Today in history....
June 10, 2009
* 1190 – Third Crusade: Frederick I Barbarossa drowns in the river Saleph while leading an army to Jerusalem.
* 1539 – Council of Trent: Paul III sends out letters to his bishops, delaying the Council due to war and the difficulty bishops had traveling to Venice.
* 1619 – Thirty Years' War: Battle of Záblatí, a turning point in the Bohemian Revolt.
* 1692 – Salem witch trials: Bridget Bishop is hanged at Gallows Hill near Salem, Massachusetts, for "certaine Detestable Arts called Witchcraft & Sorceries".
* 1719 – Jacobite Rising: Battle of Glen Shiel.
* 1770 – Captain James Cook runs aground on the Great Barrier Reef.
* 1786 – A landslide dam on the Dadu River created by an earthquake ten days earlier collapses, killing 100,000 in the Sichuan province of China.
* 1793 – The Jardin des Plantes museum opens in Paris. A year later, it becomes the first public zoo.
* 1793 – French Revolution: Following the arrests of Girondin leaders the Jacobins gain control of the Committee of Public Safety installing the revolutionary dictatorship.
* 1805 – First Barbary War: Yussif Karamanli signs a treaty ending hostilities with the United States.
* 1829 – The first Boat Race between the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge takes place.
* 1838 – Myall Creek Massacre in Australia: 28 Aboriginal Australians are murdered.
* 1854 – The first class of the United States Naval Academy students graduate.
* 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Brice's Crossroads – Confederate troops under Nathan Bedford Forrest defeat a much larger Union force led by General Samuel D. Sturgis in Mississippi.
* 1871 – Sinmiyangyo: Captain McLane Tilton leads 109 Marines in a naval attack on Han River forts on Kanghwa Island, Korea.
* 1886 – Mount Tarawera in New Zealand erupts, killing 153 people and destroying the famous Pink and White Terraces.
* 1898 – Spanish-American War: U.S. Marines land on the island of Cuba.
* 1918 – The Austro-Hungarian battleship SMS Szent István sinks after being torpedoed by an Italian MAS motorboat.
* 1924 – Fascists kidnap and kill Italian socialist leader Giacomo Matteotti in Rome.
* 1925 – Inaugural service for the United Church of Canada, a union of Presbyterian, Methodist, and Congregationalist churches, held in Toronto Arena.
* 1935 – Dr. Robert Smith takes his last drink, and Alcoholics Anonymous is founded in Akron, Ohio, United States, by him and Bill Wilson.
* 1940 – World War II: Italy declares war on France and the United Kingdom.
* 1940 – World War II: U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt denounces Italy's actions with his "Stab in the Back" speech at the graduation ceremonies of the University of Virginia.
* 1940 – World War II: German forces, under General Erwin Rommel, reach the English Channel.
* 1940 – World War II: Canada declares war on Italy.
* 1940 – World War II: Norway surrenders to German forces.
* 1942 – World War II: Nazis burn the Czech village of Lidice in reprisal for the killing of Reinhard Heydrich.
* 1944 – World War II: 642 men, women and children are killed in the Oradour-sur-Glane Massacre in France.
* 1944 – World War II: In Distomo, Boeotia Prefecture, Greece 218 men, women and children are massacred by German troops.
* 1944 – In baseball, 15-year old Joe Nuxhall of the Cincinnati Reds becomes the youngest player ever in a major-league game.
* 1945 – Australian Imperial Forces land in Brunei Bay to liberate Brunei.
* 1947 – Saab produces its first automobile.
* 1965 – Vietnam War: The Battle of Dong Xoai begins.
* 1967 – Six-Day War ends: Israel and Syria agree to a cease-fire.
* 1967 – Argentina becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
* 1973 – John Paul Getty III, grandson of billionaire J. Paul Getty, is kidnapped in Rome, Italy.
* 1977 – James Earl Ray escapes from Brushy Mountain State Prison in Petros, Tennessee, but is recaptured on June 13.
* 1977 – Apple ships its first Apple II personal computer.
* 1978 – Costa Rica becomes a member of the Berne Convention.
* 1980 – The African National Congress in South Africa publishes a call to fight from their imprisoned leader Nelson Mandela.
* 1996 – Peace talks begin in Northern Ireland without the participation of Sinn Féin.
* 1997 – Before fleeing his northern stronghold Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot orders the killing of his defense chief Son Sen and 11 of Sen's family members.
* 1999 – Kosovo War: NATO suspends its air strikes after Slobodan Milošević agrees to withdraw Serbian forces from Kosovo.
* 2001 – Pope John Paul II canonizes Lebanon's first female saint Saint Rafqa
* 2002 – The first direct electronic communication experiment between the nervous systems of two humans is carried out by Kevin Warwick in the United Kingdom.
* 2003 – The Spirit Rover is launched, beginning NASA's Mars Exploration Rover mission.
Birthdays today...
* 1213 – Fakhruddin 'Iraqi, Persian philosopher
* 1632 – Esprit Fléchier, French writer and bishop (d. 1710)
* 1637 – Jacques Marquette, French Jesuit missionary and explorer (d. 1675)
* 1657 – James Cragg the Elder, British politician (d. 1721)
* 1688 – James Francis Edward Stuart (d. 1766)
* 1706 – John Dollond, English optician (d. 1761)
* 1710 – James Short, Scottish mathematician (d. 1768)
* 1753 – William Eustis, 12th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1825)
* 1803 – Henry Darcy, French scientist (d. 1858)
* 1804 – Hermann Schlegel, German ornithologist (d. 1884)
* 1825 – Sondre Norheim, Norwegian skier (d. 1897)
* 1819 – Gustave Courbet, French painter (d. 1877)
* 1825 – Princess Hildegard of Bavaria d. 1864
* 1835 – Rebecca Latimer Felton, U.S. Senator (d. 1930)
* 1839 – Ludvig Holstein-Ledreborg, Council President of Denmark (d. 1912)
* 1840 – Theodor Philipsen, Danish painter (d. 1920)
* 1843 – Heinrich von Herzogenberg, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1900)
* 1861 – Pierre Duhem, French physicist (d. 1916)
* 1862 – Mrs. Leslie Carter, American actress (d. 1937)
* 1863 – Louis Couperus, Dutch novelist (d. 1923)
* 1880 – André Derain, French painter (d. 1954)
* 1889 – Sessue Hayakawa, Japanese actor (d. 1973)
* 1891 – Al Dubin, American lyricist (d. 1945)
* 1895 – Hattie McDaniel, American actress (d. 1952)
* 1901 – Frederick Loewe, Austrian-born composer (d. 1988)
* 1907 – Fairfield Porter, American painter (d. 1975)
* 1908 – Robert Cummings, American actor (d. 1990)
* 1910 – Howlin' Wolf, American musician (d. 1976)
* 1910 – Frank Demaree, American baseball player (d. 1958)
* 1910 – Robert Still, English composer (d. 1971)
* 1911 – Ralph Kirkpatrick, American musician and musicologist (d. 1984)
* 1911 – Terence Rattigan, British playwright (d. 1977)
* 1912 – Jean Lesage, Premier of Quebec (d. 1980)
* 1913 – Tikhon Khrennikov, Russian composer (d. 2007)
* 1915 – Saul Bellow, Nobel laureate (d. 2005)
* 1918 – Barry Morse, British-born Canadian actor (d. 2008)
* 1919 – Kevin O'Flanagan, Irish athlete and physician (d. 2006)
* 1919 – Haidar Abdel-Shafi, Palestinian Negotiator and community leader (d. 2007)
* 1921 – Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
* 1921 – Jean Robic, French cyclist (d. 1980)
* 1922 – Judy Garland, American musical actress (d. 1969)
* 1923 – Robert Maxwell, Slovakian-born newspaperman (d. 1991)
* 1925 – Nat Hentoff, American historian, novelist, jazz critic, and columnist
* 1926 – Lionel Jeffries, British actor
* 1927 – Lin Yang-kang, Chinese politician
* 1927 – Ladislao Kubala, Hungarian-born footballer (d. 2002)
* 1928 – Maurice Sendak, American writer
* 1929 – Harald Juhnke, German actor and comedian (d. 2005)
* 1929 – Ian McCahon Sinclair, Australian politician
* 1929 – E. O. Wilson, American biologist
* 1931 – João Gilberto, Brazilian singer and guitarist
* 1932 – Branko Lustig, film producer
* 1933 – Georgi Atanasov, Bulgarian Prime Minister
* 1933 – F. Lee Bailey, American attorney
* 1935 – Vic Elford, British racing driver
* 1940 – Augie Auer, Meteorologist and television presenter (d. 2007)
* 1940 – John Stevens, British drummer (d. 1994)
* 1941 – Jürgen Prochnow, German actor
* 1941 – Mickey Jones, American musician and actor
* 1941 – Shirley Owens, American singer (Shirelles)
* 1941 – David Walker, Australian racing driver
* 1942 – Preston Manning, Canadian politician
* 1947 – Ken Singleton, American baseball player
* 1949 – John Sentamu, Archbishop of York
* 1950 – Elias Sosa, Major League Baseball pitcher
* 1951 – Dan Fouts, American football player
* 1953 – John Edwards, American politician and lawyer
* 1956 – Georg Borwin, Duke of Mecklenburg, head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz
* 1957 – Lindsay Hoyle, British politician
* 1957 – Hidetsugu Aneha, Japanese architect
* 1959 – Eliot Spitzer, American politician
* 1959 – Carlo Ancelotti, Italian footballer and manager
* 1960 – Balakrishna Nandamuri, Indian actor
* 1960 – Maxi Priest, English musician
* 1961 – Kim Deal, American musician (Pixies), (The Breeders)
* 1961 – Kelley Deal, American musician (The Breeders)
* 1962 – Gina Gershon, American actress
* 1962 – Koma Wong Ka-Kui, Hong Kong musician (Beyond) (d. 1993)
* 1962 – Vincent Perez, Swiss actor
* 1962 – Akie Abe, former First Lady of Japan
* 1962 – Brent Sutter, Canadian ice hockey player
* 1963 – Brad Henry, American politician (current Oklahoma governor)
* 1963 – Jeanne Tripplehorn, American actress
* 1964 – Jimmy Chamberlin, American musician (The Smashing Pumpkins)
* 1964 – Ben Daniels, British actor
* 1964 – Tony Martin, Australian comedian
* 1965 – Elizabeth Hurley, English model and actress
* 1965 – Joey Santiago, American Musician (Pixies)
* 1966 – David Platt, English footballer
* 1967 – John Yoo, American attorney
* 1967 – Emma Anderson, British guitarist and songwriter (Lush, Sing-Sing)
* 1968 – Bill Burr, American comedian
* 1968 – Jimmy Shea, American skeleton racer
* 1968 – The D.O.C., American rapper
* 1969 – Ronny Johnsen, Norwegian footballer
* 1969 – Kate Snow, American TV journalist
* 1970 – Mike Doughty, American singer
* 1971 – Joel Hailey, American singer
* 1971 – Erik Rutan, Singer/Guitarist
* 1971 – Bobby Jindal, American politician, current governor of Louisiana
* 1971 – Bruno N'Gotty, French footballer
* 1971 – Kyle Sandilands, Australian radio host and TV personality
* 1972 – Steven Fischer, American film producer and director
* 1972 – Radmila Šekerinska, Macedonian politician
* 1973 – Faith Evans, American singer
* 1973 – Pokey Reese, American baseball player
* 1973 – Flesh-N-Bone, American rapper, (Bone Thugs-N-Harmony)
* 1975 – Henrik Pedersen, Danish footballer
* 1975 – Risto Jussilainen, Finnish ski jumper
* 1976 – Freddy García, American baseball player
* 1976 – Hadi Saei Bonehkohal, Persian taekwondoka
* 1976 – Stefan Postma, Dutch footballer
* 1976 – Esther Ouwehand, Dutch politician, parliamentarian for the Party for the Animals
* 1977 – Takako Matsu, Japanese singer and actress
* 1977 – Adam Darski, Polish musician most known for being the leader of Behemoth
* 1977 – Mike Rosenthal, American football player, sports radio talk show host
* 1978 – Shane West, American actor
* 1978 – Brian West, American soccer player
* 1979 – Konstantinos Loumpoutis, Greek footballer
* 1979 – Jake Tsakalidis, Georgian-Greek basketball player
* 1980 – Francelino Matuzalem, Brazilian footballer
* 1980 – Ovie Mughelli, American football player
* 1980 – Jessica DiCicco, American actress
* 1980 – Wang Yuegu, Singaporean Olympic table tennis player
* 1981 – Burton O'Brien, Scottish footballer
* 1981 – Hoku, American singer and actress
* 1981 – Prince Hashim bin Al Hussein, of Jordan
* 1981 – Samin, Persian-American Optometrist
* 1981 – Jonathan Bennett, actor (Mean Girls)
* 1981 – Albie Morkel, South African cricketer
* 1982 – Princess Madeleine of Sweden
* 1982 – Tara Lipinski, American figure skater
* 1982 – Ana Lucia Souza, Brazilian ballet dancer
* 1983 – Leelee Sobieski, American actress
* 1983 – Josh Ramsay, leader singer (Marianas Trench)
* 1984 – Dirk Van Tichelt, Belgian judoka
* 1984 – Dean Leacock, English footballer
* 1985 – Kristina Lundberg, Swedish ice hockey player
* 1985 – Vasilis Torosidis, Greek footballer
* 1987 – Lyssa Chapman, American bounty hunter
* 1987 – Martin Harnik, Austrian footballer
* 1987 – Amobi Okoye, Nigerian/American football player
* 1988 – Kelly Vitz, American actress
* 1989 – Mustapha Carayol, Gambian/English footballer
Famous deaths...
* 323 BC – Alexander the Great, Macedonian king (b. 356 BC)
* 1075 – Ernest of Austria (b. 1027)
* 1190 – Frederick Barbarossa, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1122)
* 1424 – Duke Ernest of Austria (b. 1377)
* 1552 – Alexander Barclay, English poet
* 1556 – Martin Agricola, German composer (b. 1486)
* 1580 – Luís de Camões, Portuguese poet
* 1607 – John Popham, English politician
* 1654 – Alessandro Algardi, Italian sculptor (b. 1598)
* 1680 – Johan Göransson Gyllenstierna, Swedish statesman (b. 1635)
* 1735 – Thomas Hearne, English antiquarian (b. 1678)
* 1776 – Leopold Widhalm, Austrian luthier (b. 1722)
* 1791 – Toussaint-Guillaume Picquet de la Motte, French admiral (b. 1720)
* 1831 – Hans Karl von Diebitsch, Russian field marshal (b. 1785)
* 1836 – André-Marie Ampère, French physicist (b. 1775)
* 1849 – Thomas Robert Bugeaud, Marshal of France and duke of Isly (b. 1784)
* 1896 – Amelia Dyer, English murderer (b. 1829)
* 1898 – Tuone Udaina, last speaker of the Dalmatian language.
* 1899 – Ernest Chausson, French composer (b. 1855)
* 1901 – Robert Williams Buchanan, British dramatist (b. 1841)
* 1902 – Jacint Verdaguer, Catalan poet (b. 1845)
* 1909 – Edward Everett Hale, American author (b. 1822)
* 1912 – Anton Aškerc, Slovenian poet (b. 1856)
* 1918 – Arrigo Boito, Italian composer (b. 1842)
* 1923 – Pierre Loti, French sailor (b. 1850)
* 1926 – Antoni Gaudí, Spanish, Catalan architect (b. 1852)
* 1930 – Adolf Harnack, German theologian (b. 1851)
* 1934 – Frederick Delius, English composer (b. 1862)
* 1937 – Robert Borden, eighth Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1854)
* 1940 – Marcus Garvey, American civil rights activist (b. 1887)
* 1944 – Willem Jacob van Stockum, Dutch physicist (b. 1910)
* 1946 – Jack Johnson, American boxer (b. 1878)
* 1947 – Alexander Bethune, Canadian politician (b. 1852)
* 1949 – Sigrid Undset, Norwegian writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1882)
* 1958 – Angelina Weld Grimke, American journalist (b. 1880)
* 1959 – Zoltán Meskó, Hungarian Nazi (b. 1883)
* 1967 – Spencer Tracy, American actor (b. 1900)
* 1971 – Michael Rennie, English actor (b. 1909)
* 1973 – William Inge, American playwright (b. 1913)
* 1973 – Erich von Manstein, German military commander (b. 1887)
* 1974 – Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester (b. 1900)
* 1976 – Adolph Zukor, Hungarian-born producer (b. 1873)
* 1982 – Rainer Werner Fassbinder, German author (b. 1945)
* 1982 – Addie "Micki" Harris, American singer (Shirelles) (b. 1940)
* 1986 – Merle Miller, American biographer (b. 1919)
* 1987 – Elizabeth Hartman, American actress (b. 1943)
* 1988 – Louis L'Amour, American author (b. 1908)
* 1991 – Vercors, French writer (b. 1902)
* 1992 – Zak Hernández, American soldier (b. 1970)
* 1992 – Hachidai Nakamura, Japanese songwriter and pianist (b. 1931)
* 1993 – Les Dawson, English Comedian (b. 1934)
* 1996 – George Hees, Canadian politician (b. 1910)
* 1996 – Jo Van Fleet, American actress (b. 1914)
* 1998 – Hammond Innes, English author (b. 1914)
* 1998 – Jim Hearn, American baseball player (b. 1921)
* 2000 – Hafez al-Assad, President of Syria (b. 1930)
* 2000 – Brian Statham, English cricketer (b. 1930)
* 2001 – Princess Leila of Iran (b. 1970)
* 2001 – Mike Mentzer, American bodybuilder (b. 1951)
* 2002 – John Gotti, American gangster (b. 1940)
* 2003 – Donald Regan, Chief of Staff and U.S. Treasury Secretary (b. 1918)
* 2003 – Bernard Williams, English philosopher (b. 1929)
* 2003 – Dr Phil Williams, Welsh politician and scientist (b. 1939)
* 2004 – Ray Charles, American musician (b. 1930)
* 2005 – Curtis Pitts, American aircraft designer (b. 1915)
* 2007 – Augie Auer, Meteorologist and television presenter (b. 1940)
* 2008 – Chinghiz Aitmatov, Kyrgyzstani-Soviet writer (b. 1928)
Holidays and observances...
* French Guiana: Abolition Day
* Portugal: Portugal Day ("Day of Camões, Portugal, and the Portuguese Communities")
* Republic of the Congo: Reconciliation Day
* Roman Empire – fourth day of the Vestalia in honor of Vesta
Have a good Wednesday.
~Brian
