Today in History

Historical Events

1956

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.

1948

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.

1919

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.

1912

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.

1871

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

Bruno Mars

1985

American singer-songwriter, producer, actor

Matt Damon

Matt Damon

1970

American actor, screenwriter, producer

Chevy Chase

Chevy Chase

1943

American comedian, actor

Harvey Pekar

Harvey Pekar

1939

American author

Juan Perón

Juan Perón

1895

Argentine military officer, politician, 29th President of Argentina

Famous Deaths

Died on this day

Willy Brandt

Willy Brandt

1992

German politician, 4th Chancellor of Germany, Nobel Prize laureate

Clement Attlee

Clement Attlee

1967

English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Premchand

Premchand

1936

Indian author

Franklin Pierce

Franklin Pierce

1869

American politician, 14th President of the United States

John Hancock

John Hancock

1793

American politician, 1st Governor of Massachusetts