64– Great Fire of Rome begins under the Emperor Nero
1918 – French General Ferdinand Foch launched a counterstrike that forced the Germans into a hasty retreat during the Second Battle of the Marne, the last large German offensive of World War I.
1936 – Spanish Civil War: General Francisco Franco issues manifesto and leads an uprising in the Spanish army stationed in Morocco
2012– Kim Jong-un is officially appointed Supreme Leader of North Korea and given the rank of Marshal in the Korean People’s Army
2013– Detroit, Michigan, files for bankruptcy, becoming the largest US municipal bankruptcy ever at $18.5 billion
Births & Deaths: 1817 – The English novelist Jane Austen, who wrote such classics as Sense and Sensibility (1811) and Pride and Prejudice (1813), died in Winchester, Hampshire, at age 41. 1918– Nelson Mandela, South African anti-apartheid activist, political prisoner (1962-90) and President of South Africa (1994-99), born in Mvezo, Umtatu, South Africa (d. 2013)
1921 – John Glenn—the first U.S. astronaut to orbit Earth, completing three orbits in 1962—was born.
Film & TV: 1959– “The Nun’s Story” based on the novel by Kathryn Hulme, starring Audrey Hepburn premieres in Los Angeles
Music: 1980– Billy Joel’s “Glass Houses” album tops US charts, featuring “Its Still Rock ‘n’ Roll to Me”
Sport: 1976 – Nadia Comăneci becomes the first gymnast in Olympic Games history to score a perfect 10 score (total 7) at Montreal Games
