1988 - Dimitri Frenkel Frank, writer/director (Hadimassa), dies at 60
1993 - Dionisio Herrero, Spanish air force general, murdered at 63
1993 - Lois Kibbee, actress (Edge of Night), dies of brain tumor at 71
1993 - Smail Yefsah, Algerian TV journalist, murdered at 31
1994 - Lee Allen, saxophonist, dies at 68
1994 - Richard A Garland, artist photographer, dies at 60
1994 - WIlliam Faure, producer, dies at 45