793 – Vikings in long ships from modern-day Norway plunder St Cuthbert’s monastery on Lindisfarne Island, off the northeast coast of England
1191 – King Richard I of England arrives at Acre in modern day Israel to join the Siege of Acre during the Third Crusade
1783 – Laki volcano in southern Iceland begins 8-month eruption, killing 10,000 and causing widespread famines throughout Asia and Europe
1789 – James Madison introduces a proposed Bill of Rights in the US House of Representatives
1918 – Nova Aquila, brightest nova since Kepler’s nova of 1604, discovered
1987 – New Zealand’s Labour government legislates against nuclear weapons and nuclear powered vessels in NZ. Only nation to legislate against nuclear power.
1993 – Drag queen RuPaul releases his debut album “Supermodel of the World”
1996 – Revival of the legendary procession of Lady Godiva (Godgifu) naked through Coventry, England
2004 – Transit of Venus (between Earth & Sun) occurs
2007 – Jazz legend Oscar Peterson is forced to cancel his appearance at the Carnegie Hall all-star performance (held in his honour), owing to illness
2012 – A bus bombing in Pakistan kills 18 and injures 35 people
2017 – Ex-FBI chief James Comey testifies to a US Senate committee that US President Donald Trump told “lies plain and simple”
2020 – World Bank says the COVID-19 pandemic will shrink the global economy by 5.2% in 2020
2020 – Former astronaut Kathy Sullivan is the first woman to reach deepest point of the ocean – Challenger Deep in the Marianas Trench. Formerly the first American woman to spacewalk.
Film & TV:
1984 – “Ghostbusters”, American supernatural comedy film, directed and produced by Ivan Reitman, starring Bill Murrary and Dan Aykroyd is released
1993 – Drag queen RuPaul releases his debut album “Supermodel of the World”
Sport:
1969 – MLB legend Mickey Mantle gives his farewell retirement speech during “Mickey Mantle Day” at Yankee Stadium, 60,096 see #7 retired
