Historical Events
1173 – Pope Alexander III canonizes Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury
1782 – US Congress resolves establishment of a US mint
1916 – Battle of Verdun begins with a German offensive, leads to an estimated 1 million casualties, and becomes the longest battle of the entire war (9 months)
1988 – Televangelist Jimmy Swaggert confesses his sins to his congregation
1997 – “Empire Strikes Back, special edition” premieres
Famous Birthdays
1929 – Henry Kloss, American audio engineer (acoustic loudspeaker), born in Altoona, Pennsylvania (d. 2002)
1939 – Richard Beymer, American stage actor and singer (West Side Story; Diary of Anne Frank), born in Avoca, Iowa
1950 – Sahle-Work Zewde, Ethiopian diplomat, President of Ethiopia (2018-), born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
1961 – Christopher Atkins, American actor (Peter-Dallas, Blue Lagoon), born in Rye, New York
1969 – Tony Meola, American footballer, born in Belleville, New Jersey
Famous Deaths
1790 – Johann Friedrich Klöffler, German composer, dies at 64
1901 – George Francis FitzGerald, Irish mathematician (b. 1851)
2011 – Bernard Nathanson, American abortionist turned pro-life activist (b. 1926)
2015 – Aleksei Gubarev, Soviet-Russian cosmonaut (Soyuz 17, 28), dies at 83
2023 – Amancio Amaro, Spanish soccer outside right (42 caps; Deportivo de La Coruña, Real Madrid), dies at 83