This Day in History
January 18

What happened in history on this day: January 18? On January 18 in ... 336 - Saint Mark begins his reign as Catholic Pope. 350 - General Maxentius drives out Western Roman emperor Constans. 532 - Nika uprising at Constantinople fails, 30-40,000 die. 1307 - German king Albrecht I makes his son Rudolf king of Bohemia. 1367 - Pedro I king of Portugal (1357-67), dies at age 46. 1478 - Grand Duke Ivan II of Moscow occupies Novgorod. 1479 - Louis IX the Rich, duke of Bayern (University of Ingolstadt), dies at age 61. 1486 - King Henry VII of England marries Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV. 1520 - Christian II of Denmark and Norway defeats the Swedes at Lake Asunde. 1535 - Francisco Pizarro founds Lima Peru. 1543 - Birth of Alfonso Ferrabosco composer. 1580 - Antonio Scandello Italian composer (Passion of John), dies at age 63. 1641 - Birth of François Michel le Tellier French statesman (Marquis de Louvois). 1644 - Perplexed Pilgrims in Boston reported America's first UFO sighting. 1650 - French Prince Louis II of Condé captured. 1657 - Birth of Hendrik Casimir II Dutch Fieldmarshal (Nassau). 1659 - Benedikt Lechler composer, dies at age 64. 1664 - Moise Amyrault French theologist/vicar, dies. 1666 - Adriaen A Bloemaert Dutch landscape painter, dies at about age 56. 1671 - Pirate Henry Morgan defeats Spanish defenders, captures Panamá. 1677 - John A van Riebeeck Dutch founder Cape Colony, dies at age 57. 1685 - Birth of Tiberius Hemsterhuis Dutch Classical professor, baptized. 1689 - Birth of Charles de Montesquieu France, philosopher/writer (Lettres Persanes). 1691 - English king Willem III travels to The Hague. 1701 - Frederik I/Sophie Charlotte van Hanover crowned king/queen of Prussia. 1726 - Birth of Hendrik prince of Prussia/diplomat. 1730 - Peter II czar of Russia (1727-30), dies at age 14. 1732 - Birth of Jean-Guillain Cardon composer. 1733 - First polar bear exhibited in America (Boston). 1751 - Birth of Ferdinand Kauer composer. 1760 - Claudio Casciolini composer, dies at age 62. 1769 - Hakuin Ekaku Zen teacher (reformer of Rinzai school), dies in Japan. 1777 - San Jose California founded. 1778 - Captain James Cook becomes the first known European to discover the Hawaiian Islands, which he names the "Sandwich Islands." 1779 - Birth of Peter Roget thesaurus fame/inventor (slide rule, pocket chessboard). 1782 - Birth of Daniel Webster in Salisbury New Hampshire; orator/politician/lawyer (dies 1852). 1793 - Birth of William Henry Havergal composer. 1795 - Birth of Anna Paulowna Romanova monarch of Russia/daughter of czar Paul I. 1795 - French admitted to Amsterdam without resistance. 1795 - Governor/Viceroy Willem V flees Scheveningen to England. 1809 - Birth of Richard Caswell Gatlin Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1896. 1813 - Birth of Joseph Farwell Glidden; inventor (first commercially usable barbed wire) (dies 1906). 1815 - Birth of James Chesnut Jr Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1885. 1815 - Birth of Richard Yates Warsaw Kentucky, Governor-Illinois (1861-65), died in 1873. 1815 - Birth of Konstantin von Tischendorf in Lengefeld, Germany; Biblical critic, discovered the Codex Sinaiticus, a manuscript from the fourth century with most of the Old and New Testaments. 1817 - Birth of Jacques Gregoir composer. 1817 - San Martin leads a revolutionary army over Andes. 1818 - Birth of Johannes van Vloten Dutch literary/theologist. 1820 - Birth of Abraham Buford Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1884. 1829 - Birth of Louis van Haecke Flemish chaplain/author (Blood to Bridge). 1831 - Birth of Edward Ferrero Brevet Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1899. 1835 - Birth of César A Cui Vilna Lithuania, fort architect/composer. 1835 - Birth of Jan van Droogenbroeck Flemish poet. 1840 - Birth of Austin Dobson England, poet/critic/biographer. 1840 - Birth of Ernst Rudorff composer. 1840 - Electro-Magnetic Intelligencer, first US electrical journal, appears. 1841 - Birth of Alexis-Emmanuel Chabrier France, composer (Le Roi Malgré Lui). 1849 - Birth of Sir Edmund Barton first Prime Minister of Australia (1900-03). 1850 - British blockade Piræus, Greece to enforce mercantile claims. 1851 - Birth of Heinrich Friedung in Roschtin, Austrian Empire; historian. 1854 - Birth of Thomas A Watson; inventor assistant (Telephone) (dies 1934). 1854 - Filibuster William Walker proclaims Republic of Sonora in NW México. 1854 - Juda Turo American philanthropist, dies. 1856 - Birth of John Hyatt Brewer composer. 1857 - Birth of Otto von Below German commandant (WWI). 1861 - Birth of Hans Goldschmidt in Berlin, Germany; chemist, invented the Goldschmidt alumino-thermic reduction process used in welding. 1861 - Birth of Raymond Huntington Woodman composer. 1862 - John Tyler 10th US President (1841-45), dies in Richmond Virginia at age 71. 1862 - Confederate Territory of Arizona is formed. 1865 - Battle of Fort Moultrie, South Carolina. 1867 - Birth of Rubén Darío national poet (Nicaragua). 1869 - Birth of Willem De Vreese Flemish linguist/biblographer. 1869 - Elegant California Theatre opens in San Francisco California. 1870 - Birth of Berend Modderman printer (Drukkers yearbook). 1871 - Second German Empire proclaimed by Kaiser Wilhelm I and Bismarck. 1871 - Birth of Franz Blei [Peregrinus Steinhövel], Austrian painter/critic. 1872 - Birth of Paul Leautaud [Maurice Boissard], France, writer (Petit ami). 1875 - Joseph Philbrick Webster composer, dies at age 55. 1878 - Birth of Hendrik Baels Belgian politician. 1879 - Birth of Henri-Honoré Giraud French General /member of parliament. 1880 - Birth of Paul Ehrenfest Austria/Netherlands physicist (adiabates hypothesis). 1881 - Birth of Gaston Gallimard French publisher (Librairie Gallimard). 1882 - Birth of Alan Alexander Milne; English author (Winnie-the-Pooh) (dies 1956). 1882 - Birth of Jacob Clay Dutch philosopher/physicist (Mesones). 1882 - Birth of Sylvia Pankhurst English feminist. 1884 - Birth of Arthur Ransome English author (Swallows and Amazons). 1884 - General Charles Gordon departs London for Khartoum. 1886 - Birth of Antoine Pevsner French sculptor. 1886 - Birth of Peter Alma Dutch painter/graphic artist. 1886 - Michal Czajchovski [Sadik Pasja], writer, dies. 1890 - Amadeus I FM king of Spain (1870-73), dies at age 44. 1892 - Birth of Oliver Hardy in Harlem, Georgia, USA; comedy team member (Laurel and Hardy) (dies 1957). 1893 - Birth of John Lawrence Seymour composer. 1893 - Birth of Jorge Guillén Valladolid Spain, poet/critic (Cántico, Final). 1894 - Birth of Wilhelm HC Tenhaeff Dutch parapsychologist. 1895 - Amsterdam's AFC soccer team forms. 1896 - First demonstration of an x-ray machine in the US, New York City, New York. 1896 - Birth of Hans H Holm Norwegian poet (Jonsoknatt). 1896 - British troops occupy Kumasi, West Africa. 1900 - Jan Blockx's "Tÿl Uilenspiegel" premieres in Brussels. 1901 - Birth of Arie Querido Dutch social psychiatrist. 1901 - Pope Leo XIII publishes encyclical Graves De Communi Re. 1902 - Filippo Marchetti composer, dies at age 70. 1903 - Birth of Berthold Goldschmidt in Hamburg, Germany; opera composer. 1904 - Birth of Cary Grant in England; actor (Arsenic and Old Lace, North by Northwest) (dies 1986). 1904 - Birth of Henri-Georges Adam French etcher/painter/sculptor (Grand Nude). 1905 - Birth of Chick Chandler Kingston New York; actor (Barney-One Happy Family). 1905 - French government of Combes falls. 1906 - Bartolomé Mitre President of Argentina (1862-70), dies at age 84. 1906 - Birth of Hans Aeschbacher in Zürich, Switzerland; stone sculptor. 1907 - Birth of Janos Ferencsik Budapest Hungary, conductor (Budapest Opera). 1908 - Birth of Albert P Morano (Representative-Republican-Connecticut, 1951-59). 1908 - Birth of Jacob Bronowsky British mathematician/cultural historian. 1908 - Frederick Delius' "Brigg Fair" premieres. 1910 - Birth of Arthur John Howard actor (Frieda, Last Holiday, Paradiso, Glass Cage). 1911 - First aircraft landing on deck of ship, a Curtiss aircraft on armored cruiser USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay, California. 1911 - Birth of Gabor Darvas composer. 1912 - Birth of Charles Moeller Belgian theologist (Humanisme et sainteté). 1912 - Birth of René Gabriëls Belgian billiard professional (7 World/9 European championships). 1912 - Birth of William Sansom English writer (The Loving Eye). 1912 - British explorer Robert Falcon Scott arrives at the South Pole only to find that Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen had preceded them by just over a month. 1913 - Birth of Danny Kaye Brooklyn New York, UNICEF/comedian/actor (Danny Kaye Show). 1913 - Edmond R H Regout Dutch industrialist/politician, dies at age 49. 1913 - Turkish-Greek sea battle near Troy. 1914 - Birth of Arno Schmidt in Hamburg, Germany; novelist: Die Gelehrtenrepublik (1957), Nobodaddys Kinder (1963), and Abend mit Goldrand (1975). 1915 - Train crashes at Colima-Guadalajara Mexico, about 600 die. 1916 - Birth of Alec Coxon cricket player (England pace bowler in one Test, 2-90 and 1-82). 1917 - Birth of Oscar Lewenstein impressario. 1918 - Birth of Adriano Mandarino Hypolito priest. 1918 - Bohuslav Jeremias, composer, dies at age 58. 1918 - Birth of Ton Brandsteder CEO/founder (Sony Nederland). 1919 - Birth of Juan Antonio Orrego-Salas Santiago Chile, composer. 1919 - John C F son of English king George V, dies at age 13. 1919 - In Paris, France, negotiations begin that would officially mark the end of the First World War. 1921 - Adolf von Hildebrand German sculptor, dies at age 73. 1921 - Birth of Bruce Woodcock boxer. 1921 - William Archer's "Green Goddess" premieres in New York City, New York. 1922 - Birth of Constance Moore Sioux City Iowa, actress (Window on Main Street). 1922 - Birth of Yehezkiel Braun composer. 1922 - Irish author Liam O'Flaherty and others occupy the Rotunda in Dublin. 1923 - First radio telegraph message from Netherlands to Dutch East Indies. 1923 - Wallace Reid actor (Birth of a Nation), dies at age 31. 1924 - Birth of Donald Baverstock TV producer. 1925 - Birth of Anthony Joly de Lotbiniere TV producer. 1925 - Birth of Gilles Deleuze philosopher. 1925 - Birth of Roepie Kruize Dutch field hockey player (Olympics-Bronze-1948/Silver-1952). 1929 - "New York Daily Mirror" columnist Walter Winchell debuts on radio. 1929 - Stalin proposes to ban Trotsky from the Politburo. 1930 - -27 degrees F (-33 degrees C), Watts Oklahoma (state record). 1930 - Dmitri Shostakovich's opera "The Nose" premieres in Leningrad. 1931 - Birth of Chun Doo-hwan; President of South Korea. 1932 - Birth of Robert Anton Wilson US, sci-fi author (Trick Top Hat). 1933 - Birth of David Bellamy English botanist/tv-program maker. 1933 - Birth of John Boorman producer/director (Exorcist II, Deliverance, Zardoz). 1933 - Birth of Ray Dolby; sound expert/inventor (Dolby noise limiting system). 1933 - Birth of Vladimir Yevgrafovich Bugrov cosmonaut. 1933 - White Sands National Monument, New Mexico established. 1934 - Eugene O'Neill's "Days Without End" premieres in New York City, New York. 1935 - Birth of Raymond Briggs English author (Fungus the Bogeyman). 1936 - Rudyard Kipling author (Gunga Din, Nobel Prize 1907), dies in Burwash England at age 70. 1938 - Bradman scores 104* for South Australia versus New South Wales at the SCG. 1938 - Pitcher Grover Cleveland Alexander is elected to the Hall of Fame. 1939 - Birth of Bernard Glassman New York, Zen teacher/head (Zen Center of New York). 1939 - South African wicketkeeper Bradman gets his 6th straight ton, 135* versus New South Wales. 1940 - Kazimierz P Tetmajer Polish writer/poet (Young Poland), dies at age 74. 1941 - Birth of Bobby Goldsboro Marianna Florida, singer (Honey). 1941 - Birth of David Ruffin Mississippi, vocalist (Temptations-Papa Was a Rolling Stone). 1941 - Birth of Iva Zanicchi actress (Ragazza Tutta d'Oro). 1941 - Birth of Tom Bailey rock vocalist (Thompson Twins-Doctor Doctor). 1942 - Nazis arrest journalists Frans Goedhart and Wiardi Beckman. 1943 - Birth of Dave Greene rocker. 1943 - Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto begin resistance of Nazis. 1943 - Presliced bread sale banned to reduce bakery demand for metal parts. 1943 - Soviets announce they broke the long Nazi siege of Leningrad. 1944 - First Chinese naturalized US citizen since repeal of exclusion acts. 1944 - Birth of Larry "Legs" Smith rocker (Bonzo Dog Band-Urban Spaceman). 1944 - Birth of Relus ter Beek Dutch Minister of defense (PvdA). 1946 - Birth of Katia Ricciarelli; actress (Falstaff, Otello, Turandot). 1947 - Red Mill closes at Ziegfeld Theater in New York City, New York after 831 performances. 1947 - Detroit Tigers sell Hank Greenberg to Pittsburgh Pirates (for US$25-35,000). 1947 - Small river steamer sinks on Yangtze River, killing 400. 1948 - First courses begin at University of Ibadan, Nigeria. 1948 - Birth of Takeshi Kitano in Tokyo, Japan; actor (Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence). 1948 - Ted Mack's Original Amateur Hour begins, DuMont (later NBC/ABC/CBS). 1949 - They Stand Accused courtroom drama premieres on CBS (later DuMont). 1949 - First US Congressional standing committee headed by Negro (W Dawson). 1949 - South African Reverend Andries P Treurnicht marries Engela Dreyer. 1950 - Birth of Claudia de Colombia in Bogato, Columbia; Spanish singer ("Yo Creo En Ti"). 1950 - Birth of Gilles Villeneuve; Canadian auto racer. 1950 - Cleveland Indians' pitcher Bob Feller, after 15-14 season, takes US$20,000 salary cut to US$45,000, pay cut is Feller's own suggestion. 1951 - First use of lie detector in Netherlands. 1951 - Hermann Flake sentenced to death due to "hate campaign against German Democratic Republic". 1951 - NFL rules tackles, guards and centers ineligible for forward pass. 1951 - NFL takes control of the failing Baltimore Colts. 1951 - Robert Mark, US chairman (Caste World Congress), dies at age 41. 1952 - Comedic actor Curly Howard dies. 1953 - Birth of Brett Hudson in Portland, Oregon, USA; comedian (Bonkers, Hudson Brothers Show). 1953 - Louise Suggs wins LPGA Tampa Golf Open. 1954 - Fanfani forms Italian government. 1955 - Birth of Johannes AM "Hans" van Tongeren; Dutch actor (Hunk). 1955 - Birth of Kevin Costner in Los Angeles, California, USA; actor/director (Fandango, Silverado, Bull Durham). 1955 - Birth of Mable Fergerson in Los Angeles, California, USA; 4x400m runner (Olympics-silver-1972). 1956 - Birth of Mark Collie in Waynesboro, Tennessee, USA; country singer ("Another Old Soldier"). 1956 - German Democratic Republic forms own army (National People's Army). 1957 - Three B-52s set record for around-the-world flight, 45 hours 19 minutes. 1957 - Birth of Tom Bailey; rock vocalist/keyboardist (Thompson Twins - "Doctor Doctor"). 1958 - Birth of Jeffrey N Williams in Superior, Wisconsin, USA; Major Army/astronaut. 1958 - Birth of Larry Smith; NBA player. 1959 - Birth of Bob Rosenberg; rocker (Will To Power). 1959 - Ruth Jessen wins LPGA Tampa Golf Open. 1961 - Birth of Mark D Messier in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; NHL Center (Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers). 1961 - Zanzibar's Afro-Shirazi party wins one seat by a single vote and parliament by a single seat. 1962 - Birth of Alison Arngrim; actress (Nellie - Little House of the Prairie). 1962 - Birth of David O'Connor; equestrian 3-day (Olympics-silver-1996). 1962 - Raymond Moulaert, composer, dies at age 86. 1962 - US begins spraying foliage in Vietnam to reveal Viet Cong guerrillas. 1962 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. 1963 - Birth of Jane Horrocks in Lancashire, England; actress (Absolutely Fabulous). 1963 - Johnnie Moyes, journalist/cricket player (South Australian batsman), dies. 1963 - Reinier Paping wins Dutch 11-Cities Skating Race (10:59). 1964 - The Beatles' first appearance in Billboard Chart ("I Want to Hold Your Hand" at number 35). 1964 - Birth of Brady Anderson in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA; outfielder (Baltimore Orioles). 1964 - Birth of Jenny Holliday; Australian softball pitcher (Olympics-bronze-1996). 1964 - Plans for the World Trade Center announced (New York City, New York, USA). 1965 - Birth of Richard Dunwoody; British jockey. 1965 - H L de Vries appointed Dutch Governor of Suriname. 1965 - Dave Attell is born; comedian. 1966 - Kathleen Norris, US author, dies at age 85. 1967 - 20th NHL All-Star Game: Montréal beats All-Stars 3-0 at Montréal, Quebec, Canada. 1967 - Albert Conti, actor (Eagle, Jazz Heaven, Topaz), dies at age 79. 1967 - Albert DeSalvo (Boston Strangler) sentenced to life in prison. 1967 - Barney Ross, Welterweight Boxing Champ (1934), dies at age 57. 1967 - Birth of Kim Perrot; WNBA guard (Houston Comets). 1967 - Birth of M C Tab [Sharon Richard], New York City, New York, USA; rapper. 1967 - Birth of Peter Cox Jr in Bronxville, New York, USA; fencer-sabre (Olympics-1996). 1967 - Harry Antrim, actor (Ma and Pa Kettle), dies of heart attack at age 83. 1967 - Reese "Goose" Tatum, basketball player (Harlem Globetrotters), dies at age 45. 1967 - Simon Berkelbach van der Sprenkel, vicar/theologist, dies at age 84. 1967 - US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site. 1967 - Yellowknife replaces Ottawa as capital of North West Territories, Canada. 1968 - Bert Wheeler, actor (Rainmakers, High Flyers, Dixiana), dies at age 72. 1968 - John Ridgely, actor (Air Force, Possessed, Big Sleep), dies at age 58. 1968 - Lee Tracy, actor (Martin Kane - Martin Kane Private Eye), dies at age 69. 1968 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakstan/Semipalatinsk. 1969 - Birth of Larry Webster; defensive tackle (Baltimore Ravens). 1969 - Birth of Marvin Pope; Canadian Football League defensive end (Calgary Stampeders). 1969 - Expanded four-party Vietnam peace talks began in Paris, France. 1969 - Soyuz 5 returns to Earth. 1970 - Birth of Leo Araguz; NLF/WLAF punter (Oakland Raiders, Rhein Fire). 1970 - David O McKay, 9th Mormon president, dies at age 96. 1970 - Hasse Börjes skates world record 500m in 38.9 seconds. 1970 - NFL Pro Bowl: West beats East 16-13. 1971 - Birth of Andre Coleman; NFL wide receiver/kick returner (San Diego Chargers). 1971 - Birth of Greg Engel; NFL center (San Diego Chargers). 1971 - Catherine Calvert, actress (Fires of Faith), dies of stroke at age 80. 1971 - Ivan Koloff beats Bruno Sammartino in New York, to become WWF champ. 1972 - Birth of Dwayne Carswell; NFL tight end (Denver Broncos-Super Bowl XXXII). 1972 - Birth of Mike Lieberthal in Glendale, California, USA; catcher (Philadelphia Phillies). 1972 - Birth of Ryan Kuehl; defensive tackle (Washington Redskins). 1972 - Birth of Steven Conley; linebacker (Pittsburgh Steelers). 1972 - Birth of Vinod Kambli; cricket player (prolific Indian batsman 1993-). 1972 - Rudolf Wittelsbach, composer, dies at age 69. 1973 - Birth of Crispian Mills in London, England; vocalist/guitarist (Kula Shaker). 1973 - Birth of Edward Jasper; defensive tackle (Philadelphia Eagles). 1973 - Birth of Junior Burrough; NBA forward (Boston Celtics). 1973 - Birth of Regilio Vreede; soccer player (Blue White, RKC). 1973 - Boston Red Sox sign Orlando Cepeda as first player signed as a designated hitter. 1973 - New York Islanders break 12-game losing streak, 20-game road winless streak. 1973 - John Cleese's final episode on Monty Python's Flying Circus on BBC. 1974 - The Six Million Dollar Man starring Lee Majors premieres on ABC TV. 1974 - Birth of Devon Odessa; actor (Sharon - My So Called Life, Girl of Limberlost). 1974 - Birth of Shane Burton; defensive tackle (Miami Dolphins). 1974 - Israel and Egypt sign weapons accord. 1975 - The Jeffersons spin-off from All in the Family premieres on CBS. 1975 - Birth of Derek Smith; linebacker (Washington Redskins). 1976 - Ad Verhoeven, soccer player (Xerxes, Sparta), dies in crash. 1976 - Birth of Laurence Courtois in Kortrijk, Belgium; tennis star (1995 finalist Jakarta). 1976 - Birth of Vincent Polvliet; soccer player (FC Utrecht). 1976 - Sonia Dresdel, actor (Fallen Idol, Secret Tent), dies at age 67. 1976 - Super Bowl X: Pittsburgh Steelers beat Dallas Cowboys, 21-17 in Miami, Florida; Most Valuable Player: Lynn Swann, Wide Receiver. 1977 - Death of Karl Zuckmayer in Visp, Switzerland; German/Swiss/American writer, Der Hauptmann von Köpenick (1931), Des Teufels General (1946) and Das Kalte Licht (1955), won the Kleist Prize for Der fröhliche Weinberg (1923) and the Goethe Prize in 1952 for his collected works. 1977 - Imran Khan takes 12 wickets in match for Pakistan win at the SCG. 1977 - Paul Nordoff, US composer (Frog Prince), dies at age 67. 1977 - Yvonne Printemps, actress (Paris Waltz, Voyage to America), dies at age 81. 1977 - Scientists identify a previously unknown bacterium as the cause of the mysterious Legionnaires' disease. 1978 - Carl Betz, actor (Alex Stone - Donna Reed Show), dies at age 56. 1978 - Geoff Boycott captains England for the first time, versus Pakistan Karachi. 1978 - Ivan Ivonovich Dzerzhinsky, composer, dies at age 68. 1978 - Roof of 3-year-old Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut collapses (no injuries). 1978 - Thiokol conducts second test firing of space shuttle's solid rocket boosters. 1979 - Cyril Mockridge, composer, dies at age 82. 1979 - Peter Jenkins finishes "A Walk Across America", Florence, Oregon. 1980 - Silver hits peak record high $49.50 per ounce. 1980 - Cecil Beaton, British photographer, dies at age 76. 1980 - Gold briefly reaches US$1,000 an ounce. 1980 - Pink Floyd's "The Wall" album hits #1. 1980 - Studio 54 (New York) owners Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager sentenced to 3.5 years in prison for tax evasion and fined US$20,000. 1980 - Birth of Jason Segel; American actor. 1980 - Birth of Julius Peppers; American football player. 1980 - Death of Sir Cecil Beaton, English photographer (born 1904). 1981 - Iran accepts US offer of US$7.9 billion in frozen assets. 1981 - Birth of Kimberly Gloudemans; Miss California Teen-USA (1997). 1981 - Birth of Latoya Farley; Miss Oklahoma Teen-USA (1996). 1982 - Burnet Corwin Tuthill, US composer (Laurentia), dies at age 93. 1982 - Ramón (J) Sender (Garcés), Spanish writer, dies at age 79. 1982 - Trent Lehman, actor (Butch-Nanny and the Professor), dies at age 20. 1982 - In the Aegean Sea, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake occurs. Felt strongly throughout Greece, also felt in Bulgaria, southeastern Italy, southeastern Yugoslavia and western Turkey. 1982 - Birth of Joanna Newsom; American harpist/singer-songwriter. 1983 - Birth of Samantha Mumba; Irish singer and actress. 1983 - International Olympic Committee restores Jim Thorpe's Olympic medals 70 years after they were taken from him for being paid $25 in semipro baseball. 1984 - Mitsui Miike coal mine explosion at Omuta, Kyushu, Japan, 83 killed. 1984 - 80th New York Islanders' and third dual hat trick (Carroll and Bossy) 9-1 win. 1984 - Malcolm H Kerr, 9th president of American University of Beirut, shot dead. 1984 - Birth of Seung-hui Cho; the gunman of the Virginia Tech massacre (dies 2007). 1984 - Birth of Kristy Lee Cook, American Idol finalist. 1984 - Birth of Benji Schwimmer, winner of So You Think You Can Dance 2006. 1985 - Mahmoud Taha, Sudanese Muslim leader, hanged at age 76. 1985 - US renounces jurisdiction of World Court despite previous promise. 1985 - Wilfrid Brambell, actor (Hard Day's Night, Boys), dies at age 72. 1986 - 24th Space Shuttle (61-C) Mission - Columbia 7 - returns to Earth. 1986 - AIDS charity record "That's What Friends are For" hits #1. 1986 - Claire James, actress (Jack Armstrong), dies. 1986 - New York Lotto pays US$30.5 million to one winner (numbers are 19-20-27-34-41-46). 1987 - 11th Soap Opera Digest Poll Awards - Days of Our Lives wins. 1988 - Airliner crashes in southwest China, killing all 108 on board. 1989 - Astronomers discover pulsar in remnants of Supernova 1987A (LMC). 1989 - Bruce Chatwin, British writer, dies at age 49. 1989 - Otis Redding, Dion, Rolling Stones, Temptations, and Stevie Wonder inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 1989 - West Indies beat Australia 2-1 to win the World Series Cup. 1989 - The Communist Party of Poland votes to legalize Solidarity. 1990 - Melanie Appleby, rocker (Mel and Kim), dies of liver cancer at age 23. 1990 - South Africa says it is reconsidering ban on African National Congress. 1990 - Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry is arrested for drug possession in an FBI sting. 1991 - Iraq fires eight SCUD missiles on Israel; first US pilot shot down (Jeffrey Zahn). 1991 - Eastern Airlines goes out of business after 62 years due to financial problems. 1991 - Hamilton Fish, congressman (New York), dies at age 102. 1991 - Lillian Bond, actress (Air Mail, Pick-up, Blond Cheat), dies at age 83. 1991 - Longest tennis match at the Australian Open, Boris Becker beats Italy's Omar Camporese in 5 hours and 11 minutes. 1991 - Nita Krebs, actor (Munchkin - The Wizard of Oz), dies of heart attack at age 85. 1991 - US acknowledges Central Intelligence Agency and US Army paid Manuel Noriega $320,000 over his career. 1991 - WLAF's New York Knights become New York-New Jersey Knights. 1992 - 43rd NHL All Star Game - Campbell-10, Wales-6 (Brett Hull, Most Valuable Player) at Philadelphia. 1992 - John Remme, entertainer, dies of AIDS at age 56. 1992 - Tom Elios, entertainer, dies. 1993 - M Eleonore Lippits, first Dutch female missionary doctor, dies at age 85. 1993 - Birth of Molly Hyde, American actress. 1993 - For the first time in the USA, Martin Luther King Day is officially observed in all fifty states. 1993 - Mia Meijer, Dutch playwright/director (Machine Child), dies. 1993 - Mike Templeton, second person to receive a heart pump, dies at age 34. 1993 - West Indies win the World Series Cup, beating Australia 2-0. 1994 - Arthur Altman, songwriter, dies at age 83. 1994 - The Cando event, a possible bolide impact in Cando, Spain. Witnesses claim to have seen a fireball in the sky lasting for almost one minute. 1995 - Adolf F J Butenandt, German bio-chemist (Nobel Prize for Chemistry 1939), dies at age 91 (born 1903) in Munich, Germany. 1995 - Charles Baskerville, vocalist, dies at age 54. 1995 - Death of Ron Luciano, baseball umpire (born 1937). 1995 - Kumble takes 16-99 in match for Karnataka versus Kerala. 1995 - Pope John Paul II begins visit to Australia. 1996 - Baseball owners unanimously approve interleague play in 1997. 1996 - Leonor Fini, Argentine painter, dies at age 87 (born 1908). 1996 - Lisa Marie Presley files for divorce from Michael Jackson in New York. 1996 - Minnesota Fats [Rudolf Wanderone Jr], billiard hustler, dies at age 82. 1996 - Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao, Prime Minister of Andhra Pradesh, India (1983-84, 1984-89, 1994-95), dies (born 1923). 1997 - 47th NHL All-Star Game: East beat West 11-7 at San Jose Arena. 1997 - Myfanwy Piper, librettist, dies at age 85. 1997 - Neville Crump, racehorse trainer, dies at age 86. 1997 - Paul Tsongas, American politician (Senator-Democrat-Massachusetts), dies at age 55. 1997 - In northwest Rwanda, Hutu militia members kill three Spanish aid workers, three soldiers and seriously wound another. 1997 - Boerge Ousland of Norway becomes the first person to cross Antarctica alone and unaided. 1998 - 48th NHL All-Star Game: North America beats World 8-7 at Vancouver, BC, Canada. 1998 - ABL All-Star Game at Walt Disney World complex in Orlando, Florida (West beats East 102-73). 1998 - Boston Celtics retire Robert Parrish's number 00. 1998 - Kelly Robbins wins Healthsouth Golf Inaugural. 2000 - The Tagish Lake meteorite impacts the Earth. 2001 - The British digital television channel e4 is launched. 2002 - Scott Rolen signs the largest contract in team history, a $8.6 million, one-year deal with the Philadelphia Phillies. 2002 - A Canadian Pacific Railway train carrying anhydrous ammonia derails outside of Minot, North Dakota, killing one. 2003 - Death of Edward Farhat (The Original Sheik), Iraqi American Professianl Wrestler (born 1924). 2003 - Bush fires in Australia enter capital of Canberra, killing four, destroying almost 500 houses. 2007 - US investment bank Merrill Lynch announces 2006 profit of US$10.4 billion, the most successful year in its history. 2007 - Comet McNaught, the brightest comet to appear in over 40 years, becomes visible over the Southern Hemisphere. 2007 - The strongest storm in the UK for 17 years kills 14 people, and Germany sees the worst storm since 1999 with 13 deaths. Hurricane Kyrill causes at least 44 deaths across 20 countries in Western Europe. Other losses include the Container Ship MSC Napoli destroyed by the storm off the coast of Devon, England. 2008 - Reverend Ian Paisley resigns from the Free Presbyterian Church which he founded 56 years ago. 2008 - In New York City, New York, a federal judge sentences Canadian Mohammed Mansour Jabarah to life in prison for plotting to bomb U.S. embassies in Singapore and the Philippines. 2009 - The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Baltimore Ravens 23-14 in the AFC Championship game. The Arizona Cardinals defeat the Philadelphia Eagles 32-25 to claim the NFC crown. 2009 - The Danish government unveils a 100 billion crown (US$17.8 billion) bank credit package. 2009 - Israel begins a unilateral ceasefire in Gaza, three weeks after launching a full-scale assault against Hamas. The Palestinian militant group announces an immediate ceasefire for a week to give Israel time to withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip. Estimate of homeless in Gaza from the fighting: 50,000. You can pick a particular day to view that day's events in history. Bookmark this URL:   http://thisdayinhistoryinfo.info/   and revisit each day. (this URL will automatically re-direct to the file containing the current day's events) Or, visit my Timelines of History page. Other web pages of interest: Chronology of World History Chronology of World War II Chronology of Personal Computers