Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

1609

English explorer Henry Hudson sailed into the river that now bears his name.

1918

U.S. forces led by Gen. John J. Pershing launched an attack on the German-occupied St. Mihiel salient north of Verdun, France, during World War I.

1938

In a speech in Nuremberg, Adolf Hitler demanded self-determination for the Sudeten Germans in Czechoslovakia.

1943

German paratroopers took Benito Mussolini from the hotel where he was being held by the Italian government.

1944

U.S. Army troops entered Germany for the first time during World War II, near Trier.

1960

Democratic presidential candidate John F. Kennedy addressed the issue of his Roman Catholic faith, telling a Protestant group in Houston, ''I do not speak for my church on public matters, and the church does not speak for me.''

1986

Joseph Cicippio, the acting comptroller at the American University in Beirut, was kidnapped; he was released in December 1991.

1988

Hurricane Gilbert slammed into Jamaica with torrential rains and winds of 145 mph, killing 45 people and causing damage estimated at up to $1 billion.

1992

Police in Peru captured Shining Path founder Abimael Guzman.

1999

Under intense international pressure, Indonesia announced it would allow an international peacekeeping force to restore order to the devastated territory of East Timor.

2015

A series of explosions involving propane triggering nearby illegally stored mining detonators in the Indian town of Petlawad in the state of Madhya Pradesh kills at least 105 people with over 150 injured.

2021

Siberian Light Aviation Flight 51 crashes short of the runway at Kazachinskoye Airport, killing four.

1880

Author and journalist H.L. Mencken was born in Baltimore.

1977

South African black student leader Steven Biko died while in police custody, triggering an international outcry.

2003

Johnny Cash, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor known for his deep, bass-baritone voice. Most of Cash's music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. (b. 1932)

2013

Ray Dolby, American engineer and businessman, founded Dolby Laboratories (b. 1933)

2017

Edith Windsor, American LGBT rights activist and technology manager at IBM (b. 1929)