Actress Gila Almagor Is Born
July 22, 1939 Gila Almagor, known as the “queen of the Israeli cinema and theater,” is born as Gila Alexandrowitz in Haifa four months after an Arab sniper killed her father, a policeman who immigrated…
Ada Yonath Is Born
Nobel Prize-winning biochemist Ada Yonath is born into an Orthodox Jewish family in Jerusalem, then part of the British Mandate of Palestine.
Amos Oz Is Born in Jerusalem
Israeli author, journalist and intellectual Amos Oz is born as “Amos Klausner” in Jerusalem during the British Mandate.
Irgun Radio Begins Broadcasting
March 15, 1939 Kol Tzion HaLokhemet (“Voice of the Fighting Zion”), the underground radio network operated by the Irgun, sends out its first broadcasts across Palestine as Esther Raziel-Naor hits the airwaves. The network broadcasts…
Gavriel Salomon Is Born
A specialist in the field of educational psychology, Gavriel Salomon served as Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Haifa from 1993-1998.
Arturo Toscanini Arrives in the Land of Israel
Arturo Toscanini, considered to be one of the finest virtuoso conductors of the 20th century, arrives at Lod airport after being asked to conduct the opening performance of the Palestine Philharmonic.
Writer A.B. Yehoshua Is Born
December 19, 1936 Avraham B. Yehoshua, one of Israel’s most acclaimed writers, is born in Jerusalem into a Mizrahi/Sephardi family going back at least five generations in the city. His father, Ya’akov, is a historian…
Maccabi Tel Aviv Ends U.S. Soccer Tour
Playing their final match of an eleven match American tour, the Maccabi Tel-Aviv Football Club loses 4-1 to an American all-star team at Yankee Stadium in front of 20,000 spectators.
Rav Abraham Isaac Kook’s Funeral
80,000 mourners, approximately a quarter of the Jewish population in Palestine, line the streets of Jerusalem for the funeral of Rav Abraham Isaac Kook. He passed away the day before from cancer.
Archaeologist Ehud Netzer Is Born
May 13, 1934 Archaeologist Ehud Netzer is born in Jerusalem to teachers Joseph and Pua Menczel. After graduating from the Technion with a degree in architecture in 1958, Netzer earns a doctorate in archaeology from…
Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman Born
March 5, 1934 Israeli-American behavioral economist Daniel Kahneman is born in Tel Aviv while his mother is visiting relatives. He spends his early childhood in Paris and is there when the Nazis defeat France in…
Judah Magnes Outlines Hebrew University Expansion
Opening the 1933-34 academic year, Judah Magnes, the president of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, outlines an expansion plan for the university.
Palestine Post Prints First Edition
December 1, 1932 The Palestine Post, the precursor of The Jerusalem Post, prints and distributes 1,200 copies of its first, eight-page edition. Founded by Gershon Agron, a Ukrainian-born immigrant from the United States, The Palestine…
First Maccabiah Games Open in Tel Aviv
The first Maccabiah Games, an international Jewish Olympics, open in Tel Aviv.
Actress Haya Harareet Is Born
September 20, 1931 Actress Haya Harareet, best known as Judah Ben-Hur’s love interest Esther in the 1959 remake of “Ben-Hur,” is born Haya Neuberg in Haifa to Polish immigrants who arrived in Mandatory Palestine when…
Meretz Founder Shulamit Aloni Is Born
November 29, 1928 Shulamit Aloni, the lawyer and politician who founds the Meretz party, is born in Tel Aviv. From a young age, Aloni is involved with politics and is relentless in working to bring…
Writer Netiva Ben Yehuda Is Born
July 26, 1928 Netiva Ben Yehuda, a Palmach member, early Israeli feminist, acclaimed writer and media personality, is born in Tel Aviv to a father from Lithuania and a mother from Ukraine. She has two…
First Tel Aviv Soccer Derby
February 25, 1928 Soccer clubs Maccabi Tel Aviv and Hapoel Tel Aviv hold their first derby, or rivalry game, which is won by the home team, Maccabi, 3-0. Maccabi also wins the rematch on Hapoel’s…
Playwright Nissim Aloni Is Born
August 24, 1926 Playwright and translator Nissim Aloni is born Nissim Levi to poor Bulgarian Jewish parents in Florentin, a low-income neighborhood in the south of Tel Aviv that becomes an inspiration for his work….
Hebrew University Opens
The Hebrew University officially opens in Jerusalem on Mount Scopus with Zionist and British leaders joined by representatives from universities across the world.
Educator, Politician Rabbi Yehuda Amital Is Born
Yehuda Amital, the founder of Yeshivat Har Etzion, is born as Yehuda Klein in Oradea, Romania, where he receives a religious education.
Israeli Film Pioneer Lia Van Leer Is Born
A pioneer in Israeli film, Lia Van Leer is born Lia Greenberg in Beltsy, Romania (today Moldova).
Hapoel Haifa Soccer Club Founded
April 24, 1924 Hapoel Haifa is established during Passover in a meeting led by Yehoshua Sherpstein and Yair Aharony at a house in Haifa’s Hadar neighborhood. The organization creates several branches related to sports and…
Actress Hanna Maron Is Born
November 22, 1923 Hannele Meierzak, who as Hanna Maron becomes known as “the first lady of Israeli theater,” is born in Berlin. As a child, she appears in many plays and films, including an uncredited…
