1909 American explorer Robert Peary sent word that he had reached the North Pole five months earlier.
1939 South Africa declared war on Germany.
1941 Jews over the age of 6 in German-occupied areas were ordered to wear yellow Stars of David.
1966 South African Prime Minister Hendrik Verwoerd was stabbed to death by a deranged page during a parliamentary session in Cape Town
1970 Palestinian guerrillas seized control of three jetliners which were later blown up on the ground in Jordan after the passengers and crews were evacuated.
1992 A 35-year-old man who was the recipient of a transplanted baboon liver died at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 10 weeks after receiving the organ.
1996 Eddie Murray of the Baltimore Orioles hit his 500th career home run during a game against the Detroit Tigers.
1997 Britain bade farewell to Princess Diana with a funeral service at Westminster Abbey. Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey offers prayers for Diana Read the original AP story
1998 Japanese movie director Akira Kurosawa died in Tokyo at age 88.
- One of the four successful assassins and two of the four assasinated Presidents were from Northeast Ohio.
- Ronald Reagan is the only President to be shot (hit) while in office and survive. There is specualtion that he was more severely wounded than Lincoln, Garfield, or McKinley.
-Eric