In 1536 King Henry VIII suffered an injury while jousting which historians may have led to his erratic behavior and possible impotence/ability to produce a male heir. Over 4 centuries later, in 1961, an American B-52 bomber broke up in mid-air over North Carolina, while carrying 2 H-bombs and the uranium core of one bomb was not found. And in 1972 a Japanese soldier was discovered in Guam where he had been hiding out since the end of WWII.
In 1908 the first Boy Scout troop was organized in England, by Robert Baden-Powell. In 1946 the United Nations General Assembly passes its first resolution, to establish the United Nations Atomic Energy Commission. And in 1918 the Gregorian calendar was introduced in Russia, which had been introduced in 1582.
In AD 76 the emperor Hadrian, who left us Hadrian’s Wall at the border of Scotland and England, was born. Other leaders like Prussia’s Frederick the Great (1712) and senator/Prsidential candidate Gary Hart (1942) were born on the same date.
There were several singers and actors born on this date, such as Ray Stevens (1939) – The Streak, Ernest Borgnine (1917) -McHale’s Navy, Neil Diamond (1941), Aaron Neville (1941),, Sharon Tate (1943) and John Belushi (1949).
And there were three sports stars – Mary Lou Retton (1968) American gymnast, Shae-Lynn Bourne (1976) Canadian ice dancer, coach and choreographer, and Sean McVay (1986) American football coach.
In AD 41 the nasty 3rd Roman emperor Caligula was assassinated, mourned by few. In 1965 Winston Churchill long serving British politician and twice Prime Minister died at the ripe old age of 90. And in 1993 the lawyer and first African American justice of the US Supreme Court, Thurgood Marshall died. Both very much loved and mourned.
We also said farewell to two other lesser-known Americans – Bill W (1971) founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, and L. Ron Hubbard (1986) author -of Dune and its sequels, and founder of the controversial Church of Scientology.
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