Historical Events
1955 – James Mundy and John La Touche’s musical comedy “Vamp” opens at Winter Garden Theater, NYC; runs for 60 performances
1968 – Portuguese socialist Mário Soares released from banishment in Sao Tomé under new regieme of Marcello Caetano
1971 – US table tennis team arrived in China
1982 – IMF lends Mexico $3.8 billion due to threatened bankruptcy
1989 – Bulgarian Communist party president Todor Zhikov (78) resigns
Famous Birthdays
1888 – Hugh Wakefield, British actor (The Man Who Knew Too Much, Blithe Spirit), born in Wanstead, England (d. 1971)
1929 – W. E. B. Griffin [William Edmund Butterworth], American best-selling author (Clandestine Operations, The Lieutenants), born in Newark, New Jersey (d. 2019)
1930 – Gene Conley, American baseball pitcher (4 x MLB All Star; Boston/Milwaukee Braves, Philadelphia Phillies) and basketball forward (NBA C’ship 1959–1961; Boston Celtics), born in Muskogee, Oklahoma (d. 2017)
1959 – Frank Maudsley, English rock bassist and vocalist (Flock Of Seagulls), born in Liverpool, England
1987 – Jessica Tovey, Australian actress (Belle Taylor in “Home and Away”), born in Sydney, Australia
Famous Deaths
1779 – Joseph Hewes, American merchant/signer (Declaration of Independence), dies at 49
1964 – Jimmie Dodd, American actor (The Mickey Mouse Club; Thundering Trails; Riders of the Rio Grande), and singer-songwriter, dies of cancer at 54
1966 – Steven Nagy, American bowler (first televised perfect game [300], 1954; ABC Hall of Fame 1963), dies at 53
1998 – Mary Millar, British stage and screen actress (Keeping Up Appearances, The Phantom of the Opera on the West End), dies at 62
2006 – Jack Palance [Vladimir Palahniuk], American actor (City Slickers, Contempt, Batman), dies of natural causes at 87