Historical Events
1940 – American John Sigmund begins swimming for 89 hours, 46 minutes from St. Louis to Caruthersville, Missouri in the Mississippi River; 292 miles, longest solo swim of all time
1943 – 1st warship named after an African American launched – USS Leonard Roy Harmon, a Buckley class destroyer
1961 – Roger Maris hits home runs 37, 38, 39 and 40 off of 4 Chicago White Sox pitchers in a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium, NYC
1990 – Nadezhda Ryashkina of USSR sets 10K walk woman’s record (41:56.23)
1997 – Howard Stern is fired from radio station, KEGL Dallas
2014 – Both Israel and Hamas review US Secretary of State John Kerry’s proposal for an immediate ceasefire and meetings in Cairo
Famous Birthdays
1865 – Jac[obus] P. Thijsse, Dutch biologist and educator (Contact with Plants), born in Maastricht, Netherlands (d. 1945)
1930 – Maureen Forrester, Canadian operatic contralto (Mahler’s “Resurrection” Symphony), born in Montreal, Quebec (d. 2010)
1944 – Molly Bennett Aiken, American foundation administrator (riding for the handicapped), born in Hollywood, California
1954 – Walter Payton, American Pro Football HOF running back (NFL MVP 1977; 9 x Pro Bowl; 5 x First Team All Pro; Chicago Bears), born in Columbia, Mississippi (d. 1999)
1957 – Daniel W. Bursch, NASA astronaut (STS 51, 68, 77), born in Bristol, Pennsylvania
1971 – Billy Wagner, American MLB pitcher (Houston Astros), born in Tannersville, Virginia
Famous Deaths
1580 – Baltazar Alvarez, Spanish Jesuit and writer, dies at 47
1759 – Johann Christoph Altnikol, German organist, bass singer, composer, and J.S. Bach’s son-in-law and copyist, dies at 39
1870 – Pierre Dupont, French songwriter (“Les Bœufs”; “Le Chant du pain”), dies at 49
2013 – Mike Shipley, Australian audio engineer, and record producer of rock and country music (Paper Airplane), dies of an apparent suicide at 56
2014 – Carlo Bergonzi, Italian operatic tenor, dies at 90
2016 – Benito Wogatzki, German radio and TV writer (My Best Friends), dies at 83