Historical Events
1908 – The Republican Party convenes in Chicago where President Theodore Roosevelt picks William Howard Taft as his successor
1922 – Irish republicans are beaten in a national election; the vote is in favor of the Treaty of London, which leaves the Irish Free State as a dominion within the British Commonwealth
1989 – “Ghostbusters II”, American supernatural comedy film sequel, directed by Ivan Reitman, starring Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd premieres
1997 – The Dairat Labguer massacre in Algeria; 50 people are killed
2013 – 20 people are killed by a series of car bombings across Iraq
Famous Birthdays
1754 – Salawat Yulayev, Bashkir poet and national hero who led the Pugachev’s Rebellion, born in Tekeyevo, Russian Empire (d. 1800)
1953 – Valerie Mahaffey, American Emmy Award-winning character actress (Eve on “Northern Exposure”; The Doctors; Desperate Housewives), born in Sumatra, Indonesia (d. 2025)
1965 – Mike Lynch, English tech entrepreneur (Autonomy Corporation), Director of the BBC, born in London (d. 2024)
1966 – Jan Železný, Czech athlete (Olympic gold men’s javelin 1992, 96, 2000; World C’ship gold 1993, 95, 2001), born in Mladá Boleslav, Czechoslovakia
1982 – May Andersen, Danish model (Victoria’s Secret), born in Copenhagen, Denmark
Famous Deaths
1885 – Wilhelm Camphausen, German painter (b. 1818)
1981 – John S Knight, American journalist and publisher (Knight Newspapers), dies at 86
2017 – John G. Avildsen, American film director (Rocky, The Karate Kid), dies of cancer at 81
2021 – Janet Malcolm [Jana Klara Wienerová], American journalist (The New Yorker, 1963-2021) and writer (The Journalist and the Murderer), dies of cancer at 86
2023 – Daniel Ellsberg, American military analyst, whistleblower (The Pentagon Papers), and anti-war advocate, dies of pancreatic cancer at 92