Historical Events
1878 – In California, poet and American West outlaw calling himself “Black Bart” makes his last clean getaway when he steals a safe box from a Wells Fargo stagecoach. The empty box found later with a taunting poem inside.
1944 – Japanese suicide attack on US lines in Guam
1963 – US Syncom 2, 1st geosynchronous communications satellite, launched
1990 – General Hospital records its 7,000th episode
2012 – Insurgent attack kills 19 people and destroys a helicopter at Baqubah, Iraq
2021 – Ship carrying migrants wrecks off coast of Al-Khums, Libya, killing at least 57, takes death toll in central Mediterranean to 987 for 2021
Famous Birthdays
1899 – Carel C. van Essen, Dutch archaeologist (Italian and Roman art), born in Amsterdam (d. 1963)
1921 – Jean Shepherd, American writer and actor (A Christmas Story), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1999)
1926 – James Best [Jewel Franklin Guy], American actor (The Dukes of Hazzard, Sounder), born in Powderly, Kentucky (d. 2015)
1940 – Dobie Gray [Lawrence Brown], American musician and singer (“Drift Away”), born in Simonton, Texas (d. 2011)
1952 – Jan Randall, American-Canadian film, stage and broadcast composer (The Irrelevant Show; Poetry In Motion), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1980 – Dave Baksh, Canadian guitarist (Sum 41), born in Ajax, Ontario
Famous Deaths
1592 – Armand de Gontaut, baron de Biron, French soldier (b. 1524)
1925 – William Jennings Bryan, American orator and statesman known as “The Great Commoner”, dies at 65
1971 – Diane Arbus [Nemerov], American photographer (Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar), commits suicide at 48
1994 – Owen “Terry” Scott, British actor and comedian (Terry and June, Carry On Films), dies of cancer at 67
2005 – Alexander Golitzen, American art director (b. 1908)
2005 – Gilles Marotte, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1945)