from historychannel.com
This Day In History, February, 16....
General Interest
~1923 : Archaeologist opens tomb of King Tut~
On this day in 1923, in Thebes, Egypt, English archaeologist Howard
Carter enters the sealed burial chamber of the ancient Egyptian ruler
King Tutankhamen.
Because the ancient Egyptians saw their pharaohs as gods, they
carefully preserved their bodies after death, burying them in
elaborate tombs containing rich treasures to accompany the rulers into
the afterlife. In the 19th century, archeologists from all over the
world flocked to Egypt, where they uncovered a number of these tombs.
Many had long ago been broken into by robbers and stripped of their
riches.
When Carter arrived in Egypt in 1891, he became convinced there was at
least one undiscovered tomb--that of the little known Tutankhamen, or
King Tut, who lived around 1400 B.C. and died when he was still a
teenager. Backed by a rich Brit, Lord Carnarvon, Carter searched for
five years without success. In early 1922, Lord Carnarvon wanted to
call off the search, but Carter convinced him to hold on one more
year.
In November 1922, the wait paid off, when Carter's team found steps
hidden in the debris near the entrance of another tomb. The steps led
to an ancient sealed doorway bearing the name Tutankhamen. When Carter
and Lord Carnarvon entered the tomb's interior chambers on November
26, they were thrilled to find it virtually intact, with its treasures
untouched after more than 3,000 years. The men began exploring the
four rooms of the tomb, and on February 16, 1923, under the watchful
eyes of a number of important officials, Carter opened the door to the
last chamber.
Inside lay a sarcophagus with three coffins nested inside one another.
The last coffin, made of solid gold, contained the mummified body of
King Tut. Among the riches found in the tomb--golden shrines, jewelry,
statues, a chariot, weapons, clothing--the perfectly preserved mummy
was the most valuable, as it was the first one ever to be discovered.
Despite rumors that a curse would befall anyone who disturbed the
tomb, its treasures were carefully catalogued, removed and included in
a famous traveling exhibition called the "Treasures of Tutankhamen."
The exhibition's permanent home is the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
~1804 : The most daring act of the age~
During the First Barbary War, U.S. Lieutenant Stephen Decatur leads a military mission that famed British Admiral Horatio Nelson calls the "most daring act of the age."
In June 1801, President Thomas Jefferson ordered U.S. Navy vessels to the Mediterranean Sea in protest of continuing raids against U.S. ships by pirates from the Barbary states--Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripolitania. American sailors were often abducted along with the captured booty and ransomed back to the United States at an exorbitant price. After two years of minor confrontations, sustained action began in June 1803 when a small U.S. expeditionary force attacked Tripoli harbor in present-day Libya.
In October 1803, the U.S. frigate Philadelphia ran aground near Tripoli and was captured by Tripolitan gunboats. The Americans feared that the well-constructed warship would be both a formidable addition to the Tripolitan navy and an innovative model for building future Tripolitan frigates. Hoping to prevent the Barbary pirates from gaining this military advantage, Lieutenant Stephen Decatur led a daring expedition into Tripoli harbor to destroy the captured American vessel on February 16, 1804.
After disguising himself and his men as Maltese sailors, Decatur's force of 74 men, which included nine U.S. Marines, sailed into Tripoli harbor on a small two-mast ship. The Americans approached the USS Philadelphia without drawing fire from the Tripoli shore guns, boarded the ship, and attacked its Tripolitan crew, capturing or killing all but two. After setting fire to the frigate, Decatur and his men escaped without the loss of a single American. The Philadelphia subsequently exploded when its gunpowder reserve was lit by the spreading fire.
Six months later, Decatur returned to Tripoli Harbor as part of a larger American offensive and emerged as a hero again during the so-called "Battle of the Gunboats," a naval battle that saw hand-to-hand combat between the Americans and the Tripolitans.
~1959 : Castro sworn in~
On February 16, 1959, Fidel Castro is sworn in as prime minister of Cuba after leading a guerrilla campaign that forced right-wing dictator Fulgencio Batista into exile. Castro, who became commander in chief of Cuba's armed forces after Batista was ousted on January 1, replaced the more moderate Miro Cardona as head of the country's new provisional government.
Castro was born in the Oriente province in eastern Cuba, the son of a Spanish immigrant who had made a fortune building rail systems to transport sugar cane. He became involved in revolutionary politics while a student and in 1947 took part in an abortive attempt by Dominican exiles and Cubans to overthrow Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo. In the next year, he took part in urban riots in Bogota, Colombia. The most outstanding feature of his politics during the period was his anti-American beliefs; he was not yet an overt Marxist.
In 1951, he ran for a seat in the Cuban House of Representatives as a member of the reformist Ortodoxo Party, but General Batista seized power in a bloodless coup d'etat before the election could be held.
Various groups formed to oppose Batista's dictatorship, and on July 26, 1953, Castro led some 160 rebels in an attack on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba--Cuba's second largest military base. Castro hoped to seize weapons and announce his revolution from the base radio station, but the barracks were heavily defended, and more than half his men were captured or killed.
Castro was himself arrested and put on trial for conspiring to overthrow the Cuban government. During his trial, he argued that he and his rebels were fighting to restore democracy to Cuba, but he was nonetheless found guilty and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Two years later, Batista felt confident enough in his power that he granted a general amnesty for all political prisoners, including Castro. Castro then went with his brother Raul to Mexico, and they organized the revolutionary 26th of July Movement, enlisting recruits and joining up with Ernesto "Che" Guevara, an idealist Marxist from Argentina.
On December 2, 1956, Castro and 81 armed men landed on the Cuban coast. All of them were killed or captured except for Castro, Raul, Che, and nine others, who retreated into the Sierra Maestra mountain range to wage a guerrilla war against the Batista government. They were joined by revolutionary volunteers from all over Cuba and won a series of victories over Batista's demoralized army. Castro was supported by the peasantry, to whom he promised land reform, while Batista received aid from the United States, which bombed suspected revolutionary positions.
By mid-1958, a number of other Cuban groups were also opposing Batista, and the United States ended military aid to his regime. In December, the 26th of July forces under Che Guevara attacked the city of Santa Clara, and Batista's forces crumbled. Batista fled for the Dominican Republic on January 1, 1959. Castro, who had fewer than 1,000 men left at the time, took control of the Cuban government's 30,000-man army. The other rebel leaders lacked the popular support the young and charismatic Castro enjoyed, and on February 16 he was sworn in as prime minister.
The United States initially recognized the new Cuban dictator but withdrew its support after Castro launched a program of agrarian reform, nationalized U.S. assets on the island, and declared a Marxist government. Many of Cuba's wealthier citizens fled to the United States, where they joined the CIA in its efforts to overthrow Castro's regime.
In April 1961, with training and support by the CIA, the Cuban exiles launched an ill-fated and unsuccessful invasion of Cuba known as the "Bay of Pigs." The Soviet Union reacted to the attack by escalating its support to Castro's communist government and in 1962 placed offensive nuclear missiles in Cuba. The discovery of the missiles by U.S. intelligence led to the tense "Cuban Missile Crisis," which ended after the Soviets agreed to remove the weapons in exchange for a U.S. pledge not to invade Cuba.
Castro's Cuba was the first communist state in the Western Hemisphere, and he would retain control of it into the 21st century, outlasting 10 U.S. presidents who opposed him with economic embargoes and political rhetoric. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Castro lost a valuable source of aid, but he made up for it by courting European and Canadian investment and tourism. Cubans, though poor and politically repressed, enjoy excellent education and other social services under the Castro regime.
In July 2006, Castro temporarily ceded power to his brother Raul after undergoing intestinal surgery. He remains seriously ill, though the Cuban government has refused to confirm the nature of his illness.
.......continued in next post
Full Version: February 16
This Day In History, February 16... continued
American Revolution
~1778 : John Adams prepares to sail for France~
On this day in 1778, two future presidents of the United States, John Adams and his son, 10-year-old John Quincy Adams, sit in Marblehead Harbor, off the coast of Massachusetts, on board the frigate, Boston, which is to take them to France, where John Adams will replace Silas Deane in Congress’ commission to negotiate a treaty of alliance.
Silas Deane’s son, Jesse Deane, who was 11 or 12 years old, was also on board and bore a letter from his uncle requesting that Adams take care of the child, whose “Youth and Helplessness” among such “bad company” would require “some friendly Montior (sic) to caution, and keep him from associating with the common hands on board.”
Adam’s newfound role as pater familias expanded further with the delivery of a letter from William Vernon, Esquire, a member of the Continental Navy Board in Boston. Vernon’s son, a recent college graduate, was also on board the Boston. His father asked John Adams to find a merchant whom he could trust to educate his son in the business. Although sending him to a Catholic nation, the elder Vernon wished to see his son installed with a Protestant family of “extensive Business” in hopes that he would “hereafter be usefull (sic) to Society, and in particular to these American States.” He entrusted Adams not only with his son, but also with his money, asking Adams to negotiate a price of approximately £100 sterling for room and board with an eminent merchant to train his son for two to three years.
Once in France, Jesse Deane joined John Quincy Adams and Benjamin Franklin’s grandson, Benjamin Franklin Bache, at a pension in Passy, outside Paris; Vernon remained in Bordeaux. Two of the boys in Passy grew to be among the leaders of the next American generation. Benjamin Franklin Bache inherited his grandfather’s skills as a journalist and founded The Aurora, a newspaper in which he attacked first George Washington’s presidency and then John Adams’. Under the notoriously unconstitutional Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, Bache was imprisoned for his opposition to Federalist Party policy. John Quincy Adams followed in his father’s footsteps, serving as a foreign diplomat, Massachusetts state senator and president of the United States. Jesse Deane, like his father, faded into the backdrop of history.
---------------------------------
Automotive
~1852 : The Studebaker is born~
Henry and Clement Studebaker founded H & C Studebaker, a blacksmith and wagon building business, in South Bend, Indiana. The brothers made their fortune manufacturing during the Civil War, as The Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company became the world's largest manufacturer of horse-drawn carriages.
With the advent of the automobile, Studebaker converted its business to car manufacturing, becoming one of the larger independent automobile manufacturers. During World War II, Studebaker manufactured airplanes for the war effort and emphasized its patriotic role by releasing cars called "The President," "The Champion," and "The Commander." Like many of the independents, Studebaker fared well during the war by producing affordable family cars.
After the war, the Big Three, bolstered by their new government-subsidized production facilities, were too much for many of the independents. Studebaker was no exception. Post World War II competition drove Studebaker to its limits, and the company merged with the Packard Corporation in 1954.
Financial hardship continued however as they continued to lose money over the next several years. Studebaker rebounded in 1959 with the introduction of the compact Lark but it was shortlived. The 1966 Cruiser marked the end of the Studebaker after 114 years.
.......continued in next post
American Revolution
~1778 : John Adams prepares to sail for France~
On this day in 1778, two future presidents of the United States, John Adams and his son, 10-year-old John Quincy Adams, sit in Marblehead Harbor, off the coast of Massachusetts, on board the frigate, Boston, which is to take them to France, where John Adams will replace Silas Deane in Congress’ commission to negotiate a treaty of alliance.
Silas Deane’s son, Jesse Deane, who was 11 or 12 years old, was also on board and bore a letter from his uncle requesting that Adams take care of the child, whose “Youth and Helplessness” among such “bad company” would require “some friendly Montior (sic) to caution, and keep him from associating with the common hands on board.”
Adam’s newfound role as pater familias expanded further with the delivery of a letter from William Vernon, Esquire, a member of the Continental Navy Board in Boston. Vernon’s son, a recent college graduate, was also on board the Boston. His father asked John Adams to find a merchant whom he could trust to educate his son in the business. Although sending him to a Catholic nation, the elder Vernon wished to see his son installed with a Protestant family of “extensive Business” in hopes that he would “hereafter be usefull (sic) to Society, and in particular to these American States.” He entrusted Adams not only with his son, but also with his money, asking Adams to negotiate a price of approximately £100 sterling for room and board with an eminent merchant to train his son for two to three years.
Once in France, Jesse Deane joined John Quincy Adams and Benjamin Franklin’s grandson, Benjamin Franklin Bache, at a pension in Passy, outside Paris; Vernon remained in Bordeaux. Two of the boys in Passy grew to be among the leaders of the next American generation. Benjamin Franklin Bache inherited his grandfather’s skills as a journalist and founded The Aurora, a newspaper in which he attacked first George Washington’s presidency and then John Adams’. Under the notoriously unconstitutional Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, Bache was imprisoned for his opposition to Federalist Party policy. John Quincy Adams followed in his father’s footsteps, serving as a foreign diplomat, Massachusetts state senator and president of the United States. Jesse Deane, like his father, faded into the backdrop of history.
---------------------------------
Automotive
~1852 : The Studebaker is born~
Henry and Clement Studebaker founded H & C Studebaker, a blacksmith and wagon building business, in South Bend, Indiana. The brothers made their fortune manufacturing during the Civil War, as The Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company became the world's largest manufacturer of horse-drawn carriages.
With the advent of the automobile, Studebaker converted its business to car manufacturing, becoming one of the larger independent automobile manufacturers. During World War II, Studebaker manufactured airplanes for the war effort and emphasized its patriotic role by releasing cars called "The President," "The Champion," and "The Commander." Like many of the independents, Studebaker fared well during the war by producing affordable family cars.
After the war, the Big Three, bolstered by their new government-subsidized production facilities, were too much for many of the independents. Studebaker was no exception. Post World War II competition drove Studebaker to its limits, and the company merged with the Packard Corporation in 1954.
Financial hardship continued however as they continued to lose money over the next several years. Studebaker rebounded in 1959 with the introduction of the compact Lark but it was shortlived. The 1966 Cruiser marked the end of the Studebaker after 114 years.
.......continued in next post
This Day In History, February 16... continued
Civil War
~1862 : Capture of Fort Donelson~
General Ulysses S. Grant finishes a spectacular campaign by capturing Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River in Tennessee. This battle came ten days after Grant's capture of Fort Henry, just ten miles to the west on the Tennessee River, and opened the way for Union occupation of central Tennessee.
After Grant surround Fort Henry and forced the surrender of 100 men, he moved east to the much more formidable Fort Donelson. The fort sat on a high bluff and had a garrison of 6,000. After the fall of Fort Henry, an additional 15,000 reinforcements were sent to aid Fort Donelson. Grant crossed the narrow strip of land between the two rivers with only about 15,000 troops. One of Grant's officers, Brigadier General John McClernand, initiated the battle on February 13 when he tried to capture a Rebel Battery along Fort Donelson's outer works. Although unsuccessful, this action probably convinced the Confederates that they faced a superior force, even though they actually outnumbered Grant.
Over the next three days, Grant tightened the noose around Fort Donelson by moving a flotilla up the Cumberland River to shell the fort from the east. On February 15, the Confederates tried to break out of the Yankee perimeter. An attack on the Union right flank and center sent the Federals back in retreat, but then Confederate General Gideon Pillow made a fatal miscalculation. Thinking he could win the battle, Pillow threw away the chance to retreat from Fort Donelson. Instead, he pressed the attack but the Union retreat halted. Now, Grant assaulted the Confederate right wing, which he correctly suspected had been weakened to mount the attack on the other end of the line.
The Confederates were surrounded, with their backs to the Cumberland River. They made an attempt to escape, but only about 5,000 troops got away. These included Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest and 500 cavalrymen. Forrest later became a legendary leader in the west and his exploits over the next three years caused much aggravation to the Union army. When the Rebels asked for terms of surrender, Grant replied that no terms "except unconditional and immediate surrender" would be acceptable. This earned Ulysses S. Grant the nickname "Unconditional Surrender" Grant. The loss of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson were unmitigated disasters for the Confederates. Kentucky was lost and Tennessee lay wide open to the Yankees.
---------------------------------
Cold War
~1951 : Joseph Stalin attacks the United Nations~
In a statement focusing on the situation in Korea, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin charges that the United Nations has become "a weapon of aggressive war." He also suggested that although a world war was not inevitable "at the present time," "warmongers" in the West might trigger such a conflict.
Stalin's comments in response to queries from the Soviet newspaper Pravda were his first public statements about the nearly year-old conflict in Korea, in which the United States, South Korea, and other member nations of the United Nations were arrayed against forces of North Korea and communist China. Coming just over two weeks after the U.N. General Assembly's resolution condemning China as an aggressor, Stalin's statement turned the tables by declaring that the United Nations was "burying its moral prestige and dooming itself to disintegration." He warned that Western "warmongers," through their aggressive posture in Korea, would "manage to entangle the popular masses in lies, deceive them, and drag them into a new world war." In any event, he confidently predicted that Chinese forces in Korea would be victorious because the armies opposing them lacked morale and dedication to the war.
Despite the rather blistering tone of Stalin's words, Western observers were not unduly alarmed. Stalin's attacks on Western "aggression" were familiar, and some officials in Washington took comfort in the premier's assertion that a world war was not inevitable "at the present time." Indeed, there was some feeling that Stalin's denouncement of the United Nations' actions was actually a veiled call for negotiations through the auspices of that body. Stalin's comments, and the intense scrutiny they were subjected to in the West, were more evidence that in the Cold War, the "war of words" was almost as significant as any actual fighting.
---------------------------------
Crime
~1894 : John Wesley Hardin is pardoned~
Infamous gunslinger John Wesley Hardin is pardoned after spending 15 years in a Texas prison for murder. Hardin, who was reputed to have shot and killed a man just for snoring, was 41 years old at the time of his release.
Hardin probably killed in excess of 40 people during a six-year stretch beginning in 1868. When he was only 15, Hardin killed an ex-slave in a fight, becoming a wanted fugitive. Two years later, he was arrested for murder in Waco, Texas. Although it was actually one of the few he had not committed, Hardin did not want to run the risk of being convicted and escaped to the town of Abilene.
At that time, Abilene was run by Wild Bill Hickok, who was friendly with Hardin. However, one night Hardin was disturbed by the snoring in an adjacent hotel room and fired two shots through the wall, killing the man. Fearing that not even Wild Bill would stand for such a senseless crime, Hardin moved on again.
On May 26, 1874, Hardin was celebrating his 21st birthday when he got into an altercation with a man who fired the first shot. Hardin fired back and killed the man. A few years later, Hardin was tracked down in Florida and brought to trial. Because it was one of the more defensible shootings on Hardin's record, he was spared the gallows and given a life sentence. After his pardon, he moved to El Paso and became an attorney. But his past caught up with him, and the following year he was shot in the back as revenge for one of his many murders.
.......continued in next post
Civil War
~1862 : Capture of Fort Donelson~
General Ulysses S. Grant finishes a spectacular campaign by capturing Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River in Tennessee. This battle came ten days after Grant's capture of Fort Henry, just ten miles to the west on the Tennessee River, and opened the way for Union occupation of central Tennessee.
After Grant surround Fort Henry and forced the surrender of 100 men, he moved east to the much more formidable Fort Donelson. The fort sat on a high bluff and had a garrison of 6,000. After the fall of Fort Henry, an additional 15,000 reinforcements were sent to aid Fort Donelson. Grant crossed the narrow strip of land between the two rivers with only about 15,000 troops. One of Grant's officers, Brigadier General John McClernand, initiated the battle on February 13 when he tried to capture a Rebel Battery along Fort Donelson's outer works. Although unsuccessful, this action probably convinced the Confederates that they faced a superior force, even though they actually outnumbered Grant.
Over the next three days, Grant tightened the noose around Fort Donelson by moving a flotilla up the Cumberland River to shell the fort from the east. On February 15, the Confederates tried to break out of the Yankee perimeter. An attack on the Union right flank and center sent the Federals back in retreat, but then Confederate General Gideon Pillow made a fatal miscalculation. Thinking he could win the battle, Pillow threw away the chance to retreat from Fort Donelson. Instead, he pressed the attack but the Union retreat halted. Now, Grant assaulted the Confederate right wing, which he correctly suspected had been weakened to mount the attack on the other end of the line.
The Confederates were surrounded, with their backs to the Cumberland River. They made an attempt to escape, but only about 5,000 troops got away. These included Colonel Nathan Bedford Forrest and 500 cavalrymen. Forrest later became a legendary leader in the west and his exploits over the next three years caused much aggravation to the Union army. When the Rebels asked for terms of surrender, Grant replied that no terms "except unconditional and immediate surrender" would be acceptable. This earned Ulysses S. Grant the nickname "Unconditional Surrender" Grant. The loss of Fort Henry and Fort Donelson were unmitigated disasters for the Confederates. Kentucky was lost and Tennessee lay wide open to the Yankees.
---------------------------------
Cold War
~1951 : Joseph Stalin attacks the United Nations~
In a statement focusing on the situation in Korea, Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin charges that the United Nations has become "a weapon of aggressive war." He also suggested that although a world war was not inevitable "at the present time," "warmongers" in the West might trigger such a conflict.
Stalin's comments in response to queries from the Soviet newspaper Pravda were his first public statements about the nearly year-old conflict in Korea, in which the United States, South Korea, and other member nations of the United Nations were arrayed against forces of North Korea and communist China. Coming just over two weeks after the U.N. General Assembly's resolution condemning China as an aggressor, Stalin's statement turned the tables by declaring that the United Nations was "burying its moral prestige and dooming itself to disintegration." He warned that Western "warmongers," through their aggressive posture in Korea, would "manage to entangle the popular masses in lies, deceive them, and drag them into a new world war." In any event, he confidently predicted that Chinese forces in Korea would be victorious because the armies opposing them lacked morale and dedication to the war.
Despite the rather blistering tone of Stalin's words, Western observers were not unduly alarmed. Stalin's attacks on Western "aggression" were familiar, and some officials in Washington took comfort in the premier's assertion that a world war was not inevitable "at the present time." Indeed, there was some feeling that Stalin's denouncement of the United Nations' actions was actually a veiled call for negotiations through the auspices of that body. Stalin's comments, and the intense scrutiny they were subjected to in the West, were more evidence that in the Cold War, the "war of words" was almost as significant as any actual fighting.
---------------------------------
Crime
~1894 : John Wesley Hardin is pardoned~
Infamous gunslinger John Wesley Hardin is pardoned after spending 15 years in a Texas prison for murder. Hardin, who was reputed to have shot and killed a man just for snoring, was 41 years old at the time of his release.
Hardin probably killed in excess of 40 people during a six-year stretch beginning in 1868. When he was only 15, Hardin killed an ex-slave in a fight, becoming a wanted fugitive. Two years later, he was arrested for murder in Waco, Texas. Although it was actually one of the few he had not committed, Hardin did not want to run the risk of being convicted and escaped to the town of Abilene.
At that time, Abilene was run by Wild Bill Hickok, who was friendly with Hardin. However, one night Hardin was disturbed by the snoring in an adjacent hotel room and fired two shots through the wall, killing the man. Fearing that not even Wild Bill would stand for such a senseless crime, Hardin moved on again.
On May 26, 1874, Hardin was celebrating his 21st birthday when he got into an altercation with a man who fired the first shot. Hardin fired back and killed the man. A few years later, Hardin was tracked down in Florida and brought to trial. Because it was one of the more defensible shootings on Hardin's record, he was spared the gallows and given a life sentence. After his pardon, he moved to El Paso and became an attorney. But his past caught up with him, and the following year he was shot in the back as revenge for one of his many murders.
.......continued in next post
Disaster
~1983 : Brush fires ravage South Australia~
Brush fires rage across South Australia on this day in 1983, burning thousands of acres, killing 75 people and injuring another 800. There were 24 major fires in total across the region, in addition to scores of smaller ones.
The summer of 1982-83 had been extremely hot and dry in South Australia. Drought conditions had resulted in dry brush and trees--perfect fuel for a fire--dominating the vast wilderness regions. Although fires in this region are not uncommon, the fires of February 1983 were unique because they threatened population centers.
Wind speeds on February 16 consistently reached 55 miles per hour, with gusts as high as 80 mph. The winds also shifted direction suddenly, making it difficult for the authorities to contain the fires, even with nearly 16,000 firefighters enlisted in the effort. In addition to the 75 people who lost their lives, approximately 350,000 farm animals were killed. The towns of Otway, Gambier and Geelong were hard hit.
Hundreds of homes burned and critical electric power lines were brought down all over South Australia. Finally, about 12 hours after most of the large fires began, the wind shifted and virtually halted the spread of the flames. This allowed firefighters to contain the blazes, and most were put out by the end of the following day.
---------------------------------
Old West
~1878 : Silver dollars made legal~
Strongly supported by western mining interests and farmers, the Bland-Allison Act-which provided for a return to the minting of silver coins--becomes the law of the land.
The strife and controversy surrounding the coinage of silver is difficult for most modern Americans to understand, but in the late 19th century it was a topic of keen political and economic interest. Today, the value of American money is essentially secured by faith in the stability of the government, but during the 19th century, money was generally backed by actual deposits of silver and gold, the so-called "bimetallic standard." The U.S. also minted both gold and silver coins.
In 1873, Congress decided to follow the lead of many European nations and cease buying silver and minting silver coins, because silver was relatively scarce and to simplify the monetary system. Exacerbated by a variety of other factors, this led to a financial panic. When the government stopped buying silver, prices naturally dropped, and many owners of primarily western silver mines were hurt. Likewise, farmers and others who carried substantial debt loads attacked the so-called "Crime of '73." They believed, somewhat simplistically, that it caused a tighter supply of money, which in turn made it more difficult for them to pay off their debts.
A nationwide drive to return to the bimetallic standard gripped the nation, and many Americans came to place a near mystical faith in the ability of silver to solve their economic difficulties. The leader of the fight to remonetize silver was the Missouri Congressman Richard Bland. Having worked in mining and having witnessed the struggles of small farmers, Bland became a fervent believer in the silver cause, earning him the nickname "Silver Dick."
With the backing of powerful western mining interests, Bland secured passage of the Bland-Allison Act, which became law on this day in 1878. Although the act did not provide for a return to the old policy of unlimited silver coinage, it did require the U.S. Treasury to resume purchasing silver and minting silver dollars as legal tender. Americans could once again use silver coins as legal tender, and this helped some struggling western mining operations. However, the act had little economic impact, and it failed to satisfy the more radical desires and dreams of the silver backers. The battle over the use of silver and gold continued to occupy Americans well into the 20th century.
---------------------------------
Presidential
~1786 : James Monroe marries Elizabeth Kortright
~
On this day in history, future President James Monroe weds a 17-year-old New York beauty named Elizabeth Kortright. The 26-year-old Monroe, already a famous revolutionary and practicing lawyer, married not for money, but for love. Elizabeth’s father, once a wealthy privateer, had lost most of his fortune during the Revolutionary War.
The Monroes settled in Virginia and promptly started a family. Elizabeth gave birth to two daughters, Eliza and Marie. A son, James, died in infancy. Elizabeth and the girls followed Monroe to Paris when President George Washington appointed him ambassador to France in 1794. There, he and Elizabeth became enthusiastic Francophiles. Elizabeth, with her sophisticated social graces, adapted easily to European society. The French aristocracy referred to her as “la belle americaine.”
The violent fallout of the French Revolution marred the Monroes’ sojourn in France. Members of the aristocracy whom the Monroes befriended were increasingly falling prey to the rebels’ guillotine. In 1795, Elizabeth succeeded in obtaining the prison release of the wife of the Marquis de Lafayette, the dashing Frenchman who had served on Washington’s staff during the American Revolution.
When Monroe’s term as ambassador ended in 1796, he brought his family back to America and settled on the Oak Hill plantation in Virginia. For the next 15 years, he shuttled his family between stints in Virginia political office and the occasional foreign appointment. In 1811, Monroe accepted President James Madison’s offer to serve as U.S. secretary of state. Six years later, Monroe himself was elected president.
During their first year in Washington, the Monroes lived in temporary lodgings until the White House, which had been destroyed by the British during the War of 1812, was repaired. As first lady, Elizabeth, usually a very social creature, deferred to her husband’s wishes to minimize White House social events. He and Elizabeth both deplored the opulent displays of the previous first lady, Dolley Madison, preferring more private, stately affairs modeled after European society. The White House social life was also curtailed by Elizabeth’s declining health. Washingtonians, however, mistook the lack of White House social events for snobbery.
Elizabeth died in 1830, only five years after Monroe left the presidency. According to family lore, Monroe, in his grief, burned 40 years’ worth of their intimate correspondence.
.......continued in next post
~1983 : Brush fires ravage South Australia~
Brush fires rage across South Australia on this day in 1983, burning thousands of acres, killing 75 people and injuring another 800. There were 24 major fires in total across the region, in addition to scores of smaller ones.
The summer of 1982-83 had been extremely hot and dry in South Australia. Drought conditions had resulted in dry brush and trees--perfect fuel for a fire--dominating the vast wilderness regions. Although fires in this region are not uncommon, the fires of February 1983 were unique because they threatened population centers.
Wind speeds on February 16 consistently reached 55 miles per hour, with gusts as high as 80 mph. The winds also shifted direction suddenly, making it difficult for the authorities to contain the fires, even with nearly 16,000 firefighters enlisted in the effort. In addition to the 75 people who lost their lives, approximately 350,000 farm animals were killed. The towns of Otway, Gambier and Geelong were hard hit.
Hundreds of homes burned and critical electric power lines were brought down all over South Australia. Finally, about 12 hours after most of the large fires began, the wind shifted and virtually halted the spread of the flames. This allowed firefighters to contain the blazes, and most were put out by the end of the following day.
---------------------------------
Old West
~1878 : Silver dollars made legal~
Strongly supported by western mining interests and farmers, the Bland-Allison Act-which provided for a return to the minting of silver coins--becomes the law of the land.
The strife and controversy surrounding the coinage of silver is difficult for most modern Americans to understand, but in the late 19th century it was a topic of keen political and economic interest. Today, the value of American money is essentially secured by faith in the stability of the government, but during the 19th century, money was generally backed by actual deposits of silver and gold, the so-called "bimetallic standard." The U.S. also minted both gold and silver coins.
In 1873, Congress decided to follow the lead of many European nations and cease buying silver and minting silver coins, because silver was relatively scarce and to simplify the monetary system. Exacerbated by a variety of other factors, this led to a financial panic. When the government stopped buying silver, prices naturally dropped, and many owners of primarily western silver mines were hurt. Likewise, farmers and others who carried substantial debt loads attacked the so-called "Crime of '73." They believed, somewhat simplistically, that it caused a tighter supply of money, which in turn made it more difficult for them to pay off their debts.
A nationwide drive to return to the bimetallic standard gripped the nation, and many Americans came to place a near mystical faith in the ability of silver to solve their economic difficulties. The leader of the fight to remonetize silver was the Missouri Congressman Richard Bland. Having worked in mining and having witnessed the struggles of small farmers, Bland became a fervent believer in the silver cause, earning him the nickname "Silver Dick."
With the backing of powerful western mining interests, Bland secured passage of the Bland-Allison Act, which became law on this day in 1878. Although the act did not provide for a return to the old policy of unlimited silver coinage, it did require the U.S. Treasury to resume purchasing silver and minting silver dollars as legal tender. Americans could once again use silver coins as legal tender, and this helped some struggling western mining operations. However, the act had little economic impact, and it failed to satisfy the more radical desires and dreams of the silver backers. The battle over the use of silver and gold continued to occupy Americans well into the 20th century.
---------------------------------
Presidential
~1786 : James Monroe marries Elizabeth Kortright
~
On this day in history, future President James Monroe weds a 17-year-old New York beauty named Elizabeth Kortright. The 26-year-old Monroe, already a famous revolutionary and practicing lawyer, married not for money, but for love. Elizabeth’s father, once a wealthy privateer, had lost most of his fortune during the Revolutionary War.
The Monroes settled in Virginia and promptly started a family. Elizabeth gave birth to two daughters, Eliza and Marie. A son, James, died in infancy. Elizabeth and the girls followed Monroe to Paris when President George Washington appointed him ambassador to France in 1794. There, he and Elizabeth became enthusiastic Francophiles. Elizabeth, with her sophisticated social graces, adapted easily to European society. The French aristocracy referred to her as “la belle americaine.”
The violent fallout of the French Revolution marred the Monroes’ sojourn in France. Members of the aristocracy whom the Monroes befriended were increasingly falling prey to the rebels’ guillotine. In 1795, Elizabeth succeeded in obtaining the prison release of the wife of the Marquis de Lafayette, the dashing Frenchman who had served on Washington’s staff during the American Revolution.
When Monroe’s term as ambassador ended in 1796, he brought his family back to America and settled on the Oak Hill plantation in Virginia. For the next 15 years, he shuttled his family between stints in Virginia political office and the occasional foreign appointment. In 1811, Monroe accepted President James Madison’s offer to serve as U.S. secretary of state. Six years later, Monroe himself was elected president.
During their first year in Washington, the Monroes lived in temporary lodgings until the White House, which had been destroyed by the British during the War of 1812, was repaired. As first lady, Elizabeth, usually a very social creature, deferred to her husband’s wishes to minimize White House social events. He and Elizabeth both deplored the opulent displays of the previous first lady, Dolley Madison, preferring more private, stately affairs modeled after European society. The White House social life was also curtailed by Elizabeth’s declining health. Washingtonians, however, mistook the lack of White House social events for snobbery.
Elizabeth died in 1830, only five years after Monroe left the presidency. According to family lore, Monroe, in his grief, burned 40 years’ worth of their intimate correspondence.
.......continued in next post
Vietnam War
~1968 : Tet Offensive results in many new refugees~
U.S. officials report that, in addition to the 800,000 people listed as refugees prior to January 30, the fighting during the Tet Offensive has created 350,000 new refugees.
The communist attack known as the Tet Offensive had begun at dawn on January 31, the first day of the Tet holiday truce. Viet Cong forces, supported by large numbers of North Vietnamese troops, launched the largest and best-coordinated offensive of the war, driving into the centers of South Vietnam's seven largest cities and attacking 30 provincial capitals ranging from the Delta to the DMZ.
Among the cities taken during the first four days of the offensive were Hue, Dalat, Kontum, and Quang Tri; in the north, all five provincial capitals were overrun. At the same time, enemy forces shelled numerous Allied airfields and bases. In Saigon, a 19-man Viet Cong suicide squad seized the U.S. Embassy and held it for six hours until an assault force of U.S. paratroopers landed by helicopter on the building's roof and routed them. Nearly 1,000 Viet Cong were believed to have infiltrated Saigon and it required a week of intense fighting by an estimated 11,000 U.S. and South Vietnamese troops to dislodge them. By February 10, the offensive was largely crushed, but with a cost of heavy casualties on both sides.
Militarily, Tet was decidedly an Allied victory, but psychologically and politically, it was a disaster. The offensive was a crushing military defeat for the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese, but the size and scope of the communist attacks had caught the American and South Vietnamese allies completely by surprise. The early reporting of a smashing communist victory went largely uncorrected in the media and led to a psychological victory for the communists. The heavy U.S. and South Vietnamese casualties incurred during the offensive--and the disillusionment over the early, overly optimistic reports of progress in the war--accelerated the growing disenchantment with President Lyndon B. Johnson's conduct of the war.
---------------------------------
Wall Street
~1938 : Roosevelt signs new Agricultural Adjustment Act~
Though the Supreme Court declared the controversial Agricultural Adjustment Act (passed in 1933) unconstitutional in 1936, legislators soon drafted another bill aimed at offering relief to U.S. farmers. And, on this day in 1938, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the new version of the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA). The newly minted bill was designed to fulfill Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace's call for an "ever-normal granary" and thus was packed with measures intended to steady agriculture prices, as well as farmers' earnings. Along with meting out limits on planting, as well as crop sales, the legislation provided for the stockpiling of agricultural surpluses. The AAA also established the Federal Crop Insurance Corp., which offered insurance to wheat farmers in case of damage caused by "unavoidable natural causes."
---------------------------------
World War I
~1916 : Russians capture Erzerum~
After five days of intense fighting, the Russian army defeats the Third Turkish Army to capture Erzerum, a largely Armenian city in the Ottoman province of Anatolia, on this day in 1916.
The Central Powers considered Turkey, which entered World War I in November 1914, a valuable ally for two reasons: first, it could threaten British interests in the Middle East, and second, it could divert Russian troops from the front in Europe to the Caucasus. Unfortunately for the Turks, the success of this second objective resulted in the loss of the Turkish province of eastern Anatolia to the Russians in 1916.
The brilliant Russian campaign of February 1916 was commanded by General Nikolai Yudenich, one of the most successful and distinguished Russian commanders of the war. On February 11, the Russian troops began their attack on Erzerum from the south, over Kop Mountain. Once the Russian forces broke through the Turkish lines to the south and began to attack other Turkish positions, the fall of Erzerum seemed inevitable. The Third Turkish Army began abandoning their equipment and retreating from their positions as the Russians entered the city. In total, the Russians captured more than 1,000 guns and artillery and took some 10,000 Turkish prisoners.
With the capture of Erzerum, arguably the strongest and most important fortress in the Turkish empire, the Russians had gained the upper hand in the battle for control on the Caucasus front. With this one victory, the Russians captured or controlled all the roads leading to Mesopotamia and Tabriz and, in essence, controlled western Armenia.
In the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917 and the subsequent armistice between Russia and the Central Powers, Erzerum was returned to Turkish control. The transfer of power was made official under the terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918.
.......continued in next post
~1968 : Tet Offensive results in many new refugees~
U.S. officials report that, in addition to the 800,000 people listed as refugees prior to January 30, the fighting during the Tet Offensive has created 350,000 new refugees.
The communist attack known as the Tet Offensive had begun at dawn on January 31, the first day of the Tet holiday truce. Viet Cong forces, supported by large numbers of North Vietnamese troops, launched the largest and best-coordinated offensive of the war, driving into the centers of South Vietnam's seven largest cities and attacking 30 provincial capitals ranging from the Delta to the DMZ.
Among the cities taken during the first four days of the offensive were Hue, Dalat, Kontum, and Quang Tri; in the north, all five provincial capitals were overrun. At the same time, enemy forces shelled numerous Allied airfields and bases. In Saigon, a 19-man Viet Cong suicide squad seized the U.S. Embassy and held it for six hours until an assault force of U.S. paratroopers landed by helicopter on the building's roof and routed them. Nearly 1,000 Viet Cong were believed to have infiltrated Saigon and it required a week of intense fighting by an estimated 11,000 U.S. and South Vietnamese troops to dislodge them. By February 10, the offensive was largely crushed, but with a cost of heavy casualties on both sides.
Militarily, Tet was decidedly an Allied victory, but psychologically and politically, it was a disaster. The offensive was a crushing military defeat for the Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese, but the size and scope of the communist attacks had caught the American and South Vietnamese allies completely by surprise. The early reporting of a smashing communist victory went largely uncorrected in the media and led to a psychological victory for the communists. The heavy U.S. and South Vietnamese casualties incurred during the offensive--and the disillusionment over the early, overly optimistic reports of progress in the war--accelerated the growing disenchantment with President Lyndon B. Johnson's conduct of the war.
---------------------------------
Wall Street
~1938 : Roosevelt signs new Agricultural Adjustment Act~
Though the Supreme Court declared the controversial Agricultural Adjustment Act (passed in 1933) unconstitutional in 1936, legislators soon drafted another bill aimed at offering relief to U.S. farmers. And, on this day in 1938, President Franklin Roosevelt signed the new version of the Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA). The newly minted bill was designed to fulfill Secretary of Agriculture Henry Wallace's call for an "ever-normal granary" and thus was packed with measures intended to steady agriculture prices, as well as farmers' earnings. Along with meting out limits on planting, as well as crop sales, the legislation provided for the stockpiling of agricultural surpluses. The AAA also established the Federal Crop Insurance Corp., which offered insurance to wheat farmers in case of damage caused by "unavoidable natural causes."
---------------------------------
World War I
~1916 : Russians capture Erzerum~
After five days of intense fighting, the Russian army defeats the Third Turkish Army to capture Erzerum, a largely Armenian city in the Ottoman province of Anatolia, on this day in 1916.
The Central Powers considered Turkey, which entered World War I in November 1914, a valuable ally for two reasons: first, it could threaten British interests in the Middle East, and second, it could divert Russian troops from the front in Europe to the Caucasus. Unfortunately for the Turks, the success of this second objective resulted in the loss of the Turkish province of eastern Anatolia to the Russians in 1916.
The brilliant Russian campaign of February 1916 was commanded by General Nikolai Yudenich, one of the most successful and distinguished Russian commanders of the war. On February 11, the Russian troops began their attack on Erzerum from the south, over Kop Mountain. Once the Russian forces broke through the Turkish lines to the south and began to attack other Turkish positions, the fall of Erzerum seemed inevitable. The Third Turkish Army began abandoning their equipment and retreating from their positions as the Russians entered the city. In total, the Russians captured more than 1,000 guns and artillery and took some 10,000 Turkish prisoners.
With the capture of Erzerum, arguably the strongest and most important fortress in the Turkish empire, the Russians had gained the upper hand in the battle for control on the Caucasus front. With this one victory, the Russians captured or controlled all the roads leading to Mesopotamia and Tabriz and, in essence, controlled western Armenia.
In the wake of the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917 and the subsequent armistice between Russia and the Central Powers, Erzerum was returned to Turkish control. The transfer of power was made official under the terms of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in March 1918.
.......continued in next post
World War II
~1945 : Bataan recaptured~
On this day, the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines is occupied by American troops, almost three years after the devastating and infamous Bataan Death March.
On April 3, 1942, the Japanese infantry staged a major offensive against Allied troops in Bataan, the peninsula guarding Manila Bay of the Philippine Islands. The invasion of the Japanese 14th Army, led by Gen. Masaharu Homma, had already forced Gen. Douglas MacArthur's troops from Manila, the Philippine capital, into Bataan. By March, after MacArthur had left for Australia on President Roosevelt's orders and was replaced by Maj. Gen. Edward P. King Jr., the American Luzon Force and its Filipino allies were half-starved and suffering from malnutrition, malaria, beriberi, dysentery, and hookworm.
Homma, helped by reinforcements and an increase in artillery and aircraft activity, took advantage of the U.S. and Filipinos' weakened condition to launch another major offensive, which resulted in Admiral King's surrender on April 9. The largest contingent of U.S. soldiers ever to surrender was taken captive by the Japanese. The prisoners, both Filipino and American, were at once led 55 miles from Mariveles, on the southern end of the Bataan Peninsula, to San Fernando. The torturous journey became known as the "Bataan Death March." At least 600 Americans and 5,000 Filipinos died because of the extreme brutality of their captors, who starved, beat, kicked, and bayoneted those too weak to walk. Survivors were taken by rail from San Fernando to prisoner of war camps, where another 16,000 Filipinos and at least 1,000 Americans died from disease, mistreatment, and starvation.
America avenged its defeat in the Philippines generally, and Bataan specifically, with the invasion of Leyte Island in October 1944. General MacArthur, who in 1942 had famously promised to return to the Philippines, made good on his word. With the help of the U.S. Navy, which succeeded in destroying the Japanese fleet and left Japanese garrisons on the Philippine Islands without reinforcements, the Army defeated adamantine Japanese resistance. In January 1945, MacArthur was given control of all American land forces in the Pacific. On January 9, 1945, U.S. forces sealed off the Bataan Peninsula in the north; on February 16, the 8th Army occupied the southern tip of Bataan, as MacArthur drew closer to Manila and the complete recapture of the Philippines.
bbbbb...AAAAAHHH... THAT'S ALL FOLKS!
~1945 : Bataan recaptured~
On this day, the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines is occupied by American troops, almost three years after the devastating and infamous Bataan Death March.
On April 3, 1942, the Japanese infantry staged a major offensive against Allied troops in Bataan, the peninsula guarding Manila Bay of the Philippine Islands. The invasion of the Japanese 14th Army, led by Gen. Masaharu Homma, had already forced Gen. Douglas MacArthur's troops from Manila, the Philippine capital, into Bataan. By March, after MacArthur had left for Australia on President Roosevelt's orders and was replaced by Maj. Gen. Edward P. King Jr., the American Luzon Force and its Filipino allies were half-starved and suffering from malnutrition, malaria, beriberi, dysentery, and hookworm.
Homma, helped by reinforcements and an increase in artillery and aircraft activity, took advantage of the U.S. and Filipinos' weakened condition to launch another major offensive, which resulted in Admiral King's surrender on April 9. The largest contingent of U.S. soldiers ever to surrender was taken captive by the Japanese. The prisoners, both Filipino and American, were at once led 55 miles from Mariveles, on the southern end of the Bataan Peninsula, to San Fernando. The torturous journey became known as the "Bataan Death March." At least 600 Americans and 5,000 Filipinos died because of the extreme brutality of their captors, who starved, beat, kicked, and bayoneted those too weak to walk. Survivors were taken by rail from San Fernando to prisoner of war camps, where another 16,000 Filipinos and at least 1,000 Americans died from disease, mistreatment, and starvation.
America avenged its defeat in the Philippines generally, and Bataan specifically, with the invasion of Leyte Island in October 1944. General MacArthur, who in 1942 had famously promised to return to the Philippines, made good on his word. With the help of the U.S. Navy, which succeeded in destroying the Japanese fleet and left Japanese garrisons on the Philippine Islands without reinforcements, the Army defeated adamantine Japanese resistance. In January 1945, MacArthur was given control of all American land forces in the Pacific. On January 9, 1945, U.S. forces sealed off the Bataan Peninsula in the north; on February 16, the 8th Army occupied the southern tip of Bataan, as MacArthur drew closer to Manila and the complete recapture of the Philippines.
bbbbb...AAAAAHHH... THAT'S ALL FOLKS!
Birthdays on February 16
1075 Ordericus Vitalis French monk/historian/poet
1497 Philipp Melanchthon Germany, Protestant reformer (Augsburgse Confessie)
1514 Rhäticus [Rheticus] Austrian astronomer/mathematician
1519 Gaspard de Coligny Huguenot leader/French Admiral
1620 Frederick William Great Elector, founder of Brandenburg-Prussia
1669 Arnold Boonen Dutch portrait painter
1684 Bohuslav Matej Czernohorsky Czechoslovakian monk/composer
1698 Pierre Bouguer French mathematician (heliometer)
1709 Charles Avison composer
1740 Giambattista Bodoni Saluzzo Italy, printer/typeface designer
1746 Johann Heinse German Sturm und Drang novelist/art critic
1774 Pierre Rode composer
1787 Andreas Schelfhout Dutch painter/etcher/lithographer
1788 Juan van Halen Dutch/Spanish officer/adventurer
1790 Chretien Urhan composer
1807 Lysander Cutler Brevet Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1866
1812 Henry Wilson ® 18th Vice-President (1873-75)
1813 Joseph Reid Anderson Brigadier General (Confederate Army) died in 1892
1813 Semyon Stepanovich Gulak-Artemovsky composer
1821 Heinrich Barth Hamburg Germany, geographer/explorer (Central Africa)
1822 Francis Galton Birmingham England, anthropologist & geneticist
1822 James Patton Anderson Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1872
1823 Brigadier General John D Imboden organized 1st Virginia Partisan Rangers
1826 Franz von Holstein composer
1826 Joseph V von Scheffel German writer (Gaudeamus)
1831 Nikolai Leskow writer
1832 Camille Armand Jules Marie de Polignac Major General (Confederate Army)
1834 Ernst Heinrich Haeckel Potsdam Germany, biologist (Causes of Evolution)
1836 Benjamin Edward Woolf Dutch composer
1838 Arnoldus Pannevis South African ship's doctor/linguist
1838 Henry Adams Boston MA, US historian, writer (Education of Henry Adams)
1847 Ludwig Philipp Scharwenka German composer (Album polonaise)
1848 Hugo de Vries Dutch botanist (How species emerge)
1850 Octave Mirbeau France, writer (Journal of a Lady's Maid)
1852 Charles Taze Russell founded Jehovah's Witnesses
1852 William Scarborough Macon GA, linguist/author (Birds of Aristophanes)
1854 Oscar Fetras composer
1856 Willem Kes Dutch violinist/composer/conductor (Parkorkest Amsterdam)
1858 Laurence "Lon" Myers US, track star (top US miler)
1866 William "Sliding Billy" Hamilton New Jersey, hall of fame baseball player
1866 Johann Strauss Austria, composer (Waltz King)
1866 Vyacheslav I Ivanov Russian philosopher/classical/poet
1868 Wilhelm Schmidt German anthropologist/linguist (Anthropos)
1876 George Macauley Trevelyan England, historian (Giuseppe Garibaldi)
1878 Selim Palmgren Finnish pianist/composer/conductor (Peter Schlemihl)
1881 Maurits H E Uyldert Dutch poet/writer (Youth of a Poet)
1884 Robert Flaherty Michigan, father of documentary film (Nanook of the North)
1886 Van Wyck Brooks New Jersey, literary historian/writer (Ordeal of Mark Twain)
1886 Andrew Ducat cricketer (Test for England 1921 (3 & 2) Soccer International)
1890 Semyon Semyonovich Bogatiryov composer
1893 Ivor Armstrong Richards England, literary critic
1896 Alexander Brailowsky Russia, pianist (Chopin)
1896 Charles A L Panzéra French baritone (L'horizon Chimérique)
1898 Katharine Cornell actress (Barretts of Wimpole St)
1900 Albert Maurice Hackett playwright/screenwriter
1901 Chester Morris New York NY, actor (Diagnosis Unknown)
1901 Wayne King Savannah IL, saxophonist/bandleader (the Waltz King)
1903 Edgar Bergen Chicago IL, ventriloquist (Charlie McCarthy)
1904 Ellis Achong cricketer (West Indian SLA, 8 wickets in 6 Tests)
1904 George F Kennan Milwaukee WI, US ambassador (to Moscow)
1905 Jose Munoz Molleda composer
1905 Lord Franks British ambassador (to US)
1906 Vera Menchik Moscow, 1st official women's world chess champion (1927)
1906 Jeffrey Lynn actor (Tony Rome, Butterfield 8, Up Front)
1907 Anghélos Terzakis Greece, writer (Without God)
1907 Fernando Previtali composer
1907 Henri van Albada Belgian sculptor (Charles V)
1909 Hugh Beaumont Lawrence KS, actor (Ward Cleaver-Leave it to Beaver)
1909 Jeffrey Lynn Auburn MA, actor (My Son Jeep, The Roaring Twenties)
1910 Michael Milne-Watson CEO (BUPA)
1910 Miguel Bernal Jiminez composer
1911 Hal Porter Australia, writer (Tilted Cross, Paper Chase)
1912 Del Sharbutt Cleburne TX, TV announcer (Your Hit Parade)
1912 Arthur Crook British editor (Times Literary Supplement)
1912 Bob Tadema Sporry Dutch (female) author
1912 Machito "Frank Grillo" Florida, bandleader (created salsa music)
1912 Maitland Mackie Lord Lieutenant (Aberdeenshire)
1914 Jimmy Wakely Mineola AR, country singer (5 Star Jubilee)
1914 J Tobin British anaesthetist
1916 William Ballard Doggett jazz musician
1918 Károly earl Khuen-Héderváry Hungarian Governor/premier (1910-12)
1920 Lee Russell Cleveland OH, singer (Vincent Lopez)
1920 Patty Andrews Minneapolis MN, singer (Andrews Sisters)
1920 Hubert van Herreweghen Flemish writer/journalist
1921 Jean Behra auto racer
1922 Geraint Evans British opera vocalist (Knaben Wunderhorn)
1922 Paul van't Veer Dutch journalist/writer (Het Vrije Volk)
1924 James Swaffield Director-General (Swaffield & Clerk to the GLC)
1924 Peter Webster British High Court Judge
1925 David Emms director (London Goodenough Trust for Overseas Graduates)
1925 Per Bailey director (Gatwick & Stansted Airports)
1926 John Schlesinger London England, film director (Midnight Cowboy, Darling)
1926 Jack Levy mechanical engineer
1926 Vera-Ellen [Westmeyr Rohe], Cincinnati OH, actress/dancer (Wonder Man)
1929 Peter Porter Australian/British author/poet (Chair of Babel)
1930 Peggy King Greensburg PA, singer/actress (George Gobel Show)
1930 F G R Cuming painter
1930 Ricou Browning Florida, director/actor (Thunderball)
1931 A Kolleritsch writer
1931 Gamini Goonesena cricket leg-spinner (all-rounder for Ceylon, Notts)
1931 George E Sangmeister (Representative-D-IL)
1931 Ken Takakura [Goichi Oda], Kita Japan, actor (A Story of the Antarctic)
1932 Gretchen Wyler Bartlesville OK, actress (Silk Stockings)
1932 A Appelfeld writer
1932 Nand Baert Belgian radio/TV-host
1932 Otis Blackwell composer/singer
1934 Austin "Ted" Taylor US gospel/R&B-singer (Be Ever Wonderful)
1934 Marlene Bauer Hagge Eureka SD, LPGA golfer (1950 Woman Athlete of the Year)
1935 Brian Bedford England, actor (Anthony-Coronet Blue)
1935 Sonny Bono Detroit MI, singer (Sonny & Cher, Mayor-R-Palm Springs CA)
1935 Robin Clark chemist (FRS)
1937 Paul Bailey novelist
1937 Valentin Vasilyevich Bondarenko cosmonaut
1938 Barry Primus New York NY, actor (Sergeant McKenna-Cagney & Lacey, Boxcar Bertha)
1938 John Corigliano New York NY, composer (Fern Hill, Ghosts of Versailles)
1939 David Griffiths portrait painter
1939 Harold Kalin singer
1940 Karoli Ruth Needles painter
1941 Vitali Kuznetsov USSR, judo (Olympics-silver-1972)
1942 Gabriel Brncic composer
1942 Kim Chong-Il [Yura], President of North-Korea (1994- )
1943 Anthony Dowell London, ballet dancer (Royal Ballet)
1943 J D Moore headmaster (St Dunstan's College)
1943 James Beaton British GC
1944 Richard Ford US author (Sportswriter)
1946 Aleksandr Shaparenko USSR, 1K kayak (Olympics-gold-1972)
1946 Ian Lavender British actor (Stupid Boy in Dad's Army)
1946 J R Farndon British consultant surgeon
1949 Dorus Vrede Surinam poet (Otobanda; the Other Bank)
1950 William Katt Los Angeles CA, actor (Greatest American Hero, 1st Love)
1950 Peter Hain British MP
1953 George Martin NFL defensive back (New York Giants)
1953 Andre St Lauren NHLer
1953 Mike Ford New York NY, Canadian Tour golfer (1976 Port Jefferson Open)
1954 David Lombardo rocker
1954 Iain [Menzies] Banks UK, sci-fi author (Wasp Factory)
1954 Michael Holding cricket fast bowler (Whispering Death-Awesome for West Indies)
1955 Guy Gallo New Orleans LA, writer (Under the Volcano)
1955 Jeff Clayton US jazz saxophonist/composer (Groove Shop)
1956 James Ingram singer (On the Wings of Love)
1957 LeVar Burton Landstuhl Germany, (Roots, Star Trek Next Generation)
1958 Lisa Loring actress (As the World Turns, Wednesday-Addams Family)
1958 Herb Williams NBA center (Toronto Raptors, New York Knicks)
1958 Ice-T rap singer/actor (New Jack City, Tank Girl, Crazy Six)
1958 John Paul Morse Marshall MI, PGA golfer (1995 United Airlines)
1959 John P McEnroe tennis player (US Open 1979-81, 84 Wimbledon 1981, 83, 84)
1959 Kelly Tripuka Glenn Ridge NJ, NBA forward (Detroit Pistons, Utah Jazz)
1961 Andy Taylor Dolver-Hampton England, rock guitarist (Duran Duran-Hungry Like the Wolf)
1962 Alexa Kenin New York NY, actress (Mousie-Coed Fever)
1962 Tony Kiley rocker (Blow Monkeys-Wicked Ways)
1964 Mark Price NBA guard (Cleveland Caveliers)
1966 Eric Uptagrafft Spokane WA, prone rifle (Olympics-1996)
1967 Robert Massey NFL cornerback (Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions)
1968 Cecil Gray NFL tackle (Arizona Cardinals)
1968 Erik Regtop Dutch soccer player (SC Heerenveen)
1969 Claude Lambert Montréal Québec Canada, boxer (Olympics-96)
1969 Fermin Cacho Barcelona Spain, 1500 meter (Olympics-2 gold-92, 96)
1969 Tim Costo US baseball infielder (Cincinnati Reds)
1970 Saskia Linssen Venlo Holland, playmate (June 1991)
1971 Anthony Abrams NFL defensive tackle (Kansas City Chiefs)
1971 Chi Kredell Long Beach CA, water polo driver (Olympics-96)
1971 Larry Jones NFL running back (Washington Redskins)
1971 Marco Sas Dutch soccer player (NAC)
1971 Mike Hubbard Lynchburg VA, catcher (Chicago Cubs)
1971 Shivanthini Dharmasiri Miss Sri Lanka-Universe (1996)
1971 Van Tuinei defensive end (San Diego Chargers)
1972 Jerome Bettis running back (Pittsburgh Steelers)
1973 Cathy Freeman Mackay Australia, 100 meter/200 meter/400 meter (Olympics-silver-92, 96)
1973 James Young Australian water polo player (Olympics-96)
1974 Kimberly Dawn Whipany Oklahoma, rocker (PC Quest-Can You See)
1974 Jevon Langford defensive end (Cincinnati Bengals)
1974 Kathy McCormack ice hockey forward (Canada, Olympics-silver-98)
1975 Casey Barrett Montréal Québec Canada, 200 meter Butterfly (Olympics-96)
1975 Marty Murray Deloraine, NHL center (Calgary Flames)
1977 Alexei Morozov NHL forward (Team Russia Olympics-silver-1998, Pittsburgh)
1977 Trina Jackson 4X200 meter freestyle swimmer (Olympics-gold-96)
1978 Caroline Hunt Chicago IL, rhythmic gymnast (US team-96)
1979 Emma Louise DeSilets Miss Washington Teen-USA (1997)
1985 Larry Ward actor (Frank Ragan-Dakotas), dies at 69
1998 Mr Jefferson Virginia, 1st cloned calf
2335 Geordi La Forge character on Star Trek Next Generation
1075 Ordericus Vitalis French monk/historian/poet
1497 Philipp Melanchthon Germany, Protestant reformer (Augsburgse Confessie)
1514 Rhäticus [Rheticus] Austrian astronomer/mathematician
1519 Gaspard de Coligny Huguenot leader/French Admiral
1620 Frederick William Great Elector, founder of Brandenburg-Prussia
1669 Arnold Boonen Dutch portrait painter
1684 Bohuslav Matej Czernohorsky Czechoslovakian monk/composer
1698 Pierre Bouguer French mathematician (heliometer)
1709 Charles Avison composer
1740 Giambattista Bodoni Saluzzo Italy, printer/typeface designer
1746 Johann Heinse German Sturm und Drang novelist/art critic
1774 Pierre Rode composer
1787 Andreas Schelfhout Dutch painter/etcher/lithographer
1788 Juan van Halen Dutch/Spanish officer/adventurer
1790 Chretien Urhan composer
1807 Lysander Cutler Brevet Major General (Union volunteers), died in 1866
1812 Henry Wilson ® 18th Vice-President (1873-75)
1813 Joseph Reid Anderson Brigadier General (Confederate Army) died in 1892
1813 Semyon Stepanovich Gulak-Artemovsky composer
1821 Heinrich Barth Hamburg Germany, geographer/explorer (Central Africa)
1822 Francis Galton Birmingham England, anthropologist & geneticist
1822 James Patton Anderson Major General (Confederate Army), died in 1872
1823 Brigadier General John D Imboden organized 1st Virginia Partisan Rangers
1826 Franz von Holstein composer
1826 Joseph V von Scheffel German writer (Gaudeamus)
1831 Nikolai Leskow writer
1832 Camille Armand Jules Marie de Polignac Major General (Confederate Army)
1834 Ernst Heinrich Haeckel Potsdam Germany, biologist (Causes of Evolution)
1836 Benjamin Edward Woolf Dutch composer
1838 Arnoldus Pannevis South African ship's doctor/linguist
1838 Henry Adams Boston MA, US historian, writer (Education of Henry Adams)
1847 Ludwig Philipp Scharwenka German composer (Album polonaise)
1848 Hugo de Vries Dutch botanist (How species emerge)
1850 Octave Mirbeau France, writer (Journal of a Lady's Maid)
1852 Charles Taze Russell founded Jehovah's Witnesses
1852 William Scarborough Macon GA, linguist/author (Birds of Aristophanes)
1854 Oscar Fetras composer
1856 Willem Kes Dutch violinist/composer/conductor (Parkorkest Amsterdam)
1858 Laurence "Lon" Myers US, track star (top US miler)
1866 William "Sliding Billy" Hamilton New Jersey, hall of fame baseball player
1866 Johann Strauss Austria, composer (Waltz King)
1866 Vyacheslav I Ivanov Russian philosopher/classical/poet
1868 Wilhelm Schmidt German anthropologist/linguist (Anthropos)
1876 George Macauley Trevelyan England, historian (Giuseppe Garibaldi)
1878 Selim Palmgren Finnish pianist/composer/conductor (Peter Schlemihl)
1881 Maurits H E Uyldert Dutch poet/writer (Youth of a Poet)
1884 Robert Flaherty Michigan, father of documentary film (Nanook of the North)
1886 Van Wyck Brooks New Jersey, literary historian/writer (Ordeal of Mark Twain)
1886 Andrew Ducat cricketer (Test for England 1921 (3 & 2) Soccer International)
1890 Semyon Semyonovich Bogatiryov composer
1893 Ivor Armstrong Richards England, literary critic
1896 Alexander Brailowsky Russia, pianist (Chopin)
1896 Charles A L Panzéra French baritone (L'horizon Chimérique)
1898 Katharine Cornell actress (Barretts of Wimpole St)
1900 Albert Maurice Hackett playwright/screenwriter
1901 Chester Morris New York NY, actor (Diagnosis Unknown)
1901 Wayne King Savannah IL, saxophonist/bandleader (the Waltz King)
1903 Edgar Bergen Chicago IL, ventriloquist (Charlie McCarthy)
1904 Ellis Achong cricketer (West Indian SLA, 8 wickets in 6 Tests)
1904 George F Kennan Milwaukee WI, US ambassador (to Moscow)
1905 Jose Munoz Molleda composer
1905 Lord Franks British ambassador (to US)
1906 Vera Menchik Moscow, 1st official women's world chess champion (1927)
1906 Jeffrey Lynn actor (Tony Rome, Butterfield 8, Up Front)
1907 Anghélos Terzakis Greece, writer (Without God)
1907 Fernando Previtali composer
1907 Henri van Albada Belgian sculptor (Charles V)
1909 Hugh Beaumont Lawrence KS, actor (Ward Cleaver-Leave it to Beaver)
1909 Jeffrey Lynn Auburn MA, actor (My Son Jeep, The Roaring Twenties)
1910 Michael Milne-Watson CEO (BUPA)
1910 Miguel Bernal Jiminez composer
1911 Hal Porter Australia, writer (Tilted Cross, Paper Chase)
1912 Del Sharbutt Cleburne TX, TV announcer (Your Hit Parade)
1912 Arthur Crook British editor (Times Literary Supplement)
1912 Bob Tadema Sporry Dutch (female) author
1912 Machito "Frank Grillo" Florida, bandleader (created salsa music)
1912 Maitland Mackie Lord Lieutenant (Aberdeenshire)
1914 Jimmy Wakely Mineola AR, country singer (5 Star Jubilee)
1914 J Tobin British anaesthetist
1916 William Ballard Doggett jazz musician
1918 Károly earl Khuen-Héderváry Hungarian Governor/premier (1910-12)
1920 Lee Russell Cleveland OH, singer (Vincent Lopez)
1920 Patty Andrews Minneapolis MN, singer (Andrews Sisters)
1920 Hubert van Herreweghen Flemish writer/journalist
1921 Jean Behra auto racer
1922 Geraint Evans British opera vocalist (Knaben Wunderhorn)
1922 Paul van't Veer Dutch journalist/writer (Het Vrije Volk)
1924 James Swaffield Director-General (Swaffield & Clerk to the GLC)
1924 Peter Webster British High Court Judge
1925 David Emms director (London Goodenough Trust for Overseas Graduates)
1925 Per Bailey director (Gatwick & Stansted Airports)
1926 John Schlesinger London England, film director (Midnight Cowboy, Darling)
1926 Jack Levy mechanical engineer
1926 Vera-Ellen [Westmeyr Rohe], Cincinnati OH, actress/dancer (Wonder Man)
1929 Peter Porter Australian/British author/poet (Chair of Babel)
1930 Peggy King Greensburg PA, singer/actress (George Gobel Show)
1930 F G R Cuming painter
1930 Ricou Browning Florida, director/actor (Thunderball)
1931 A Kolleritsch writer
1931 Gamini Goonesena cricket leg-spinner (all-rounder for Ceylon, Notts)
1931 George E Sangmeister (Representative-D-IL)
1931 Ken Takakura [Goichi Oda], Kita Japan, actor (A Story of the Antarctic)
1932 Gretchen Wyler Bartlesville OK, actress (Silk Stockings)
1932 A Appelfeld writer
1932 Nand Baert Belgian radio/TV-host
1932 Otis Blackwell composer/singer
1934 Austin "Ted" Taylor US gospel/R&B-singer (Be Ever Wonderful)
1934 Marlene Bauer Hagge Eureka SD, LPGA golfer (1950 Woman Athlete of the Year)
1935 Brian Bedford England, actor (Anthony-Coronet Blue)
1935 Sonny Bono Detroit MI, singer (Sonny & Cher, Mayor-R-Palm Springs CA)
1935 Robin Clark chemist (FRS)
1937 Paul Bailey novelist
1937 Valentin Vasilyevich Bondarenko cosmonaut
1938 Barry Primus New York NY, actor (Sergeant McKenna-Cagney & Lacey, Boxcar Bertha)
1938 John Corigliano New York NY, composer (Fern Hill, Ghosts of Versailles)
1939 David Griffiths portrait painter
1939 Harold Kalin singer
1940 Karoli Ruth Needles painter
1941 Vitali Kuznetsov USSR, judo (Olympics-silver-1972)
1942 Gabriel Brncic composer
1942 Kim Chong-Il [Yura], President of North-Korea (1994- )
1943 Anthony Dowell London, ballet dancer (Royal Ballet)
1943 J D Moore headmaster (St Dunstan's College)
1943 James Beaton British GC
1944 Richard Ford US author (Sportswriter)
1946 Aleksandr Shaparenko USSR, 1K kayak (Olympics-gold-1972)
1946 Ian Lavender British actor (Stupid Boy in Dad's Army)
1946 J R Farndon British consultant surgeon
1949 Dorus Vrede Surinam poet (Otobanda; the Other Bank)
1950 William Katt Los Angeles CA, actor (Greatest American Hero, 1st Love)
1950 Peter Hain British MP
1953 George Martin NFL defensive back (New York Giants)
1953 Andre St Lauren NHLer
1953 Mike Ford New York NY, Canadian Tour golfer (1976 Port Jefferson Open)
1954 David Lombardo rocker
1954 Iain [Menzies] Banks UK, sci-fi author (Wasp Factory)
1954 Michael Holding cricket fast bowler (Whispering Death-Awesome for West Indies)
1955 Guy Gallo New Orleans LA, writer (Under the Volcano)
1955 Jeff Clayton US jazz saxophonist/composer (Groove Shop)
1956 James Ingram singer (On the Wings of Love)
1957 LeVar Burton Landstuhl Germany, (Roots, Star Trek Next Generation)
1958 Lisa Loring actress (As the World Turns, Wednesday-Addams Family)
1958 Herb Williams NBA center (Toronto Raptors, New York Knicks)
1958 Ice-T rap singer/actor (New Jack City, Tank Girl, Crazy Six)
1958 John Paul Morse Marshall MI, PGA golfer (1995 United Airlines)
1959 John P McEnroe tennis player (US Open 1979-81, 84 Wimbledon 1981, 83, 84)
1959 Kelly Tripuka Glenn Ridge NJ, NBA forward (Detroit Pistons, Utah Jazz)
1961 Andy Taylor Dolver-Hampton England, rock guitarist (Duran Duran-Hungry Like the Wolf)
1962 Alexa Kenin New York NY, actress (Mousie-Coed Fever)
1962 Tony Kiley rocker (Blow Monkeys-Wicked Ways)
1964 Mark Price NBA guard (Cleveland Caveliers)
1966 Eric Uptagrafft Spokane WA, prone rifle (Olympics-1996)
1967 Robert Massey NFL cornerback (Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions)
1968 Cecil Gray NFL tackle (Arizona Cardinals)
1968 Erik Regtop Dutch soccer player (SC Heerenveen)
1969 Claude Lambert Montréal Québec Canada, boxer (Olympics-96)
1969 Fermin Cacho Barcelona Spain, 1500 meter (Olympics-2 gold-92, 96)
1969 Tim Costo US baseball infielder (Cincinnati Reds)
1970 Saskia Linssen Venlo Holland, playmate (June 1991)
1971 Anthony Abrams NFL defensive tackle (Kansas City Chiefs)
1971 Chi Kredell Long Beach CA, water polo driver (Olympics-96)
1971 Larry Jones NFL running back (Washington Redskins)
1971 Marco Sas Dutch soccer player (NAC)
1971 Mike Hubbard Lynchburg VA, catcher (Chicago Cubs)
1971 Shivanthini Dharmasiri Miss Sri Lanka-Universe (1996)
1971 Van Tuinei defensive end (San Diego Chargers)
1972 Jerome Bettis running back (Pittsburgh Steelers)
1973 Cathy Freeman Mackay Australia, 100 meter/200 meter/400 meter (Olympics-silver-92, 96)
1973 James Young Australian water polo player (Olympics-96)
1974 Kimberly Dawn Whipany Oklahoma, rocker (PC Quest-Can You See)
1974 Jevon Langford defensive end (Cincinnati Bengals)
1974 Kathy McCormack ice hockey forward (Canada, Olympics-silver-98)
1975 Casey Barrett Montréal Québec Canada, 200 meter Butterfly (Olympics-96)
1975 Marty Murray Deloraine, NHL center (Calgary Flames)
1977 Alexei Morozov NHL forward (Team Russia Olympics-silver-1998, Pittsburgh)
1977 Trina Jackson 4X200 meter freestyle swimmer (Olympics-gold-96)
1978 Caroline Hunt Chicago IL, rhythmic gymnast (US team-96)
1979 Emma Louise DeSilets Miss Washington Teen-USA (1997)
1985 Larry Ward actor (Frank Ragan-Dakotas), dies at 69
1998 Mr Jefferson Virginia, 1st cloned calf
2335 Geordi La Forge character on Star Trek Next Generation
[u]Deaths which occurred on February 16[/ur]
0309 Pamphilus van Caesarea Palestinian scholar/martyr, beheaded
0923 Abu Dja'far Mohammed Djarir al-Tabari Islamic historian, dies at 83.
1247 Hendrik Raspe [Papenking], count of Thüringen, dies
1279 Afonso III King of Portugal (1248-79), dies
1391 Johannes V Palaeologus Emperor of Byzantium (1341-91), dies
1538 Everhard/Erardus van de Mark prince-bishop of Liege, dies at 65
1600 Giordano Bruno burned at stake
1653 Johannes Schultz composer, dies at 70
1754 Richard Mead physician, dies
1779 William Boyce English organist/composer (Cathedral Music), dies
1791 Richard earl d'Alton Austria General of S Netherlands, commits suicide at 58
1799 Charles Theoby ruler (Palts & Bayern), dies at 74
1803 Jan V clav Stich Bohemian composer, dies at 56
1823 Johann Gottfried Schict composer, dies at 69
1825 George Gerson composer, dies at 34
1829 François-Joseph Gossec Belgian/French composer (Messe of Morts), dies at 95
1834 Lionel Lukin life boat pioneer, dies
1851 Anne Nagell van Ampsen Dutch politician, dies at 95
1857 Auguste-Gaspard-Louis Desnoyers French engraver, dies at 77
1857 Elisha Kent Kane Arctic explorer (Kane Basin), dies at 37
1858 Georg F Creuzer German philological/historian, dies at 86
1864 Vaclav Jindrich Veit composer, dies at 58
1892 Henry Walter Bates naturalist/explorer (South America), dies
1899 François Félix Faure President of France (1895-99), dies at 57
1900 George Labram US mine engineer in South Africa, dies in battle
1907 Giosué Carducci poet (Nobel 1906), dies
1910 Albert Heinrich Zabel composer, dies at 75
1912 Edgar Evans British explorer (Antarctica), dies
1915 Emil Waldteufel [Charles Levy], French composer (Estudiantina), dies
1916 [Gerard] Jan Ligthart Dutch educator (Ot & Sien), dies at 57
1916 Jeltje de Bosch Kemper Dutch feminist, dies at 79
1931 Dirk Schäfer Dutch pianist/composer (Klavier), dies at 57
1933 Archie Jackson cricketer (of TB, Australia bat too briefly average 47.4), dies
1934 Eduard Bagritsky [Dzjubin], Russian poet/journalist, dies at 38
1936 Tommy Ward South African cricket wicket keeper (23 Tests), electrocuted
1938 Otto zur Linde German author (Lieder of the Leids), dies at 64
1939 Jura Soyfer writer, dies at 26
1944 Edmund von Borck composer, dies at 37
1945 Billy Frank cricketer (Test South Africa vs England 1896, 5 & 2, 1-52), dies
1945 Rudolf Värnlund Swedish playwright (Upproret), dies at 45
1950 David Denton cricketer (England batsman in 11 Tests 1905-10), dies
1951 Henri Velge 1st chairman (Belgian Council of State), dies at 65
1952 Knut [Pedersen] Hamsun Norwegian writer (Wanders, Nobel 1920), dies
1957 Leslie Hore-Belisha [Lord Halifax], British Minister of Transport, dies at 63
1963 Laszlo Lajtha composer, dies at 70
1966 Hendrik W Tilanus artillery officer/leader (CHU 1939-63), dies at 81
1967 Smiley Burnette cowboy (Charlie-Petticoat Junction), dies at 55
1968 Healey Willan composer, dies at 87
1973 Pieter Van der Bijl cricketer (outstanding South African bat in 1938-39), dies
1979 Louise Allbritton actress (Celia-Stage Door), dies at 58
1979 William Gargan actor (New Adventures of Martin Kane), dies at 73
1979 Nematullah Nassiri Iran General/head of Savak, executed
1981 Howard Hanson composer, dies at 84
1984 Ken Williams TV announcer (Video Village), dies at 69
1985 Larry Ward actor (Frank Ragan-Dakotas), dies at 69
1986 Howard Da Silva Cleveland OH, actor (Ben Franklin-1776), dies at 76
1987 Dmitri Borisovich Kabalevsky composer, dies at 82
1990 Keith Haring artist/cartoonist (brilliant baby), dies of AIDs at 31
1991 Enrique B Varela commandant Nicaragua contra's, dies
1992 Abbas Musawi leader of Hezbollah, assassinated
1992 Angela Carter British novelist (Magic Toyshop), dies of cancer at 51
1992 George Mann MacBeth Scottish journalist/poet (A War Quartet), dies
1992 Janio Quadros President of Brazil (1961), dies
1992 Winand J Borgerhoff Mulder court judge Amsterdam (squatters), dies at 78
1993 Donald Phelps dies of AIDS at 61
1993 Richard Salant news president (CBS-60 Minutes), dies at 78
1995 John Everett Allen US businessman, dies at 91
1995 Martin Soames traveller, dies at 91
1996 Brownie McGhee blues guitarist, dies at 81
1996 Charles McCorquodale art historian, dies at 47
1996 Edmund G "Pat" Brown politician, dies at 90
1996 Kenneth Robinson politician/businessman, dies at 84
1996 MacLean Stevenson actor (MASH), dies of heart attack at 66
1996 Roger Bowen actor (MASH, Main Event, What about Bob), dies at 62
1996 Susan Bosence textile designer, dies at 82
1996 Walter Brown "Brownie" McGhee blues singer/guitarist, dies at 80
1998 Martha Gellhorn war reporter (Reuthers), dies at 89
0309 Pamphilus van Caesarea Palestinian scholar/martyr, beheaded
0923 Abu Dja'far Mohammed Djarir al-Tabari Islamic historian, dies at 83.
1247 Hendrik Raspe [Papenking], count of Thüringen, dies
1279 Afonso III King of Portugal (1248-79), dies
1391 Johannes V Palaeologus Emperor of Byzantium (1341-91), dies
1538 Everhard/Erardus van de Mark prince-bishop of Liege, dies at 65
1600 Giordano Bruno burned at stake
1653 Johannes Schultz composer, dies at 70
1754 Richard Mead physician, dies
1779 William Boyce English organist/composer (Cathedral Music), dies
1791 Richard earl d'Alton Austria General of S Netherlands, commits suicide at 58
1799 Charles Theoby ruler (Palts & Bayern), dies at 74
1803 Jan V clav Stich Bohemian composer, dies at 56
1823 Johann Gottfried Schict composer, dies at 69
1825 George Gerson composer, dies at 34
1829 François-Joseph Gossec Belgian/French composer (Messe of Morts), dies at 95
1834 Lionel Lukin life boat pioneer, dies
1851 Anne Nagell van Ampsen Dutch politician, dies at 95
1857 Auguste-Gaspard-Louis Desnoyers French engraver, dies at 77
1857 Elisha Kent Kane Arctic explorer (Kane Basin), dies at 37
1858 Georg F Creuzer German philological/historian, dies at 86
1864 Vaclav Jindrich Veit composer, dies at 58
1892 Henry Walter Bates naturalist/explorer (South America), dies
1899 François Félix Faure President of France (1895-99), dies at 57
1900 George Labram US mine engineer in South Africa, dies in battle
1907 Giosué Carducci poet (Nobel 1906), dies
1910 Albert Heinrich Zabel composer, dies at 75
1912 Edgar Evans British explorer (Antarctica), dies
1915 Emil Waldteufel [Charles Levy], French composer (Estudiantina), dies
1916 [Gerard] Jan Ligthart Dutch educator (Ot & Sien), dies at 57
1916 Jeltje de Bosch Kemper Dutch feminist, dies at 79
1931 Dirk Schäfer Dutch pianist/composer (Klavier), dies at 57
1933 Archie Jackson cricketer (of TB, Australia bat too briefly average 47.4), dies
1934 Eduard Bagritsky [Dzjubin], Russian poet/journalist, dies at 38
1936 Tommy Ward South African cricket wicket keeper (23 Tests), electrocuted
1938 Otto zur Linde German author (Lieder of the Leids), dies at 64
1939 Jura Soyfer writer, dies at 26
1944 Edmund von Borck composer, dies at 37
1945 Billy Frank cricketer (Test South Africa vs England 1896, 5 & 2, 1-52), dies
1945 Rudolf Värnlund Swedish playwright (Upproret), dies at 45
1950 David Denton cricketer (England batsman in 11 Tests 1905-10), dies
1951 Henri Velge 1st chairman (Belgian Council of State), dies at 65
1952 Knut [Pedersen] Hamsun Norwegian writer (Wanders, Nobel 1920), dies
1957 Leslie Hore-Belisha [Lord Halifax], British Minister of Transport, dies at 63
1963 Laszlo Lajtha composer, dies at 70
1966 Hendrik W Tilanus artillery officer/leader (CHU 1939-63), dies at 81
1967 Smiley Burnette cowboy (Charlie-Petticoat Junction), dies at 55
1968 Healey Willan composer, dies at 87
1973 Pieter Van der Bijl cricketer (outstanding South African bat in 1938-39), dies
1979 Louise Allbritton actress (Celia-Stage Door), dies at 58
1979 William Gargan actor (New Adventures of Martin Kane), dies at 73
1979 Nematullah Nassiri Iran General/head of Savak, executed
1981 Howard Hanson composer, dies at 84
1984 Ken Williams TV announcer (Video Village), dies at 69
1985 Larry Ward actor (Frank Ragan-Dakotas), dies at 69
1986 Howard Da Silva Cleveland OH, actor (Ben Franklin-1776), dies at 76
1987 Dmitri Borisovich Kabalevsky composer, dies at 82
1990 Keith Haring artist/cartoonist (brilliant baby), dies of AIDs at 31
1991 Enrique B Varela commandant Nicaragua contra's, dies
1992 Abbas Musawi leader of Hezbollah, assassinated
1992 Angela Carter British novelist (Magic Toyshop), dies of cancer at 51
1992 George Mann MacBeth Scottish journalist/poet (A War Quartet), dies
1992 Janio Quadros President of Brazil (1961), dies
1992 Winand J Borgerhoff Mulder court judge Amsterdam (squatters), dies at 78
1993 Donald Phelps dies of AIDS at 61
1993 Richard Salant news president (CBS-60 Minutes), dies at 78
1995 John Everett Allen US businessman, dies at 91
1995 Martin Soames traveller, dies at 91
1996 Brownie McGhee blues guitarist, dies at 81
1996 Charles McCorquodale art historian, dies at 47
1996 Edmund G "Pat" Brown politician, dies at 90
1996 Kenneth Robinson politician/businessman, dies at 84
1996 MacLean Stevenson actor (MASH), dies of heart attack at 66
1996 Roger Bowen actor (MASH, Main Event, What about Bob), dies at 62
1996 Susan Bosence textile designer, dies at 82
1996 Walter Brown "Brownie" McGhee blues singer/guitarist, dies at 80
1998 Martha Gellhorn war reporter (Reuthers), dies at 89