Today’s Important Historical Events
1626 Dutch colonist Peter Minuit organizes the purchase of Manhattan Island from Native Americans for 60 guilders worth of goods, believed to have been Canarsee Indians of the Lenape
1840 World’s first adhesive postage stamp, the “Penny Black“, is first used in Great Britain
1889 Exposition Universelle (World’s Fair) in Paris opens with the recently completed Eiffel Tower serving as the entrance arch
1937 German airship Hindenburg explodes in flames at Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 35 of the 97 on board and 1 on the ground
1941 Joseph Stalin becomes Premier of the Soviet Union, replacing his foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov
Today’s Historical Events
878 Battle of Edington: Alfred the Great and his West Saxon army defeat Viking army of Guthrum the Old [earliest possible date]
1312 Pope Clement V closes Council of Vienna
1432 Renaissance masterpiece The Ghent Altarpiece by Hubert and Jan van Eyck is consecrated at St Bravo’s Cathedral, Belgium, commissioned by wealthy merchants
1527 Spanish and German Imperial troops sack Rome, ending the Renaissance
1529 Battle at Gogra: Mughal Emperor Babur beats Afghans and Bengals
1541 King Henry VIII orders a bible in English be placed in every church in England
1542 Francis Xavier reaches Old Goa, then capital of Portuguese India
1598 Archduke Albrecht & Isabella become rulers of the Southern Netherlands
Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV
1935 KTM-AM in Los Angeles California changes call letters to KEHE (now KABC)
1941 At California’s March Field, Bob Hope performs his first USO show
1956 WRCB TV channel 3 in Chattanooga, TN (NBC) begins broadcasting
1957 Last broadcast of “I Love Lucy” on CBS-TV
1977 “Beatles at Hollywood Bowl” released in UK
1990 Tom Cruise is ticketed for careless operation of a vehicle in South Carolina
1994 Comedian Bobcat Goldthwait sets fire to the couch on The Tonight Show
1995 Classic Sports Network begins on cable TV
Today’s Historical Events in Music
1948 Revival of Jerome Kerns and Clifford Grey’s rags-to-riches musical “Sally” opens at Martin Beck Theater, NYC; runs for 36 performances
1950 “Great to Be Alive” closes at Winter Garden Theater NYC after 52 performances
1966 The Rolling Stones release “Paint it Black” in the US
1974 Stolen “Guitar Player” painting by Jan Vermeer found in London
1974 American composer Roger Sessions receives special Pulitzer Prize for his life’s work in music
1981 “Inacent Black” opens at Biltmore Theater NYC for 14 performances
1989 34th Eurovision Song Contest: Riva for Yugoslavia wins singing “Rock Me” in Lausanne
1997 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees: The Bee Gees; Buffalo Springfield; Crosby, Stills and Nash; The Jackson Five; Joni Mitchell; Parliament-Funkadelic; The (Young) Rascals; Mahalia Jackson; Bill Monroe; and Syd Nathan
Today’s Historical Events in Sports
1733 First international boxing match: Local fighter Bob Whittaker beats “The Venetian Gondolier”, Tito di Carni at James Figg’s academy amphitheatre in Marylebone, London
1895 21st Kentucky Derby: James “Soup” Perkins aboard Halma wins last KD run over a distance of 1.5 miles (2.4km)
1896 22nd Kentucky Derby: Willie Simms aboard Ben Brush wins first Derby held at the current distance of 1.25 miles (2.0km)
1903 Chicago White Sox commit 11 errors against Detroit Tigers but win 10-9 at South Side Park. Chicago
1907 33rd Kentucky Derby: In muddy conditions and against a reduced field Andy Minder aboard Pink Star wins in a slow 2:12.6
1915 Future Baseball Hall of Fame slugger Babe Ruth hits his first MLB home run; pitches 12 frames in Boston Red Sox 4-3 extra innings loss to New York Yankees
1917 St Louis Browns pitcher Bob Groom no-hits Chicago White Sox, 3-0 at Sportsman’s Park, St. Louis
1921 Teams from the National Association Football League and the Southern New England Soccer League merge to form the American Soccer League (ASL); collapses 1933
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