Today in History for 29th February 2020:
Historical Events
1892 – St. Petersburg, Florida is incorporated
1892 – Britain and US sign treaty on seal hunting in Bering Sea
1964 – “Rugantino” closes at Mark Hellinger Theater NYC after 28 performances
1968 – National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders (Kerner Comm) reports against racism and demands aid given to blacks
1976 – American driver Richard Petty wins the only Winston Cup race run on Leap Day, taking the Carolina 500 at Rockingham by 2 laps over Darrell Waltrip
1976 – ABC-TV broadcast premiere of 1965’s hit “The Sound of Music”
Famous Birthdays
1728 – Robert Bage, English writer (Criticism by Peter Faulkner)
1792 – Karl Ernst von Baler, Russian naturalist (discovered human ovum)
1884 – Alfred Sendrey, American composer and musicologist, born in Budapest, Hungary (d. 1976)
1904 – Jimmy Dorsey, American orchestra leader (Stage Show), born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania
1944 – Dennis Farina, American actor (Get Shorty, Law and Order, Crime Story), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 2013)
1972 – Dave Williams, American singer (Drowning Pool) (d. 2002)
Famous Deaths
468 – Pope St. Hilarius (461-468), calendar reformer, dies (birth date unknown)
1744 – John Theophilus Desaguliers, French-British natural philosopher and freemason, dies at 60
1944 – Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, President of Finland (b. 1861)
1992 – Johnny Mack, British actor (Time Lord-Dr Who), dies at 70
2000 – Dennis Danell, American artist (b. 1961)
2016 – Edward M. Lawson, Canadian trade unionist and politician, dies at 86