This Day IN History, July 27th

Important Events

1542 Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo sets sail from the Mexican port of Navidad to explore the west coast of North America on behalf of the Spanish Empire
1693 1st women’s magazine “Ladies’ Mercury” published (London)

1743 War of the Austrian Succession: Battle of Dettingen: in Bavaria, King George II of Britain personally leads troops into battle. The last time a British monarch commanded troops in the field.
1929 1st color TV demo, performed by Bell Laboratories in NYC
1950 North Korean troops reach Seoul, UN asks members to aid South Korea, Harry Truman orders US Air Force & Navy into the Korean conflict
1954 1st atomic power station opens – Obninsk, near Moscow in Russia

678 St Agatho begins his reign as Catholic Pope
The 1358 Republic of Dubrovnik is founded

Some Famous Birthdays On This Day

From Way Back

1040 Ladislaus I, King of Hungary, born in the Kingdom of Poland (d. 1095)
1350 Manuel II Palaeologus, Byzantine Emperor (1391-1425) (d. 1425)

1462 Louis XII, the Just, King of France (1498-1515), born in Château de Blois, France (d. 1515)
1550 Charles IX [Carl], King of France (1560-74), born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France (d. 1574)
1615 Johann Paul Schor, German Baroque painter, born in Innsbruck, Austria (d. 1674)
1696 William Pepperrell, British colonial soldier, born in Kittery, Maine (d. 1759)
1717 Louis Guillaume Lemonnier, French botanist and contributor to the Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers, born in Paris (d. 1799)
1718 Wenzel Raimund Pirck, composer, born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1763)
1745 Johann Nepomuk Went, Bohemian composer, born in Vinařice, Czech Republic (d. 1801)
1787 Thomas Say, American naturalist and father of descriptive entomology, born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (d. 1834)
1789 Philipp Friedrich Silcher, German composer, born in Weinstadt, Germany (d. 1860)
1805 Stephen Elvey, English composer, born in Canterbury, Kent, England (d. 1860)
1806 Napoléon Coste, French guitarist and composer, born in Besançon, France (d. 1883)
1809 François Certain Canrobert, French marshal and parliament member, born in Saint-Céré, France (d. 1895)
1812 John Pike Hullah, English composer, born in Worcester (d. 1884)
1819 Carl Albert Löschhorn, German composer, born in Berlin, Germany (d. 1905)
1821 August Conradi, German organist, and composer, born in Berlin (d. 1873)
1828 Junius Daniel, Brigadier General (Confederate Army), born in Halifax, North Carolina (d. 1864)
1833 Władysław Zaremba, Ukrainian composer, born in Dunajowce, Ukraine (d 1902)
1838 Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Indian novelist (Anandamath), born in Naihati, Bengal Presidency, British India (d. 1894)
1838 Paul Mauser, German weapon designer, born in Oberndorf am Neckar, Kingdom of Württemberg (d. 1914)
1842 Jamie Anderson, Scottish golfer (British Open 1877-79), born in St. Andrews, Fife (d. 1905)
1846 Charles Stewart Parnell, English-Irish Home Rule Party leader, born in Avondale, County Wicklow, Ireland (d. 1891)
1849 Harriet Hubbard Ayer, American cosmetics manufacturer and columnist, born in Chicago (d. 1903)
1850 Ivan Vazov, Bulgarian poet, novelist and playwright (Under the Yoke), born in Sopot, Bulgaria (d. 1921)
1850 Jacob Adolf Hägg, Swedish composer, born in Östergarn, Sweden (d. 1928)
1850 Lafcadio Hearn, American author (Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan), born in Leucas, Greece (d. 1904)
1850 Jørgen Pedersen Gram, Danish mathematician (Gram–Schmidt process), born in Duchy of Schleswig, Denmark (d. 1919)
1859 Mildred J. Hill, American composer and musician (Happy Birthday To You), born in Louisville, Kentucky (d. 1916)
1862 May Irwin, Canadian comedienne and singer (Hot Time in the Old Town), born in Whitby, Ontario, Canada (d. 1938)
1869 Emma Goldman, American anarchist and publisher (Mother Earth), born in Kovno, Lithuania, Russian Empire (d. 1940)
1869 Kate Carew [Mary Williams], American caricaturist, born in Oakland, California (d. 1961)
1869 Hans Spemann, German embryologist (Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 1935), born in Stuttgart, Germany (d. 1941)

1985 Nico Rosberg, German Finnish race car driver (F1 World Champion 2016), born in Wiesbaden, West Germany
1985 James Hook, Welsh rugby player, born in Port Talbot, Wales

Closer To Present Day

1986 LaShawn Merritt, American sprinter, born in Portsmouth, Virginia

1986 Drake Bell, American actor, voice actor, and musician, born in Newport Beach, California

1987 Ed Westwick, English actor (Gossip Girl), born in London, England

1988 Kate Ziegler, American swimmer, born in Fairfax, Virginia

1989 Matthew Lewis, English actor (The Syndicate), born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England

1990 Aselin Debison, Canadian singer (Bigger than me), born in Glace Bay, Canada

1991 Madylin Sweeten, American actress (Everybody Loves Raymond), born in Brownwood, Texas

1999 Chandler Riggs, American actor (The Walking Dead), born in Atlanta, Georgia

QUIZ

In which country was the world’s oldest parliament established this week in 930 AD?
- England
- Italy
- Iceland
- United States of America
Who was the 1st African American to be nominated for US President?
- Frederick Douglass
- Booker T. Washington
- James Weldon Johnson
- Marcus Garvey
What medical advance was made available to the US public this week in 1960?
- Polio Vaccine
- Contraceptive pill
- Ultrasound
- Measles vaccine
Who is this British person, a major figure in WWI, and born this week in 1850?
- John French
- David Lloyd George
- Horatio Kitchener
- Douglas Haig
What is the American town of Yerba Buena, site of the 1st European building on the west coast now known as?
- San Diego
- Los Angeles
- Seattle
- San Francisco
Which classic sci-fi film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Harrison Ford was released this week in 1982?
- Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
- Alien
- Blade Runner
- Poltergeist
Which composer wrote the opera The Valkyrie, which premiered in 1870, featuring the famous “Ride of the Valkyries”?
- Richard Wagner
- Giacomo Puccini
- Giuseppe Verdi
- Igor Stravinsky
Who delivered their famous speech this week in West Berlin in 1963 by announcing “Ich bin ein Berliner”?
- Angela Merkel
- Nikita Khrushchev
- John F. Kennedy
- Harold Macmillan
What year did the US Supreme Court rule in favor of same-sex marriage?
- 2013
- 2014
- 2015
- 2016
Finnish author and artist Tove Jansson died this week in 2001, what series of books is she famous for?
- Madeline series
- Paddington Bear
- Barbar the elephant
- The Moomins
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