EVENTS
- 1807 – Robert Fulton starts the first commercial steamboat service.
- 1943 – During World War II in Europe, the Allies completed the conquest of the island of Sicily after just 38 days. This gave the Allies control of the Mediterranean and also led to the downfall of Benito Mussolini and Italy’s eventual withdrawal from the war. However, the Germans managed to evacuate 39,569 troops, 47 tanks, 94 heavy guns, over 9,000 vehicles and 2,000 tons of ammunition back to the Italian mainland from Sicily.
- 1960 – Gabon gains independence from the French. France had occupied Gabon since the latter part of the 1800’s. In 1910, the Equatorial country was added to French Equatorial Africa, a federation of France’s Central African colonies. From 1934 to 1958, French Equatorial Africa was considered by France as an unified colony.
- 1970 – Venera 7 is launched for Venus. It will later becomes the first spacecraft to successfully transmit from the surface of another planet.
Venera 7 - 1973 – Willie Mays hits his 660th and last home run of his career.
- 1978 – Double Eagle II becomes first balloon to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
- 1998 – Bill Clinton became the first sitting President to give testimony before a grand jury in which he, the President, was the focus of the investigation. This resulted from a sweeping investigation of the President by Independent Counsel Ken Starr as well as a private lawsuit concerning alleged sexual harassment by Clinton before he became President. In the evening, President Clinton appeared on national television and gave a speech admitting he had engaged in an improper relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. The admission occurred several months after a much publicized denial.
- 2008 – Michael Phelps Earns his 8th Gold Medal in the 2008 Olympics. The American champion swimmer won the medal in the 4×100-meter medley relay race in the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. With this medal, he broke the record for the most gold medals won by a person in a single Olympic games, a record previously held by American swimmer Mark Spitz.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1786 – Davy Crockett (Tennessee pioneer)
- 1911 – Mikhail Botvinnik (Russian chess player)
- 1926 – Jiang Zemin (President of China)
- 1943 – Robert De Niro (Actor)
Robert De Niro - 1949 – Norm Coleman (American politician)
- 1952 – Nelson Piquet (Race car driver)
- 1958 – Belinda Carlisle (Singer with the Go-Go’s)
- 1960 – Sean Penn (Actor)
- 1969 – Donnie Wahlberg (Actor)
- 1970 – Jim Courier (Tennis Player)
- 1983 – Dustin Pedroia (Baseball player)
DEATHS
- 1786 – Frederick the Great (Prussian king)
Frederick the Great - 1850 – José de San Martín (Argentinian general, politician, 1st President of Peru)
- 1880 – Ole Bull (Norwegian violinist, composer)
- 1935 – Charlotte Perkins Gilman (American sociologist, novelist)
- 1988 – Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq (Pakistani politician, 6th President of Pakistan)
