1641 – The Merchant Royal, carrying 100,000 pounds of gold, 400 bars of Mexican silver, and nearly 500,000 pieces of eight and other coins (a treasure worth over a billion U.S. dollars today), was lost at sea off Land’s End, Cornwall.
1642 – The first commencement exercises took place at Harvard.
1779 – John Paul Jones, commander of the American warship, Bonhomme Richard, delivered his “I have not yet begun to fight” speech before leading his forces to a victory over the British warship, H.M.S. Serapis.
1806 – American explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark returned to St. Louis, Missouri, completing the first recorded overland journey from the Mississippi River to the Pacific coast and back.
1846 – The planet Neptune was first observed by German astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle.
1875 – Billy the Kid was arrested for the first time after stealing a basket of laundry. He later broke out of jail and roamed the American West, eventually earning a reputation as an outlaw and murderer and a rap sheet that allegedly included 21 murders.
1933 – A party of American geologists landed at the Persian Gulf port of Jubail in Saudi Arabia. Saudi King Abdel Aziz had granted the Standard Oil Company of California a concession to “explore and search for and drill and extract and manufacture and transport” petroleum in the country’s vast Eastern Province. The agreement was the stimulus of the founding of Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco).
In 1950, once it had become clear how very much oil there was under that desert, Aramco agreed to split its profits with the Saudi government. In 1980, after several years of squabbling over the price and availability of the country’s petroleum (Saudi Arabia was a founding member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or OPEC, whose 1973 embargo precipitated a massive fuel crisis in the United States and other parts of the industrial world), Saudis won total control of the company.
The next year, the kingdom’s oil revenues reached $118 billion.
1943 – The Italian Social Republic was founded. The Fascist Italian state was actually a Nazi puppet state. It was led by Duce Benito Mussolini, who exercised nominal sovereignty in northern Italy (but was largely dependent on German troops) following Italy’s surrender to the Allies. The republic ceased to exist two years later with the overthrow and death of Mussolini.
1944 – Franklin Roosevelt delivered the “Fala” speech in which Roosevelt mocked Republican claims that he had sent a destroyer to fetch his dog, Fala, when the dog was supposedly left behind in the Aleutian Islands.
Roosevelt claimed the desperate Republican opposition knew it could not win the upcoming presidential election and used Fala as an excuse to attack him. He half-jokingly declared that his critics sullied the reputation of a defenseless dog just to distract Americans from more pressing issues facing the country.
1949 – In a carefully worded statement, President Harry S. Truman informed the American people that the Soviets had exploded a nuclear bomb. The Soviet accomplishment, years ahead of what was thought possible by most U.S. officials, caused a panic in the American government.
1952 – Vice-presidential candidate Richard Nixon delivered the “Checkers” speech. In the speech – primarily made to defend himself against charges of improprieties relating to a fund established by his backers to reimburse him for his political expenses – he stated that regardless of what anyone said, he intended to keep one gift: a black-and-white dog who had been named Checkers by the Nixon children, thus giving the address its popular name.
Nixon’s speech was seen or heard by about 60 million Americans, including the largest television audience to that time, and led to an outpouring of public support. A huge majority of the millions of telegrams and phone calls received by the RNC and other political offices supported Nixon. He was retained on the ticket, which then swept to victory weeks later in November.
1952 – Rocky Marciano became the world heavyweight boxing champion by knocking out Jersey Joe Walcott in the 13th round with one of the most devastating punches in boxing history.
1962 – The Jetsons premiered on ABC. It was the first program ever to be broadcast in color on the network.
1968 – Here’s Lucy, starring Lucille Ball and her two real life children, debuted on CBS.
1969 – The trial for eight antiwar activists charged with the responsibility for the violent demonstrations at the August 1968 Democratic National Convention opened in Chicago.
1969 – Marcus Welby, M.D. debuted on ABC. It would become the first show in ABC’s history to become the #1 show on television.
1979 – Archie Bunker’s Place, a spin-off and continuation of All In The Family, premiered on CBS.
1981 – Jack Henry Abbott was captured in the oil fields of Louisiana after a two-month long manhunt that began when he killed a waiter at a New York City restaurant on July 18. At the time of the murder, Abbott had been out on parole largely through the efforts of author Norman Mailer, who convinced officials that he had a great writing talent.
Mailer, who thought Abbott was a talented writer, got the New York Review of Books to publish some of the letters. Random House then published Abbott’s book, In the Belly of the Beast, which detailed his supposed mistreatment in prison. Telling prison officials that Abbott had a promising career as a writer, Mailer offered to employ him as a researcher. On June 5, 1981, Abbott was released to a halfway house in New York City.
Only six weeks after his parole, Abbott picked a fight with waiter Richard Adan at the Bonibon restaurant, stabbing him in the chest and killing him instantly. Abbott initially fled to a small Mexican village, but soon traveled to Louisiana, where detectives caught up with him.
Back in New York, Abbott managed to get the minimum sentence for murdering Adan – 15 years-to-life – in part because Mailer urged the court to be lenient. According to Mailer – and this is one of the most idiotic statements ever made, “culture is worth a little risk.”
1983 – Gulf Air Flight 771 was en route from Karachi, Pakistan to Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates when a bomb exploded in the baggage compartment. All 112 people onboard died.
1986 – Matlock premiered on NBC.
1992 – Mad About You premiered on NBC.
1994 – The Shawshank Redemption premiered. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards but came up empty.
By the way, the oak tree under which Andy buries his letter to Red is located at 40°39′14″N 82°23′31″W, near Malabar Farm State Park, in Lucas, Ohio. Just in case you’re ever in the neighborhood.
1998 – Actress Mary Frann (best known for her role as Bob Newhart’s wife, Joanna, on the Newhart television series) died of a heart attack at the age of 55.
2004 – Hurricane Jeanne slammed into Haiti, leaving over 3,000 dead, with hundreds more reported missing and never found. Approximately 250,000 of Haiti’s 8 million people were left homeless.
Compiled by Ray Lemire ©2014 RayLemire.com. All Rights Reserved.
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