May 14 Today in History and the Word of the Day

Today’s Important Historical Events

1787 Delegates gather in Philadelphia to draw up US Constitution

1796 English country doctor Edward Jenner administers his revolutionary cowpox-based vaccine for smallpox, in Berkeley, Gloucestershire

1804 Meriwether Lewis and William Clark‘s expedition commissioned by Thomas Jefferson sets out from St Louis for Pacific Coast

1948 Israel declares independence from British administration

Today’s Historical Events

649 Theodore I ends his reign as Catholic Pope

1027 Robert II of France names his son Henry I as junior King of the Franks

1264 Battle of Lewes, 2nd Barons’ War: Simon de Montfort the younger, Earl of Leicester, defeats English King Henry III

1483 Coronation of Charles VIII of France (“Charles the Affable”)

1509 Battle of Agnadello, French forces under Louis XII defeat the Venetians in Northern Italy

1576 Dutch Council of State replaced by Council of Beroerten

1607 English colonists establish the 1st permanent English settlement in America at Jamestown. Unknown to them they have landed amidst the worst drought in 800 years.

1608 The Protestant Union is founded in Auhausen.

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1897 Oldest continuously operating movie theater in the world, the State Theatre first opens in Washington, Iowa (Guinness World Records)

1938 “The Adventures of Robin Hood”, directed by Michael Curtiz and William Keighley, and starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland premieres

1948 WBEN (now WIVB) TV channel 4 in Buffalo, NY (CBS) begins broadcasting

1951 Ernie Kovacs Show, TV Variety debut on NBC

1964 17th Cannes Film Festival: “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg” directed by Jacques Demy wins the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film

1972 24th Emmy Awards: “All in the Family”, Carrol O’Conner & Jean Stapleton win

1973 French film “Day for Night” written and directed by François Truffaut, starring Jacqueline Bisset and Jean-Pierre Léaud premieres at Cannes (Academy Award Best Foreign Language Film)

1975 Cult feminist film “Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles” written and directed by Chantal Ackerman and starring Delphine Seyrig premieres at Cannes

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1832 Felix Mendelssohn‘s concert overture “Hebrides” premieres in London

1902 Italian tenor Enrico Caruso makes his Covent Garden debut opposite Nellie Melba in Verdi’s opera “Rigoletto” in London

1927 “Ain’t She Sweet?” hits #1 on the singles chart by Ben Bernie

1942 World premiere performance of Aaron Copland‘s “Lincoln Portrait” with: Andre Kostelanetz conducting the Cincinnati Symphony in Cincinnati, Ohio

1946 Paul Hindemith‘s “For Those We Love” premieres

1949 “Love Life” closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 252 performances

1951 Sammy Fain and Yip Harburg’s musical “Flahooley” opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 40 performances

1957 Bob Merrill’s musical “New Girl in Town” opens at 46th St Theater, NYC; runs for 432 performances

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1885 11th Kentucky Derby: Babe Henderson aboard Joe Cotton wins in 2:37.25

1886 12th Kentucky Derby: Paul Duffy aboard Ben Ali wins in 2:36.50

1888 14th Kentucky Derby: George Covington aboard MacBeth II wins in 2:38.00

1890 16th Kentucky Derby: Isaac Murphy aboard Riley wins in 2:45

1906 Flagpole at the White Sox ballpark breaks during pennant-raising

1913 Washington Senator Walter Johnson ends MLB record scoreless streak at 56 innings

1918 Sunday baseball is made legal in Washington, D.C.

1919 44th Preakness: Johnny Loftus aboard Sir Barton wins in 1:53 on way to first Triple Crown

Today’s Word is

Spiffy

Brought to you by wordoftheday.net

 

Spiffy / adjective / ˈspi-fē

“Spiffy” is an adjective we use in the English language to describe a person’s clothing and outer appearance. Someone said to be looking “spiffy” is well-dressed and sharp looking in their appearance. While the word doesn’t always apply to high fashion, when we think of the word “spiffy,” we think of elegant, well-dressed partygoers or business persons who have put on their most stunning outfits.

In a Sentence

The new army recruits were looking very “spiffy” in their uniforms.

The groom was looking spiffy in his tuxedo as he awaited the arrival of his bride.

That is quite a spiffy-looking vehicle you’re driving!

Etymology

Spiffy first entered the English language as an adjective. Etymologists say that “spiffy” was used to describe snappy dressers in the mid-18th century. We first see the word recorded toward the latter end of the 18th century in 1877. Other words derived from “spiffy” include ‘spiffier’ and ‘spifiest.’ All iterations of the word carry the same meaning intending to describe well-dressed people and people wearing high fashion or trending items of their time. “Spiffy” hasn’t changed its definition since its first introduction into the language.

Synonym

Stylish, Chic

Antonym

Unfashionable, Old Fashioned

May 13 Today in History and Introducing the Word of the Day

Today’s Important Historical Events

1787 Arthur Phillip sets sails with 11 ships of criminals to Botany Bay, Australia

1830 Republic of Ecuador is founded, with Juan Jose Flores as president

1934 Great dustbowl storm sweeps across US prairies

1940 Winston Churchill says “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat” in his first speech as Prime Minister to British House of Commons

1981 Pope John Paul II is shot and critically wounded by Turkish gunman Mehemet Ali Agca in St Peter’s Square, Vatican City

1989 Approx 2,000 students begin hunger strike in Tiananmen Square, China

Today’s Historical Events

535 St Agapitus I begins his reign as Catholic Pope

609 Pope Boniface I turns the Pantheon in Rome into a Catholic church

641 Eligius (Saint Eloy) becomes bishop of Doornik-Noyon

1106 Henry I of Limburg loses the duchy of Lower Lorraine to Godfrey of Louvain

1110 Crusaders march into Beirut causing a bloodbath

1277 As Vizier Mehmet I of Karaman issues a firman (decree) ordering only the Turkish language to be used, not Arabic or Persian

1364 Peter Coutherel banished from Leuven

1497 Pope Alexander VI excommunicates Italian Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola (urged the expulsion of the Medici’s from Florence)

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1878 Danvers State Hospital, a psychiatric hospital in Massachusetts, opens—later serves as inspiration for Arkham Sanitorium in the work of H.P. Lovecraft, which in turn inspired Arkham Asylum of the D.C. Batman universe

1959 Kraft Music Hall with Milton Berle last airs on NBC-TV

1960 WOLE TV channel 12 in Aguadillo, PR

1970 Beatles movie “Let it Be” premieres

1982 Terri Lea Utley, 20 (Arkansas) crowned 31st Miss USA

1985 Laura Elena Martinez-Herring, 21, (Texas), crowned 34th Miss USA

1992 Frank Stallone beats Geraldo Rivera in boxing on Howard Stern Show

1993 Arsenio Hall‘s 1,000th show retrospective seen in Netherlands

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1767 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart‘s first opera “Apollo et Hyacinthus”, written when he was 11 years old, premieres in Salzburg

1848 First performance of Finland’s national anthem “Maamme”, composed by Fredrik Pacius, Swedish words by Johan Ludvig Runeberg

1941 Willy Lewis’ US jazz band performs in Switzerland

1954 “Pajama Game” opens at St James Theater NYC for 1063 performances

1965 The Rolling Stones record “Satisfaction”

1966 The Rolling Stones release “Paint it Black” in the UK

1973 “Cyrano” opens at Palace Theater NYC for 49 performances

1975 “Rodgers & Hart” opens at Helen Hayes Theater NYC for 108 performances

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1887 15th Preakness: William Donohue aboard Dunboyne wins in 2:39.25

1890 18th Preakness: W Martin aboard Montague wins in 2:36.75

1891 17th Kentucky Derby: Isaac Murphy aboard Kingman wins in 2:52.25

1905 World heavyweight boxing champion James J. Jeffries retires undefeated after 7 title defences; returns in 1910 to be beaten by Jack Johnson

1909 First Giro d’Italia takes place in Milan – Italian cyclist Luigi Ganna is the winner

1911 37th Kentucky Derby: George Archibald aboard Meridian wins in 2:05

1916 42nd Kentucky Derby: Johnny Loftus aboard George Smith wins in 2:04

1922 48th Kentucky Derby: Albert Johnson aboard Morvich wins in 2:04.6

Today’s Word is

We use the word frou-frou to describe the sound made by a woman’s clothing. In most cases, the frou-frou sound refers to the sound a ruffling dress makes as a woman is walking. As a noun, we also use frou-frou to describe frilly ornamentation and embellishments added to clothing.

We see a person wearing frou-frou clothing as annoyingly overdressed and unnecessarily flamboyant. Their over-the-top clothing style makes frou-frou dressers the butt of many fashion-related jokes.

In a Sentence

She disturbed the church service by walking in late wearing a frou-frou dress.

Please dress casually. None of that “frou-frou” excess is required for the occasion.

Her ruffled “frou-frou” dress made a loud swooshing sound when she walked by.

Etymology

We see the first use of the word “frou-frou” introduced in the late 18th-century. “Frou-frou” is a French word that came about in a …

Click here to read about the rest of today’s word brought to you by wordoftheday.net

May 12 Today in History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1789 William Wilberforce makes his first major speech on abolition in the UK House of Commons, reasoning the slave trade morally reprehensible and an issue of natural justice

1940 Nazi blitzkrieg and conquest of France begins with the crossing of the Muese River

1943 Axis forces in North Africa surrender

2002 Former US President Jimmy Carter arrives in Cuba for a five-day visit with Fidel Castro becoming first President of the United States, in or out of office, to visit the island since Castro’s 1959 revolution.

2008 Wenchuan earthquake, measuring 7.8 in magnitude occurs in Sichuan, China, killing over 87,000, injuring 374,643 and leaving homeless between 4.8 million and 11 million people

Today’s Historical Events

254 Stephan I succeeds Lucius I as Catholic Pope

919 Duke Henry of Saxony becomes King Henry I of Oostfrankischreich

1057 The Ostromir Gospel, now the oldest surviving Russian manuscript is recorded completed by its scribe Deacon Grigory [1]

1082 Battle at Mailberg: Vratislav II of Bohemia beats Leopold II of Austr

1215 English barons serve ultimatum on King John which eventually leads to the creation and signing of the Magna Carta

1294 Construction of Santa Croce begins in Florence, the largest Franciscan church in the world (consecrated 1442)

1328 Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV and assembly of priests select Pietro Rainalducc as anti-Pope Nicolas V; consecrated in Rome by the Bishop of Venice

1459 Jodhpur, Sun City, founded by Rao Jodhpur in India

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1953 KUHT TV channel 8 (PBS) in Houston, TX, begins broadcasting

1960 Elvis Presley appears on a Frank Sinatra television special; Elvis sings Sinatra’s 1957 Cy Coleman hit “Witchcraft”, and Frank performs Presley’s 1956 classic “Love Me Tender”

1963 Bob Dylan walks out of “The Ed Sullivan Show” over a dispute about his song choice

1967 20th Cannes Film Festival: “Blowup” directed by Michelangelo Antonioni wins the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film

1968 WSKG TV channel 46 (PBS) in Binghamton, NY, begins broadcasting

1970 KTVM TV channel 6 in Butte, MT (NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting

1977 Emmy 4th Daytime Award presentation: “Ryan’s Hope” and “Family Feud” win

1983 Julie Lynne Hayek, (California), crowned 32nd Miss USA

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1832 Gaetano Donizetti’s opera “L’elisir d’amore” premieres in Milan

1894 Ludwig Englander’s musical “Passing Show” premieres in NYC

1926 Dmitri Shostakovich‘s 1st Symphony premieres in Leningrad

1934 “Cocktails For Two” by Duke Ellington hits #1

1936 Ralph Vaughan Williams’ opera “Poisoned Kiss” premieres in London

1938 Arthur Honegger and Paul Claudel’s oratorio “Jeanne d’Arc au bûcher” (Joan of Arc at the Stake) premieres in Basel, Switzerland

1950 Darius Milhaud‘s opera “Bolivar” premieres in Paris

1958 “Nee Nee Na Na Na Na Nu Nu” by Dicky Doo & The Don’ts hits #40

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1890 First official County Cricket Championship match begins; Yorkshire beats Gloucestershire by 8 wickets at Bristol; James Cranston scores first century (101) in the competition

1909 34th Preakness: Willie Doyle aboard Effendi wins in 1:39.8

1910 Philadelphia Athletics pitcher Charles “Chief” Bender no-hits Cleveland Naps, 4-0

1913 English runner Harry Green runs world record marathon 2:38:16.2 in the Polytechnic Marathon in London, England

1917 42nd Preakness: E Haynes aboard Kalitan wins in 1:54.4

1917 43rd Kentucky Derby: Charles Borel on Omar Khayyam wins in 2:04.6

1919 New York Yankees and Washington Senators play second straight extra inning tie, 4-4 in 15 innings at the Polo Grounds; 0-0 in 12 the previous day

1923 48th Preakness: Benny Marinelli aboard Vigil wins in 1:53.6

May 11 Today in History

Today’s Important Historical Events

330 Constantinople (Byzantium) becomes the capital of the Roman Empire

1189 Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa and 100,000 crusaders depart Regensburg for the Third Crusade

1751 Pennsylvania Hospital founded by Dr. Thomas Bond and Benjamin Franklin, in Philadelphia

1995 More than 170 countries agree to extend the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty indefinitely and without conditions to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons [1]

2000 India’s population officially reaches 1 billion – Astha Arora named India’s billionth baby

Today’s Historical Events

330 Constantinople (Byzantium) becomes the capital of the Roman Empire

868 “The Diamond Sutra”, the world’s oldest surviving and dated printed book is printed in Chinese and made into a scroll

1068 Matilda of Flanders, wife of William the Conqueror, is crowned Queen of England in Westminster Abbey, London

1189 Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa and 100,000 crusaders depart Regensburg for the Third Crusade

1310 Fifty-four members of the Knights Templar are burned at the stake in France for being heretics

1421 Jews are expelled from Styria Austria

1502 Christopher Columbus begins 4th & last trip to the “Indies”

1625 Peasants besiege Frankenburg estate in Upper Austria

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1918 44th Kentucky Derby: William Knapp on Exterminator wins in 2:10.8

1929 1st regularly scheduled TV broadcasts (3 nights per week)

1931 “M” Fritz Lang’s first sound film starring Peter Lorre premieres in Berlin

1956 Pinky Lee Show last airs on NBC-TV

1959 Mary Rodgers & Marshall Barer’s musical “Once Upon A Mattress”, starring Carol Burnett and directed by George Abbott, opens at Phoenix Theatre, NYC; runs for 244 performances

1968 Richard Harris releases “MacArthur Park”

1969 British comedy troupe Monty Python forms, made up of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin

1973 Ground-breaking Indian crime film “Zanjeer” directed by Prakash Mehra and starring “The Angry Young Man” Amitabh Bachchan released

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1812 Waltz introduced into English ballrooms. Some observers consider it disgusting and immoral.

1881 Bedřich Smetana’s opera “Libuše” premieres iat the Natonal Theater, in Prague

1956 Elvis Presley‘s 1st entry on UK charts with “Heartbreak Hotel”

1959 “Kookie, Kookie Lend Me Your Comb” by Byrnes & Connie Stevens hits #4

1963 “Puff (The Magic Dragon)” by Peter, Paul & Mary hits #2

1965 “Flora, the Red Menace” opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 87 performances

1967 “Sing, Israel Sing” opens at Brooks Atkinson Theatre NYC for 14 performances

1970 “The Long and Winding Road” becomes Beatles’ last American single release

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1887 13th Kentucky Derby: Isaac Lewis aboard Montrose wins in 2:39.25

1888 16th Preakness: F Littlefield aboard Refund wins in 2:49

1892 18th Kentucky Derby: Lonnie Clayton aboard Azra wins in 2:41½

1893 Henri Desgrange establishes world’s 1st bicycle world record, travelling 35.325 km (21.95 miles) an hour

1897 Washington Senator catcher Charlie Farrell throws out 8 attempted stealers

1900 James J. Jeffries KOs James J Corbett in 23 for heavyweight boxing title

1912 38th Kentucky Derby: Carol H Shilling aboard Worth wins in 2:09.4

1918 44th Kentucky Derby: William Knapp on Exterminator wins in 2:10.8

May 10 Today in History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1497 Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci leaves for his first voyage to the New World (disputed)

1775 Second Continental Congress convenes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and issues paper currency for 1st time

1801 First Barbary War: The Barbary pirates of Tripoli declare war on the United States of America (1st US foreign war)

1857 Indian mutiny against rule by the British East India Company begins with the revolt of the Sepoy soldiers in Meerut

1940 Winston Churchill succeeds Neville Chamberlain as British Prime Minister

1960 US atomic submarine USS Triton completes 1st submerged circumnavigation of the globe

1994 Nelson Mandela sworn in as South Africa’s 1st black president

Today’s Historical Events

1267 Vienna’s church orders all Jews to wear a distinctive garb

1278 Jews of England imprisoned on charges of coining

1291 Scottish nobles recognize authority of English King Edward I

1294 Temür Khan declared Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty

1427 Jews are expelled from Bern, Switzerland

1497 Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci leaves for his first voyage to the New World (disputed)

1503 Christopher Columbus discovers the Cayman Islands

1525 Church reformer John Pistorius caught in the Hague

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1928 WGY, Schenectady begins regular TV programming

1952 5th Cannes Film Festival: “The Tragedy of Othello: The Moor of Venice” directed by Orson Welles and “Two Cents Worth of Hope” directed by Renato Castellani jointly awarded the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film

1953 KCBD TV channel 11 in Lubbock, TX (NBC) begins broadcasting

1955 8th Cannes Film Festival: “Marty” directed by Delbert Mann wins Palme d’Or

1956 KFSN TV channel 30 in Fresno, CA (ABC/CBS) begins broadcasting

1956 9th Cannes Film Festival: “The Silent World” directed by Jacques Cousteau and Louis Malle wins the Palme d’Or

1973 Bruce Lee collapses in Golden Harvest studios in Hong Kong and is rushed to Hong Kong Baptist Hospital where doctors diagnose him with cerebral edema

1982 WABC radio (NYC) plays its last record – John Lennon‘s “Imagine” – and switches to all-talk format

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1849 Astor Place Riot: Backers of American actor and working class hero Edwin Forrest attempt to disrupt British actor William McReady’s performance at Astor Place Opera House in NYC; Military troops supporting police shoot at the crowd, killing between 22 and 31 [1]

1907 Paul Dukas’ opera “Ariane et Barbe Bleue” premieres in Paris

1932 Government declares “Wilhelmus” as the Netherlands’ national anthem

1947 “Chocolate Soldier” closes at Century Theater NYC after 69 performances

1952 Revival of Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle’s musical “Shuffle Along” closes at Broadway Theater, NYC, after 4 performances

1957 Dmitri Shostakovich‘s 2nd Piano concerto premieres in Moscow

1963 Decca signs Rolling Stones on advice of Beatle George Harrison

1967 Rolling Stones Keith Richards, Brian Jones & Mick Jagger arrested on drug charges

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1870 Jem Mace & defends his heavyweight crown against Irish champ Joe Coburn, it lasts 1 hr & 17 minutes, & neither is struck by a punch

1889 17th Preakness: W Anderson aboard Buddhist wins in 2:17.5

1893 19th Kentucky Derby: Eddie Kunze aboard Lookout wins in 2:39.25

1902 Dutch soccer club FC Blauw-Wit (Blue-White) is formed in the Kinkerbuurt area of Amsterdam; merge with VV De Beursbengels in 2015

1905 31st Kentucky Derby: Jack Martin aboard Agile wins in 2:100.75

1910 36th Kentucky Derby: Fred Herbert aboard Donau wins in 2:06.4

1913 39th Kentucky Derby: Roscoe Goose aboard Donerail wins in 2:04.8

1913 Yanks commit 8 errors & still beat Tigers 10-9 in 10 innings

May 8 Today in History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1660 English parliament declares Charles Stuart to be King Charles II of England

1835 1st installment of Hans Christian Andersen “Fairy Tales” published by C. A. Reitzel in Copenhagen, Denmark

1895 China cedes Taiwan to Japan under Treaty of Shimonoseki

1902 Mount Pelée on the French overseas island of Martinique erupts, wiping out the city of Saint-Pierre, killing 30,000 and leaving only two survivors

1945 V-E Day: World War II ends in Europe after Germany signs an unconditional surrender

1980 World Health Organization announces smallpox has been eradicated

2007 A new Northern Ireland Executive is formed with Ian Paisley (Democratic Unionist Party) as First Minister and Martin McGuinness (Sinn Féin) as Deputy First Minister

Today’s Historical Events

535 John II’s reign as Catholic Pope ends

589 Reccared summons the Third Council of Toledo

615 St Boniface IV’s reign as Catholic Pope ends

685 St Benedict II’s as Catholic Pope ends after 11 months with his death

1254 University of Salamanca granted a royal charter by Alfonso IX. Third oldest university still operating and the oldest Hispanic.

1348 Ship from Bordeaux carrying the plague, lands in Melcombe Regis (now Weymouth), Dorset. The beginning of the Terrible Pestilence (Black Death) in England.

1360 Treaty of Brétigny signed by English & French, ending the first phase of the Hundred Years’ War

1450 Jack Cade’s Rebellion: Kentishmen revolt begins against King Henry VI and they march towards London

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1912 Film and television production and distribution studio Paramount Pictures is founded

1952 5th British Film and Television Awards (BAFTAS): “La Ronde” Best Film

1953 WIPB TV channel 49 in Muncie, IN (PBS) begins broadcasting

1958 Classic Hammer horror film “Dracula” film starring Christopher Lee as the eponymous vampire alongside Peter Cushing, directed by Terence Fisher released

1963 1st James Bond film, “Dr. No”, starring Sean Connery, premieres in US

1970 Beatles release 12th, and final, studio album, “Let It Be”, in conjunction with the film of the same name

1978 ABC TV airs “Stars Salute Israel at 30”

1993 ABC Masters Bowling Tournament won by Phil Ware

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1823 “Home! Sweet Home!” by John Howard Payne is 1st sung in London

1924 Arthur Honegger‘s orchestral tribute to steam locomotives “Pacifica 231” premieres

1952 Revival of George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin’s musical “Of Thee I Sing” opens at Ziegfeld Theater, NYC; runs for 72 performances

1952 Revival of Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle’s musical “Shuffle Along” opens at Broadway Theater, NYC; runs for 4 performances

1960 1st performance of Ferde Grofé’s “San Francisco Suite”, with Grofé conducting, in San Francisco

1962 Stephen Sondheim‘s musical “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” starring Zero Mostel and Jack Gilford, and directed by George Abbott, opens at Alvin Theater, NYC; runs for 965 performances, and wins 6 Tony Awards

1971 Courtney, Courtney, and Link’s musical “Earl of Ruston” closes at Billy Rose Theater, NYC, after 5 performances

1976 Leonard Bernstein and Alan Jay Lerner’s musical “1600 Pennsylvania Avenue” closes at Mark Hellinger, NYC, after 7 performances

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1878 1st unassisted triple play in organized baseball, by Paul Hines

1896 Yorkshire Cricket all out for 887 against Warwickshire

1897 22nd Preakness: T. Thorpe aboard Paul Kauvar wins in 1:51¼

1906 Philadelphia A’s pitcher Chief Benders plays outfield & hits 2 HRs

1907 Boston’s Big Jeff Pfeffer no-hits Cincinnati Reds, 6-0

1907 Canadian Tommy Burns retains his world heavyweight boxing title after beating “Philadelphia” Jack O’Brien on points in 20 rounds in Los Angeles, California

1909 American Albert Raines runs world record marathon (2:46:04.6) in NYC

1909 British runner Henry Barrett runs world record marathon (2:42:31) in the Polytechnic Marathon in London

May 7 Today in History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1429 English siege of Orleans broken by Joan of Arc and the French army

1867 Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel Patents Dynamite in England, the first of three patents he would receive for the explosive material

1912 Columbia University approves plans for awarding the Pulitzer Prize in several categories, after established by Joseph Pulitzer

1915 RMS Lusitania sunk by German submarine off the southern coast of Ireland; 1198 lives lost

1939 Germany and Italy announce an alliance known as the Rome-Berlin Axis

1945 World War II: Unconditional German surrender to the Allies signed by General Alfred Jodl at Rheims

1952 The concept of the integrated circuit, the basis for all modern computers, is first published by G

eoffrey Dummer

2017 Emmanuel Macron wins France’s presidential election defeating Marine Le Pen

Today’s Historical Events

558 In Constantinople, the dome of the Hagia Sophia collapses. Justinian I immediately orders the dome rebuilt.

1274 2nd Council of Lyons (14th ecumenical council) opens, convened by Pope Gregory X

1355 1,200 Jews of Toledo, Spain killed by Count Henry of Trastamara

1416 Monk Nicolaas Serrurier arrested because of heresy at Tournay

1429 English siege of Orleans broken by Joan of Arc and the French army

1579 Congress of Cologne forms in Netherlands

1624 Admiral Hermites conquering fleet reaches Callao the Lima, Peru

1638 Cornelis S Goyer takes possession of Mauritius (uninhabited)

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1947 “Kraft Television Theater” premieres on NBC

1965 WAOW TV channel 9 in Wausau, WI (ABC) begins broadcasting

1987 Diane Chambers’ (Shelley Long) final episode on TV comedy “Cheers”

1996 Comedian Martin Lawrence suffers a nervous breakdown

1997 Science fiction film “The Fifth Element” written and directed by Luc Besson, starring Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich is released. Then the most expensive European film ever made.

2006 52nd British Academy Television Awards: “Help” Best Comedy, “Doctor Who” Best Drama

2011 “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”, directed by Rob Marshall, starring Johnny Depp and Penélope Cruz, premieres in – opening weekend makes $350.6m

2017 MTV becomes 1st major awards show to adopt gender-neutral categories – Emma Watson best film actor, Millie Bobby Brown best TV actor

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1824 Ludwig van Beethoven‘s 9th (Choral) Symphony, often regarded as his greatest work, premieres in Vienna

1888 Édouard Lalo’s opera “Le roi d’Ys” premieres in Paris

1941 Glenn Miller records “Chattanooga Choo Choo” for RCA, it becomes 1st record to be designated “gold”

1953 Cole Porter‘s musical “Can-Can” opens at the Shubert Theatre, NYC; runs for 892 performances

1960 Webster and Fain’s musical “Christine”, based on Hilda Wernher’s novel “My Indian Family”, closes at 46th St Theater, NYC, after 12 performances

1960 Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical “Flower Drum Song” closes at St James Theater. NYC, after 602 performances and 1 Tony Award

1960 Musical review “From A to Z” closes at Plymouth Theater, NYC, after 21 performances

1961 “Young Abe Lincoln” closes at Eugene O’Neill NYC after 27 performances

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1910 35th Preakness: R Estep aboard Layminster wins in 1:40.6

1917 In a testament to his pitching ability, future Baseball Hall of Fame slugger Babe Ruth leads Boston Red Sox to a 1-0 victory against Washington Senators legend Walter Johnson

1921 47th Kentucky Derby: Charles Thompson on Behave Yourself wins 2:04.2

1922 Belgian soccer team defeats Netherlands: 1-2

1922 NY Giant Jesse Barnes no-hits Phillies, 2-0

1925 Phillies have their 8th game postponed in a row

1925 MBA Pittsburgh Pirate shortstop Glenn Wright makes an unassisted triple play

1932 58th Kentucky Derby: Eugene James aboard Burgoo King wins in 2:05.2

May 6 Today in History

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

May 5 Today in History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1260 Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire

1941 Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie returns to Addis Ababa

1955 West Germany is granted full sovereignty by its three occupying powers

1965 First large-scale US Army ground units arrive in South Vietnam

1980 Siege at Iranian Embassy in London ends as the SAS and police storm the building

1981 After 66 days on hunger strike, 26 year old Provisional IRA member and British MP Bobby Sands dies in the Maze Prision. Nine more hunger strikers die in the next 3 months.

Today’s Historical Events

553 Second Council of Constantinople (5th ecumenical council) opens

1260 Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan, becomes ruler of the Mongol Empire

1430 Jews are expelled from Speyer, Germany

1494 On 2nd voyage to New World Christopher Columbus sights Jamaica, landing at Discovery Bay

1640 English Short Parliament rises

1646 King Charles I surrenders in Scotland

1665 Nicolaas Witsen visits patriarch Nikon in Moscow

1762 Russia & Prussia sign Treaty of Saint Petersburg ending the Seven Years’ War

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1949 KGO TV channel 7 in San Francisco, California (ABC) begins broadcasting

1952 “Lucy Does a TV Commercial” (also known as “Vitameatavegamin”) episode of “I Love Lucy” premieres, garnering 68% of US television viewers

1958 KNME TV channel 5 in Albuquerque, NM (PBS) begins broadcasting

1962 “West Side Story” soundtrack album goes #1 & stays #1 for 54 weeks which is more than 20 weeks longer than any other album

1996 Renette Cruz, Vancouver, wins Miss Canadian Universe

1997 “Married With Children” final episode on Fox TV

1999 34th Academy of Country Music Awards: Garth BrooksFaith Hill & Tim McGraw win

2018 Childish Gambino [Donald Glover] releases the music video to new single “This is America” to wide acclaim

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1726 Marie de Camargo (16) premieres at Opera of Paris

1891 Music Hall (Carnegie Hall) opens in New York, Tchaikovsky is guest conductor

1900 “The Billboard” began weekly publication

1927 Dmitri Shostakovich‘s 1st Symphony premieres in Berlin

1951 “Out of This World” closes at New Century Theater NYC after 157 performances

1955 “Damn Yankees” opens at 46th St Theater NYC for 1022 performances

1967 The Kinks release “Waterloo Sunset” as a single; peaks at #2 on the British charts

1971 Courtney, Courtney, and Link’s musical “Earl of Ruston” opens at Billy Rose Theater, NYC, runs for 5 performances

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1863 Irish boxer Joe Coburn KOs American Mike McCoole in the 67th round in his first defence of Heavyweight C’ship of America in Charlestown, Maryland

1904 Cy Young pitches the first perfect game in “modern” baseball as the Boston Americans beat Philadelphia Athletics, 3-0

1908 34th Kentucky Derby: Arthur Pickens aboard 66-1 chance Stone Street wins in muddy track conditions; 2:15.20 slowest Derby in history

1917 St Louis Browns pitcher Ernie Koob no-hits Chicago White Sox, 1-0 at Sportsman’s Park III

1922 After sharing the Polo Grounds with the New York Giants for 10 years construction begins on Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, NYC

1925 Detroit center fielder Ty Cobb goes 6 for 6 with 4 runs, 5 RBI and 16 TBs in Tigers’ 14-8 win over the Browns at Sportsman’s Park III, St. Louis

1925 Yankee Everett Scott is benched, ending his 1,307-game playing streak

1930 Australian cricket batting prodigy Don Bradman scores an unbeaten 185 in a tour match for Australia v Leicestershire at Aylestone Road, Leicester

May 4 Today in History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1471 Battle of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, final battle between the Houses of Lancaster and York: Prince of Wales, Edward of Westminster killed and King Edward IV restored to his throne. Re-restores political stability to England until his death in 1483.

1814 King Ferdinand VII of Spain signs the Decree of the 4th of May, returning Spain to absolutism

1904 Construction begins by the United States on the Panama Canal

1979 Margaret Thatcher becomes the first woman to be elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Today’s Historical Events

1256 Augustinian monastic order constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV issues papal bull Licet ecclesiae catholicae

1303 Flemings conquers Middelburg

1415 Religious reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus are condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance

1471 Battle of Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, final battle between the Houses of Lancaster and York: Prince of Wales, Edward of Westminster killed and King Edward IV restored to his throne. Re-restores political stability to England until his death in 1483.

1493 Spanish Pope Alexander VI divides America between Spain and Portugal

1535 Five Carthusian monks from London Charterhouse monastery hung, drawn and quartered at Tyburn, London, for refusing to acknowledge Henry VIII as head of the Church of England

1540 Venice and Turkey sign Treaty of Constantinople

1572 Veere sides with Geuzen

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1944 “Gaslight”, starring an 18-year-old Angela Lansbury in her film debut, is released

1959 “The 400 Blows”, French film directed by François Truffaut, starring Jean-Pierre Léaud, is released

1964 KIII TV channel 3 in Corpus Christi, TX (ABC) begins broadcasting

1975 Italian film “Seven Beauties” directed by Lina Wertmüller, starring Giancarlo Giannini, and Shirley Stoler released – first film directed by a women to be nominated for an Academy Award

1991 ABC Masters Bowling Tournament won by Doug Kent

1999 “The Mummy” film directed by Stephen Sommers starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz and John Hannah premieres in the US

2008 Seth MacFarlane reaches an agreement worth $100 million with Fox to keep “Family Guy” and “American Dad” on television until 2012, making MacFarlane the world’s highest paid television writer

2010 Julia Louis-Dreyfus receives the 2,407th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, although on the original star her name is spelled incorrectly

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1728 George Frideric Handel‘s opera “Tolomeo, re di Egitto” premieres in London

1878 Thomas Edison‘s Phonograph shown for 1st time at Grand Opera House

1957 Alan Freed hosts “Rock n’ Roll Show” 1st prime-time network rock show

1959 First Grammy Awards: Perry Como & Ella Fitzgerald win

1973 Wings release “Red Rose Speedway” in UK

1976 Leonard Bernstein and Alan Jay Lerner’s musical “1600 Pennsylvania Avenue” opens at Mark Hellinger, NYC; runs for 7 performances

1985 30th Eurovision Song Contest: Bobbysocks! for Norway wins singing “La det swinge” in Gothenburg

1990 Angela Bowie reveals that ex-husband David slept with Mick Jagger

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings play their 1st official baseball game, a win against the Great Western Base Ball Club, 45-9

1871 1st baseball league game (National Association of Baseball Players), (Ft Wayne 2, Cleveland 0) Deacon Jim White gets 1st hit, a double

1893 Cowboy Bill Pickett invents bulldogging, the skill of grabbing cattle by the horns and wrestling them to the ground

1897 23rd Kentucky Derby: Buttons Garner aboard Typhoon II wins in 2:12.5

1898 24th Kentucky Derby: Willie Simms aboard Plaudit wins in 2:09

1899 25th Kentucky Derby: Fred Taral aboard Manuel wins in 2:12

1919 1st legal Sunday baseball game in NYC, 35,000 watch the Phillies beat the NY Giants 4-3

1924 VIII Summer Olympic Games open at Olympic Stadium of Colombes, Paris, France

May 3 Today in History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1791 Constitution of May 3 is proclaimed by the Great Sejm (Parliament) of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, becoming the 1st modern constitution in Europe

1926 Britain’s Trade Union Congress calls for the country’s first ever general strike, begins at 1 minute to midnight in support striking coal miners, lasts 9 days

1937 Margaret Mitchell wins Pulitzer Prize for “Gone With The Wind”

1945 World War II: German ship “Cap Arcona” laden with prisoners sunk by Royal Air Force in East Sea, 5,800 killed – one of largest maritime losses of life

1947 Japan’s post-war constitution goes into effect, granting universal suffrage, stripping Emperor Hirohito of all but symbolic power and outlawing Japan’s right to make war

Today’s Historical Events

1374 BC Solar eclipse (2m 07s) seen at Ugarit by Mesopotamian astronomers “On the day of the new moon, in the month of Hiyar, the Sun was put to shame, and went down in the daytime, with Mars in attendance.”

1294 John II becomes Duke of Brabant and Limburg

1342 Count Hartmann II becomes ruler of Vaduz (Liechtenstein)

1382 Battle of Beverhoutsveld near Bruges in modern-day Belgium – the army of Ghent beats a drunken Bruges militia

1491 Kongo monarch Nkuwu Nzinga is baptised by Portuguese missionaries, adopting the baptismal name of João I

1512 Pope Julius II opens 5th Council of Lateran at St. John Lateran Basilica in Rome

1558 Ferdinand I officially appointed Holy Roman Emperor after his brother Charles abdicated in 1556

1616 Treaty of Loudun ends French civil war

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1944 “Going My Way”, directed by Leo McCarey and starring Bing Crosby premieres in New York (Academy Award for Best Picture, 1945)

1948 1st broadcast of “CBS Evening News” – longest running network news show in the US

1953 WTVO TV channel 17 in Rockford, IL (NBC) begins broadcasting

1954 KTEN TV channel 10 in Ada-Ardmore, Oklahoma(ABC) begins broadcasting

1954 WHA TV channel 21 in Madison, Wisconsin (PBS) begins broadcasting

1965 KTCI TV channel 17 in St. Paul-Minneapolis, MN (PBS) 1st broadcast

1966 WDHO (now WNWO) TV channel 24 in Toledo, OH (ABC) begins broadcasting

1982 ABC’s All Talk network begins on radio (2 west coast stations)

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1917 1st performance of Ernest Bloch’s symphony “Israel”

1952 “Call Me Madam” closes at Imperial Theater NYC after 644 performances

1956 Frank Loesser’s musical “Most Happy Fella” opens at Imperial Theater, NYC; runs for 678 performances

1960 Musical “Fantasticks” by Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones, premieres in NYC (world’s longest running musical)

1969 “Trumpets of the Lord” closes at Brooks Atkinson NYC after 7 performances

1981 “Can-Can” closes at Minskoff Theater NYC after 5 performances

1986 31st Eurovision Song Contest: Sandra Kim for Belgium wins singing “J’aime la vie” in Bergen

1987 “Mikado” closes at Virginia Theater NYC after 46 performances

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1900 26th Kentucky Derby: Jimmy Boland aboard Lieut Gibson wins in 2:06.25

1902 28th Kentucky Derby: Jimmy Winkfield on Alan-a-Dale wins in 2:08.75

1903 AVC Heracles (SC Heracles ’74) soccer team forms in Almelo

1909 35th Kentucky Derby: Vincent Powers on Wintergreen wins in 2:08.2

1910 Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States is renamed the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)

1922 Mayor Hylan closes 2 streets for building of Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, NYC

1936 NY Yankee Joe DiMaggio makes his major-league debut, gets 3 hits

1941 67th Kentucky Derby: Eddie Arcaro aboard Whirlaway, 1st leg of successful Triple Crown

 

April 30 Today in History

Today’s Important Historical Events

311 Roman Emperor Galerius issues Edict of Toleration, ending persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire

711 Islamic conquest of Iberia: Moorish troops led by Tariq ibn-Ziyad land at Gibraltar to begin their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus)

1562 1st French colonists in North America: Jean Ribault & colonists arrive in Florida

1789 George Washington is inaugurated as the first President of the United States of America

1859 Charles Dickens‘ “A Tale Of Two Cities” is first published in literary periodical “All the Year Round” (weekly installments until Nov 26)

2009 Chrysler automobile company files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy

Today’s Historical Events

311 Roman Emperor Galerius issues Edict of Toleration, ending persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire

313 Licinius unifies the entire Eastern Roman Empire under his rule

711 Islamic conquest of Iberia: Moorish troops led by Tariq ibn-Ziyad land at Gibraltar to begin their invasion of the Iberian Peninsula (Al-Andalus)

1064 German King Henry IV gives away Utrecht county of West Friesland

1315 French chamberlain Enguerrand de Marigny is hanged on the public gallows at Montfaucon after being convicted of sorcery

1349 Jewish community of Radolfzell, Germany, exterminated

1396 Crusaders & Earl of Nevers depart from Dijon

1483 Orbital calculations suggest that on this day, Pluto moved inside Neptune’s orbit until July 23, 1503

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1598 1st theater performance in America (Spanish comedy-Rio Grande)

1695 William Congreve’s Restoration comedy “Love for Love” premieres in London

1938 The first televised FA Cup Final takes place between Huddersfield Town and Preston North End

1939 NBC/RCA 1st public TV demo with FDR at opening of NY World’s Fair

1943 Noël Coward‘s play “This Happy Breed” premieres in London

1945 “Arthur Godfrey Time” begins a 27 year run on CBS radio

1952 Mr Potato Head is 1st toy advertised on television

1969 WEDB TV channel 40 in Berlin, New Hampshire (PBS) begins broadcasting

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1852 Anton Rubinstein’s opera “Dmitri Donskoi” premieres in St Petersburg

1885 Henry Lee Higginson starts the “Popular Music” series with the Boston Symphony, which evolves into the Boston Pops Orchestra 1900

1902 Claude Debussy‘s only completed opera “Pelléas et Mélisande” premieres in Paris

1948 “Inside USA” opens at Century Theater NYC for 339 performances

1954 Darius Milhaud‘s 4th Concert for piano and orchestra premieres in Haifa, Israel

1955 Cuban bandleader Pérez Prado’s mambo version of “Cherry Pink & Apple Blossom White” goes #1 for 10 weeks

1961 “Tossin’ and Turnin'” single released by Bobby Lewis (Billboard Song of the Year, 1961)

1973 Paul McCartney releases “Red Rose Speedway” album, including the hit single “My Love”

 

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1722 Game of Billiards is mentioned in New England Courant

1859 Paul Morphy returns from 10-month chess tour of Europe, retires

1887 1st game played at Broad & Huntingdon St Park (Baker Bowl) in Philadelphia; Phillies beat Giants 19-10

1900 Weighing in at 170 lbs British former world heavyweight boxing champion Bob Fitzsimmons KOs 270 lb American Ed Dunkhost in round 2 of a lop-sided bout in Brooklyn, New York

1903 NY Highlanders (Yankees) inaugural home opener at Hilltop Park, Manhattan; beat Washington Senators, 6-2

1905 First official soccer game between neighbouring countries Belgium-Netherlands; Dutch win, 4-1 at Olympic Stadium, Antwerp

1910 Cleveland Naps Addie Joss limits St.Louis Browns to 8 hits in 2-1 victory

1918 Orange Nassau soccer team forms in Groningen

April 29 Today in History

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

April 26 Today in History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1478 Pazzi conspirators attack Lorenzo de’Medici and kill Giuliano de’Medici in Florence

1920 Harlow Shapley and Heber D. Curtis hold “great debate” on the nature of nebulae, galaxies and size of the universe at US National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.

1945 Marshal Philippe Pétain, leader of France’s Vichy collaborationist regime during World War II, arrested for treason

1956 First modern container ship, the Ideal X, leaves Port Newark, New Jersey for Houston, Texas

1986 World’s worst nuclear disaster: 4th reactor at Chernobyl nuclear power station in USSR explodes, 31 die, radioactive contamination reaches much of Western Europe

2005 Under international pressure, Syria withdraws the last of its 14,000 troop military garrison in Lebanon, ending its 29-year military domination of that country.

Today’s Historical Events

757 Paolo Orsini replaces his brother Pope Stephen II, as Paul I

1220 German king Frederick II grants bishops sovereign rights

1336 Italian Renaissance poet Francesco Petrarch famously climbs Mont Ventoux

1467 The miraculous image in Our Lady of Good Counsel appear in Genazzano, Italy

1478 Pazzi conspirators attack Lorenzo de’Medici and kill Giuliano de’Medici in Florence

1514 Copernicus makes his 1st observations of Saturn

1564 William Shakespeare is baptized in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England

1607 Jamestown expedition makes first landing in America at a place named Cape Henry, in what would become Virginia, but they quickly depart for a better site

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1954 “Seven Samurai”, Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa, starring Toshiro Mifune, is released

1967 KSPS TV channel 7 in Spokane, WA (PBS) begins broadcasting

1982 Rod Stewart is mugged, gunman steals his $50,000 Porsche on Hollywood Boulevard, Los Angeles, California

1991 “Dinosaurs” premieres on ABC-TV

1992 “Growing Pains” final episode on ABC TV

1992 “Who’s The Boss” final episode after 8 years on ABC TV

1993 NBC announces Conan O’Brien to replace David Letterman on “Late Night”

1994 TV series “Due South” about Canadian Mounties starring Paul Gross premieres in Canada

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1835 Frederic Chopin‘s “Grand Polonaise Brillante” premieres in Paris

1855 Composer Gioachino Rossini leaves Italy

1936 Dmitri Shostakovich completes his 4th Symphony

1947 “Bless the Bride” musical opens in London

1965 Charles Ives‘ 4th Symphony premieres at Carnegie Hall, New York, 11 years after the composer’s death

1967 “Hallelujah, Baby!” opens at Martin Beck Theater NYC for 293 performances

1969 “Celebration” closes at Ambassador Theater NYC after 110 performances

1969 “George M!” closes at Palace Theater NYC after 435 performances

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1900 Newly renamed American League opener in Cleveland draws 6,500 (still as a minor league, was Western League)

1901 Jimmy Collins, having left the Boston Beaneaters (NL), captains and manages his first game for the Boston Americans (loses 10-6 at Baltimore Orioles)

1905 Cubs Jack McCarthy becomes only major league player to throw out 3 runners at plate in 1 game, all were ends of a double play

1912 1st homerun hit at Fenway Park (Hugh Bradley, Red Sox)

1920 Husband and wife team Ludowika & Walter Jakobsson representing Finland, win the pairs skating gold medal at the Antwerp Olympics; Ludowika is the only German-born athlete at the Games

1920 Ice hockey makes its Olympic debut at the Antwerp Games with center Frank Fredrickson scoring 7 goals in Canada’s 12-1 drubbing of Sweden in the gold medal match

1931 Lou Gehrig hits a HR but is called out for passing a runner, mistake costs him AL home run crown; he & Babe Ruth tie for season

1935 Frank Boucher is given NHL’s Lady Byng Trophy for sportsmanship permanently for winning it 7 of 11 years

 

April 25 Today in History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1660 English Convention Parliament meets and votes to restore Charles II

1792 Guillotine first used in France, executes highwayman Nicolas Pelletier

1846 Thornton Affair: Open conflict begins over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican–American War

1945 “Elbe Day” – US and Soviet forces meet at Torgau, Germany on the Elbe River during the invasion of Germany in WWII

1953 Francis Crick and James Watson‘s discovery of the double helix structure of DNA is published in “Nature” magazine

1954 Bell labs announces the 1st Solar Battery made from silicon. It has about 6% efficiency.

1990 Hubble space telescope is placed into orbit by space shuttle Discovery

Today’s Historical Events

1185 Sea battle at Dan-no-ura: Minamoto Yoritomo beats Taira-family

1362 Muhammad VI ruler of Granada killed with a lance personally by Peter I of Castile, along with 36 followers and his head sent to Muhammad V (or 27 April)

1449 Anti-pope Felix V resigns

1507 German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller is the first to use the name America on his world map “Universalis Cosmographia”

1541 -26) Liege flooded after heavy down pour

1604 Count Maurits’ army lands at Cadzand

1607 Battle at Gibraltar: Dutch fleet beats Spanish Portuguese fleet

1607 Shortly before making landfall in America, Captain Edward Maria Wingfield is named President of the Jamestown governing council

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1947 Lou Thesz beats Whipper Watson in St Louis, to win National Wrestling Association world heavyweight title

1954 WDEF TV channel 12 in Chattanooga, TN (CBS) begins broadcasting

1956 Noël Coward‘s musical “South Sea Bubble” premieres in London

1957 WUHY TV channel 35 in Philadelphia, PA (PBS) begins broadcasting

1964 “New Phil Silvers Show” last airs on CBS-TV

1964 11th National Film Awards (India): “Shehar Aur Sapna” wins the Golden Lotus

1978 ABC premiere of crime drama “Vega$”

1983 “Nightline” expands from ½ hour to a full hour

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1792 “La Marseillaise”, later the national anthem of France, is composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg

1896 Fight in Central Dance Hall starts fire at Cripple Creek, Colorado

1896 Sidney Jones & Harry Greenbacks musical “The Geisha” premieres at Daly’s Theatre, London; runs for 760 performances

1926 Giacomo Puccini‘s opera “Turandot” premieres in Milan

1961 “Young Abe Lincoln” opens at Eugene O’Neill Theater NYC for 27 performances

1968 “Half a Sixpence” opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 512 performances

1970 “Park” closes at John Golden Theater NYC after 5 performances

1985 Roger Miller‘s musical “Big River” opens at Eugene O’Neill Theater NYC for 1005 performances

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1876 Chicago Cubs 1st NL game, beats Louisville 4-0 (1st NL shutout)

1901 Erve Beck hits American League’s 1st home run

1901 In last of 9th, Detroit Tigers, trailing by 13-4, score 10 runs to win one of greatest comebacks in baseball (1st game in Detroit)

1905 Latest day of 1st-class cricket in an Aust season (NSW v Qld)

1920 Magda Julin of Sweden beats teammate Svea Norén for the gold medal in women’s singles figure skating at the Antwerp Olympics

1933 Philadelphia Phillies’ Dick Bartell is 1st MLB player to get 4 consecutive doubles in 9 innings

1933 NY Yankee Russ Van Atta shuts out Washington Senators 16-0

1947 Lou Thesz beats Whipper Watson in St Louis, to win National Wrestling Association world heavyweight title

Spell – Home Protection Powder: A Simple Spell Recipe

(YOU CAN COPY AND PASTE ANY SPELLS POSTED TO A DOCUMENT TO PRINT AND/OR SAVE ON YOUR COMPUTER)

Home Protection Powder: A Simple Spell Recipe

From spells8.com

Whether you just moved into a new home or you’ve been living in your home for a while, it is always a good idea to cast a protection spell over your space. This process doesn’t have to be elaborate or complicated. In fact, it generally involves about two steps: cleansing the space and then protecting it. Any other steps in the process are entirely optional and can add to the potency of your spell. If you are in search of a simple protection spell for your home, be sure to read this post to the very end!

Why bother about the energy of your home?

Believe it or not, the energy of your home can have an effect on your physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. This energy usually accumulates over time, but certain factors can play a role in how quickly unpleasant energy settles into your spaces. For example, if you spend a lot of time in emotionally charged situations during the day, you may end up bringing some unpleasant energy home with you. This energy may accumulate faster than if you spent your days in more pleasant or neutral situations. Surrounding yourself with unpleasant energies could lead you to feeling drained, grouchy, and generally not spiritually well in your own home.

Energy can also accumulate due to other people in your life. This includes people you let into your home such as family, friends, and even employees, and people that don’t come into your home but still send their energy in your direction. Putting up a magical protective barrier around your home can help to protect against physical damage such as break-ins, storms, or similar. It can also help protect your home against magical or psychic attacks from others or keep a wandering spirit from making itself too comfortable.

Clearing your home of unpleasant energies and protecting it from external energetic forces is very simple. Keep reading for some tips to get you started.

Make a Connection

Whether you are an animist or not, spend some time in your space. Light some incense if you want, play some nice music, and meditate in the heart of your home. Close your eyes and focus on your surroundings. Your home knows what it needs. If you listen well enough, it will tell you.

Clearing it Out

Once you’ve made the decision to clear out the energy from your home, it’s time to get to work. But what does clearing a space even mean? Well, you are going to be removing all energy from the space. This process clears out the energy, both good, bad, and otherwise, to leave room to call in what you want. If it makes it easier, you can think of this as an energetic cleaning rather than a physical one, though the two may look similar and utilize similar tools. This is step one of a good home protection spell.

One of the easiest methods of clearing a space is to clear it as you clean it. Charge your cleaning supplies with your magickal intention. You can do this by holding them firmly or holding your hands over them and speaking your words of intention over them. This could sound something like, “As I physically clean my space, so too do my cleaning supplies clear my home of unwanted energies and entities.” Then you use them to physically clean your space. At the same time, the energy you put forward to charge your supplies will also magickally clear the space.

Another method of clearing your space would be through the use of smoke or sound. You can burn special incense or herbs that have cleansing properties. One popular herb to burn for cleansing is rosemary, but any that you find clearing will work just as well. If you can’t use smoke you can cleanse with sound through clapping or bells. You can also use homemade cleansing sprays, too.

Calling it In

Once you’ve cleared your space, you will want to call something in to fill it. This step is optional, but keep in mind that nature doesn’t like a vacuum and nothing is truly empty for long. Use this step to call in the energy you want in your home. This can be done by playing some calming music, burning some relaxing or joyful incense, or decorating your home with pleasant flowers. Again, this can all be customized to suit your needs and desires for your space.

Choose Your Ingredients

Once your space is cleared and you have called in the energy you want, now it’s time to protect that energy. We are going to be making a salt powder to be used at the thresholds of our home. For this step, be sure to have some salt on hand. Salt is a wonderful protective ingredient to use in your powders, and for this recipe, it is the base ingredient. Salt is good for repelling and absorbing negative energy, keeping the energy that crosses your threshold in line with your intentions.

Along with salt, here are some more ideas of protective herbs you can include in your recipe.

Rosemary

Vervain

Bay Leaf

Aloe

Black Salt

Simple Home Protection Spell

Recipe by Francisco Huanaco

This powder is designed to protect your home with good energy and keep it free from problems. Support the magickal maintenance of your home with this protection powder.

INGREDIENTS

  • Salt – absorbs and repels negative energy

  • Rosemary – for protection (can substitute other protective herbs)

  • Jar or Bowl – for mixing the ingredients together

DIRECTIONS

  • Get your Salt

    Salt is protective and also repels negative energy. It is a good foundational ingredient for any witch to have and makes a simple base for our spell.
  • Get your Rosemary

    Rosemary is an herb that is commonly used for protection. In this case, you can use dried rosemary, fresh rosemary, or even substitute with an essential oil or other protective herb.
  • Mix it Together

    In your bowl, mix the salt and your protective herbs together. As you mix them, you can call on your guides, Gods, or other spirit allies to help you if you want. Stir in a clockwise motion to combine the ingredients as you say the following.
  • Sprinkle it Around

    With your mantra or affirmation in mind, sprinkle the salt mixture along every threshold and entry into your home. Include all doors, windows, and walkways. You can even repeat the above incantation if you’d like, drawing on the energy of the salt mixture as you do so.

April 24 Today in History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1479 BC Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th Dynasty)

1184 BC The Greeks enter Troy using the Trojan Horse (traditional date)

1877 Russo-Turkish War, 1877-78: Russia declares war on the Ottoman Empire

1898 Spanish–American War: Spain declares war after rejecting US ultimatum to withdraw from Cuba

1916 Easter Rising of Irish republicans against British occupation begins in Dublin

1967 Vietnam War: American General William Westmoreland says in a news conference that the enemy had “gained support in the United States that gives him hope that he can win politically that which he cannot win militarily.”

Today’s Historical Events

1479 BC Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to the Low Chronology of the 18th Dynasty)

1184 BC The Greeks enter Troy using the Trojan Horse (traditional date)

858 Nicholas I succeeds Benedict III as pope

1066 Halley’s Comet sparks English monk to predict country will be destroyed

1185 Battle at Danoura: Yoshitsune Minamoto’s fleet beats the Taira during Japan’s Genpei War

1288 Jews of Troyes France are accused of ritual murder

1311 General Malik Kafur returns to Delhi after campaign in South India

1364 Pope Urban V names John V van Virneburg as Bishop of Utrecht

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1950 Leonard Bernstein‘s musical “Peter Pan”, starring Jean Arthur and Boris Karloff, opens at Imperial Theater, NYC; runs for 320 performances

1954 WSEE TV channel 35 in Erie, PA (CBS) begins broadcasting

1955 KFDM TV channel 6 in Beaumont, TX (CBS) begins broadcasting

1955 KMAU (now KGMV) TV channel 3 in Wailuku, HI (CBS) begins broadcasting

1959 WICD TV channel 15 in Champaign, IL (NBC/ABC) begins broadcasting

1962 Massachusetts Institute of Technology sends TV signal by satellite for 1st time: California to Massachusetts

1965 “Comedy in Music-Opus 2” closes at John Golden NYC after 192 performances

1968 ABC Masters Bowling Tournament won by Pete Tountas

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1801 1st performance of Joseph Haydn’s oratorio “Die Jahreszeiten” (The Seasons)

1823 Eugene Scribes opera “Le Menteur Veridique” premieres in Paris

1945 Miles Davis makes recording debut with the Herbie Fields Orchestra, backing singer “Rubberlegs” Wilson, at Savoy Records Studio, Newark, New Jersey

1946 One-act ballet “Symphonic Variations” choreographed by Frederick Ashton with music by César Franck danced by Sandler’s Wells Ballet debuts at Covent Garden, London

1959 Netherland Dance Theater opens (Rudi of Dantzig & Cut Flier)

1969 Paul McCartney says there is no truth to rumors he is dead

1971 Skip Redwine and Larry Frank’s musical “Frank Merriwell” opens and closes at Longacre Theater, NYC (1 performance only)

1979 US State of Georgia designates Ray Charles‘ rendition of “Georgia On My Mind” (written by Hoagy Carmichael) as official state song

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1880 Amateur Athletic Association, governing body for men’s athletics in England & Wales, is founded in Oxford, England

1894 French cyclist Henri Desgrange rides 100km in a world record time of 2:39:18

1894 Phillies Lave Cross hits for cycle vs Bkln Dodgers

1901 The Chicago White Stockings win against the Cleveland Blues in the 1st game played in baseball’s American League

1905 First-class cricket debut of Sir Jack Hobbs, “The Master” for Surrey v the “Gentlemen of England” (18 & 88)

1905 Senators execute a triple-play & beat Yankees 4-3

1917 Yankee lefty George Mogridge no-hits Red Sox 2-1 at Fenway

1945 Albert B “Happy” Chandler is named 2nd baseball commissioner

April 23 Today in History

Today’s Important Historical Events

215 BC A temple, built on the Capitoline Hill, is dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene

1014 King Brian Boru of Ireland defeats Viking forces at Battle of Clontarf, freeing Ireland from foreign control

1597 William Shakespeare‘s “The Merry Wives of Windsor” is first performed, with Queen Elizabeth I of England in attendance

1861 Robert E. Lee named commander of Virginia Confederate forces (US Civil War)

1968 1st decimal coins issued in Britain (5 & 10 new pence, replacing shilling and two-shilling pieces)

1984 AIDS-virus identified as HTLV-III (acquired immune deficiency syndrome)

Today’s Historical Events

215 BC A temple, built on the Capitoline Hill, is dedicated to Venus Erycina to commemorate the Roman defeat at Lake Trasimene

1014 King Brian Boru of Ireland defeats Viking forces at Battle of Clontarf, freeing Ireland from foreign control

1154 Damascus surrenders to Sultan Nur ad-Din van Aleppo

1229 Ferdinand III of Castile conquers Cáceres

1343 St. George’s Night Uprising in Estonia

1344 Order of the Garter founded by English King Edward III, the most senior knighthood in the UK with just 24 living members plus the monarch (or 1348)

1348 The Order of Garter founded by English King Edward III, Britain’s highest civic or military honor

1504 King Maximilian I routes troops to Bavaria

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1896 Vitascope system of movie projection 1st shown at Koster & Bial’s Music Hall, New York City

1931 US gangster film “The Public Enemy” starring James Cagney and Jean Harlow premieres

1948 KSTP TV channel 5 in St Paul-Minneapolis, MN (ABC) 1st broadcast

1953 KTAR (now KPNX) TV channel 12 in Phoenix, AZ (NBC) begins broadcasting

1953 WCOV TV channel 20 in Montgomery, AL (IND/CBS) begins broadcasting

1953 “Shane”, directed by George Stevens and based on the 1949 novel by Jack Schaefer, starring Alan Ladd and Jean Arthur, is released

1969 ABC Masters Bowling Tournament won by Jim Chestney

1989 CBS’ premiere of fact based “The Littlest Victims”, based on Newark, N.J. physician James Oleske as the first doctor to discover AIDS in children

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1775 Opera “Il Ré Pastore” (The Shepherd King) by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is first produced in Salzburg

1881 Gilbert & Sullivan’s opera “Patience” premieres at The Opera Comique, London

1925 1st London performance of Franz Lehár’s operetta “Frasquita” staged

1940 Dance hall fires kills 198 in Natchez, Mississippi

1955 Robert Wright and George Forrest’s musical “Kismet” closes at Ziegfeld Theater NYC after 583 performances

1958 Robert Kurka’s “The Good Soldier Schweik”, with libretto written by Abe Meeropol, premieres at the New York City Opera

1959 “Destry Rides Again” opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 472 performances

1961 “Tenderloin” closes at 46th St Theater NYC after 216 performances

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1903 NY Highlanders (Yankees) win their first game; beat Washington Senators, 7-2 at American League Park

1919 US Major League Baseball opens a reduced 140-game season

1933 Dovo soccer team forms in Veenendaal

1937 New York Giants pitcher Carl Hubbell‘s first start of season, a 3-0 win over the Boston Bees, is his 17th straight win; streak continues for league record 24 victories in a row

1939 Boston Red Sox Ted Williams hits his 1st HR

1940 NY Yankees dedicate a plaque to Jacob Rupert

1946 Brooklyn Dodger Ed Head no-hits Boston Braves, 5-0

1950 1st major league day game completed under lights (Phils 6, Braves 5)

April 22 Today In History

Today’s Important Historical Events

1500 Pedro Álvares Cabral is the first european to discover Brazil, landing near Monte Pascoal, claims it for Portugal

1915 1st military use of poison gas (chlorine, by Germany) in WW I

1993 Holocaust Memorial Museum dedicated in Washington, D.C.

1994 7,000 Tutsi slaughtered by Hutus in the stadium at Kibuye, Rwanda

2006 243 people are injured in pro-democracy protest in Nepal after Nepali security forces open fire on protesters against King Gyanendra.

2016 Paris Agreement on climate change signed in New York binding 195 nations to an increase in the global average temperature to less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C

Today’s Historical Events

296 St Gaius ends his reign as Catholic Pope

536 St. Agapetus I ends his reign as Catholic Pope

1056 Supernova Crab nebula last seen by the naked eye

1073 Pope Alexander II buried and Ildebrando chosen as Pope Gregory VII

1145 19th recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet

1164 Raynald of Dassel names Guido di Crema as anti-pope Paschalis III

1370 Building begins on the Bastille fortress in Paris

1500 Pedro Álvares Cabral is the first european to discover Brazil, landing near Monte Pascoal, claims it for Portugal

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1948 WTVR TV channel 6 in Richmond, VA (CBS) begins broadcasting

1954 US Senate Army-McCarthy televised hearings begin

1976 Barbara Walters becomes 1st female US nightly network news anchor (ABC News)

1976 Director Ingmar Bergman leaves Sweden due to taxation

1984 CBS premiere of TV film “Pope John Paul II“, starring Albert Finney in title role

1991 Johnny Carson announces he will retire next year from “The Tonight Show”

1991 Shalom America (Jewish cable network) is launched in Brooklyn & Queens

1998 Disney’s Animal Kingdom opens at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, United States.

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1804 Gioachino Rossini (12) performs in Imola

1876 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky completes his ballet “Swan Lake”

1927 Roger Sessions’ 1st Symphony in E premieres with Serge Koussevitzky conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra

1970 “Park” opens at John Golden Theater NYC for 5 performances

1978 23rd Eurovision Song Contest: Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta for Israel wins singing “A-Ba-Ni-Bi” in Paris

1979 The Rolling Stones play two benefit concerts for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, in Oshawa, Ontario; performance part of guitarist Keith Richards’ sentence for heroin conviction on heroin charges

1989 “Welcome to the Club” closes at Music Box Theater NYC after 12 performances

1990 “Truly Blessed” opens at Longacre Theater NYC for 33 performances

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1876 1st official National League baseball game is played; Boston Red Caps beat Philadelphia Athletics, 6-5 at the Jefferson Street Grounds, Philadelphia

1876 Philadelphia native Tim McGinley of the Boston Red Caps scores baseball National League’s 1st run, in Philadelphia

1898 Baltimore James Hughes no-hits Boston Braves 8-0

1898 Cincinnati Red Theodore Breitenstein no-hits Pirates 11-0

1903 NY Highlanders (Yankees) first MLB game; lose 3-1 before 11,950 vs Washington Senators at American League Park

1906 Intercalated Games opens in Athens

1906 New rule puts umpire in sole charge of all game balls

1908 Queensland beat NSW by 171 runs for their 1st cricket win at Gabba

April 21 Today In Hstory

Today’s Important Historical Events

753 BC Romulus and Remus found Rome (traditional date)

1526 First Battle of Panipat: Central Asian conqueror Babur defeats Sultan Ibrahim Lodi, establishing the Mughal Empire in India

1792 Brazilian revolutionary Tiradentes, is hanged, drawn and quartered in Rio de Janeiro

1863 Bahá’u’lláh, founder of the Bahá’í Faith, enters garden of Rivden near Baghdad. He makes his declaration as a Messenger of God during the 12 days spent there

1918 World War I: German fighter ace Baron Manfred von Richthofen “The Red Baron“, shot down and killed over Vaux sur Somme in France, Canadian pilot Arthur Roy Brown credited with the kill

1989 Thousands of Chinese crowd into Beijing’s Tiananmen Square cheering students demanding greater political freedom

Today’s Historical Events

753 BC Romulus and Remus found Rome (traditional date)

43 BC Battle of Mutina: Mark Antony is again defeated in battle by Aulus Hirtius, who is killed. Antony fails to capture Mutina and Decimus Brutus is murdered shortly after.

953 Otto I the Great gives Utrecht fishing rights

1420 Treaty of Saint Maartens Dike

1453 Turkish fleet sinks ships Golden Receiver in Constantinople

1521 Battle at Villalar: Emperor Charles I beats Communards

1526 First Battle of Panipat: Central Asian conqueror Babur defeats Sultan Ibrahim Lodi, establishing the Mughal Empire in India

1536 Thomas Cromwell begins to plot Anne Boleyn‘s downfall while feigning illness

Today’s Historical Events in Film and TV

1925 Noël Coward‘s “Fallen Angels” premieres in London

1928 “The Passion of Joan of Arc“, directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer, starring Renée Jeanne Falconetti and Eugène Silvain, is released in Denmark

1930 “All Quiet on the Western Front” based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque, directed by Lewis Milestone and starring Louis Wolheim and Lew Ayres premieres in Los Angeles (Academy Awards Outstanding Production 1930)

1940 1st $64 Question, “Take It or Leave It,” on CBS Radio

1962 9th National Film Awards (India): “Bhagini Nivedita” wins the Golden Lotus

1984 “Nightline” reverts back from 1 hour to ½ hour

1984 After 37 weeks Michael Jackson‘s album “Thriller” is knocked off as top album by movie soundtrack for “Footloose”

1986 Geraldo Rivera opens Al Capone‘s vault on live TV and finds nothing, except great ratings for his spectacle

Today’s Historical Events in Music

1956 Elvis Presley‘s 1st hit record, “Heartbreak Hotel”, becomes #1

1963 Beatles meet The Rolling Stones for the 1st time

1977 C Strouse & M Charnin’s musical “Annie” opens at Alvin Theater NYC for 2377 performances

1979 “Carmelina” closes at St James Theater NYC after 17 performances

1992 “High Rollers” opens at Helen Hayes theater on Broadway

1992 Allen Toussaint’s musical revue “High Rollers Social & Pleasure Club” opens at the Helen Hayes Theater, NYC; runs for 13 performances.

1993 “Wilder, Wilder, Wilder” opens at Circle in Sq NYC for 30 performances

1994 “Picnic” opens at Criterion Theater NYC for 45 performances

Today’s Historical Events in Sports

1898 Phillies’ pitcher Bill Duggleby hits a grand slam on 1st at bat

1902 6th Boston Marathon won by Sam Mellor in 2:43:12

1904 Ty Cobb makes his pro debut for Augusta (South Atlantic League)

1910 Cleve Naps play 1st game at League Park, lose to Det Tigers 5-0

1913 17th Boston Marathon won by Fritz Carlson in 2:25:14.8

1919 23rd Boston Marathon won by Carl Linder in 2:29:13.4

1924 28th Boston Marathon won by Clarence DeMar for the third consecutive year in 2:29:40.2; 4th race victory

1925 No baseball games played in NL due to Charles Ebbets’ funeral