Historical Events
1890 – African American inventor William Purvis receives a patent for the fountain pen
1956 – Indian batsman Vinoo Mankad scores 231 v NZ, 413 opening stand with Roy
1974 – Gasoline rationing begins in the Netherlands
1990 – Lynn Jennings runs world record indoor 5km indoor at 15:22.64
2001 – 27th People’s Choice Awards: Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts win (Dramatic Motion Picture) and Drew Carey and Jennifer Aniston win (TV)
Famous Birthdays
1827 – Sandford Fleming, Scottish-Canadian engineer; introduced Universal Standard Time, born in Kirkcaldy, Scotland (d. 1915)
1948 – Steve Sheetz, American businessman, philanthropist and chief executive of Sheetz convenience stores (1984-95), born in Altoona, Pennsylvania (d. 2026)
1965 – Five for Fighting [Vladimir John Ondrasik], American soft rock-pop pianist, singer-songwriter, and record producer (“Superman (It’s Not Easy)”; “100 Years”), born in Los Angeles, California
1977 – John Gidding, American architect and TV host (Designed to Sell), born in Istanbul, Turkey
1991 – Eden Hazard, Belgian soccer midfielder (126 caps; Lille, Chelsea 245 games, Real Madrid), born in La Louvière, Belgium
Famous Deaths
1783 – William Tans’ur, English hymnist, dies at 76
1892 – Muḥammad Tawfīq Pasha, Khedive of Egypt (1879-92), dies at 39
1974 – Charles Alfred Coulson, British chemist (theoretical), dies at 63
1980 – Sarah Selby, American actress (Tower of London), dies at 74
2015 – Tadeusz Konwicki, Polish writer (Bohin Manor) and film director, dies at 88