1992 Hurricane Andrew hits Miami.

1989 Pete Rose The baseball legend is banned for life from baseball.

1989 Voyager II flies past Neptune.

1978 Titan II missile explosion Two people are killed and 29 are injured in the accident near Rock, Kansas.

1949 North Atlantic Treaty is signed by Pres. Truman.

1939 First turbojet airplane flight A German plane with an engine designed by Dr. Hans von Ohain.

1897 Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it: Charles Dudley Warner makes his famous quote in a Hartford Courant editorial.

1891 Thomas Edison applies for a patent for his motion picture camera.

1875 First person to swim the English Channel without a life preserver Navy Captain Matthew Webb begins his swim. He finished the following day after a 21-hour and 45-minute swim. Source: Guinness Book of World Records

1869 Waffle Iron is patented.

1814 British attack Washington D.C The Capitol and White House are burned during the War of 1812.

1572 St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre Thousands of Huguenots are killed throughout France as ordered by King Charles IX. Pope Gregory XIII congratulated the king and ordered a medal struck to commemorate the event.

A.D. 79 Mt. Vesuvius The Italian volcano erupts burying Pompeii and Herculaneum. Still active, it is regarded as one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world due to the 3 million people living nearby. (Note: This is the traditional date. The actual date is disputed among historians).

1965 Marlee Matlin American Oscar-winning deaf actress. Film: Children of a Lesser God (1986, Oscar). TV: Reasonable Doubts.

1958 Steve Guttenberg American actor. Film: Police Academy (1984), Cocoon (1985), Short Circuit (1986), and Three Men and a Baby (1986).

1956 Gerry Cooney American boxer.

1944 Gregory B. Jarvis d. 1986 American astronaut. He died in the Challenger space shuttle explosion.

1944 Chris Chubbuck d. 1974 Florida talk-show host. During her live TV broadcast she announced "In keeping with Channel 40's policy of bringing you the latest in blood… and guts in living color. We bring you another first: an attempt at suicide." She then fatally shot herself in the head.

1938 Mason Williams American Emmy-Grammy-winning composer.

1929 Yasser Arafat d. 2004 Palestinian political leader. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) (1969-2004), President of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) (1993-2004), and a co-recipient of the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize.

1898 Albert Claude d. 1983 Belgian Nobel-winning biologist, founder of modern cell biology. He was the first to use the electron microscope to study cells (1945).

1846 Henry Gannett d. 1914 American geographer, "Father of American Mapmaking." He co-founded the National Geographic Society (1883).

2004 Elisabeth Kubler-Ross b. 1926 Swiss-born American physician, author of On Death and Dying (1969). She identified the stages of dying as: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

1998 Jerry Clower b. 1926 American comedian, with many jokes about the Ledbetter family.

1995 Alfred Eisenstaedt b. 1898 German-born American photographer. He took the famous picture of a sailor kissing a nurse in Times Square on VJ day that appeared on the cover of Life magazine.

1923 Kate Douglas Wiggin b. 1856 American author. Writings: Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm (1903).

1923 James Leonard Corning b. 1855 American neurologist, discoverer of spinal anesthesia (1885).

1680 Thomas Blood b. circa 1618 Irish adventurer. In 1671, disguised as a priest, he stole the crown jewels from the Tower of London. Although he was caught shortly thereafter, King Charles II, who admired his daring, gave him a full pardon.

<< Previous | Today | Pick a Day | My Birthday | Surprise Me | Next >>

Celebritize Yourself
Add YOURSELF
or Someone You Love
to THIS Trivia List

Amaze Your Friends with
Your/Their Celebrity Status

Add Trivia to Your Website