Today in History for 3rd April 2025
Historical Events
1834 – The generals in the Greek War of Independence stand trial for treason.
1860 – Start of the Pony Express, delivers mail by horse and rider relay teams between St Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California
1965 – 1st atomic powered spacecraft (snap) launched
1976 – 130th Grand National: John Burke wins aboard Rag Trade; equal record 4th winner trained by Fred Rimell and 2nd winner owned by Pierre Raymond Bessone
2000 – 62nd NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship: Michigan State beats Florida, 89-76; Spartans only top-4 seed to advance to the Final Four
2004 – Islamic terrorists involved in the 11 March 2004 Madrid attacks are trapped by the police in their apartment and kill themselves
Famous Birthdays
1485 – Lieven van der Maude [Livius Ammonius], South Netherland poet and Carthusian monk, born in Ghent, Habsburg Netherlands (d. 1556)
1918 – Sixten Ehrling, Swedish pianist, conductor (Royal Opera of Stockholm, 1953-60; Detroit Symphony, 1963-73), and educator (Juilliard, 1973-87), born in Malmö, Sweden (d. 2005)
1926 – Andrew Keir, Scottish character actor (Rob Roy, Absolution, Blood Hunt, Catholics), born in Shotts, Lanarkshire, Scotland (d. 1997)
1963 – Tsuyoshi Sekito, Japanese video game composer, born in Osaka, Japan
1988 – Peter Hartley, English footballer (Motherwell), born in Hartlepool, England
2003 – Elsie Fisher, American actress (Eighth Grade), born in Riverside, California
Famous Deaths
1990 – Sarah Vaughan, American jazz and pop singer (“Body and Soul; “Broken Hearted Melody”), often known as “Sassy” and “The Divine One”, dies of lung cancer at 66
1990 – Katharine Balfour, American actress (Love Story), dies of ALS at 69
2007 – Marion Eames, Welsh novelist, dies at 86
2007 – Eddie Robinson, American College Football Hall of Fame coach (Grambling 408 wins), dies of Alzheimer’s disease at 88
2015 – Andrew Porter, British organist, opera director, music critic, and librettist, dies at 86
2020 – Tom Dempsey, American NFL kicker (Pro Bowl, First-team All-Pro 1969; New Orleans Saints; longest winning field goal, 63 yards), dies of COVID-19 complications at 73
