What Happened Years Ago Today
Historical Events Today
- 100 years ago Great Britain goes back to gold standard
- 100 years ago Netherlands and Belgium sign accord of Westerschelde
- 90 years ago Yasuo Ikenada runs world record marathon (2:26:44)
- 80 years ago World War II: Dutch city of Hengelo freed from Nazi control by the Canadian Army
- 70 years ago Baltimore Orioles pull their 1st triple play (3-6-2 vs KC Athletics)
- 70 years ago Fire in cinema in Sclessin, Belgium, kills 39
- 70 years ago Night express train in Guadalajara, Mexico derails, killing 300
Howl Obscenity Charges
70 years ago The American Civil Liberties Union announces it will defendAllen Ginsberg's book "Howl" against obscenity charges
- 60 years ago 1st atomic powered spacecraft (snap) launched
Sports History
50 years agoBobby Fischer stripped of world chess title for refusing to defend it, title awarded to RussianAnatoly Karpov
- 45 years ago France performs nuclear test
- 45 years ago US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
- 40 years ago French government adopts equal electoral system
- 40 years ago Players' Association agrees to expand LCS from 5 to 7 games
- 40 years ago Vic Elliot pockets 15,780 pool balls in 24 hours in London
Radio History
30 years ago Radio personalityHoward Stern gets in trouble for disparaging remarks about singer Selena
Film & TV History
15 years agoMatt Smith's first appearance as the 11th Doctor withKaren Gillan as his companion in BBC program "Doctor Who" during "The Eleventh Hour" episode
- 5 years ago 27 people swept off a ferry and feared dead in the Solomon Islands during Cyclone Harold
COVID-19 Pandemic
5 years ago London's Nightingale hospital opened byPrince Charles (remotely) after nine days with 4,000 beds to treat COVID-19 patients at the ExCeL Centre
- 5 years ago US aircraft carrier captain Brett Crozier cheered off his ship after being fired for a letter demanding more help for his sailors infected with COVID-19
Grammy Awards
3 years ago 64th Grammy Awards:Jon Batiste wins Album of the Year,Olivia Rodrigo three awards including Best New Artist, Silk Sonic Best Song "Leave the Door Open"[1]
- 3 years ago Chevron Championship Women's Golf, Mission Hills CC: American Jennifer Kupcho wins her first LPGA tournament by 2 strokes over Jessica Korda
Sports History
3 years ago Pakistan plunges into constitutional crisis after Prime MinisterImran Khan dissolves parliament and calls for new elections, avoiding a no-confidence vote[1]
- 3 years ago The Taliban government bans cultivation of opium in Afghanistan, with consequences for world supply as it produces 80%[1]
- 2 years ago NASA announces the four astronauts for 2024 Artemis II lunar mission around the Moon - Christina Hammock Koch, Victor Glover, Reid Wiseman and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen[1]
- Last year 7.4 magnitude earthquakes hits east coast of Taiwan, south of Hualien, killing at least 9 people and injuring 900[1]
Who Died Today in History?
- 500 years ago Giovanni Rucellai, Italian humanist and poet (The Bees - one of the 1st famous poems in blank verse), dies at 49
- 80 years ago Josef Weinheber, Austrian poet and writer (Vienna Verbatim), dies at 43
- 60 years ago Ernst Kirchweger, Austrian communist and resistance fighter (born 1897 or 1898)
- 50 years ago Mary Ure, Scottish stage and screen actress (Sons and Lovers; Windom's Way; Where Eagles Dare), dies from an accidental overdose of alcohol and barbiturates at 42
- 45 years ago Luella Gear, American actress (Joe & Mabel), dies at 82
- 35 years ago Katharine Balfour, American actress (Love Story), dies of ALS at 69
- 35 years ago Sarah Vaughan, American jazz and pop singer ("Body and Soul; "Broken Hearted Melody"), often known as "Sassy" and "The Divine One", dies of lung cancer at 66
- 30 years ago David Herbert, British writer and raconteur, dies at 86
- 30 years ago Gracita Morales, Spanish actress (Operation Mata Hari), dies at 66
- 25 years ago Terence McKenna, American writer and philosopher (b. 1946)
- 20 years ago Jef Eygel, Belgian basketball player (b. 1933)
- 20 years ago Tony Croatto [Hermes Martinis], Italian-Puerto Rican folk song singer and composer (Los TNT; Haciendo Punto en Otro Son), and television presenter, dies of cancer at 65
- 15 years ago Dušan Radić, Serbian composer, dies at 80
- 15 years ago Eugène Terre'Blanche, South African white supremacist and leader of the far-right Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging, beaten to death over alleged political and racist motivations at 69
- 10 years ago Andrew Porter, British organist, opera director, music critic, and librettist, dies at 86
- 10 years ago Bob Burns, American drummer (Lynyrd Skynyrd), dies in a car crash at 64
- 10 years ago Sarah Brady, American gun-control activist, dies at 73
- 5 years ago Haruma Miura, Japanese actor (Attack on Titan, Kimi ni Todoke), commits suicide at 30
- 5 years ago Robert Armstrong [Lord Armstrong of Illminster], British peer and civil servant (Spycatcher trial), dies at 93
- 5 years ago Tom Dempsey, American NFL kicker (Pro Bowl, First-team All-Pro 1969; New Orleans Saints; longest winning field goal, 63 yards), dies of COVID-19 complications at 73
- 4 years ago Gloria Henry [McEniry], American actress (Dennis the Menace), dies at 98
- 4 years ago Jill Corey [Norma Jean Speranza], American pop singer (Your Hit Parade), dies at 85
- 4 years ago Yevgeniy Zagorulko, Russian high jump coach (Andrey Silnov, Yelena Yelesina, Anna Chicherova), dies of COVID-19 at 78
- 3 years ago Gene Shue, American NBA basketball guard, 1954-64, 5X All-Star (New York Knicks, Fort Wayne/Detroit Pistons, and 2 other teams), and NBA coach, 1966-89, 2X Coach of the Year (Baltimore/Washington Bullets, Philadelphia 76ers, and 2 other teams), dies from melanoma at 90
- 3 years ago June Brown, British actress (EastEnders, 1985–93 & 1997–2020 - "Dot"; Sitting Target), dies at 95
- 3 years ago Stan Parrish, American football coach (Ball State Uni, Wabash College, Kansas State Uni, Marshall Uni; TB Buccaneers QB coach Super Bowl 2002), dies at 75
- 3 years ago Tommy Davis, American baseball utility (3 x MLB All Star; World Series 1963; NL batting champion 1962, 63 LA Dodgers), dies at 83
- 2 years ago Nigel Lawson, British journalist and politician (UK Chancellor 1983-89, reformed tax laws), dies at 91[1]
- 2 years ago Rena Koumioti, Greek laiko and entechno singer, dies due to complications of dementia at 81
- Last year Albert "Tootie" Heath, American jazz hard bop drummer (John Coltrane; Art Farmer; Jimmy Heath; Tete Montoliu, Yusef Lateef), dies of leukemia at 88[1]
- Last year Sándor Müller, Hungarian soccer midfielder (17 caps; Vasas SC 310 games), dies at 75
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