Historical Events
1927 – Leon Trotsky is expelled from the Soviet Communist Party, paving the way for Joseph Stalin to consolidate complete power
1944 – RAF sinks German battleship “Tirpitz” at Tromso Fjord, Norway
1988 – USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1990 – Crown Prince Akihito is formally installed as Emperor Akihito of Japan, becoming the 125th Japanese monarch.
1995 – German Benetton driver Michael Schumacher crashes in the season-ending Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide but claims second straight F1 World Drivers Championship by 33 points from Damon Hill
2018 – Israeli secret operation in Gaza kills eight including one Israeli and an Hamas Commander, igniting tensions with retaliatory rocket attack from Gaza
Famous Birthdays
1906 – Bukka [Booker T. Washington] White, blues guitarist, born in Houston, Mississippi (d. 1977)
1910 – A “Dudley” Nourse, cricketer (son of Dave, brilliant South African batsman)
1934 – Charles Manson, American criminal, murderer and cult leader (Manson Family), born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 2017)
1939 – Ruby Nash Curtis [Garnett], US RandB singer (Ruby and the Romantics), born in Akron, Ohio
1949 – Penelope Pussycat, Warner Bros. cartoon character created by Chuck Jones (Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series), first debuts in “For Scent-imental Reasons”
1979 – Corey Maggette, American professional basketball player, born in Melrose Park, Illinois
Famous Deaths
1035 – Cnut the Great [Canute], King of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden (1016-1035), dies around the age of 45
1739 – Ludwig Ernst, German composer, dies at 71
1836 – Juan Ramón Balcarce, Argentine military leader and politician (b. 1773)
1994 – Wilma Rudolph, American athlete (3 Olympic gold 100/200/4x100m 1960), dies of brain cancer at 54
2008 – Catherine Baker Knoll, 30th Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania, (b. 1930)
2011 – Peter Roebuck, English cricketer and journalist, dies at 55