Ken Fussichen's History Of The Day For
July 4th

Home Click on * for the link to the relevant chronology. New Date
1054*The brightest known super-nova (Crab Nebula) starts shining (23 days).Ref: 5
1190*Richard leaves to begin his crusade. 
1415*Pope Gregory XII abdicates the papacy under pressure from the Cardinals.Ref: 69
1636*City of Providence, Rhode Island form.Ref: 5
1653*Barebones Parliment goes into session in England.Ref: 5
1776*The Second Continental Congress adopts the Declaration of Independence drafted by Thomas Jefferson. New York abstains on Declaration of Independence vote.Ref: 62
1778*Kaskaskia (OH?) falls to George Rogers Clark. Simon Kenton participates.Ref: 60
1789*First US tariff act.Ref: 5
1802*The United States Military Academy officially opened at West Point, NY.Ref: 70
1817*Construction begins on the Erie Canal, to connect Lake Erie and the Hudson River.Ref: 2
1819*William Herschel makes last telescopic observation of 1819 comet.Ref: 5
1827*Ohio and Erie Canal opens between Akron and Cleveland. 
1827*New York State slaves born prior to July 4, 1799 are freed. (Claflin, Edward, "Sojourner Truth and the Struggle For Freedom", 1987, ISBN 0-8120-3919-X) 
1828*Construction begins on Band O (Baltimore-Ohio) first US passenger RR.Ref: 5
1829*First London bus runs.Ref: 10
1829*Cornerstone laid for first US mint (Chestnut & Juniper St, Phila).Ref: 5
1836*Wisconsin Territory formed.Ref: 5
1845*Texas Congress votes for annexation to US.Ref: 5
1846*Donner Party: The Boggs Company celebrates the Fourth at Beaver Creek; the Graveses are a week behind at Fort Laramie.Ref: 28
1848*Construction begins on the Washington Monument, a 555-foot Egyptian obelisk when a private citizens' group, the Washington National Monument Society, raised enough money to begin the project.Ref: 2
1863*Boise, Idaho founded (now capital of Idaho).Ref: 5
1866*Firecracker thrown in wood starts fire destroying ½ of Portland, Me.Ref: 5
1868*North Carolina is readmitted to the Union after the Civil War. 
1874*Social Democratic Workmen's Party of North America formed.Ref: 5
1876*1st public exhibition of electric light in San FranciscoRef: 5
1876*Susan B. Anthony distributes "A Woman's Declaration of Rights" in Philadelphia.Ref: 87
1881*Tuskegee Institute opened its doors to the students who built it with bricks made in their own kiln. An abandoned plantation in Tuskegee, Alabama was the site chosen for Booker T. Washington’s institution for academic and vocational training.Ref: 4
1882*Telegraph Hill Observatory opens in SF.Ref: 5
1884*Statue of Liberty was given to U.S. to commemorate the French and American revolutionsRef: 17
1886*First scheduled transcontinental passenger train reaches Pt Moody, BC.Ref: 5
1889*Washington state constitutional convention holds first meetingRef: 5
1892*The first double-decked street car service was inaugurated -- in San Diego, CA. And you still see them all over the place in San Diego.Ref: 4
1894*After seizing power, Judge Stanford B. Dole declares Hawaii a republic.Ref: 2
1901*William H. Taft becomes the American governor of the Philippines.Ref: 2
1903*Pacific Cable (San Francisco, Hawaii, Guam, Phillipines) opens. President Roosevelt sends a message to the Phillipines, then a message around the world in 12 minutes.Ref: 5
1904*Construction begins on Panama Canal.Ref: 10
1910*Race riots break out all over the United States after African American Jack Johnson knocks out Jim Jeffries in a heavyweight boxing match.Ref: 2
1918*Altar dedicated at full-scale replica of Stonehenge at Maryhill, Wa.Ref: 5
1929*AM radio station WOWO, Indiana's transmitter burns down.Ref: 5
1933*Work begins on the Oakland Bay BridgeRef: 5
1934*Leo Szilard files a patent application describing the use of neutron induced chain reactions to create explosions, and the concept of the critical mass.Ref: 91
1939*German Jews denied the right to hold government jobs.Ref: 35
1941*Howard Florey & Norman Heatley meet for the first time, 11 days later they successfully recreate pencillin.Ref: 5
1943*Neddermeyer conducts first explosion in the implosion research program (currently consisting of Neddermeyer, and 3 informal assistants).Ref: 91
1944*Oppenheimer reveals Segre's spontaneous fission measurements to the Los Alamos staff. The neutron emission for reactor-produced plutonium is too high for gun assembly to work. The measured rate is 50 fissions/kg-sec, the fission rate in Hanford plutonium is expected to be over 100 times higher still.Ref: 91
1946*The United States grants the Philippine Islands their independence.Ref: 2
1950*Truman signs public law 600 (Puerto Ricans write own consitution).Ref: 5
1956*Independence National Historical Park established in Philadelphia.Ref: 5
1956*US most intense rain fall (1.23" in 1 minute) at Unionville Maryland.Ref: 5
1959*Cayman Islands separated from Jamaica, made a crown colony.Ref: 5
1959*America's 49-star flag, honoring Alaskan statehood, was officially unfurled.Ref: 70
1960*America's 50-star flag, honoring Hawaiian statehood, was officially unfurled in Philadelphia.Ref: 70
1966*President Johnson signed the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). FBI records eventually became subject to the FOIA.Ref: 14
1967*Freedom of Information Act goes into effect.Ref: 5
1970*100 injured in race rioting in Asbury Park NJ.Ref: 5
1971*Fillmore West closes, SFRef: 62
1976*America celebrated its bicentennial with daylong festivities; President Ford made stops in Valley Forge, PA, Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and NY, where more than 200 ships paraded up the Hudson River in Operation Sail.Ref: 6
1976 Israeli commandos raided Entebbe airport in Uganda, rescuing almost all of the passengers and crew of an Air France jetliner seized by pro-Palestinian hijackers.Ref: 70
1976*America celebrated its bicentennial; in New York, more than 200 ships paraded up the Hudson River in Operation Sail.Ref: 70
1978*Memphis firefighters halt 3-day strike under a court order.Ref: 5
1987*Klaus Barbie, the former Gestapo chief known as the "Butcher of Lyon," is convicted by a French court of crimes against humanity and is ultimately sentenced to life in prison.Ref: 17
2003 (Hong Kong) Hong Kong's pro-Bejing legislator and Liberal Party Chairman James Tien says the government should delay a vote on antisubversion legislation. (WSJ, p A14, 7/17/2003)Ref: 33
1803*Lewis & Clark: News of the Louisiana Purchase announced. For $15 million, Jefferson more than doubles the size of United States: 820,000 square miles for 3 cents an acre.Ref: 65
1804*Lewis & Clark: The Expedition marks first Fourth of July ever celebrated west of the Mississippi by firing keelboat's cannon, drinking extra ration of whiskey, and naming a creek (near what is now Atchinson, Kansas) Independence Creek.Ref: 65
1805*Lewis & Clark: The party celebrates its second Independence Day on the trail (as well as the completion of the portage) by dancing late into the night and drinking the last of their supply of whiskey.Ref: 65
1894*Elwood Haynes successfully tests one of first US autos at 6 MPH.Ref: 5
1924*According to flackery, Caesar salad invented today by Chef Caesar Cardini at Palace Hotel, Tijuana.Ref: 10
1927*Hanna Reitsch, a German pilot, flew Dr. Heinrich Focke's FW-61 in the first free, fully controlled helecoptor flight at Bremen. Ref 
1982*4th Space Shuttle Mission-Columbia 4 lands at Edwards AFB.Ref: 5
1987*Discovery moves to Launch Pad 39B for STS-26 mission.Ref: 5
1997*The Mars Pathfinder spacecraft, launched by NASA from the Earth in December 1996, entered the atmosphere of Mars. A heat shield, parachutes, and airbags helped it land safely. The Sojourner rover searched the surface of Mars for rocks while millions of earthlings watch it on TV and the Internet.Ref: 4
1781*Cornwallis evacuated Williamsburg, his forces retreating gradually over the James River during the next several days. On July 6, Lafayette sent Brigadier General Waye and 800 men to attack the British at Green Spring near Jamestown. Cornwallis's main force had not crossed the river and inflicted heavy damage on the Americans. 
1861*Union and Confederate forces skirmish at Harpers Ferry.Ref: 2
1863*Vicksburg, the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, surrenders to General Grant and the Army of the West after a six week siege. Grant immediately provided food for the starving soldiers and civilians. With the Union now in control of the Mississippi, the Confederacy is effectively split in two, cut off from its western allies.Ref: 2
1898*US flag hoisted over Wake Island (Spanish-American War).Ref: 5
1942*British Admiralty orders cruisers escorting Convoy P.Q. 17 (from Seidisfjord, Iceland, to the Soviet Union) to abandon the convoy, and for the merchant ships to disperse and proceed to Soviet ports. This was done for fear of the German battleship Tirpitz attacking the convoy. 
1942*First American bombing mission over enemy-occupied Europe (WW II).Ref: 5
1943*The American Forces Network radio program begins airing from England. 
1944*Canadian 8th Brigade and Royal Winnipeg Rifles advance to seize Carpiquet village and airfield in France. The "Blitzmaedel" (German Women's Army Corps) evacuate the Hotel Moderne in Paris, France. 
1881*Mickey Welch throws two complete game victories as the Troy Haymakers sweep a doubleheader from Buffalo in National Association action.Ref: 1
1884 Bullfighting was introduced in America, in Dodge City, KS.Ref: 4
1886*The first rodeo in America was held at Prescott, Arizona.Ref: 4
1889*John L. Sullivan defeated Jake Kilrain in the last championship bare-knuckle fight. The bout went on for 75 rounds! It took 2 hours, 16 minutes and 23 seconds to complete.Ref: 97
1900*Approximately one thousand people in the crowd of 10,000 fans attending the game at West Side grounds celebrate Independence Day by firing pistols into the air. Chicago beats Philadelphia in 12 innings, 5-4.Ref: 1
1902*First motorcycle race in America from Boston to New York.Ref: 10
1905*With the A's scoring two runs in the 20th inning, Rube Waddell beats Cy Young and the Red Sox, 4-2 with each hurler pitching a complete game.Ref: 1
1908*With two outs and an 0-2 count in the ninth inning, Giant pitcher George 'Hooks' Wiltse loses his perfect game when he hits opposing pitcher, George McQuillan, with a pitch. Wiltse still keeps his no-hitter intact as the Giants win 1-0 in the tenth.Ref: 1
1910*Jack Johnson KO's Jim Jeffries in the 15th round. Jeffries was cajoled out of retirement for the specific purpose of beating Johnson. Johnson's victory spawned race riots.Ref: 97
1911*Ty Cobb goes 0 for 4 & ends a 40 game hit streak.Ref: 5
1911*Armando Marsans and Rafael Almeida become the first Cuban natives to appear in a major league game as they both make their debut for the Reds.Ref: 1
1912*Tiger pitcher George Mullins celebrates the nation's birthday and his own by throwing a 7-0 no-hitter against the St. Louis Browns.Ref: 1
1914*First US motorcycle race (300 miles, Dodge City Ks).Ref: 5
1919*Jack Dempsey KOs Jess Willard in a 4 round bout to win the heavyweight boxing title in Toledo OH.Ref: 97
1919*Cincinnati Reds are 10½ games back in NL, & win the World Series.Ref: 5
1923*Jack Dempsey defends his heavyweight boxing title in a 15-round decision against Tommy Gibbons in Shelby, MT.Ref: 97
1925*In a battle of southpaws, Yankee Herb Pennock and A's Lefty Grove hook up in a 15 inning pitchers' duel which the Yankees win, 1-0.Ref: 1
1932*NY Yankee catcher Bill Dickey objects to the way Carl Reynolds of the Washington Senators slid into him at home plate. He breaks Reynolds' jaw with one punch.Ref: 24
1934*Boxer Joe Louis wins his first professional fight.Ref: 2
1935*Due to his 'wandering' ball, Iola hurler Harold 'Lefty' Liell, a 5' 6 1/2", 155-pounder with pigeon-toed feet, is called up for a try out with the Kansas City Blues. The K.C. manager Dutch Zwilling is impressed with the youngster's performance, but advises the Greeley, Kansas lad to get more experience and suggests he play in the Ban Johnson League.Ref: 1
1938*First game at Shribe Park, Phila; Braves beat Phillies 10-5.Ref: 5
1939*"Lou Gehrig Appreciation Day" is held at Yankee Stadium. His uniform number (4) is the first to be retired in Major League Baseball and Gehrig makes his famous "Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth" speech.Ref: 86
1939*Red Sox Jim Tabor hits two grand slams as well as a third home run in an 18-12 slugfest victory over the A's.Ref: 1
1954*West Germany beats Hungary 3-2 for soccer's 5th World Cup in Bern.Ref: 5
1960*Mickey Mantle hits career homer # 300.Ref: 5
1962*Gene Autry’s baseball team, the CA Angels, surprised fans everywhere by stunning the Washington Senators in a doubleheader sweep that propelled them into first place at the season’s midway point. The first place stay didn’t last. The Angels finished out of the running (by 10-1/2 games) at the end of the season.Ref: 4
1964*Kansas City's Manny Jimenez, who didn't homer in 1963, connects for three in a 6-6 tie with the Orioles. Game is stopped by a special Baltimore curfew to permit a fireworks show to take place.Ref: 1
1967*Phillies Clay Dairymple ties NL record of 6 walks in doubleheader.Ref: 5
1969*Ann Jones defeats Billie Jean King for Wimbeldon Ladies championship.Ref: 5
1973*Riva Ridge won the Brooklyn Handicap in a world-record time of 1:52.3/5 in the 1-3/16-mile event. Riva Ridge became thoroughbred racing’s 12th, million-dollar race horse.Ref: 4
1973*In audience with Italian cyclists, Pope Paul VI praises athletes who "offer the magnificent show of a healthy, strong, generous youth".Ref: 5
1976*When Tim McCarver passes teammate Garry Maddox on the bases he loses his grand slam, but the Phillies still defeat the Pirates, 10-5.Ref: 1
1977*Cubs use fielder Larry Bittner as a pitcher.Ref: 5
1980*Nolan Ryan fans Ceasar Geronimo to record his 3000th career strike out. In 1974, the Reds' outfielder was also Bob Gibson's 3000th victim.Ref: 1
1980*Reggie Smith belts the 7,000th home run in Dodgers' history and Don Sutton sets a team record with his 52nd career shutout in the Dodgers' 4-0 victory over the Giants.Ref: 1
1982*(thru the 10th) Texas Ranger Larry Parrish ties a major league record with three grand slams in one week. In 10 games, Parrish collects 19 rbi and bats .514 (18-35).Ref: 86
1982*Jimmy Connors beats John McEnroe for his last Wimbeldon championship.Ref: 5
1983*Dave Righetti pitches only the sixth regular-season no-hitter in New York Yankee history and the first since 1951, a 4-0 win vs. the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.Ref: 86
1983*The Toronto Blue Jays lead the AL East at the All-Star break, a club first.Ref: 86
1984*Yuri Sedykh of USSR throws hammer a record 86.33 m.Ref: 5
1984*Yankee hurler Phil Niekro strikes out Ranger Larry Parrish to become the ninth major league player to reach 3,000 strikeout milestone.Ref: 1
1984*In a 19 inning game, which goes until just before 4 a.m. the next day, the Mets beat the Braves, 16-13. After the game, the 10,000 fans left in Atlanta Fulton County Stadium are treated to pre-dawn fireworks.Ref: 1
1987*Martina Navratilova wins 6th straight Wimbeldon defeats Steffi Graf.Ref: 5
1987*Giants and Padres complete a seven-player trade, including Kevin Mitchell who will be the 1989 MVP for the Giants and Mark Davis who will win the 1989 National League Cy Young Award for the Padres.Ref: 1
1987*With Phillies' 9-6 win over the Tigers, the Niekro brothers pass the Perrys (Gaylord and Jim) with 530 combined victories.Ref: 1
1988*Charlie Hough, Texas Rangers, strikes out 4 batters in the 1st inning. (Sporting News Complete Baseball Record Book, 2002, ISBN 0-89204-668-0) 
1988*Steffan Edberg beats Boris Becker for Wimbeldon crown.Ref: 5
1992*The Colorado Rockies unveil their traditional 1993 uniforms (home, away, and Sunday alternate) at a Team USA-Team Cuba baseball game at Mile High Stadium before 61,165 fans. Included on the home uniform is purple pinstripes, making the Rockies the first team in Major League history to feature purple stripes. The club's road uniform is gray and the alternate is black. Also, the team improves its logo.Ref: 86
1995*Roberto Alomar saw his string of 484 errorless chances come to an end with an error in a game in California. The 484 chances without an error was a new Major League record and the string of 104 games without an error established a new American League standard.Ref: 86
1999*Jose Canseco of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays smacked his 30th home run of the season, although Tampa Bay lost to the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3. Canseco became the first player in major-league history to hit 30 home runs with four different teams. He had previously reached that mark with the TX Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays and the Oakland Athletics. Note: Canseco hit 30 or more homers with Oakland five times.Ref: 4
2000*Becoming only the third player in Cardinal history to homer in his first career at-bat, Keith McDonald pinch hits a home run in a 14-3 victory over the Reds. Eddie Morgan [1936] and Wally Moon [1954] are the only other Redbirds to accomplish the feat.Ref: 1
2001*The Brewers' new home, Miller Park, continues to be jinxed as a parachutist breaks his ankle when he misses the opening in the retractable roof and lands on a beam several hundred feet off the ground. Another member of the Sky Knights Sports Parachute Club missed the stadium completely.Ref: 1
2001*The fifty people stranded on the Ferris wheel ride at Comerica Park for two hours during the Royal-Tiger game are rescued by firefighters and emergency crews using a cherry picker and a fire truck ladder. The inconvenience fans will receive tickets to another game, free dinner and team autographs from the Tigers.Ref: 1
1832*It was on this day that America was sung in public for the first time -- at the Park Street Church in Boston, MA. Dr. Samuel Francis Smith wrote the words, borrowing the tune from a German songbook. Ironically, and unknown to Dr. Smith at the time, the melody is the same as the British national anthem.Ref: 4
1845*American writer Henry David Thoreau began his two-year experiment in simple living at Walden Pond near Concord, Mass.Ref: 70
1848 Communist manifesto published by Marx & Engels.Ref: 10
1855*The first edition of Leaves of Grass, by Walt Whitman, was published in Brooklyn, NY.Ref: 4
1862*Charles Dodgson (pen name: Lewis Carroll) first tells the story of Alice's adventures down the rabbit hole during a picnic along the Thames, thus "Alice in Wonderland" is first created for Alice P Liddell.Ref: 2
1865*First edition of "Alice in Wonderland" is published.Ref: 5
1873 Aquarium opens in Woodward Gardens.Ref: 5
1883*Buffalo Bill Cody presents his first wild west show in North Platte, NE.Ref: 39
1895*America the Beautiful, the famous song often touted as the true US national anthem, was originally a poem written by Katherine Lee Bates. The Wellesley College professor’s poem was first published this day in the Congregationalist, a church newspaper.Ref: 4
1912*Fiction: Prof. Harold Hill, The Music Man, arrives in River City, IowaRef: 62
1931*Novelist James Joyce and Nora Barnacle are married in London after being together for 26 years.Ref: 2
1942*The Irving Berlin musical, This is the Army, opened at New York’s Broadway Theatre. Net profits of the show were $780,000.Ref: 4
1943*The Rhythm Boys, Bing Crosby, Al Rinker and Harry Barris, were reunited for the first time since the 1930s on Paul Whiteman Presents on NBC radio.Ref: 4
1951*Jack Webb did a summer switch -- from his Dragnet role of Sgt. Joe Friday to that of Pete Kelly. Pete Kelly’s Blues, a crime drama, was the summer replacement on NBC radio for Halls of Ivy (with Ronald Colman and Benita Hume). Webb also played Pete Kelly in the 1955 movie of the same name; then produced and directed a 1959 TV series, also titled Pete Kelly’s Blues, starring William Reynolds as Pete.Ref: 4
1962*Island Records begins.Ref: 5
1969*"Give Peace a Chance" by Plastic Ono Band is released in the UK.Ref: 5
1969*140,000 attend Atlanta Pop Festival featuring Led Zep & Janis Joplin.Ref: 5
1970*Casey Kasem hosted radio’s American Top 40 for the first time this day.Ref: 4
1977*Nigel Harrison replaces Gary Valentine as bassist of BlondieRef: 5
1985*A crowd, estimated at one million, gathered in Philadelphia to celebrate the 209th anniversary of America’s independence. The Beach Boys were joined by Mr. T. on drums to really add some fireworks to the festivities. The Oak Ridge Boys, Joan Jett and Jimmy Page joined in the celebration (but wouldn’t let Mr. T. play ...)Ref: 4
1990*2 Live Crew release "Banned in the USA" the lyrics quote Star Spangled Banner & Gettysburg Address.Ref: 5
1715*Christian Gellert Saxony, poet, novelist (Fables & Tales), is born.Ref: 5
1753*Jean-Pierre-Francois Blanchard, first balloon flights in England, US, is born.Ref: 5
1799 King Oscar I Sweden is born.Ref: 10
1804*Nathaniel Hawthorne Mass, author (House of 7 Gables, Scarlet Letter), is born.Ref: 68
1807 Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian military leader and unifier of modern Italy, is born.Ref: 2
1819*E. R. Squibb, American pharmaceutical manufacturer, is born.Ref: 70
1826*Stephen Foster song writer of about 200 songs including: Oh! Susannah, Camptown Races, Old Folks at Home [Swanee River], Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair, Beautiful Dreamer; is born.Ref: 4
1840*Birth of American sacred composer James McGranahan. His most enduring melodies include CHRIST RETURNETH, MY REDEEMER, NEUMEISTER ('Christ Receiveth Sinful Men') andSHOWERS OF BLESSING.Ref: 5
1847*James Anthony Bailey Detroit, circus impresario (Barnum & Bailey), is born.Ref: 5
1867*Stephen Mather organized US National Park Service, is born.Ref: 5
1870*Birth of James Moffatt, Scottish New Testament scholar. Moffatt translated the New (1913) and Old (1924) Testaments into the colloquial English of his day. They were first published together in 1935.Ref: 5
1872*Calvin Coolidge, ® 30th US President [1923-1929]; married to Grace Goodhue [two sons]; nickname: Silent Cal; is born in Plymouth, VT.Ref: 4
1875*Giovanni & Giacomo Tocci Italy, siamese twins, are born.Ref: 5
1878*George M Cohan entertainer, Give my regards to Broadway, is born.Ref: 5
1880*George Mullin pitcher (Detroit Tigers-no-hitter on 7/4/1912), is born.Ref: 5
1880*Pat Rooney vaudevillian/actor (Night Club), is born.Ref: 5
1883*Rube (Reuben Lucius) Goldberg, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist famous for his cartoons of ludicrously complex inventions designed to accomplish the simplest tasks, is born.Ref: 2
1885*Louis B Mayer, Minsk Russia, motion-picture executive (MGM), is born.Ref: 5
1894*Henry Carlson basketball coach (originated figure 8 play), is born.Ref: 5
1898*Johnny Lee Missouri, actor (Calhoun-Amos 'n' Andy)Ref: 5
1898*Gertrude Lawrence, English actress, is born.Ref: 2
1900*Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong New Orleans LA, jazz musician (Hello Dolly), is born.Ref: 5
1902*George Murphy New Haven Ct, (Sen-R-Calif)/actor/dancer (MGM Parade), is born.Ref: 5
1902*Vince Barnett Pittsburgh, actor (Star is Born, Human Jungle), is born.Ref: 5
1902*Meyer Lansky, American crime syndicate chiefRef: 70
1903*Flor Peeters Antwerp Belgium, organist (Lied Symphony), is born.Ref: 5
1905*Lionel Trilling, author (1969 Poses Award, Liberal Imagination), is born.Ref: 5
1909*Alec Templeton Cardiff Wales, pianist/composer (Concertino Lirico), is born.Ref: 5
1911*Mitch Miller record company executive, producer, arranger: Columbia, Mercury; musician & instrumentalist: Tzena, Tzena, Tzena, The Yellow Rose of TX, March from The River Kwai; Sing Along with Mitch LPs and TV showRef: 4
1912*Virginia Graham Chicago Ill, TV personality (Girl Talk, Where Was I), is born.Ref: 5
1915*Timmie Rogers Detroit Mich, singer (Sugar Hill Time), is born.Ref: 5
1916*Tokyo Rose WW II propogandist, is born.Ref: 5
1918*Ann Landers (Esther Pauline Friedman) advice columnist; twin sister of Abigail Van Buren is born.Ref: 4
1918*Abigail Van Buren (Pauline Esther Friedman) advice columnist; twin sister of Ann Landers, is born.Ref: 4
1918*Buster Davis Johnstown Pa, choral director (Garry Moore Show), is born.Ref: 5
1918*Taufa'ahau Tupou IV king of Tonga (1965- ), is born.Ref: 5
1920*Leona Helmsley hotel mogul: Helmsley Hotels, is born.Ref: 4
1921*Gerard Debreu France, economist (Nobel 1983), is born.Ref: 5
1924*Eva Marie Saint Academy Award-winning actress: On the Waterfront [1954]; North by Northwest, Exodus, Raintree County, is born.Ref: 4
1926*Mary Stuart Miami Fla, actress (Jo-Search for Tomorrow), is born.Ref: 5
1927*Gina Lollobrigida actress: Trapeze, Belles de Nuit, Solomon and Sheba, Strange Bedfellows, Come September, is born in Subiaco, Italy.Ref: 4
1927*Neil (Marvin) Simon Tony Award-winning playwright: The Odd Couple [1965], Lost in Yonkers [and Pulitzer Prize: 1991]; The Sunshine Boys, Barefoot in the Park, The Goodbye Girl, CA Suite, Plaza Suite, Seems like Old Times, Prisoner of Second Avenue, is born.Ref: 4
1928*Stephen Boyd actor (Fantastic Voyage, Ben-Hur), is born.Ref: 5
1929*Chuck (Charles William) Tanner baseball: Milwaukee Braves, Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, LA Angels; manager: Pittsburgh Pirates, Atlanta Braves, is born.Ref: 4
1929*Al Davis, Brocton MA, football general manager: Oakland Raiders; only one in pro football to be scout, asst. coach, head coach, general manager, league commissioner and owner, is born.Ref: 4
1930*George Steinbrenner shipping magnate, baseball team owner: NY Yankees, is born.Ref: 4
1937*Rosey (Roosevelt) Taylor football: Grambling College, Chicago Bears, San Diego Chargers, San Francisco 49ers, Washington Redskins: Super Bowl VII, is born.Ref: 4
1937*Ray Pillow singer: Take Your Hands Off My Heart, Thank You Ma’am, I’ll Take the Dog, Volkswagon, Gone with the Wine, is born.Ref: 4
1938*Bill Withers WV, rhythm & blues singer (Lean on Me), is born.Ref: 5
1939*Ed Bernard Phila, actor (Joe-Police Woman, Jim-White Shadow), is born.Ref: 5
1940*Pat Stapleton hockey: NHL: Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, is born.Ref: 4
1942*Floyd Little, College Football Hall of Famer: Syracuse: 3-time All-American running back; Denver Broncos: rushed for 6,323 yards on 1,641 carries & 43 touchdowns, is born.Ref: 4
1943*Emerson Boozer football: NY Jets running back: Super Bowl III, is born.Ref: 4
1943*Investigative reporter, TV talk show host Geraldo Rivera is born.Ref: 68
1943*Al ‘Blind Owl’ Wilson musician: guitar, harmonica, singer: group: Canned Heat: On the Road Again, Going Up the Country, Let’s Work Together; is born.Ref: 4
1946*Michael Milken LA Calif, partner (Intl Capital Access Group), is born.Ref: 5
1948*Jeremy Spencer musician: guitar: group: Fleetwood Mac: Black Magic Woman, Need Your Love So Bad, Albatross, Man of the World, The Green Manalishi [With the Two-Pronged Crown], is born.Ref: 4
1948*Rene Arnoux France, formula-1 racer (6th place-1980), is born.Ref: 5
1950*David Jensen rocker British DJ, is born.Ref: 5
1953*Geraldo Rivera NYC, news personality (20/20, Geraldo), is born.Ref: 5
1955*The first king cobra snakes born in captivity in the United States were hatched at the Bronx Zoo in New York City. A total of nine eggs hatched between July 4th and 12th of 1955.Ref: 4
1955*John Waite singer: Missing You, Tears; group: The Babys: Isn’t It Time, Everytime I Think of You, Back on My Feet Again, is born.Ref: 4
1958*Kirk Pengilly Sydney Australia, rocker (Inxs-Kiss the Dirt), is born.Ref: 5
1960*Signy Coleman actress: The Young and the Restless, is born.Ref: 4
1962*Pam Shriver tennis: grand slam doubles winner [1984]; w/ Martina Navratilova won 7 Australian, 4 French, 5 Wimbledon, 4 U.S. Opens [1981-1989], is born.Ref: 4
1963*Henri Leconte France, tennis player (French finalist 1988), is born.Ref: 5
1964*Mark Allen Slaughter Las Vegas, guitarist (Slaughter-Stick it Live)Ref: 5
1965*Harvey Grant basketball: Washington Bullets, Portland Trailblazers, Philadelphia 76ers, Washington Wizards; twin brother of Horace, is born.Ref: 4
1965*Horace Grant basketball: Chicago Bulls, Orlando Magic, Seattle Supersonics, LA Lakers; twin brother of Harvey, is born.Ref: 4
966*Pope Benedict V (deposed in 964) dies.Ref: 69
1627*Thomas Middleton Elizabethan dramatist, dies (birth date unknown).Ref: 5
1712*12 slaves are executed for starting a uprising in New York that killed nine whites.Ref: 2
1826*(Declaration of Independence) 50 years to the day after the Declaration of Independence was adopted, former president and signer of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson dies at age 83.Ref: 68
1826*(Declaration of Independence) 50 years to the day after the Declaration of Independence was adopted, former president and signer of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams dies at age 90.Ref: 68
1831*The fifth president of the United States, James Monroe (1817-25), dies in NY City at age 73.Ref: 68
1848*Vicomte François René de Chateaubriand, French writer and chef who gave his name to a style of steak, dies at age 79Ref: 70
1875*White Democrats kill several blacks in terrorist attacks in Vicksburg.Ref: 5
1891*Hannibal Hamlin, 15th U.S. Vice President [under Abraham Lincoln: 1861-1865]; dies at age 81.Ref: 4
1898*"La Bourgogne" collides with "Cromartyshire", 560 drown.Ref: 5
1906 Jules Adolphe Breton, French painter, dies.Ref: 10
1910*Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer and senator, dies at age 75.Ref: 70
1925*44 die when the Dreyfus Hotel in Boston collapses.Ref: 5
1934*Madame Marie Curie (Marja Sklodowski), the Polish-born French physicist twice awarded the Nobel Prize (1903, 1911) for her work on radioactivity, dies.Ref: 70
1934*Chaim Nachman Bialik, zionist poet, dies.Ref: 5
1938*Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player; Wimbledon champion (6-times) and Olympic gold-medalist (1920), dies at age 39 of anemia.Ref: 68
1954*Dr Sam Sheppard's wife Marilyn is murdered (he is accused of crime).Ref: 5
1957*Judy Tyler actress (Princess-Howdy Doody), dies at 24 in car crash.Ref: 5
1962*Rex Bell cowboy (Cowboys & Injuns), dies at 56.Ref: 5
1963*Grant Richards actor (Doug-Doorway to Danger), dies at 48.Ref: 5
1970*Harold Vanderbilt America Cup winner (1930, 34, 37), dies at 85Ref: 5
1970*Chartered Dan-Air Comet crashes into mountains north of Barcelona, Spain killing 112 vacationing Britons.Ref: 5
1974*John Crowe Ransom, American poet and critic, dies at age 86.Ref: 70
1975*Morgan Beatty reporter, journalist: Associated Press, radio: ABC, TV: Du Mont; dies.Ref: 4
1975*Bundy victim (?) Nancy Baird disappears from Layton, Utah.Ref: 5
1988*US navy shoots down Iranian civilian jetliner over Gulf, kills 290.Ref: 5
1995*Actress Eva Gabor dies.Ref: 68
1997*Charles Kuralt journalist: CBS News, On the Road with Charles Kuralt, Sunday Morning; dies.Ref: 4
1999*Ronny Graham (Ronald Montcrief Stringer) singer, actor: Chico and the Man, The New Bill Cosby Show, The Hudson Brothers Show, The Bob Crane Show; dies.Ref: 4
2002*Winnifred Quick Van Tongerloo, one of the four known survivors of the Titanic, dies at age 98. (XDG, p 8A, 1/01/2003)Ref: 83
2002*Benjamin O. Davis, Jr, leader of the famous all-black Tuskegee Airmen during World War II and the first black general in the Air Force, dies at age 89. (XDG, p 8A, 1/01/2003)Ref: 83
2002*Suliman Olayan, a Saudi businessman and one of the wealthiest men in the world, dies at ag e 83. (XDG, p 8A, 1/01/2003)Ref: 83
2002*A gunman opened fire at Israel's El Al airline ticket counter at Los Angeles International Airport; three people were killed, including the gunman.Ref: 70
2003*Barry White singer: I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby, Never, Never Gonna Give You Up, Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Babe, Love’s Theme [w/Love Unlimited Orchestra]; played piano on Jesse Belvin’s Goodnight My Love [1955]; dies.Ref: 4

Last Update: October 27th, 2005
© 2000-2005   Kenneth Fussichen