Historical Events
1581 – Leiden University names Rudolph Snellius as math professor
1959 – Milwaukee Braves outfielder Bill Bruton hits 3 triples in 11-5 win v St. Louis Cardinals; 2 of them bases loaded, first time in 20th Century
1987 – Michael Andretti runs fastest Indy car race in history (171.49mph) in winning the Marlboro 500 at the Michigan International Speedway, Brooklyn, Michigan
1991 – Pan Am games open in Havana
2017 – New crypto-currency Bitcoin Cash is created via a hard-fork of Bitcoin’s blockchain technology and brand
2018 – Pope Frances declares the death penalty unacceptable in all cases, reversing church teachings and adding to Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church
Famous Birthdays
1788 – Leopold Gmelin, German chemist (Gmelin’s test), born in Göttingen, Germany (d. 1853)
1886 – John Alexander Douglas McCurdy, Canadian aviator, born in Baddeck, Nova Scotia (d. 1961)
1910 – Roger MacDougall, Scottish playwright and screenwriter (The Man in the White Suit), born in Glasgow (d. 1993)
1923 – Shimon Peres [Szymon Perski], Polish-Israeli Labor Party politician (President. 2007-14; Prime Minister, 1984-86 and 1995-96; Foreign Minister, 1986-88, 1992-95, and 2001-02), and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (1994), born in Wiszniewo, Poland (now Vishnyeva, Belarus) (d. 2016)
1944 – Juvenal “Naná’ Vasconcelos, Brazilian jazz and world music percussionist, and berimbau player (Pat Metheny; Björk; Milton Nascimento), born in Recife, Brazil (d. 2016)
1970 – Elijah Alexander, American NFL linebacker (Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos), born in Fort Worth, Texas (d. 2010)
Famous Deaths
1075 – John VIII Xiphilinus, theologian and patriarch of Constantinople, dies
1100 – William II [Rufus], king of England, shot hunting in the New Forest at 44
1788 – Thomas Gainsborough, English leading portrait painter (Blue Boy), dies at 61
1994 – Bhagwatpersad Ausan, commandant Suriname military police, dies at 38
2007 – Kay Dotrice [Katherine Newman], British actress (Cheech and Chong’s The Corsican Brothers), dies of a heart attack at 78
2022 – Hans Bangerter, Swiss football administrator (General Secretary UEFA 1960-89), dies at 98