Historical Events
1635 – The Great Colonial Hurricane affects the Virginia Colony at Jamestown
1921 – British airship R-38 crashes into the River Humber, killing 44 people
2008 – XXIX Summer Olympic Games close at the Beijing National Stadium
2008 – Samuel Wanjiru becomes the first Kenyan to win the men’s Olympic marathon in Beijing, winning in an Olympic record time; silver medalist Jaouad Gharib of Morocco is also faster than the Olympic record, yet finishes 44 seconds behind
2022 – South Korea records the world’s lowest fertility rate at 0.81 (advanced economies average 1.6, population replacement needs 2.1)
Famous Birthdays
1561 – Bartholomeus Pitiscus, German mathematician (Trigonometry), born in Zielona Góra, Poland (d. 1613)
1879 – Rentaro Taki, Japanese pianist and composer, born in Tokyo, Japan (d. 1903)
1903 – Claude Hopkins, American jazz stride pianist, arranger, bandleader, and musical director (Josephine Baker), born in Alexandria, Virginia (d. 1984)
1934 – Roger Donald Dickerson, American pianist, composer (New Orleans Concerto), and educator, born in New Orleans, Louisiana
1945 – Ronee Blakley, American actress (Nashville), and singer-songwriter, born in Nampa, Idaho
Famous Deaths
1647 – Nicholas Stone “Elder”, English sculptor and architect, dies at about 61
1712 – Thomas Bullis, Jr. English organist and composer, dies at 54 (burial date)
1870 – Edwin Gray Lee, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 34
2002 – Ted Ashley [Theodore Assofsky], American talent agent and chairman of Warner Brothers (1969-80), dies at 80
2016 – Michel Butor, French novelist and essayist (La Modification), dies at 89