Today In History
July 31

Events

• 1790 - 1st US patent granted, to Samuel Hopkins for a potash process


• 1792 - Cornerstone laid for 1st US govt building: US Mint in Philadelphia


• 1849 - Benjamin Chambers patents breech loading cannon


• 1874 - Patrick Francis Healy, SJ, inaugurated as pres of Georgetown U


• 1876 - US Coast Guard officers' training school established (New Bedford Massachusetts)


• 1922 - 18-year-old Ralph Samuelson rides world's 1st water skis (Minn)


• 1932 - George Washington quarter goes into circulation


• 1948 - President Harry Truman dedicates Idlewild Field (Kennedy Airport), New York


• 1953 - Dept of Health, Education & Welfare created


• 1959 - 1st exhibit of bongos at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo opens


• 1969 - National Guard mobilizes in racial disturbances in Baton Rouge, Louisiana


• 1972 - Thomas Eagleton withdraws as Democratic VP candidate


• 1977 - E Henry Knoche, ends term as deputy director of CIA


• 1977 - John F Blake promoted from acting to deputy director of CIA


• 1978 - Pete Rose ties NL record hitting streak at 44


• 1981 - Arnette Hubbard installed as 1st woman president of National Bar Assn


• 1984 - US men's gymnastics team won team gold medal at Los Angeles Summer Olympics


• 1991 - Russia & US sign long range nuclear weapons reduction pact


• 1991 - Senate votes to allow women to fly combat aircraft

Baseball

• 1909 - Bill Burns has no-hitter broken up with 2 outs in 9th


• 1910 - Chicago Cub King Cole no-hits St Louis, 4-0 in a 7 inning game


• 1930 - Lou Gehrig grand slams as Yankees beat Red Sox 14-13


• 1932 - Cleveland Municipal Stadium opens-Philadelphia A's beat Indians 1-0


• 1934 - St Louis Cardinals defeat Cincinnati Reds 8-6 in 18 innings, pitchers Dizzy Dean & Tony Freitos go the distant


• 1938 - New York Yankees suspend Jake Powell, after he said on Chicago radio he'd "hit every colored person in Chicago over head with a club"


• 1954 - Mil Braves' Joe Adcock sets record of 18 total bases (4 hrs, 1 double)


• 1961 - 31st All Star Baseball Game: 1-1 tie ends by rain at Fenway, Boston


• 1963 - Cleveland ties record of 4 consecutive HRS when Indians' Woodie Held, Pedro Ramos, Tito Francona, & Larry Brown hit consecutive home runs in one inning (vs California Angels)


• 1972 - Dick Allen is 7th to hit 2 inside-the-park homers in a game


• 1973 - Delta Airlines DC-9 crashes in fog at Logan Airport, Boston, killing all but one of 89 aboard. Lone survivor dies 6 months later


• 1978 - New York Yankees now 7.5 out of 1st, picked up 7 games in previous 2 weeks


• 1980 - Rangers snap Orioles pitcher Steve Stone's 14-game winning streak


• 1981 - 42 day old, 2nd major league baseball strike ends


• 1983 - B Robinson, J Marichal, G Kell, & W Alston inducted into Hall of Fame


• 1987 - Eddie Murray hits his 300th HR


• 1987 - Oriole Eddie Murray hits his 299th & 300th career home runs


• 1988 - Jose Canseco is 1st to hit 30 HRs in 1st 3 years


• 1988 - Willie Stargell became 200th man inducted in Baseball's Hall of Fame


• 1989 - Twins trade Alabama Cy Young Award winner Frank Viola to Mets


• 1990 - Nolan Ryan becomes 20th major league pitcher to win 300 games


• 1993 - A's trade Rickey Henderson to Blue Jays


• 1994 - Phil Rizzuto (Yankees) & Steve Carlton (Phils) enter the Hall of Fame


• 1997 - A's trade Mark McGwire to St Louis Cards

Football

• 1970 - 37th NFL Chicago All Star Game: Kansas City 24, All Stars 3 (69,940)


• 1982 - Finland, Italy, Germany, Austria & France form American European Football Federation (AEFF)


• 1988 - Miami Dolphins beat San Francisco 49ers 27-21 in London

Golf

• 1955 - Beverly Hanson wins LPGA Battle Creek Golf Open


• 1960 - Patty Berg wins LPGA American Women's Golf Open


• 1977 - Debbie Austin wins LPGA Pocono Northeast Golf Classic


• 1983 - 38th US Women's Open Golf Championship won by Jan Stephenson


• 1988 - Ayako Okamoto wins LPGA Greater Washington Golf Open


• 1994 - Helen Alfredss wins LPGA Ping Welch's Golf Championship

Boxing

• 1912 - US govt prohibits movies & photos of prize fights (censorship)

Entertainment

• 1955 - KRNT (now KCCI) TV channel 8 in Des Moines, Iowa (CBS) 1st broadcast


• 1955 - WHIS (now WVVA) TV channel 6 in Bluefield, West Virginia (NBC) 1st broadcast


• 1960 - KSOO (now KSFY) TV channel 13 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota (NBC) 1st broadcast


• 1964 - Rolling Stone concert in Ireland halts after 12 minutes due to riot


• 1966 - Alabamans burn Beatle products due to John Lennon's anti-Jesus remark


• 1967 - Rolling Stone Mick Jagger & Keith Richards end 1 month jail sentence


• 1969 - KWIH TV channel 44 in Winona, Minnesota (IND) begins broadcasting


• 1970 - Chet Huntley retires from NBC, ends "Huntley-Brinkley Report"


• 1980 - John Phillips of Mamas & Papas is arrested on drug charges


• 1984 - Leeza Gibbon's 1st appearance on Entertainment Tonight


• 1987 - "Living Daylights" premieres in US


• 1987 - Guns & Roses song "Appetite for Destruction" is released


• 1993 - Allman Brothers guitarist Dickey Betts arrested for shoving 2 cops

Trains Planes and Automobiles

• 1809 - 1st practical US railroad track (wooden, for horse-drawn cars), Philadelphia


• 1964 - Al Parker glides 644 miles without any motor

Weather

• 1949 - Lightning strikes a baseball field in Florida, kills SS & 3rd baseman

Disasters

• 1992 - Thai Airbus crashes into mountain at Kathmandu, 113 die

Space

• 1964 - US Ranger 7 takes 4,316 pictures before crashing on Moon


• 1969 - Mariner 6 flies past Mars


• 1971 - Apollo 15 astronauts take 6.5 hour electric car ride on Moon


• 1987 - Rockwell International awarded contract to build a 5th shuttle

Weddings

• 1964 - George Lascelles marries Patricia Tuckwell

World War II

• 1925 - Last allied occupying troops leave Ruhrgebied


• 1937 - Politburo enables Operative Order 00447: execute 193,000 Russians


• 1940 - 38 U boats sinks this month (196,000 ton)


• 1941 - U boats sink 21 allied ships this month: 94,000 ton


• 1942 - German SS gases 1,000 Jews in Minsk, Belorussia


• 1942 - U boats sank 96 allied ships this month: 476,000 ton


• 1943 - Transport nr 58 departs with French Jews to nazi Germany


• 1944 - Last deportation train out Mechelen departs to Auschwitz


• 1944 - Transport nr 77 departs with French Jews to nazi-Germany


• 1944 - US troops occupy Sansapor New-Guinea

World War I

• 1914 - German Emperor Wilhelm II threatens war, orders Russia to demobilize


• 1917 - 3rd battle of Ypres begins


• 1919 - Germany accepts Weimar Constitution

Cival War

• 1864 - Ulysses S Grant is named General of Volunteers

American Revolution

• 1777 - Marquis de Lafayette, 19, made major-general of Continental Army

Crime and Criminals

• 1966 - Charles Whitman wounds 46 & kills 5 at University of Texas


• 1967 - Rolling Stone Mick Jagger & Keith Richards end 1 month jail sentence


• 1980 - John Phillips of Mamas & Papas is arrested on drug charges

Food and Beverages

• 1893 - Henry Perky patents shredded wheat

Birthdays

• 1396 - Philips, the Good, Duke of Burgundy//Brabant/Limburg/count


• 1443 - Albrecht III of Saxon-Meisen, duke of Saxon


• 1527 - Maximilian II, German King/Emperor (1564-76)


• 1550 - Jakob Handl, [Petelin], Austrian composer/bandmaster


• 1578 - Catharina Belgica of Nassau, daughter of Willem of Orange


• 1597 - Sebastian Stosskopf, Elzassisch painter, baptized


• 1629 - Johann Jakob Lowe von Eisenach, composer


• 1654 - Jacob Hop, Dutch politician/diplomat


• 1704 - Gabriel Cramer, Swiss mathematician (paradox of Cramer)


• 1743 - August R van Hekeren van Suideras, Dutch orangist


• 1748 - Isaac Ouwater, Amsterdam painter/cartoonist


• 1767 - Amelie Julia Candielle, composer


• 1803 - John Ericsson, US, inventor (screw propeller)/shipbuilder-USS Monitor


• 1808 - Frederick Nichols Crouch, composer


• 1816 - George Henry Thomas, Major General (Union Army), died in 1870


• 1817 - Philip Cook Jr, Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1894


• 1818 - Heinrich Kiepert, German cartographer/geographer


• 1825 - Thomas Hart Taylor, Brig General (Confederate Army), died in 1901


• 1830 - Frantisek Zdenek Xavier Alois Skuhersky, composer


• 1834 - Peter H Hugenholtz, Dutch reformer/founder (Free Parish)


• 1837 - William Clarke Quantrill, Col (Confederate Army), died in 1865


• 1841 - George Melville, polar explorer, naval engineer


• 1844 - Ignazio Guidi, Italian orientalist/archaeologist


• 1847 - Ignatio Cervantes, composer


• 1848 - Jean Robert Planquette, France, composer (Bells of Corneville)


• 1854 - Jose Canalejas contributes Mendez, premier of Spain (1910-12)


• 1875 - Harry Northrup, Paris France, actor (Who's That Knocking at My Door)


• 1882 - Grete Gulbransson, writer


• 1884 - Karl F Goerdeler, mayor (Leipzig), "July 20th Plot"


• 1886 - Constant Permeke, Flemish painter/statues artist (Sow)


• 1889 - Donald Foster, Pennsylvania, actor (Scaramouche)


• 1893 - Charles Wilfred Orr, composer


• 1894 - Roy Bargy, Mich, orch leader (Jimmy Durante Show)


• 1900 - Elmo Roper, pollster (Roper Poll)


• 1900 - Erich Katz, composer


• 1901 - Jean Debuffet, French painter/sculptor (Landscape with 2 Personages)


• 1902 - G O "Gubby" Allen, cricketer (in Sydney England non-bodyline quickie)


• 1904 - Arthur Daley, sportswriter (New York Times-Pulitzer 1956)


• 1905 - Trenchard Cox, museum director


• 1911 - George Liberace, Menasha Wisconsin, violinist (Liberace Show)


• 1912 - Bill Brown, cricketer (Australian opener of the 30's & 40's)


• 1912 - Irv Kupcinet, Chicago Illinois, TV host (Tonight! America After Dark)


• 1912 - Milton Friedman, economist (Nobel 1976)


• 1913 - Bryan Hextall, NHL hall of famer (New York Rangers)


• 1914 - Jose Ignacio Domecq, wine maker


• 1914 - Louis De Funes, Courbevoie France, actor (I Tartassati, Fantomas)


• 1915 - Robert Steel, academic


• 1916 - Sydney Tafler, London England, actor (Too Many Crooks)


• 1916 - Verdun Scott, NZ cricketer/rugby player


• 1919 - Curt Gowdy, Green River Wyo, sportscaster (ABC)


• 1919 - Hemu Ramchandra Adhikari, cricketer (Indian righty batsman 1947-59)


• 1919 - Norman Del Mar, composer


• 1919 - Primo Levi, Italy, chemist/writer (Survival in Aushchwitz)


• 1920 - Rudolf Halaczinsky, composer


• 1921 - Whitney M Young Jr, civil rights leader, head of Urban League


• 1922 - Lucy Killea, (assemblywoman-California)


• 1923 - Ahmet Ertegun, CEO (Atlantic Records)


• 1927 - Walter Vogt, writer


• 1928 - Bill Frenzel, (Rep-R-Minnesota, 1971- )


• 1929 - Don Murray, California, actor (Bus Stop, Advise & Consent, Endless Love)


• 1929 - Oriana Fallaci, Italian journalist


• 1932 - Morey Carr, rocker (Playmates)


• 1932 - Robert W Davis, (Rep-R-MI, 1979- )


• 1932 - Ted Cassidy, Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, actor (Lurch-Addams Family)


• 1935 - Geoffrey Lewis, Plainsfield New Jersey, actor (Earl-Flo, Gun Shy)


• 1936 - Bonnie Brown, rocker (Browns)


• 1937 - Isabelle F Daniels, Jakin Georgia, 4X100m relayer (Olympic-bronze-56)


• 1939 - France Nuyen, Marseilles France, actress (St Elsewhere, Diamond Head)


• 1939 - John R West, rock guitarist (Gary Lewis & Playboys-This Diamond Ring)


• 1939 - Roger Prideaux, cricketer (England batsman in 3 Tests 1968-69)


• 1940 - Stanley Jaffe, producer (Fatal Attraction)


• 1943 - Carla Glasgow, LPGA golfer


• 1943 - Lobo, [Kent Lavoie], rocker


• 1943 - Stephanie Forrester (Bold & the Beautiful)
  
• 1943 - Susan Flannery, New York City, actress (Leslie Stewart-Dallas)


• 1943 - William Bennett, US Secretary of Education (1985-88)/drug tsar


• 1944 - Geraldine Chaplin, Santa Monica California, actress (Dr Zhivago, 3 Musketeers)


• 1944 - Nico, US model/pop singer (Velvet Underground, Venus in Furs)


• 1944 - Sherry Lansing, Chicago Illinois, actress (China Syndrome, Black Rain)


• 1945 - Tomas Vackar, composer


• 1945 - William Floyd Weld, (Gov-R-Mass)


• 1946 - Bob Welch, rock vocalist/guitarist (Fleetwood Mac-Ohio Well)


• 1946 - Gary Lewis, Jerry's son, singer, (& The Playboys-This Diamond Ring)


• 1947 - Dennis Greenslade, rocker


• 1947 - Karl Greene, Manchester, rock bassist, (Herman's Hermits)


• 1948 - Leaveil Degree, rocker (Whispers)


• 1950 - Lane Davies, actor (Mason-Santa Barbara, Impure Thoughts)


• 1951 - Barry Van Dyke, Atlanta Georgia, actor (Battlestar Galactica, Diag Murder)


• 1951 - Evonne Goolagong Cawley, NSW Aust, tennis player (Wimbledon 1971)


• 1951 - Gerald Anthony, actor (Marco Dane-General Hospital, One Life to Live)


• 1952 - Pritawi Sudarmo, Indonesia, astronaut


• 1953 - Hugh McDowell, chelloist (ELO-Telephone Line)


• 1953 - Jimmy Cook, cricketer (South African opening batsman 1992)


• 1956 - Michael Biehn, actor (Terminator, Abyss, Jade)


• 1957 - Dirk Blocker, Los Angeles California, actor (Baa Baa Black Sheep, Ryan's Four)


• 1957 - Irina Nazariva, USSR, 4 X 400m relay (Olympic-gold-1980)


• 1957 - Victoria E Cooke, Hollywood California, playmate (Aug, 1980)


• 1958 - Bill Berry, US pop drummer (REM-Sentimental Hygiene)


• 1958 - Wallace Kurth, actor (Days of Our Lives, Ned/Ed-General Hospital)


• 1959 - Mike Bielecki, Baltimore Maryland, pitcher (Atlanta Braves)


• 1959 - Peter Senior, Singapore, Australasia golfer


• 1960 - Dale Hunter, Petrolia, NHL center (Washington Capitals)


• 1960 - lva Budarova, Czechostovakia, tennis star


• 1961 - Chris Hinton, NFL guard (Minnesota Vikings)


• 1961 - Susan Sanders, LPGA golfer


• 1962 - Kevin Greene, NFL linebacker (Pitts Steelers)


• 1962 - Kym Malin, Dallas Texas, playmate (May, 1982)


• 1962 - Rhonda Reilly, Indianapolis Indiana, LPGA golfer (1992 Oldsmobile-48th)


• 1962 - Sandra "Sweetness" Hodge, basketball player (Harlem Globetrotters)


• 1962 - Troy Murray, Calgary, NHL center (Colorado Avalanche)


• 1962 - Wesley Snipes, Bronx New York, actor (Passenger 57, Money Train)


• 1963 - Brian Skrudland, Peace River, NHL center (Florida Panthers)


• 1963 - Norman Cook, rocker (Housemartins-Happy Hour, Over There)


• 1965 - Scott Brooks, NBA guard (Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks)


• 1965 - Tom Stankowski, Paris France, Nike golfer


• 1966 - Dean Cain, Mt Clemens Michigan, actor (Clark-Lois & Clark)


• 1966 - Julie Forbes, Torphins Scotland, golfer (Aberdeenshire champ 1989)


• 1966 - Marina V A Mowatt, [Ogilvy], daughter of English princess Alexandra


• 1966 - Tylin John, Encino California, playmate (Mar, 1992)


• 1967 - Elizabeth Wurtzel, New York City, actress (Prozac Nation)


• 1967 - Rodney Harvey, actor (Salsa)


• 1967 - Sean O'Neill, Toledo Ohio, US Olympic table tennis player (Olympic-92)


• 1967 - Tony Massenburg, NBA forward (Phila 76ers)


• 1968 - Andre Ware, CFL quarterback (Toronto Argonauts)


• 1968 - David Bradley Stockton Jr, Redlands California, PGA golfer (1994 Canon-3rd)


• 1968 - Saeed Al-Saffar, cricketer (UAE batsman 1996 World Cup, later captain)


• 1969 - Langa Sibanda, Miss Universe-Zimbabwe (1996)


• 1969 - Loren Dean, Las Vegas NV, actor (Billy Bathgate, Say Anything)


• 1969 - Richard Griffith, NFL tight end (Jacksonville Jaguars)


• 1969 - Rudolf Martin, Germany, actor (Anton-All My Children)


• 1970 - David Sacco, Malden Massachusetts, NHL left wing (Oly-94, Anaheim Mighty Ducks)


• 1970 - Knut Holmann, Norway, rower (Olympics-gold-96)


• 1971 - Gus Frerotte, NFL quarterback (Washington Redskins)


• 1972 - Antonio Langham, NFL cornerback (Cleve Browns)


• 1972 - Jason Gildon, NFL linebacker (Pitts Steelers)


• 1972 - Ray McElroy, NFL center (Indianapolis Colts)


• 1972 - Tami Stronach, Teheran Iran, actress (Neverending Story)


• 1973 - Jerry Rivera, Puerto Rico, spanish singer


• 1975 - Sergei Gusev, Nizhny Tagil Rus, NHL defenseman (Dallas Stars)

That's all for today. Come back tomorrow or get our RSS feed.