Today in History for 18th February 2022:
Historical Events
1478 – George, Duke of Clarence, convicted of treason against his older brother Edward IV of England, is privately executed in the Tower of London (allegedly by being drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine).
1899 – 80°F recorded in San Francisco, California
1922 – Kenesaw Mountain Landis resigns his federal judgeship to give full attention to job as Major League Baseball Commissioner
1936 – NHL record 32 points scored, NY Americans (28) and Mont Maroons (24)
2007 – 49th Daytona 500: Kevin Harvick wins by 0.02s over Mark Martin in the closest finish since the first race at Daytona in 1959
2013 – $ 50 million worth of diamonds is stolen in an armed robbery at Brussels Airport, Belgium
Famous Birthdays
1771 – Friedrich Christian Ruppe, composer and violinist, brother of Christian Friedrich Ruppe
1819 – Joseph Philbrick Webster, composer
1922 – Helen Gurley Brown, American author/publisher and editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, born in Green Forest, Arkansas, (d. 2012)
1943 – Graeme Garden, Scottish writer (The Goodies), born in Aberdeen, Scotland
1945 – Judy Rankin, American golfer (US Open, Titleholders C’ship 1972 runner-up; 26 LPGA Tour wins), born in St Louis, Missouri
1956 – Ted Gärdestad, Swedish singer, born in Sollentuna Municipality, Sweden (d. 1997)
Famous Deaths
1925 – James Lane Allen, American writer (Choir Invisible), dies at 75
1949 – Niceto Alcalá-Zamora, 1st Prime Minister of the Second Spanish Republic and President of Spain (1931-36), dies at 71
1959 – Eric Zeisl, Austrian-American composer (Requiem Ebraico), dies of a heart attack at 53
1976 – Anton Betzner, writer, dies at 81
1981 – John Knudsen Northrop, American aircraft designer (Northrop Air), dies at 85
2001 – Balthus [Balthazar Klossowski], French Polish painter, dies at 92