Today’s Important Historical Events
1862 New Orleans falls to Union forces during US Civil War
1864 Battle of Gate Pa (Pukehinahina): 1,700 British troops suffer their worst defeat of the New Zealand Wars at the hands of 230 entrenched Maori warriors in Tauranga
1916 Irish republicans abandon the post office in Dublin and surrender unconditionally, marking the end of the Easter Rising
1945 US Army liberates 31,601 people from the Dachau Nazi concentration camp in Germany
1975 Vietnam War: US begins to evacuate its citizens from Saigon in Operation Frequent Wind in response to advancing North Vietnamese forces, bringing an end to US involvement in the war
1990 Wrecking cranes began tearing down the Berlin Wall at the Brandenburg Gate
1991 Cyclone strikes the Chittagong district in Bangladesh, killing 139,000 people and leaving 10 million homeless
1997 Chemical Weapons Convention of 1993 comes into force, outlaws production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons among its signatories
Today’s Historical Events
1091 Battle at Monte Levunium: Byzantium Emperor Alexius I beats Petshegene force invading from the north
1429 Joan of Arc arrives at the siege of Orleans
1522 Emperor Charles V names Frans van Holly inquisitor-general of Netherlands
1540 Emperor Charles declares all privileges of Ghent ended
1550 Emperor Charles V gives inquisiters additional authority
1553 Flemish woman introduces practice of starching linen into England
1587 English naval officer Francis Drake sails into Cadiz, Spain and sinks the Spanish fleet, thereby “Singeing the King of Spain’s Beard” and delaying the Spanish invasion by a year
1623 11 Dutch ships depart for the conquest of Peru
Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV
1912 Frank Wedekind‘s play “Tod und Teufel” premieres in Berlin
1932 1st broadcast of “One Man’s Family” on NBC radio, longest-running dramatic serial on US radio (ends 1959)
1940 1st radio broadcast of “Young Dr Malone” on CBS
1943 Noël Coward‘s comic play “Present Laughter” premieres in London
1945 Conscientious objector Desmond Doss saves approximately 75 wounded soldiers in the Battle of Okinawa at Hacksaw Ridge. Later depicted in the Oscar-winning film “Hacksaw Ridge”.
1953 The first U.S. experimental 3D-TV broadcast showed an episode of Space Patrol on Los Angeles ABC affiliate KECA-TV
1953 6th Cannes Film Festival: “The Wages of Fear” directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot wins the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film
1956 WLUC TV channel 6 in Marquette, MI (CBS/NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting
Today’s Historical Events in Music
1784 Premiere of Mozart‘s Violin Sonata in B flat, K.454 at Kärntnerthor Theater in Vienna; violinist Regina Strinasacchi, and Wolfgang Mozart on piano
1967 Aretha Franklin releases her single “Respect” (written by Otis Redding); Billboard Song of the Year, 1967
1968 “Hair” opens at Biltmore Theater NYC for 1750 performances
1969 “Trumpets of the Lord” opens at Brooks Atkinson NYC for 7 performances
1984 “Oliver!” opens at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC for 17 performances
1990 “Change in the Heir” opens at Edison Theater NYC for 16 performances
1991 “Our Country’s Good” opens at Nederlander Theater NYC for 48 performances
1991 “Don’t Rock the Jukebox” single released by Alan Jackson (ASCAP Award Country Song of the Year, 1992; Billboard Song of the Year, 1991)
Today’s Historical Events in Sports
1751 The New York Gazette and Post Boy carries first public report of a cricket match played in America; New York XI v London XI on the site of what is today the Fulton Fish Market in Manhattan, NYC
1892 Charlie Reilly is baseball’s 1st pinch hitter
1901 27th Kentucky Derby: Jimmy Winkfield on His Eminence wins in 2:07.75
1918 Tris Speaker ties career outfield record of 4 unassisted double plays
1922 1st official International Weightlifting Federation Champ in Tallinn, Estonia
1930 123 runs are scored in 7 major league games
1931 Cleveland Indians pitcher Wes Ferrell no-hits St Louis Browns, 9-0
1934 Pittsburgh is last major league city to play a home game on a Sunday
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