Historical Events 1847 - Michigan becomes 1st English-speaking jurisdiction to abolish the death penalty (except for treason against the state) 1946 - Panama accepts its new constitution 1970 - End of US commercial whale hunting 1984 - USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR #3931 Batten‚ #4529 Webern‚ #4530 Smoluchowski‚ #4818 Elgar‚ #5502 Brashear and #5943 Lovi 1991 - US Embassy in Kuwait officially reopens 2023 - At least 1000 Iranian school girls exposed to toxic gas attacks‚ since November‚ amid accusations they are an attempt to close schools after girls participated in recent anti-government protests More Historical Events » Famous Birthdays 1432 - Isabel of Coimbra‚ Queen of Portugal (d. 1455) 1734 - Pieter Valck‚ Dutch artist and sculptor (d. 1783) 1822 - Albin Francisco Schoepf‚ Polish-American Brigadier General (Union Army)‚ born in Podgórze‚ Kraków‚ Poland (d. 1886) 1837 - William Dean Howells‚ American novelist‚ critic and editor (Atlantic)‚ born in Martinsville‚ Ohio (d. 1920) 1920 - Howard Nemerov‚ American poet‚ two-time US Poet Laureate and novelist (Blue Swallows)‚ born in New York City (d. 1991) 1956 - Timothy Daly‚ American actor (Joe-Wings‚ Diner‚ Made in Heaven)‚ born in Sufferin‚ New York More Famous Birthdays » Famous Deaths 1510 - Francisco de Almeida‚ Portuguese soldier‚ explorer and 1st Viceroy of India dies at Table Bay‚ Africa at about 59 1826 - Friedrich Weinbrenner‚ German architect‚ dies at 59 1906 - Moritz Heyne‚ German germanist (Beowulf)‚ dies at 68 1928 - Jacob Adolf Hägg‚ Swedish composer‚ dies at 77 1980 - Dixie Dean‚ English soccer striker (16 caps; Everton)‚ dies from a heart attack at 73 1991 - Scott Huston‚ American composer‚ dies at 74 More Famous Deaths »