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Jack Hearne (John Thomas Hearne)
John Thomas Hearne (born May 3, 1867; died April 17, 1944) (known either as Jack Hearne or J.T. Hearne to avoid confusion with J.W. Hearne to whom he was only distantly related) was a Middlesex and England medium-fast bowler. His aggregate of 3061 first-class wickets is the greatest for any bowler of medium pace or above, and his 257 wickets in 1896 is the tenth highest total on record. In 1891, 1896, 1898, 1904 and 1910 Hearne headed the first-class bowling averages.
In his heyday a truly great bowler able to gain vigorous off-break from even the most docile wickets, Hearne was also able to vary his pace and bowl a fast ball that swerved at a time when the s kill was not well known. He had a long run for the time and a classic, full-on, high action that gave him higher bounce on hard, very fast wickets than most bowlers of the 1890s. His ability to thrive on hard work was seen in the dry summer of 1896 when he bowled over 10,000 balls - a feat performed previously only by Alfred Shaw, whilst in 1898 Hearne bowled over 9000 balls in a wetter summer.
He was a dependable field near the wicket at a time when catching was the most vital part of fielding, and could occasionally prove a useful batsman in a crisis.
History
Origins
Born on May 3, 1867 in Chalfont St Giles, Buckinghamshire, Jack Hearne first played for Middlesex in 1888 against the Australians. He was not qualified until 1890, and when he played his first County Championship match, Hearne did not know he was playing until the last minute! Yet, he took six for 62, though his performances for the rest of the year were only moderate given the primitiveness of pitches at the time - something that was changing at a rate unprecedented in cricket history during Hearne's prime. In 1891, however, Hearne advanced in a remarkable way, taking 118 wickets in county cricket for only 10.33 runs apiece. This included two amazing bowling feats - 9 for 32 versus Nottinghamshire at Nottingham and 8 for 22 against Lancashire at Lord's. So much of a sensation did Hearne cause that year that Wisden named him as a Cricketer of the Year for 1892 and he toured South Africa with a party led by W.W. Read to play in his first Test. He made a surprising 40, but had almost no bowling to do.
Great Years
From 1892, Hearne was the stock bowler not only for Middlesex, but also for the MCC, which at the time played against the counties Middlesex did not arrange County Championship fixtures with. In 1893, Hearne surpassed his previous form by taking over 200 wickets in a dry summer and his persistence and skill on hard pitches (notably in the two games with Nottinghamshire) was wonderful. In 1894, a very wet summer, Hearne just failed to reach 200, yet his omission from the 1894/1895 tour of Australia remains puzzling given his persistence and pace from the ground might have been well-suited to the hard pitches then evolving in Australia.
In 1895, Hearne had a temporary setback, taking only 133 wickets and at times appearing stale. However, despite the driest summer he had yet played through, 1896 proved to be Hearne's great year: his 257 wickets included an amazing haul of 56 for just over 13 each against the Australians: a feat bettered only by Jim Laker in 1956 under more helpful weather conditions. Though a few very badly broken wickets at Lord's in a very dry May helped him, his work on the hard and true pitches earned respect, even fear, from most batsmen, and when the weather finally broke up in August, he took 10 for 60 on a difficult Oval wicket to ensure England the Ashes. Earlier in the year he had taken all nine wickets that fell for MCC against the Australians (George Giffen was absent). In 1897, though his feats were less staggering than the previous year, Hearne was clearly the best bowler apart from the incomparable Tom Richardson, and he was chosen to tour Australia for the only time. He did not disappoint despite the very hard pitches: with Richardson only once at his best Hearne had to shoulder a very heavy burden and did so very well, taking 20 wickets including 6 for 98 at the MCG. In 1898, Hearne was again magnificent, taking 222 wickets at a slightly lower cost than in 1896. Whilst, on difficult pitches without support, his excellent bowling did not reward Middlesex early on, in August, aided by Albert Trott, Middlesex won their last seven games to come second.
Decline
At this point, nobody knew how long Hearne could keep going. However, 1899 saw unmistakable signs of decline, for apart from early in the season on very helpful pitches, Hearne lost most of his sting. Despite a hat-trick in the first ever Test at Headingley that suggested he was still a great bowler, Hearne's haul of wickets declined from 222 to 127 and his average rose by fifty percent - a great decline even when the very dry weather is considered.
In 1900, whilst he produced impressive performances against the two leading counties (Yorkshire and Lancashire), Hearne could not recover his form, and apart from a few reasonable performances for the MCC the year 1901 was disastrous, with his average in purely county matches blowing out to over 30 runs per wicket, and 1902 - the first really wet summer since 1894 - was equally disappointing, with a succession of rain-affected pitches only rarely exploited and little evidence of his old skill on the few hard pitches. Consequently, Hearne disappeared from consideration for Test and other representative selection, even during his occasional recoveries of form.
Late Career
In 1903 and 1904, Hearne seemed to recover his skill, supporting a formidable Middlesex batting side to give them their first official County Championship in the former year, and heading the averages in 1904 with several outstanding performances on difficult wickets. In 1905 he still bowled well, but 1906 was an absolute disaster and it seemed only a matter of time before Hearne was dropped. This opinion was barely dimmed by some great performances in late 1907 - recalling the vicious spin of the 1890s Hearne - and one superb performance against Yorkshire in 1908. By 1909, apart from a mechanical accuracy of length, there seemed nothing at all in Hearne's bowling.
Yet, 1910, after he was dropped early on, marked a remarkable return to form, getting on as much off-break as ever on the rain-spoiled wickets of a wet summer even at forty-three, and his length appearing to have only become more immaculate with greater experience. The exceptional summer of 1911 showed he had not lost his skill and vigour on hard wickets, with the consistency of his bowling being remarkable. Though he was perhaps good enough to play for England, he was probably ruled out at this point by age, which had already led the MCC to use him as their main bowler much less.
Hearne continued to play up to 1914 - though without the same success of 1910 and 1911 - taking his three thousandth wicket on the first day of 1914. When first-class cricket resumed in 1919, Hearne was fifty-two and clearly was too old to play a full season's cricket. He played two more first-class matches against weak opponents in 1921 and 1923, but never again in the Championship.
Later life
In 1920, Hearne became the first professional cricketer to be elected to the Middlesex committee, a place he held until the end of the decade. During this period, he went on a number of tours to India and coached cricket at Oxford University until the middle 1930s, after which he retired. Jack Hearne died in his birthplace of Chalfont St Giles on April 17, 1944.
External links
- [http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/0/156/t_Bowling_by_Season.html Test bowling]
- [http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Players/0/156/f_Bowling_by_Season.html First-class bowling]
- [http://content.cricinfo.com/england/content/player/14133.html Cricinfo page on Jack Hearne]
Hearne, Jack (John Thomas Hearne)
Hearne, Jack (John Thomas Hearne)
Hearne, Jack (John Thomas Hearne)
Hearne, Jack (John Thomas Hearne)
Hearne, Jack (J ohn Thomas Hearne)
Hearne, Jack (John Thomas Hearne)
Hearne, Jack (John Thomas Hearne)
May 3
May 3 is the 123rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (124th in leap years). There are 242 days remaining.
Events
- 1494 - Christopher Columbus first spots Jamaica.
- 1791 - The May Constitution of Poland (first modern constitution in Europe) is proclaimed by the Polish Diet.
- 1808 - Finnish War: Sweden loses the fortress of Sveaborg to Russia.
- 1808 - Peninsular War: The Madrid rebels who rose up on May 2 are fired upon near Príncipe Pío hill.
- 1810 - Lord Byron swims the Hellespont.
- 1849 - The May Uprising in Dresden begins - the last of the German revolutions of 1848.
- 1860 - Charles XV of Sweden-Norway is crowned king of Sweden.
- 1867 - The Hudson's Bay Company gives up all claims to Vancouver Island.
- 1933 - Nellie Tayloe Ross becomes the first woman to head the United States Mint.
- 1937 - Gone with the Wind, a novel by Margaret Mitchell, wins the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
- 1945 - World War II: Sinking of the floating-jails Cap Arcona, Thielbek and Deutschland by the RAF in the Lübeck Bay.
- 1946 - World War II: The International Military Tribunal for the Far East begins in Tokyo against 28 Japanese military and government officials accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
- 1947 - New post-war Japanese constitution goes into effect.
- 1951 - London's Royal Festival Hall opens.
- 1951 - The United States Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees begin their closed door hearings into the dismissal of General Douglas MacArthur by U.S. President Harry S Truman.
- 1952 - U.S. lieutenant colonels Joseph O. Fletcher and William P. Benedict land a plane at the geographic North Pole.
- 1956 - The judo World Championships are first held.
- 1957 - Walter O'Malley, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, agrees to move the team from Brooklyn, New York, to Los Angeles, California.
- 1960 - The Off-Broadway musical comedy, The Fantasticks, opens in New York City's Greenwich Village, eventually becoming the longest-running musical of all time.
- 1971 - All Things Considered, National Public Radio's flagship news program, broadcasts for the first time.
- 1974 - The Portuguese Democratic Labour Party is founded in Portugal.
- 1980 - The Communist Party of Togo is founded.
- 1986 - In Bergen, Norway, Sandra Kim wins the thirty-first Eurovision Song Contest for Belgium singing "J'aime la vie" ("I love life").
- 1991 - The Declaration of Windhoek is signed.
- 1991 - The last episode of the soap opera Dallas airs.
- 1997 - In Dublin, Ireland, Katrina and the Waves win the forty-second Eurovision Song Contest for the United Kingdom singing "Love Shine a Light".
- 1999 - Oklahoma City is slammed by an F5 tornado. The tornado was part of a storm system that produces 66 tornadoes. The Oklahoma City tornado kills 42 people and injures 665, and causes $1 billion in damage. (see The Oklahoma Tornado Outbreak)
- 1999 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 11,000 for the first time in its history at 11,014.70.
- 2000 - Datapoint, the company that commissioned the Intel 8008 microprocessor, declares Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
- 2000 - The sport of Geocaching begins with the first cache placed and the coordinates from a GPS are posted on Usenet.
- Constantine III, Byzantine Emperor (d. 641)
- 1415 - Cecily Neville, mother of Edward IV of England and Richard III of England (d. 1495)
- 1428 - Pedro González de Mendoza, Spanish cardinal and statesman (d. 1495)
- 1446 - Margaret of York, wife of Charles I, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1503)
- 1469 - Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian historian and political author (d. 1527)
- 1662 - Matthäus Daniel Pöppelmann, German architect (d. 1736)
- 1695 - Henri Pitot, French engineer (d. 1771)
- 1713 - Alexis Clairault, French mathematician (d. 1765)
- 1761 - August von Kotzebue, German dramatist (d. 1819)
- 1826 - Charles, Crown Prince of Sweden-Norway (d. 1872)
- 1835 - Alfred Austin, English poet (d. 1913)
- 1844 - Richard D'Oyly Carte, English theatrical impresario (d. 1901)
- 1849 - Bernhard von Bülow, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1929)
- 1859 - Andy Adams, American author (d. 1935)
- 1860 - John Scott Haldane, Scottish physiologist (d. 1936)
- 1861 - Emmett Dalton, American outlaw (d. 1937)
- 1867 - J.T. Hearne, English cricketer (d. 1944)
- 1874 - François Coty, French perfume manufacturer (d. 1934)
- 1877 - Karl Abraham, German psychoanalyst (d. 1925)
- 1886 - Marcel Dupré, French composer (d. 1971)
- 1888 - Beulah Bondi, American actress (d. 1981)
- 1892 - George Paget Thomson, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1975)
- 1893 - Konstantine Gamsakhurdia, Georgian writer and public benefactor (d. 1975)
- 1895 - Cornelius Van Til, philosopher and Christian apologist (d. 1987)
- 1898 - Golda Meir, Prime Minister of Israel (d. 1978)
- 1902 - Alfred Kastler, French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1984)
- 1903 - Bing Crosby, American singer (d. 1977)
- 1905 - Sebastian Shaw, English actor (d. 1994)
- 1906 - Anna E. Roosevelt, American radio personality (d. 1975)
- 1906 - Mary Astor, American actress (d. 1987)
- 1912 - Virgil Fox, American organist (d. 1980)
- 1913 - William Inge, American playwright (d. 1973)
- 1915 - Stu Hart, Canadian professional wrestler and trainer (d. 2003)
- 1919 - Betty Comden, American lyricist (d. 2002)
- 1919 - John Cullen Murphy, American comic strip artist (d. 2004)
- 1919 - Pete Seeger, American folk singer
- 1921 - Joe Ames, American singer
- 1921 - Sugar Ray Robinson, American boxer (d. 1989)
- 1923 - Ralph Hall, American politician
- 1928 - Dave Dudley, American singer (d. 2003)
- 1933 - James Brown, American singer
- 1933 - Steven Weinberg, American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1937 - Frankie Valli, American singer
- 1945 - Davey Lopes, baseball player and coach
- 1946 - Silvino Francisco, South African snooker player
- 1947 - Doug Henning, Canadian magician (d. 2000)
- 1950 - Howard Ashman, American lyricist (d. 1991)
- 1950 - Mary Hopkin, Welsh singer
- 1951 - Christopher Cross, American musician
- 1951 - Tatyana Tolstaya, Russian writer
- 1952 - Allan Wells, British athlete
- 1955 - David Hookes, Australian cricketer (d. 2004)
- 1959 - Uma Bharati, Indian politician
- 1959 - Ben Elton, British comedian and author
- 1962 - Anders Graneheim, Swedish bodybuilder
- 1966 - Darren Morgan, Welsh snooker player
- 1972 - Celeste, American actress
- 1975 - Maksim Mrvica, Croatian pianist
Deaths
- 1152 - Matilda of Boulogne, queen of Stephen of England
- 1160 - Peter Lombard, Italian scholar and bishop
- 1294 - John I, Duke of Brabant
- 1481 - Mehmed II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1432)
- 1598 - Anna Guarini, Italian singer (b. 1563)
- 1606 - Henry Garnet, English Jesuit missionary (b. 1555)
- 1622 - Pedro Páez, Spanish Jesuit missionary (b. 1564)
- 1679 - James Sharp, English archbishop (assassinated) (b. 1613)
- 1693 - Claude de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon, French courtier (b. 1607)
- 1704 - Heinrich Ignaz Biber, Bohemian composer (b. 1644)
- 1724 - John Leverett the Younger, American President of Harvard (b. 1662)
- 1750 - John Willison, Scottish minister and writer (b. 1680)
- 1752 - Samuel Ogle, British provincial Governor of Maryland
- 1758 - Pope Benedict XIV (b. 1675)
- 1763 - George Psalmanazar, British imposter
- 1764 - Francesco Algarotti, Italian philosopher (b. 1712)
- 1779 - John Winthrop, American astronomer (b. 1714)
- 1793 - Martin Gerbert, German theologian and historian (b. 1720)
- 1839 - Ferdinando Paer, Italian composer (b. 1771)
- 1856 - Adolphe Charles Adam, French composer (b. 1803)
- 1942 - Thorvald Stauning, Prime Minister of Denmark (b. 1873)
- 1958 - Frank Foster, English cricketer (b. 1889)
- 1987 - Dalida, French singer (b. 1933)
- 1988 - Lev Semenovich Pontryagin, Russian mathematician (b. 1908)
- 1988 - Milt Caniff, American cartoonist (b. 1907)
- 1991 - Jerzy Kosinski, Polish-born writer (b. 1933)
- 1994 - Ezra Taft Benson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1899)
- 2002 - Barbara Castle, Baroness Castle of Blackburn, British politician (b. 1910)
- 2003 - Suzy Parker, American actress (b. 1932)
- 2004 - Anthony Ainley, British actor (b. 1932)
Holidays and observances
- National Teacher Day in the United States
- World Press Freedom Day
- Constitution Day in Poland and Japan
- Roman Catholicism- Feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross (often called the Feast of the Invention of the True Cross)
- Feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church
- Saints Eventius, Theodulus, and Alexander (martyrs of 119)
- Emily Bicchiere (1238 - 1314)
- Antonia and Alexander (martyrs of 313)
- Saint Juvenal (d. 376)
- Ausfrid (c. 1008)
- Israel - Yom Ha'atzma'ut (Israeli Independence Day) for 2006: (the observed date of this national holiday is determined by the Jewish Calendar).
External links
- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/3 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/20050503.html The New York Times: On This Day]
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May 2 - May 4 - April 3 - June 3 – listing of all days
ko:5월 3일
ms:3 Mei
ja:5月3日
simple:May 3
th:3 พฤษภาคม
1867
1867 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar).
Events
- January 1 - The John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge opens between Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington, Kentucky, becoming the longest suspension bridge in the world
- January 8 - African-American men granted the right to vote in the District of Columbia
- January 11 - Benito Juárez becomes Mexican president again
- January 30 - Emperor Komei of Japan dies. Crown Prince Mutsuhito is expected to become the next Emperor of Japan.
- January 31 – Maronite nationalist leader Karam leaves Lebanon on board of a French ship for Algeria
- February 3 - Shogun Tokugawa Yoshinobu abdicates, and the late Emperor Komei's son, Prince Mutshuhito becomes Emperor Meiji of Japan. End of the Late Tokugawa shogunate.
- February 17 - The first ship passes through the Suez Canal
- March 1 - Nebraska is admitted as the 37th U.S. state.
- March 16 - First publication of an article by Joseph Lister outlining the discovery of antiseptic surgery, in The Lancet.
- March 29 - The British North America Act receives royal assent, forming the Dominion of Canada in an event known as Confederation. This unites the Province of Canada, Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia as of July 1. Ottawa becomes the capital, and John A. Macdonald becomes the Dominion's first prime minister.
- March 30 - Alaska is purchased for $7.2 million from Alexander II of Russia, about 2 cent/acre ($4.19/km²), by United States Secretary of State William H. Seward. The news media call this "Seward's Folly."
- April 1 - Strait Settlement of Singapore, fomerly ruled from Calcutta, becomes a Crown Colony under the jurisdiction of the Colonial Office in London
- May 29 - Austro-Hungarian agreement called Ausgleich ("the Compromise") is born through Act 12, which established the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy; on June 8 Emperor Francis Joseph was crowned King of Hungary
- June 19 - Firing squad executes Emperor Maximilian of Mexico
Maximilian of Mexico
- July 1 - Canada Day, recognizing the creation of Canada by the British North America Act.
- July 17 - In Boston, Massachusetts, the Harvard School of Dental Medicine is established as the first dental school in the United States.
- July 21 - Missionary Thomas Baker killed and eaten in Viti Levu, Fiji
- September 2 - Mutsuhito, the Meiji Emperor of Japan marries Ichijo Masako. The Empress consort is thereafter known as Lady Haruko.
- September 30 - The United States takes control of Midway Island.
- November 15 - Former Minnesota farmer Oliver Hudson Kelley founds the Order of the Patrons of Husbandry (better known today as the Grange movement).
- October 21 - 'Manifest Destiny': Medicine Lodge Treaty - Near Medicine Lodge Creek, Kansas a landmark treaty is signed by southern Great Plains Indian leaders. The treaty requires Native American Plains tribes to relocate a reservation in western Oklahoma.
- October 27 – Giuseppe Garibaldi's troops march into Rome
- December 2 - In a New York City theater, British author Charles Dickens gives his first public reading in the United States.
Month/day unknown
- First running of the Belmont Stakes horse race in Elmont, New York.
- Transition from the Edo period to the Meiji period in Japanese history
- Pierre Michaux invents the front wheel-driven velocipede, the first mass-produced bicycle.
- Otto von Bismarck organises a North German Confederation under the leadership of Prussia
- Yellow fever kills 3093 in New Orleans
- War of the Triple Alliance in Paraguay
- Second Reform Bill by Disraeli enfranchises many working men and adds 938000 to an electorate of 1057000 in England and Wales
- South African diamond fields discovered
- Fenian rising in Ireland
- Asa Mercer travels to East Coast to recruit more "Mercer Girls" to Seattle
- Prohibition National Committee formed.
- Wasps football club formed in Middlesex, England.
Births
- January 8 - Emily Greene Balch, American writer and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1961)
- January 17 - Carl Laemmle, German-born film executive (d. 1939)
- January 18 - Rubén Darío, Nicaraguan poet (d. 1916)
- January 20 - Yvette Guilbert, French singer and actress (d. 1944)
- January 21 - Ludwig Thoma, German writer (d. 1921)
- January 21 - Maxime Weygand, French general (d. 1965)
- February 7 - Laura Ingalls Wilder, American author (d. 1957)
- February 21 - Otto Hermann Kahn, German-born millionaire and philanthropist (d. 1934)
- February 27 - Wilhelm Peterson-Berger, Swedish composer (d. 1942)
- March 25 - Arturo Toscanini, Italian conductor (d. 1957)
- March 29 - Cy Young, baseball player (d. 1955)
- April 2 - Eugen Sandow, German-born body builder and circus performer (d. 1925)
- April 7 - Holger Pedersen, Dutch linguist (d. 1953)
- April 9 - Chris Watson, third Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1941)
- April 13 - Sammy Woods, English cricketer (d. 1931)
- April 16 - René Boylesve, French author (d. 1926)
- April 16 - Wilbur Wright, American aviation pioneer (d. 1912)
- April 23 - Johannes Andreas Grib Fibiger, Danish scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1928)
- May 3 - J.T. Hearne, English cricketer (d. 1944)
- May 7 - Władysław Reymont, Polish writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1925)
- May 14 - Kurt Eisner, German politician and publicist (d. 1919)
- May 26 - Mary of Teck (d. 1953)
- June 4 - Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, President of Finland (d. 1951)
- June 8 - Frank Lloyd Wright, American architect (d. 1959)
- June 28 - Luigi Pirandello, Italian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1936)
- July 8 - Käthe Kollwitz, German artist (d. 1945)
- July 27 - Enrique Granados, Spanish composer (d. 1916)
- July 28 - Charles Dillon Perrine, American-born astronomer (d. 1951)
- August 12 - Edith Hamilton, German-born educator and author (d. 1963)
- August 14 - John Galsworthy, English writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1933)
- August 22 - Maximilian Bircher-Benner, Swiss physician and nutritionist (d. 1939)
- September 28 - Kiichiro Hiranuma, 35th Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1952)
- October 25 - Józef Dowbór-Muśnicki, Polish general (d. 1937)
- October 31 - David Graham Phillips, American journalist and novelist (d. 1911)
- November 7 - Marie Curie, Polish-born scientist, Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry and physics (d. 1934)
- December 23 - Madame C. J. Walker, first African-American millionaire (d. 1919)
- December 24 - Kantaro Suzuki, 42nd Prime Minister of Japan (d. 1948)
Deaths
- January 14 - Jean Auguste Ingres, French painter (b. 1780)
- January 30 - Emperor Komei of Japan (b. 1831)
- May 12 - Friedrich William Eduard Gerhard, German archaeologist (b. 1795)
- June 19 - Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico (executed) (b. 1832)
- August 25 - Michael Faraday, English chemist and physicist (b. 1791)
- August 31 - Charles Baudelaire, French writer (b. 1821)
- September 10 - Simon Sechter, Austrian music teacher (b. 1788)
- Alexander Bryan Johnson, American philosopher (b. 1786)
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ko:1867년
ms:1867
ja:1867年
simple:1867
th:พ.ศ. 2410
1944
1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar).
Events
January
- January 4 - The Battle of Monte Cassino begins.
- January 5 - Murder of Danish playwright Kaj Munk.
- January 14 - The Soviet troops start the offensive at Leningrad and Novgorod.
- January 17 - British forces, in Italy, cross the Garigliano River.
- January 17 - Meat Rationing ends in Australia.
- January 20 - The Royal Air Force drops 2,300 tons of bombs on Berlin. The U.S. Army 36th Infantry Division, in Italy, attempts to cross the Rapido River.
- January 22 - Allies begin Operation Shingle, the assault on Anzio, Italy. The U.S. Army 45th Infantry Division stand their ground at Anzio against violent assaults for 4 months.
- January 27 - The two year Siege of Leningrad is lifted.
- January 29 - The Battle of Cisterna takes place.
- January 30 - United States troops invade Majuro, Marshall Islands.
- January 31 - American forces land on Kwajalein Atoll and other islands in the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.
February
- February 1 - United States troops land in the Marshall Islands.
- February 3 - United States troops capture the Marshall Islands.
- February 7 - In Anzio, Italian forces launch a counteroffensive.
- February 14 - Anti-Japanese revolt on Java.
- February 15 - Battle of Monte Cassino - the monastery atop Monte Cassino is destroyed by Allied bombing.
- February 17 - Battle of Eniwetok Atoll begins. The battle ended in an American victory on February 22.
- February 20 - "Big Week" begins with American bomber raids on German aircraft manufacturing centers.
- February 20 - The United States takes Eniwetok Island.
- February 29 - The Admiralty Islands are invaded in the American General Douglas MacArthur-led Operation Brewer.
March
- March - The Japanese launch an offensive in central and south China.
- March 1 - USS Tarawa and USS Kearsarge laid down.
- March 1 - Anti-fascist strike in northern Italy.
- March 2 - Train stalls inside a railway tunnel outside Salerno, Italy - 426 choke to death
- March 3 - The Order of Nakhimov and the Order of Ushakov were instituted in USSR
- March 10 - In Britain the Education Act lifts the ban on women teachers marrying.
- March 12 - The Creation of the politic Committee of national liberation in Greece.
- March 15 - Battle of Monte Cassino - Allied aircraft bomb German-held monastery and stage an assault.
- March 15 - The National Counsil of the French Resistance approves the Resistance programme.
- March 17 - The hitlerists assassinate at Rîbniţa almost 400 prisoners, Soviet citizens and anti-fascist Romanians.
- March 18 - German forces occupy Hungary.
- March 20 - RAF Flight Sergeant Nicholas Alkemade's bomber is hit over Germany and he has to bail out without a parachute from the height of over 4000 meters. Tree branches interrupt his fall and he lands safely on deep snow
May
- May 5 - Mohandas Gandhi released in India.
- May 9 - Soviet troops liberate Sevastopol.
- May 12 - Soviet troops finalize the liberation of Crimea.
- May 18 - Battle of Monte Cassino - Germans evacuate Monte Cassino and Allied forces take the stronghold after a struggle that claimed 20,000 lives.
- May 18 - Deportation of Crimean Tatars by the Soviet Union government.
June
Soviet Union].
- June 2 - The provisional French government is established.
- June 4 - A hunter-killer group of the United States Navy captures the German submarine U-505, marking the first time a U.S. Navy vessel had captured an enemy vessel at sea since the 19th century.
- June 4 - American, English and French troops enter Rome.
- June 5 - Rome falls to the Allies. It is the first capital of an Axis nation to fall.
- June 5 - More than 1000 British bombers drop 5000 tons of bombs on German gun batteries on the Normandy coast in preparation for D-Day.
- June 6 - Battle of Normandy begins - Operation Overlord, code named D-Day, commences with the landing of 155,000 Allied troops on the beaches of Normandy in France. The allied soldiers quickly break through the Atlantic Wall and push inland in the largest amphibious military operation in history.
- June 9 - Stalin launches an offensive against Finland with the intent of defeating Finland before pushing for Berlin.
- June 10 - 642 men, women and children are killed in the Oradour-sur-Glane Massacre in France.
- June 13 - Germany launches a V1 Flying Bomb attack on England.
- June 15 - Battle of Saipan: The United States invades Saipan.
- June 17 - The proclamation of the Republic of Iceland.
- June 22 - Operation Bagration: General attack by Soviet forces to clear the German forces from Belarus which resulted in the destruction of the German Army Group Centre, possibly the greatest defeat of the Wehrmacht during WWII.
- June 25 - The Battle of Tali-Ihantala between Finnish and Soviet troops begins. Largest battle ever to be fought in the Nordic countries.
- June 26 - American troops enter Cherbourg.
July
- July 3 - Soviet troops liberate Minsk.
- July 9 - British and Canadian forces capture Caen.
- July 10 - Soviet troops start the operations for freeing the Baltic countries.
- July 13 - Liberation of Vilnius.
- July 17 - The largest convoy of the war embarks from Halifax, Nova Scotia under Royal Canadian Navy protection.
- July 17 - SS E.A.Bryan, loaded with ammunition, explodes in the Port Chicago naval base - 320 dead
- July 18 - Hideki Tojo resigns as Prime Minister of Japan due to numerous setbacks in the war effort.
- July 20 - Adolf Hitler survives an assassination attempt. See Claus von Stauffenberg
- July 21 - Battle of Guam - American troops land on Guam starting the battle (ends on August 10).
- July 21 - The creation of the Polish Committee for national liberation.
- July 25 - Operation Spring - One of the bloodiest days for Canadians during the war: 18,444 casualties, including 5,021 killed.
August
- August 1 - Warsaw Uprising begins.
- August 2 - Turkey ends diplomatic and economic relations with Germany.
- August 7 - IBM dedicates the first program-controlled calculator, the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (known best as the Harvard Mark I).
- August 12 - Allies capture Florence, Italy.
- August 12 - World's first undersea oil pipeline laid, between England and France in Operation Pluto
- August 15 - Operation Dragoon lands Allies in southern France. U.S. Army 45th Infantry Division participates in its fourth assault landing at St. Maxime, spearheading the drive for the Belfort Gap.
- August 19 - (August 25) Victorious insurrection in Paris.
- August 23 - Ion Antonescu, prime minister of Romania, is arrested and a new government is established. Romania exits the war against Russia joining the Allies.
- August 24 - Allies enter Paris.
- August 25 - Hungary decides to continue the war together with Germany.
- August 29 - Slovak National Uprising begins
September
- September 1 - In Bulgaria, the Bagrianov government resigns.
- September 2 - Holocaust: Diarist Anne Frank and her family are placed on the last transport train from Westerbork to Auschwitz. They arrive three days later.
- September 3 - Allies liberate Brussels.
- September 4 - The British 11th Armored Division liberates the city of Antwerp in Belgium.
- September 4 - Finland breaks off relations with Germany.
- September 5 - The Soviets declare war on Bulgaria.
- September 7 - The Belgian government returns from exile in Britain.
- September 8 - London is hit by a V2 rocket for the first time.
- September 8 - The French town of Menton is liberated from Germany.
- September 9 - Insurrection in Sofia.
- September 11 - Northern and southern France invasion forces link up near Dijon.
- September 17 - Operation Market Garden begins.
- September 19 - Armistice between Finland and Soviet Union signed. (End of the Continuation War)
- September 24 - The U.S. Army 45th Infantry Division takes the strongly defended city of Epinal before crossing the Moselle River and entering the western foothills of the Vosges.
- September 26 - Operation Market Garden ends in an Allied withdrawal.
October
- October 2 - Warsaw Uprising ends.
- October 5 - Canadian Air Force pilots shoot down the first German jet fighter over France.
- October 9 - British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet Union Premier Joseph Stalin begin a nine-day conference in Moscow to discuss the future of Europe.
- October 12 - The Allies land at Athens.
- October 13 - Riga, the capital of Latvia is liberated by the Red Army.
- October 14 - German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel committed suicide rather than face execution for allegedly conspiring against Adolf Hitler.
- October 18 - Volkssturm founded on Hitler's orders.
- October 20 - Belgrade is liberated by Yugoslav Partisans and the Red Army.
- October 20 - LNG explosion destroys a square mile (2.6 km²) of Cleveland, Ohio
- October 21 - Aachen is the first German city to fall.
- October 23 - Naval Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines begins (lasts until October 26).
- October 25 - Florence Foster Jenkins recital in the Carnegie Hall
- October 25 - Red Army liberates Kirkenes, the first town in Norway to be liberated from German occupation.
- October 31 - Mass murderer Marcel Petiot is apprehended in Paris metro station
November-December
- November 6 - Two Lehi assassins kill Lord Moyne in Cairo
- November 12 - East Turkestan Republic declared
- November 12 - The Royal Air Force carries out one of the most successful precision bombing attacks of the war, sinking the German battleship Tirpitz off the coast of Norway.
- November 19 - US President Franklin D. Roosevelt announces the 6th War Loan Drive, aimed at selling US$14 billion in war bonds to help pay for the war effort.
- November 24 - Bombing of Tokyo - The first bombing raid against the Japanese capital of Tokyo from the east and by land was made by 88 American aircraft.
- November 25 - A German V-2 rocket hits a Woolworth's store in Deptford, killing 160 shoppers.
- November 26 - Gas chambers at Auschwitz and Stutthof are destroyed.
- November 29 - Albania is liberated from German occupation.
- December 16 - Germany begins the Ardennes offensive, later to become known as Battle of the Bulge.
- December 16 - General George C. Marshall becomes the first Five-Star General
- December 17 - German troops carry out the Malmédy massacre.
- December 24 - The Bulge reaches its deepest point at Celles.
- December 26 - American troops repulse German forces at Bastogne.
- December 31 - Hungary declares war on Germany
Other events
January-July
- January 5 - The Daily Mail becomes the first transoceanic newspaper.
- February 26 - - Shooting begins of the Nazi propaganda film, "The Fuehrer Gives a Village to the Jews" in Theresienstadt.
- March 1 - USS Tarawa laid down
- March 4 - In Ossining, New York, Louis Buchalter, the leader of 1930s crime syndicate Murder, Inc., is executed at Sing Sing.
- March 24 - In the Polish village of Markowa, German police kill Józef and Wiktoria Ulm, their six children and eight Jewish people they were hiding.
- April 25 - The United Negro College Fund is incorporated.
- May 30 - Princess Charlotte Louise Juliette Louvet Grimaldi of Monaco, heir to the throne resigns from her rights in favor of her son Prince Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Grimaldi, later reigning Prince Rainier III of Monaco.
- June 17 - Iceland declares full independence from Denmark.
- July 1 - Start of the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire.
- July 6 - A fire broke out during a performance of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus in Hartford, Connecticut, resulting in the deaths of 168 people, most of them children. See Hartford Circus Fire
- July 17 - Port Chicago disaster: Near the San Francisco Bay, two ships laden with ammunition for the war explode in Port Chicago, California killing 232.
- July 22 - End of Bretton Woods conference and signing of Agreements.
August-November
- August 4 - Holocaust: A tip from a Dutch informer leads the Gestapo to a sealed-off area in an Amsterdam warehouse where they find Jewish diarist Anne Frank and her family.
- August 5 - Holocaust: Polish insurgents liberate a German labor camp in Warsaw, freeing 348 Jewish prisoners.
- August 7 - IBM dedicates the first program-controlled calculator, the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (known best as the Harvard Mark I).
- August 9 - The United States Forest Service and the Wartime Advertising Council release posters featuring Smokey the Bear for the first time.
- September 2 - Holocaust: Diarist Anne Frank and her family are placed on the last transport train from Westerbork to Auschwitz. They arrive three days later.
- October 2 - Holocaust: Nazi troops end the Warsaw Uprising.
- October 8 - The radio show, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet debuts.
- October 10 - Holocaust: 800 Gypsy children are systematically murdered at Auschwitz death camp
- November 7 - U.S. presidential election, 1944: Franklin D. Roosevelt wins reelection over Republican challenger Thomas E. Dewey to become the only U.S. president to be elected to a fourth term.
- November 22 - William Lyon Mackenzie King introduces conscription in Canada (see Conscription Crisis of 1944).
December
- December 3 - Civil war breaks out in a newly-liberated Greece, between Communists and royalists.
- December 1 - Edward Stettinius Jr. becomes becomes the last United States Secretary of State of the Roosevelt administration, by filling the seat left by the Cordell Hull.
- December 26 - The play The Glass Menagerie by Tennessee Williams was first publicly performed.
- December 30 - King George II of Greece declares a regency, leaving his throne vacant.
Unknown dates
- In Sweden, the law of 1864 that criminalizes homosexuality is abolished.
- Swedish author of children's books Astrid Lindgren publishes her first book Pippi Longstocking.
- In Sweden, Erik Wallenberg and Ruben Rausing invent a way to package milk in paper and start the company Tetra Pak.
- Barbados General election - Grantley Adams, black lawyer, first majority party leader in the House of Assembly, as leader of Barbados Labour Party
- Hans Asperger publishes his paper on Asperger's Syndrome
- The Mad Gasser of Mattoon carries out a series of mysterious attacks in Mattoon, Illinois.
- National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence established.
Ongoing events
- Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945)
- Second World War (1939-1945)
Births
For more 1944 births see :Category:1944 births
January
- January 2 - Prince Norodom Ranariddh, Cambodian politician
- January 6 - Bonnie Franklin, American actress
- January 6 - Rolf M. Zinkernagel, Swiss immunologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- January 9 - Jimmy Page, English guitarist (Led Zeppelin)
- January 12 - Joe Frazier, American boxer
- January 17 - Françoise Hardy, French singer
- January 18 - Paul Keating, twenty-fourth Prime Minister of Australia
- January 23 - Rutger Hauer, Dutch actor
- January 24 - Neil Diamond, American singer
- January 26 - Angela Davis, American feminist and activist
- January 27 - Mairead Corrigan, Irish activist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- January 27 - Nick Mason, English drummer (Pink Floyd)
February
- February 3 - Dave Davies, British musician (The Kinks)
- February 5 - Al Kooper, American musician (Blood, Sweat, and Tears)
- February 5 - Michael Mann, American film, director, writer, producer
- February 9 - Alice Walker, American writer
- February 10 - Vernor Vinge, American writer
- February 11 - Michael G. Oxley, American politician
- February 13 - Stockard Channing, American actress
- February 13 - Jerry Springer, English-born television host
- February 14 - Carl Bernstein, American journalist
- February 14 - Alan Parker, English-born film director, actor, and writer
- February 16 - Richard Ford, American writer
- February 17 - Karl Jenkins, Welsh composer
- February 20 - Willem van Hanegem, Dutch football player and coach
- February 22 - Jonathan Demme, American film director, producer, and writer
- February 22 - Tom Okker, Dutch tennis player
- February 23 - Johnny Winter, American musician
- February 24 - Nicky Hopkins, British musician (d. 1994)
- February 28 - Sepp Maier, German footballer
March
- March 1 - John Breaux, U.S. Senator from Louisiana
- March 1 - Roger Daltrey, English musician (The Who)
- March 2 - Uschi Glas, German actress
- March 6 - Kiri Te Kanawa, New Zealand soprano
- March 11 - Don MacLean, British comedian
- March 15 - Sly Stone, American singer
- March 17 - John Sebastian, American singer and songwriter (The Lovin' Spoonful)
- March 19 - Said Musa, Prime Minister of Belize
- March 19 - Sirhan Sirhan, Palestinian assassin of Robert F. Kennedy
- March 24 - R. Lee Ermey, U.S. Marine and actor
- March 26 - Diana Ross, American singer
- March 28 - Rick Barry, American basketball player
- March 29 - Denny McLain, baseball player
April
- April 3 - Tony Orlando, American musician
- April 4 - Craig T. Nelson, American actor
- April 6 - Felicity Palmer, English soprano
- April 7 - Gerhard Schröder, Chancellor of Germany
- April 8 - Odd Nerdrum, Norwegian painter
- April 11 - John Milius, American film director, producer, and screenwriter
- April 19 - James Heckman, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- April 22 - Steve Fossett, American millionaire adventurer
- April 28 - Jean-Claude Van Cauwenberghe, Belgian politician
- April 29 - Richard Kline, American actor and television director
- April 30 - Jill Clayburgh, American actress
May
- May 1 - Suresh Kalmadi, Indian politician
- May 5 - John Rhys-Davies, Welsh actor
- May 8 - Gary Glitter, English singer
- May 9 - Richie Furay, American musician (Poco and Buffalo Springfield)
- May 10 - Jim Abrahams, American film director
- May 13 - Armistead Maupin, American author
- May 12 - Sara Kestelman, British actor
- May 14 - George Lucas, American film director and producer
- May 20 - Joe Cocker, British singer
- May 20 - Boudewijn de Groot, Dutch singer
- May 20 - Dietrich Mateschitz, Austrian businessman
- May 21 - Mary Robinson, President of Ireland
- May 25 - Frank Oz, English puppeteer and film director
- May 28 - Rudy Giuliani, Mayor of New York City
- May 28 - Gladys Knight, American singer
- May 30 - Meredith MacRae, American actress (d. 2000)
June-October
- June 3 - Edith McGuire, American sprinter
- June 5 - Tommie Smith, American athlete
- June 6 - Phillip Allen Sharp, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- June 8 - Mark Belanger, baseball player (d. 1998)
- June 24 - Jeff Beck, British musician
- June 29 - Gary Busey, American actor
- June 30 - Raymond Moody, parapsychologist
- July 13 - Ernő Rubik, Hungarian inventor
- July 17 - Mark Burgess, New Zealand cricket captains
- July 21 - Tony Scott, English film director
- July 21 - Paul Wellstone, U.S. Senator from Minnesota (d. 2002)
- July 27 - Tony Capstick, English comedian, actor, and musician (d. 2003)
- July 31 - Geraldine Chaplin, American actress
- July 31 - Robert Carhart Merton, American economist, Nobel Prize laureate
- August 2 - Jim Capaldi, British drummer, singer, and songwriter (Traffic) (d. 2005)
- August 4 - Richard Belzer, American actor and comedian
- August 8 - Brooke Bundy, American actress
- August 9 - Sam Elliott, American actor
- August 11 - Ian McDiarmid, Scottish actor
- August 21 - Peter Weir, Australian film director
- August 23 - Saira Banu, Indian actress
- August 26- Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester
- September 1 - Leonard Slatkin, American conductor
- September 2 - Al Matthews, American actor (d. 2002)
- September 7 - Earl Manigault, American basketball player (d. 1998)
- September 7 - Bora Milutinovic, Serbian football coach
- September 12 - Leonard Peltier, U.S. Presidential candidate
- September 12 - Barry White, American singer (d. 2003)
- September 21 - Hamilton Jordan, Carter's 1ST Chief of Staff
- September 22 - Frazer Hines, British actor
- September 25 - Michael Douglas, American actor
- September 26 - Anne Robinson, British television host
- October 9 - John Entwistle, English bassist (The Who) (d. 2002)
- October 9 - Nona Hendryx, singer (LaBelle)
- October 9 - Peter Tosh, Jamaican singer and musician (d. 1987)
- October 15 - David Trimble, Irish politician, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
- October 28 - Dennis Franz, American actor
- October 28 - Ian Marter, British actor (d. 1986)
November-December
- November 1 - Rafik Bahaa Edine Hariri, Lebanese Prime Minister 1992 - 1998 (d. 2005).
- November 9 - Melvin Maskin, American teacher
- November 10 - Silvestre Reyes, American politician
- November 12 - Booker T. Jones, American musician, singer, and songwriter (Booker T. and the M.G.'s)
- November 12 - Al Michaels, American sportscaster
- November 17 - Danny DeVito, American actor
- November 17 - Rem Koolhaas, Dutch architect
- November 17 - Lorne Michaels, American film producer
- November 17 - Tom Seaver, baseball player
- November 21 - Dick Durbin, American politician
- November 25 - Ben Stein, American law professor, actor, and author
- December 7 - Daniel Chorzempa, American organist
- December 17 - Jack L. Chalker, American novelist (d. 2005)
- December 21 - Michael Tilson Thomas, American conductor
- December 22 - Steve Carlton, baseball player
- December 23 - Wesley Clark, U.S. general and NATO Supreme Allied Commander
- December 25 - Jairzinho, Brazilian football player
- December 28 - Kary Mullis, American chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
Deaths
For more 1944 deaths see :Category:1944 deaths
January-May
- January 1 - Charles Turner, Australian cricketer (b. 1862)
- January 11 - Edgard Potier, Belgian spy (b. 1903)
- January 20 - James McKeen Cattell, American psychologist (b. 1860)
- January 31 - Jean Giraudoux, French writer (b. 1882)
- January 31 - William Allen White, American journalist (b. | | |
