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1966–Bob Dylan is injured in a motorcycle accident near his home in Woodstock, New York. Middletown Hospital admits him with a concussion and broken neck vertebrae. He continues to suffer from paralysis and mild amnesia for the next month. Dylan then goes into seclusion, and the incident immediately passes into myth, with many wondering if he was hurt at all, or simply used the accident to disappear from public life.


BC 587–The Neo-Babylonian Empire sacks Jerusalem and destroys the First Temple.

238–The Praetorian Guard storm the palace and capture Roman Emperors Pupienus and Balbinus. They are dragged through the streets of Rome and executed. On the same day, Gordian III (age 13) is proclaimed emperor.

615–Pakal ascends to the Mayan throne of Palenque in southern Mexico, at the age of 12.

869–Muhammad al-Mahdi, Iraqi 12th Imam, is born.

904–Saracen raiders under Leo of Tripoli sack Thessaloniki, the Byzantine Empire's second-largest city, after a short siege, and plunder it for a week.

923–Lombard forces, under King Rudolph II and Adalbert I, margrave of Ivrea, defeat the dethroned Emperor Berengar I of Italy at Firenzuola (Tuscany).

1014–During the Byzantine-Bulgarian Wars, Byzantine Emperor Basil II inflicts a decisive defeat on the Bulgarian army, and his subsequent treatment of 15,000 prisoners reportedly causes Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria to die of a heart attack less than three months later.

1018–Count Dirk III defeats an army sent by Emperor Henry II in the Battle of Vlaardingen.

1030–King Olaf II dies in battle, trying to regain his Norwegian throne from the Danes.

1095–Ladislaus I of Hungary dies after he becomes seriously ill while traveling near the Hungarian-Bohemian border, at age 54.

1099–Pope Urban II dies.

1108–Philip I of France dies at the castle of Melun-sur-Seine in France, at age 56.

1148–The Siege of Damascus ends in a decisive crusader defeat and leads to the disintegration of the Second Crusade.

1236–Ingeborg of Denmark, Queen of France, dies at the priory of Saint-Jean-de-l’Ile, at age 60.

1356–Martin of Aragon is born in Girona, Spain. Also called the Elder, and the Ecclesiastic, he was King of Aragon, Valencia, Sardinia, and Corsica, and Count of Barcelona from 1396. He was King of Sicily from 1409.

1565–Mary, Queen of Scots, marries Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, Duke of Albany, at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Scotland.

1567–James VI is crowned King of Scotland at Stirling.

1588–English naval forces, under the command of Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake, defeat the Spanish Armada off the coast of Gravelines, France.

1644–Pope Urban VIII dies in Rome, Lazio, Papal States, at age 76.

1693–During the War of the Grand Alliance, France wins a Pyrrhic victory over Allied forces in the Netherlands in the Battle of Landen.

1750–Composer, Johann Sebastian Bach, dies in Leipzig, Germany.

1775–Along with the founding of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps, General George Washington appoints William Tudor as Judge Advocate of the Continental Army.

1836–The Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, is dedicated.

1846–Isabel, Princess Imperial of Brazil, is born.

1848–In Tipperary, Ireland, an unsuccessful nationalist revolt against British rule, due to the Irish potato famine, is put down by police.

1849–Physician, author, and critic, Max Nordau, is born in Hungary. He co-founded the World Zionist Organization.

1851–Annibale de Gasparis discovers asteroid 15 Eunomia.

1856–Composer, Robert Schumann, dies of syphilis in a sanatorium in Bonn, Germany, at age 46. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann suffered from a lifelong mental disorder, first manifesting itself in 1833, as a severe melancholic depressive episode, which recurred several times alternating with phases of “exaltation” and increasingly delusional ideas. After a suicide attempt in 1854, Schumann was diagnosed with “psychotic melancholia.” Schumann never recovered from his mental illness. Some think he died of mercury poisoning; others think it was a chordoid meningioma (tumor on the brain).

1858–The United States and Japan sign the Harris Treaty.

1864–In the American Civil War, Confederate spy, Belle Boyd, is arrested by Union troops and detained at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C.

1869–Novelist, (Newton) Booth Tarkington, is born in Indianapolis, Indiana. Tarkington never earned a college degree, yet he was accorded many awards recognizing and honoring his skills and accomplishments as an author. He won the Pulitzer Prize in fiction twice, in 1919 and 1922, for his novels The Magnificent Ambersons and Alice Adams.

1883–Journalist and politician, Benito Mussolini, is born. He was the 27th Prime Minister of Italy.

1884–The Société des Artistes Indépendants (Society of Independent Artists) is founded in Paris, France. Among its founders are Albert Dubois-Pillet, Odilon Redon, Georges Seurat, and Paul Signac. For the next three decades, annual exhibitions mounted by The Société set the standards for in art in the early 20th century.

1885–Actress, Theda Bara, is born Theodosia Burr Goodman in Cincinnati, Ohio. She was one of the most popular actresses of the silent era, and one of cinema's earliest sex symbols. Her femme fatale roles earned her the nickname “The Vamp” (short for vampire). Bara made more than 40 films between 1914 and 1926, but most of them were lost in the Fox vault fire of 1937.

1888–Engineer, Vladimir K. Zworykin, is born in Russia. He invented the Iconoscope.

1890–Dutch artist, Vincent Van Gogh, dies (after shooting himself in the chest the day before) in Auvers-sur-Oise, France, at age 37.

1892–Actor, William Powell, is born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is best known for his role in The Thin Man. He appeared in the films Beau Geste, The Great Gatsby, Nevada, The Four Feathers, The Road to Singapore, Double Harness, The Great Ziegfeld, My Man Godfrey, Libeled Lady, Life with Father, How to Marry a Millionaire, and Mister Roberts. He was married to actress, Carole Lombard.

1895–Politician, Floriano Peixoto, dies. He was the second President of Brazil.

1899–The First Hague Convention is signed.

1900–Umberto I of Italy, dies when he is shot four times by the Italo-American anarchist Gaetano Bresciin, in Monza, Kingdom of Italy, at age 58.

1905–Actress, Clara Bow, is born.

1905–Economist and diplomat, Dag Hammarskjöld, is born in Sweden. He was the second Secretary-General of the United Nations.

1905–Actress, Thelma Todd, is born.

1907–Sir Robert Baden-Powell sets up the Brownsea Island Scout Camp in Poole Harbour on the south coast of England. The camp runs from August 1st to August 9th, and is regarded as the foundation of the Scouting movement.

1907–Attorney, Melvin (Mouron) Belli, is born in Sonora, California. He was a prominent American lawyer known as "The King of Torts." He had many celebrity clients, including Zsa Zsa Gabor, Errol Flynn, Chuck Berry, Muhammad Ali, The Rolling Stones, Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Bakker, Martha Mitchell, Lana Turner, Tony Curtis, and Mae West. He won over $600 million in judgments during his legal career. He was the attorney for Jack Ruby, who shot Lee Harvey Oswald on live television after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

1913–The Norwegian football club, Valerenga Fotball, is founded.

1914–The Cape Cod Canal opens.

1914–Comedian, Irwin Corey, is born in Brooklyn, New York. He introduced his unscripted, improvisational style of stand-up comedy at the well-known club, the hungry i, in San Francisco, California. He appeared in the films How to Commit Marriage, Fore Play, Car Wash, Thieves, The Comeback Trail, Stuck on You, Crackers, Jack, and I’m Not Rappaport.

1920–Construction of the Link River Dam begins as part of the Klamath Reclamation Project.

1921–Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party.

1921–Actor, Richard Egan, is born.

1923–Businessman, Jim Marshall, is born James Charles Marshall in Acton, West London, England. He founded Marshall Amplification and built amps for some of the biggest names in rock music. He is considered to be one of the “four fathers” of rock music equipment, along with Leo Fender, Les Paul, and Seth Lover.

1924–The “instantaneous ballet” Rêlanche, a collaboration of Surrealists Satie, Picabia, and René Claire, is performed in Paris, France. Would-be audience members are confused by the title (which means “canceled”) and leave because they thought the show would not go on.

1924–Actor, Lloyd (Wolfe) Bochner, is born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He appeared in the films Harlow, Point Blank, Tony Rome, The Detective, The Dunwich Horror, Mazes and Monsters, and The Lonely Lady.

1924–Actor, Robert Horton, is born Meade Howard Horton, Jr. in Los Angeles, California. He is best known for his co-starring role in the TV Western series Wagon Train. He appeared in the films A Walk in the Sun, The Tanks Are Coming, Pony Soldier, The Story of Three Loves, Bright Road, code Two, Prisoner of War, and The Green Slime.

1929–Jacqueline Bouvier, First Lady of the U.S. (1961-1963), is born in Southampton, New York.

1932–In Washington, D.C., troops disperse the last of the "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans. This was an assemblage of 43,000 marchers: 17,000 U.S. World War I veterans, their families, and affiliated groups who gathered in Washington, D.C. to demand cash payment redemption of their service certificates. The contingent was led by Walter W. Waters, a former sergeant.

1933–Wrestler, Lou Albano, is born Louis Vincent Albano in Rome, Italy. Over the course of his 42-year career, Albano guided 15 different tag teams and four singles competitors to championship gold.

1933–Actor, Robert Fuller, is born.

1937–In Tongzhou, China, the East Hopei Army attacks Japanese troops and civilians.

1938–Journalist amd TV news anchor, Peter Jennings, is born Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Starting in 1983, he served as the sole anchor of ABC World News Tonight.

1941–Actor, David Warner, is born in England.

1943–President Roosevelt announces the end of coffee rationing.

1945–The BBC Light Programme radio station is launched for mainstream light entertainment and music.

1945–Rick Wright, of Pink Floyd, is born.

1948–The XIV Summer Olympic Games open in London, England. After a hiatus of 12 years caused by World War II, this is the first Summer Olympics since they were held in Berlin, Germany, in 1936.

1950–During the Korean War, after four days, the No Gun Ri Massacre ends when the U.S. Army 7th Cavalry Regiment is withdrawn.

1951–Actor, Jack Blessing, is born John Michael Blessing in Baltimore, Maryland. He appeared in the films Heaven’s Gate, Galaxy of Terror, Summer School, Joshua’s Heart, The last of His Tribe, Ground Zero, Above Suspicion, and Thirteen Days. Blessing has also lent his voice to over 3,000 movies and television shows.

1953–Documentary producer and direcor, Ken Burns, is born.

1953–Fashion educator and TV personality, Tim Gunn, is born Timothy Michael Gunn in Washington, D.C. He is best known as the “mentor” to the fashion designers on the reality TV series Project Runway. He was on the faculty of Parsons The New School for Design from 1982 to 2007. His father was George William Gunn, an FBI agent during the administration of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.

1953–Geddy Lee, of Rush, is born.

1953–Patti Scialfa, of the E Street Band, is born. She was married to rocker, Bruce Springsteen.

1957–The International Atomic Energy Agency is established.

1957–Jack Paar begins a successful five-year run as host of The Tonight Show on NBC-TV, changing its name to The Jack Paar Show. He came to NBC from CBS, where he had been a game and talk show host. Paar's forte was interviewing, and he would get so involved with his guests and their stories that he would not only laugh with them, but would sometimes cry. Paar's emotional outbursts, whether they involved an interviewee, a personal crusade, or a feud with the likes of Ed Sullivan or Dorothy Kilgallen, became the major attraction of the show. Jose Melis and his orchestra stayed with Paar through the years, as did his sidekick and announcer, Hugh Downs.

1958–The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is authorized by U.S. Congress.

1958–Fashion designer, Cynthia Rowley, is born.

1959–John Sykes, of the bands Thin Lizzy and Whitesnake, is born in England.

1960–Richard Simon, co-founder of the publishing firm Simon & Shuster, dies. He was the father of singer, Carly Simon.

1961–In Atlantic City, New Jersey, promoter Dick Clark unveils his new package tour, “Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars.”

1961–Bob Dylan performs as part of a Hootenanny Special at New York's Riverside Church. The performance is part of a 12-hour radio broadcast.

1963–The Newport Folk Festival is held this year after a four-year hiatus. Headliners include Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, and Peter, Paul & Mary.

1963–Thirty-two photographs are taken of The Beatles by Radio Times photographer, Don Smith, in the Washington Hotel in London, England. Later, a photo session is held with Marc Sharratt on the hotel roof, and then a separate session is held for individual photos of the group members.

1963–Actress, Alexandra Paul, is born.

1965–The first 4,000 101st Airborne Division paratroopers arrive in Vietnam, landing at Cam Ranh Bay.

1965–The Beatles' second movie, Help!, premieres in London, England, at the Pavilion Cinema, with The Beatles, John Lennon’s Aunt Mimi, and Queen Elizabeth in attendance. The film would win first prize at the Rio De Janeiro Film Festival in Brazil.

1966–Country singer, Martina McBride, is born.

1966–Bob Dylan is injured in a motorcycle accident near his home in Woodstock, New York. Middletown Hospital admits him with a concussion and broken neck vertebrae. He continues to suffer from paralysis and mild amnesia for the next month. Dylan then goes into seclusion, and the incident immediately passes into myth, with many wondering if he was hurt at all, or simply used the accident to disappear from public life.

1966–The American teen magazine, Datebook, reprints excerpts from John Lennon’s Evening Standard interview with Maureen Cleave. Presented out of context, it appears as if he is saying The Beatles are more important than Jesus Christ. Lennon’s quotes are treated as blasphemous and the subsequent chaos that occurs threatens to undermind The Beatles popularity in America, leading to the possible cancellation of their upcoming tour of the U.S.

1967–Off the coast of North Vietnam the USS Forrestal catches on fire in the worst U.S. naval disaster since World War II, killing 134 people.

1967–During the fourth day of celebrating its 400th anniversary, the city of Caracas, Venezuela, is shaken by an earthquake, leaving approximately 500 people dead.

1968–Child actor, Rodney Allen Rippy, is born.

1971–Having flown to New York to participate in George Harrison’s “Concert For Bangladesh,” John Lennon discovers that Yoko Ono will not be welcome on stage. He initially accepts George’s decision, until Yoko finds out. John and Yoko then have a violent argument and John storms off to the airport, where he catches the first flight back to Europe.

1972–Actor, Wil Wheaton, is born.

1973–Greeks vote to abolish the monarchy, beginning the first period of the Metapolitefsi.

1973–During the Dutch Grand Prix, driver Roger Williamson is killed in the race, after a suspected tire failure causes the car to pitch into the barriers at high speed.

1973–Actor, Stephen Dorff, is born in Atlanta, Georgia.

1974–Cass Elliot, of The Mamas and The Papas, dies of a heart attack in London, England, at age 32. A myth persists that she choked on a ham sandwich. After the breakup of The Mamas and The Papas, Elliot embarked on a solo singing career. Her most successful recording was Dream a Little Dream of Me in 1968. Her other hits were California Earthquake, Make Your Own Kind of Music, and New World Coming.

1976–In New York City, David Berkowitz (a.k.a. the "Son of Sam") kills one person and seriously wounds another in the first of a series of attacks.

1976–Gangster, Mickey Cohen, dies of stomach cancer in Los Angeles, California, at age 62.

1979–Television producer, Bill Todman, dies.

1980–Iran adopts a new "holy" flag after the Islamic Revolution.

1981–Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer are wed at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, England, with 2,500 special guests in attendance. The ceremony takes place in the wee small hours of the morning in America, but is still a ratings success, with coverage on all U.S. networks, and a worldwide audience of over 700 million.

1982–Engineer, Vladimir K. Zworykin, dies. He invented the Iconoscope.

1983–Actor, Raymond Massey, is born.

1983–Actor, David Niven, dies of ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) in Chateau d'Oex, Switzerland, at age 73. He appeared in the films The Prisoner of Zenda, Wuthering Heights, Bachelor Mother, The Bishop’s Wife, The Moon Is Blue, Around the World in Eighty Days, Separate Tables, Please Don’t Eat the Daisies, The Guns of Navarone, The Pink Panther, Bedtime Story, and Casino Royale.

1984–Bandleader, Fred Waring, dies.

1987–British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, and French President, François Mitterrand, sign an agreement to build a tunnel under the English Channel (Eurotunnel).

1987–Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi, and President of Sri Lanka, J. R. Jayewardene, sign the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord on ethnic issues.

1993–The Supreme Court of Israel acquits alleged Nazi death camp guard, John Demjanjuk, of all charges and he is set free.

1995–Bandleader, Les Elgart, dies at age 76. Elgart’s recording of Bandstand Boogie was adopted by Dick Clark as the theme for the teen dance show American Bandstand.

1996–The child protection portion of the Communications Decency Act is struck down by a U.S. Federal Court as too broad.

1996–Creole fiddle player, Canray Fontenot, dies of lung cancer at his home in Welsh, Louisiana, at age 72. He had been described as "the greatest black Louisiana French fiddler of our time."

1998–Miramax Films co-chairmen, Bob and Harvey Weinstein, announce that they have bought the rights to The Beatles' landmark film A Hard Day's Night. Miramax announces plans to release the 1964 classic later that year for its 35th anniversary, with new footage, a fully restored negative, and digitally remastered six-track stereo sound.

1998–Producer, director, and choreographer, Jerome Robbins, dies.

2005–Astronomers announce the discovery of the dwarf planet Eris.

2007–Journalist and TV host, Tom Snyder, dies of complications from leukemia in San Francisco, California, at age 71. He is best known for his late night talk shows The Tomorrow Show on NBC-TV in the 1970s and 1980s, and The Late Late Show on CBS-TV in the 1990s.

2007–Journalist, Marvin Zindler, dies.

2010–An overloaded passenger ferry capsizes on the Kasai River in Bandundu Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing at least 80 people.

2012–Actor, Sherman Hemsley, dies of natural causes at age 74. He is best known for the role of George Jefferson on the TV sitcoms All in the Family and The Jeffersons.

2013–Two passenger trains collide in the Swiss municipality of Granges-près-Marnand, near Lausanne, injuring 25 people.

2015–Microsoft's Windows 10 launches a 3-D face scan that signs in users in seconds, no password required. The Windows team call the feature "Hello." Hello works with Intel's Real Sense 3-D camera, which bathes the user's face in infrared light, penetrating facial hair and dim lighting conditions. Microsoft says facial data, like fingerprint and thumbprint data, is encrypted and stored locally on the device.

2015–Steel guitar player, Buddy Emmons, dies in Nashville, Tennessee, at age 78. Emmons was called "The World's Foremost Steel Guitarist." His musical versatility spanned genres such as country, swing, jazz, folk, and country-rock. He has performed or recorded with a wide variety of vocalists and musicians, including Linda Ronstadt, The Everly Brothers, Ernest Tubb, John Hartford, Ray Price, and Judy Collins.

2016–The Bank of Japan announces a six trillion yen stimulus package to help revive the Japanese economy.

2016–The United States military says it will shortly return 4,000 hectares of its Okinawa military installation, 17% of the area it controls, to the Japanese government.

2016–Scientists find evidence of cancer in a 1.7-million-year-old foot bone and a two-million-year-old spine from two ancient hominin specimens in South Africa.

2018–Typhoon Jongdari hits central and western Japan, injuring at least 21 people and cutting power to tens of thousands of homes. The typhoon is the latest in the series of weather events to affect the country, following devastating floods and a fatal heat wave earlier in the month.


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