Historical Events
1881 – Leon Gambetta forms French government
1920 – The Russian Bolshevik army occupies Sebastopol, ending anti-communist attempts to regain the government of Russia
1931 – Ottawa Mint Act is proclaimed in Britain
1960 – Belgium threatens to leave UN due to criticism on its policy on Congo
2018 – Jewellery that belonged to French Queen Marie Antoinette is auctioned off in Geneva, after not being seen for 200 years
2018 – Large impact crater, 31 km wide, from iron meteorite identified under Hiawatha Glacier in Greenland
Famous Birthdays
1906 – Louise Brooks, American silent screen star (American Venus, Pandora’s Box), born in Cherryvale, Kansas (d. 1985)
1929 – Horst Janssen, German graphic artist and printmaker, born in Hamburg, Germany (d. 1995)
1929 – Jimmy Piersall, American baseball outfielder (MLB All Star 1954, 56; his bipolar disorder subject book and film, “Fear Strikes Out”), born in Waterbury, Connecticut (d. 2017)
1930 – Alan Moss, English cricket fast bowler (9 Tests, 21 wickets; Middlesex CCC), born in London, England (d. 2019)
1932 – Ramon Zupko, American classical and electro-acoustic composer (Fluxus), and educator (Western Michigan University, 1971-96), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 2019)
1948 – Jacob Kohnstamm, Dutch undersecretary of the Interior (D66, 1994-)
Famous Deaths
1794 – Pieter Nieuwland, Dutch scientist and mathematician (known as “Dutch Isaac Newton”), dies at 30
1907 – Andrew Inglis Clark, Australian politician (b. 1848)
1965 – Russell Collins, American actor (Niagara, Close Up, Shockproof), dies at 68
1982 – Joachim Stutschewsky, Austrian-Israeli cellist, composer, and musicologist, dies at 91
2002 – Graham Watson, British literary agent (Curtis Brown, including authors Daphne du Maurier and John Steinbeck), dies at 89
2014 – Jane Byrne, American politician and 50th Mayor of Chicago, dies at 81