Today in History for 12th February 2017:
Historical Events
1821 – Mercantile Library of City of NY opens
1909 – Robert Fowler runs world record marathon (2:46:52.6)
1916 – 1st edition of Joseph Patterson/Sidney Smith’s strip “The Gumps”
1931 – Vatican Radio begins broadcasting with the callsign HVJ
1985 – West Indies beat Australia 2-1 to win cricket’s World Series Cup (Australian Tri-Series)
2000 – 31st NAACP Image Awards: “The Best Man” wins Outstanding Motion Picture
Famous Birthdays
1917 – Raizo Matsuno, Japanese politician (d. 2006)
1919 – Forrest Tucker, Plainfield Ind, actor (O’Rourke-F Troop, Dusty Trail)
1936 – Fang Lizhi, Chinese astrophysicist/dissident (Tiananmen Square, 1989), born in Beijing, China (d. 2012)
1949 – Len Randle, baseball player (NY Mets)
1952 – Michael McDonald, rock keyboardist/vocals (Doobie Brothers), born in St. Louis, Missouri
1985 – Saskia Burmeister Croft, Australian actress
Famous Deaths
1538 – Albrecht Altdorfer, German painter, dies at about 57
1929 – Lillie Langtry, British singer and actress (b. 1853)
1980 – Muriel Rukeyser, American poet (b. 1913)
2007 – Peggy Gilbert, American jazz saxophonist and bandleader (b. 1905)
2013 – Hennadiy Udovenko, Ukranian politician and diplomat, dies at 81
2015 – Steve Strange [Steven Harrington] pop singer (Visage) and nightclub host, dies of a heart attack at 55