Today in History
Historical Events
Moscow announces that the USSR will not take part in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. Several other countries, such as Cuba, Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Ethiopia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Vietnam joined the boycott. 4 years earlier, the United States had not sent any athletes to the Summer Olympics in Moscow.
Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler climb Mount Everest without oxygen supply. Prior to the Italian and Austrian mountaineers' ascent, it was thought to be impossible to conquer the world's highest mountain without supplemental oxygen.
The Beatles release the album Let It Be. The recording was the last studio album ever released by the legendary English rock band.
The White Bird and its crew mysteriously disappear. French aviators, Charles Nungesser and François Coli, had taken off from Paris in their Levasseur PL.8 biplane in an attempt to make the first non-stop transatlantic flight. Their disappearance remains a mystery. Charles Lindbergh succeeded two weeks later.
Coca-Cola is invented. According to legend, Dr. John Styth Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist, produced the syrup in a brass pot in his backyard. It was first intended as a patent medicine. Today, Coca-Cola is one of the world's most popular soft drinks and one of the most recognized trademarks.
Famous Births
Born on this day

Naomi Klein
1970
Canadian author, activist

Keith Jarrett
1945
American pianist, composer

David Attenborough
1926
English television host

Robert Johnson
1911
American singer-songwriter, guitarist

Harry S. Truman
1884
American colonel, politician, 33rd President of the United States
Famous Deaths
Died on this day

Luigi Nono
1990
Italian composer

Robert A. Heinlein
1988
American writer

Paul Gauguin
1903
French painter

Helena Blavatsky
1891
Russian scholar, theosophist

John Stuart Mill
1873
English economist, civil servant, philosopher