Today in History

Historical Events

1890 - African American inventor William Purvis receives a patent for the fountain pen
1956 - Indian batsman Vinoo Mankad scores 231 v NZ, 413 opening stand with Roy
1974 - Gasoline rationing begins in the Netherlands
1990 - Lynn Jennings runs world record indoor 5km indoor at 15:22.64
2001 - 27th People's Choice Awards: Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts win (Dramatic Motion Picture) and Drew Carey and Jennifer Aniston win (TV)

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Famous Birthdays

1827 - Sandford Fleming, Scottish-Canadian engineer; introduced Universal Standard Time, born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland (d. 1915)
1948 - Steve Sheetz, American businessman, philanthropist and chief executive of Sheetz convenience stores (1984-95), born in Altoona, Pennsylvania (d. 2026)
1965 - Five for Fighting [Vladimir John Ondrasik], American soft rock-pop pianist, singer-songwriter, and record producer ("Superman (It's Not Easy)"; "100 Years"), born in Los Angeles, California
1977 - John Gidding, American architect and TV host (Designed to Sell), born in Istanbul, Turkey
1991 - Eden Hazard, Belgian soccer midfielder (126 caps; Lille, Chelsea 245 games, Real Madrid), born in La Louvière, Belgium

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Famous Deaths

1783 - William Tans'ur, English hymnist, dies at 76
1892 - Muḥammad Tawfīq Pasha, Khediv...