Historical Events
1978 – Iranian oil workers go on strike
1982 – Pope John Paul II becomes first pontiff to visit Spain
1994 – American Eagle ATR-72 crash down at Gary, Indiana: 68 killed
1995 – American jam band Phish performs The Who’s “Quadrophenia” as a musical costume during a show at the Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, Illinois
1998 – Iraq disarmament crisis begins: Iraq announces it would no longer cooperate with United Nations weapons inspectors.
1999 – Finnish McLaren driver Mika Häkkinen wins season ending Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka to clinch his second straight F1 World Drivers Championship; wins by 2 points from Irishman Eddie Irvine
Famous Birthdays
1345 – Ferdinand I, King of Portugal (1367-83), born in Coimbra, Portugal (d. 1383)
1872 – James Hogan, Irish College Football Hall of Fame tackle (Yale), born in Glenbane, County Tipperary, Ireland (d. 1910)
1912 – Ollie Johnston, American animator and the last living member of Disney’s Nine Old Men, born in Palo Alto, California (d. 2008)
1941 – Lucas Brown Jackson, American basketball player (Olympic gold 1964), born in San Marcos, Texas
1945 – (Russell Glyn) “Russ” Ballard, British rock singer, songwriter and guitarist (Argent – “Liar”; “You Can Do Magic”), born in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, England
1973 – Grigorios Georgatos, Greek footballer, born in Piraeus, Greece
Famous Deaths
1926 – Harry Houdini [Erich Weisz], magician, dies in Detroit of gangrene and peritonitis that developed after his appendix ruptured
1950 – Jozef C Bittremieux, Flemish theologist, dies at 72
1984 – Indira Gandhi, 4th Prime Minister of India (1966-77, 1980-84), assassinated by two of her bodyguards at 66
1991 – Johan Schmitz, actor (Gysbregt van Aemstel/Soldat van Orange), dies
1995 – Wallace Edward Rowling, Prime Minister of NZ (1974-1975), dies at 68
2009 – Tom Wheatcroft, English businessman and car collector (Donington Grand Prix Collection ), dies at 87