Historical Events
1724 – Jonathan Swift publishes last of Drapier’s letters
1964 – US sweeps medals in the men’s 200m backstroke at the Tokyo Olympics; Jed Graef swims world record 2:10.3 to win gold ahead of teammates Gary Dilley and Bob Bennett
1967 – First American Basketball Association (ABA) game is played with Oakland Oaks beating Anaheim Amigos, 132-129; red, white and blue ball and 3-point field goal introduced
1970 – A man dies in a premature bomb explosion in Dublin, Republic of Ireland
1984 – John Henry becomes 1st thoroughbred to win $6 million
1989 – Bob Quinn resigns as NY Yankee VP/GM and replaced by Harding Peterson
Famous Birthdays
1783 – Frantiszek Sołtyk, Polish composer, born in Piastów, Poland (d. 1865)
1853 – Maria “Beppie” Bakker, Dutch actress and wife of Piet Vink Senior (d. 1949)
1876 – Rube Waddell, American Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher (Triple Crown, AL wins leader 1905; ERA leader 1900, 05; strikeout leader 1902–07; Philadelphia A’s), born in Bradford, Pennsylvania (d. 1914)
1954 – Claude Ribbe, French historian and writer, born in Paris
1970 – Paul Potts, British opera singer and winner of Britain’s Got Talent 2007, born in Kingswood, South Gloucestershire, England
1973 – Peter Dumbreck, Scottish race car driver, born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland
Famous Deaths
1788 – Robert Nugent, 1st Earl Nugent, Irish politician and poet (b. 1702)
1795 – William Prescott, American Revolutionary soldier, dies
1819 – Giovanni Battista Gaiani, Italian organist and composer, dies at 61
1979 – Rebecca Clarke, British-American violist and classical composer (Morpheus), dies at 93
1996 – Henri Nannen, journalist, dies at 82
2016 – Gerhard Wimberger, Austria composer (Glove), dies at 93