Today in History
Historical Events
The first perfect game in Major League Baseball World Series. New York Yankees’ Don Larsen pitched the only no-hitter game against the Brooklyn Dodgers in the history of the World Series.
World’s first internal pacemaker implanted. A 43-year-old man called Arne Larsson was the recipient of the pacemaker which worked only for a few hours. However, Larsson lived long after the pacemaker stopped working. He died in 2001 at the age of 86.
World’s first transcontinental air race. 63 airplanes – 15 from San Francisco and 48 from New York – took part in this 5400-mile round-trip race. The winner, Lieutenant Belvin Maynard, took 3 days and 21 hours to return to New York.
First Balkan war begins. Montenegro started the conflict by declaring war on the Ottoman Empire. A few days later Greece, Bulgaria, and Serbia joined the war and created the Balkan League. The 7-month long war ended with a decisive Balkan League victory. Dissatisfaction over the spoils of the war led to the Second Balkan War a year later.
Great Chicago fire begins. The fire that destroyed most of Chicago’s business district began in a barn on the evening of October 8, 1871. A very dry summer and an early autumn fanned the fire, which raged for 2 days. It killed over 300 people and destroyed property worth millions of dollars.
Famous Births
Born on this day
Bruno Mars
1985
American singer-songwriter, producer, actor
Matt Damon
1970
American actor, screenwriter, producer
Chevy Chase
1943
American comedian, actor
Harvey Pekar
1939
American author
Juan Perón
1895
Argentine military officer, politician, 29th President of Argentina
Famous Deaths
Died on this day
Willy Brandt
1992
German politician, 4th Chancellor of Germany, Nobel Prize laureate
Clement Attlee
1967
English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Premchand
1936
Indian author
Franklin Pierce
1869
American politician, 14th President of the United States
John Hancock
1793
American politician, 1st Governor of Massachusetts