EVENTS
- 1609 – The Hudson River is discovered by Henry Hudson.
- 1943 – Former Italian Dictator Benito Mussolini was rescued by German paratroopers on orders from Adolf Hitler. Mussolini was being held prisoner by Italian authorities following the collapse of his Fascist regime.
- 1943 – The Gran Sasso Raid is conducted by the German paratroopers at the behest of Hitler. The purpose of the airborne operation, also known as Operation Eiche, was to free Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from a ski resort where he was being held on the orders of the Italian king, Victor Emmanuel III. Using gliders, German troops entered the ski resort and successfully rescued Mussolini.
- 1953 – John F. Kennedy, 36, married Jacqueline Bouvier, 24, in a ceremony before 750 invited guests at St. Mary’s Church in Newport, Rhode Island, conducted by Archbishop Richard Cushing of Boston.
- 1953 – Nikita Khrushchev was elected First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the USSR.
- 1957 – NORAD begins operations.
- 1959 – Bonanza, the first regularly-scheduled TV program that is in color, airs its first episode.
- 1970 – The Soviet Union launches the Luna 16. It was the first robotic probe to land on the Moon and return to Earth with rock samples. Luna 16 landed on Earth on September 24.
- 1974 – Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, was deposed by an army coup after 44 years as ruler.
- 1977 – Steve Biko, the South African black civil rights leader and anti-apartheid activist, died while he was in police detention.
- 1990 – A treaty was signed by East and West Germany and the Allies of World War II allowing for the restoration of sovereignty to a re-unified Germany.
- 1992 – First African-American woman goes into space. Mae C. Jemison, a physician, was a Mission Specialist on STS-47 which was the 50th space flight of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program. It was the space shuttle Endeavour’s second flight. During over 190 hours she spent in space, she conducted experiments on weightlessness and motion sickness.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1818 – Richard Gatling (Invented the machine gun)
- 1892 – Alfred A. Knopf, Sr. (American publisher, founded Alfred A. Knopf Inc.)
- 1913 – Jesse Owens (Olympic Track Star)
- 1931 – George Jones (Country singer)
- 1951 – Bertie Ahern (Irish politician)
- 1956 – Sam Brownback (American politician, 46th Governor of Kansas)
- 1967 – Louis C.K. (American comedian, actor, screenwriter)
- 1973 – Paul Walker (Actor)
- 1980 – Yao Ming (Basketball Player)
- 1981 – Jennifer Hudson (Singer and actress)
- 1986 – Emmy Rosum (Actress)
- 1989 – Andrew Luck (Football player)
DEATHS
- 1977 – Robert Lowell (American poet)
- 2003 – Johnny Cash (American singer-songwriter, guitarist, actor)
- 2008 – David Foster Wallace (American author)
- 2009 – Norman Borlaug (American agronomist, humanitarian, Nobel Prize laureate)
- 2014 – Ian Paisley (Irish minister, politician, 2nd First Minister of Northern Ireland)