Historical Events
1928 – World champion French team Andrée Joly and Pierre Brunet win the Olympic pairs figure skating gold medal at the St. Moritz Winter Games; the couple marry in 1929 and take 2nd straight gold in 1932
1953 – Georgia approves US 1st literature censorship board
1977 – France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
1978 – 20th Daytona 500: Bobby Allison takes lead with 11 laps remaining; lowest starting position (33rd) for winner until 2007
1989 – Edgar Bowers wins Bollingen Prize
2018 – Syrian government forces bombard Gouta in deadliest day in 3 years, killing over 100 civilians
Famous Birthdays
1888 – Aurora Quezon, First Lady of the Philippines (d. 1949)
1936 – Marin Sorescu, Romanian poet, playwright and artist (Iona, House under surveillance), born in Bulzești, Dolj County (d. 1996)
1948 – Byron K. Lichtenburg, American astronaut (STS 9, STS 45), born in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania
1956 – Roderick MacKinnon, American biologist, Nobel laureate
1971 – Wally Williams, NFL center/guard (Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens)
1986 – Marta, Brazilian footballer
Famous Deaths
1822 – Jeronymo Francisco de Lima, Portuguese composer, dies at 78
1984 – Claude Hopkins, American jazz stride pianist, arranger, bandleader, and musical director (Josephine Baker), dies at 80
1997 – Deng Xiaoping, Chinese revolutionary and paramount leader of China (1978-92), dies of a lung infection and Parkinson’s disease at 92
2000 – Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Austrian-born New Zealand artist, dies at 71
2002 – Sylvia Rivera, American gay liberation and transgender activist and drag queen, dies of liver cancer at 50
2008 – Yegor Letov, Russian songwriter and singer (b. 1964)