Historical Events
1690 – Job Charnock founds Calcutta India
1973 – John Adams and his bass drum become a right-field fixture in Cleveland Stadium
1978 – USSR performs underground nuclear test
1997 – Gordon Spence discovers 2^2976221 – 1 (36th known Mersenne prime)
2004 – Kenyan runners sweep the medals in the 3000m steeplechase at the Athens Olympics; Ezekiel Kemboi wins gold ahead of Brimin Kipruto and Paul Kipsiele Koech
2013 – 4 people are killed in a helicopter crash in the Shetland Islands
Famous Birthdays
1899 – Johan Fabricius, Dutch novelist (Island of Demons), born in Bandung, Java, Indonesia (d. 1981)
1916 – Hal Smith, American actor (The Andy Griffith Show-Otis Campbell), born in Petoskey, Michigan (d. 1994)
1919 – Nils Viggo Bentzon, composer
1961 – Mark “Bedders” Bedfored, rock bassist (Madness), born in London, England
1983 – Christopher Parker, British actor (Eastenders), born in London
1986 – Arian Foster, American football running back (Houston Texans, Miami Dolphins), born in Albuquerque, New Mexico
Famous Deaths
1888 – Rudolph J E Clausius, German physicist (thermodynamics), dies
1973 – Billy Greene, American actor (Single Room Furnished, One Man’s Family), dies at 76
1994 – Wijnanda MC “Nan” Aberson, friend of Gerard Van de Reve Sr, dies at 82
1997 – Phillip Humphrey Vellacott, classicist, dies at 90
1998 – E G Marshall [Everett Eugene Grunz], American actor (12 Angry Men, The Defenders), dies of lung cancer at 88
1999 – Mary Jane Croft, American actress (The Lucy Show, Our Miss Brooks), dies of natural causes at 83