Historical Events
1782 – Congress approves Great Seal of the United States of America and the bald eagle as its symbol
1888 – Pope Leo XIII publishes encyclical Libertas
1921 – 11.5″ (29.2 cm) of rainfall, Circle, Montana (state record)
1955 – “Almost Crazy” opens at Longacre Theater NYC for 16 performances
1976 – US Open Men’s Golf, Atlanta AC: Tour rookie Jerry Pate wins his only major title, 2 strokes ahead of runners-up Al Geiberger and Tom Weiskopf
1987 – 1st Rugby World Cup Final, Eden Park, Auckland: New Zealand fly-half Grant Fox lands 4 penalties, a conversion and drop goal as the All Blacks beat France, 29-9
Famous Birthdays
1389 – John Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Bedford, English prince, general (Hundred Years’ War) and statesman, born in Kenilworth, England (d. 1435)
1771 – Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, Scottish philanthropist, born in St Mary’s Isle, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland (d. 1820)
1931 – James Tolkan, American actor (Weekend War, Leap of Faith), born in Calumet, Michigan
1931 – Olympia Dukakis, Greek-American stage and screen, Obie, Oscar, and Golden Globe award-winning actress (Man Equals Man; Moonstruck; Steel Magnolias)), born in Lowell, Massachusetts (d. 2021)
1944 – Dave Nelson, baseball player
1946 – André Watts, American-Hungarian concert pianist and educator, born in Nuremberg, Germany
Famous Deaths
885 – Bernard Plantapilosa, Count of Auvergne (b. 841)
1794 – Félix Vicq-d’Azyr, French physician and anatomist (discover the theory of homology in biology), dies at 46
1837 – Giovanni Furno, composer, dies at 89
1888 – Johannes Zukertort, German chess player, dies at 45
1997 – Lawrence Payton, rocker (4 Tops-I’ll Be There), dies at 59
2000 – Jim De Courcy, Australian cricketer (Australian batsman 1953), dies at 73