Today’s Important Historical Events

1009 The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is destroyed by the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who hacks the Church’s foundations down to bedrock

1685 French King Louis XIV revokes Edict of Nantes cancelling rights of French Protestants

1867 Alaska Purchase: US takes formal possession of Alaska from Russia, having paid $7.2 million

1931 American gangster Al Capone convicted of tax evasion

1962 James Watson (US), Francis Crick (UK) and Maurice Wilkins (UK) win the Nobel Prize for Medicine for their work in determining the structure of DNA [1]

Today’s Historical Events

707 John VII ends his reign as Catholic Pope

1009 The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is destroyed by the Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, who hacks the Church’s foundations down to bedrock

1016 Danes defeat Saxons at Battle of Assandun (Ashingdon)

1081 Battle of Dyrrhachium: Southern Italian Normans under Robert Guiscard defeat Byzantine army under Alexios I Komnenos (modern Durrës, Albania)

1240 Ukrainian city of Chernigov surrenders, despite this still sacked and pillaged by Mongolian army of Batu

1267 Battle at Marienholz: Henry III, Otto II van Gelre beat Keuls archbishop Engelbert III

1356 Basel earthquake, the most significant historic seismological event north of the Alps, destroys Basel in Switzerland.

1386 Opening of the University of Heidelberg

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1922 British Broadcasting Company (BBC) founded, later called British Broadcasting Corporation

1953 WLJT TV channel 11 in Lexington, TN (PBS) begins broadcasting

1953 WTVK TV channel 26 in Knoxville, TN (NBC) begins broadcasting

1954 WBTW TV channel 13 in Florence, SC (CBS/ABC) begins broadcasting

1954 WNBC radio changes call letters to WRCA (NYC)

1961 Film adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical “West Side Story“, directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins, and starring Natalie Wood, debuts (Academy Award – Best Picture, 1962)

1966 “Persona”, Swedish film directed by Ingmar Bergman, starring Bibi Andersson and Liv Ullmann, is released

1967 Walt Disney’s animated musical adaptation of Rudyard Kipling‘s “The Jungle Book” film is released; cast featured Phil Harris, Louis Prima, Sterling Holloway, and Sebastian Cabot

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1752 Premiere of Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s opera “Le Devin du Village” (The Village Soothsayer), before the royal court at Fontainebleau, France

1855 Franz Liszt‘s symphonic poem “Prometheus” premieres

1904 Gustav Mahler’s 5th symphony premieres in Cologne, Germany

1939 Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart‘s musical “Too Many Girls” premieres in NYC

1945 Paul Robeson wins Spingarn Medal for singing & acting achievements

1946 Aaron Copland‘s 3rd Symphony premieres

1952 “Buttrio Square” closes at New Century Theater NYC after 7 performances

1962 Tony Sheridan & Beat Brothers record “Let’s Dance”

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1889 First all-NYC “World Championship” Baseball Series; New York Giants (NL) play Brooklyn Bridegrooms (AA); Giants go on to win series, 6-3

1902 7th Iron Bowl: Auburn beats Alabama 23-0 in Birmingham

1912 Black boxer Jack Johnson arrested for violating the Mann Act for “transporting women across state lines for immoral purposes” due to his relationship with white woman Lucille Cameron, allegedly a prostitute. Later convicted by an all-white jury and sentenced to a year in prison.

1918 NHL’s Quebec Bulldogs sold to a Toronto businessman P. J. Quinn

1924 Harold “Red” Grange, finest collegiate football game (4 long TD runs)

1925 Salt Lake City (PCL) Tony Lazzeri hits his 60th HR of the season

1930 Joseph Sylvester becomes 1st jockey to win 7 races in 1 day

1953 Willie Thrower becomes 1st black NFL quarterback in modern times