Today in History

Russia begins the Second Chechen War in response to the Invasion of Dagestan by the Islamic International Peacekeeping Brigade.

Sigmund Jähn becomes first German to fly in space, on board Soviet Soyuz 31.

The National Assembly of Quebec adopts Bill 101, Charter of the French Language, making French the official language of the Canadian province.

Melissa Ann McCarthy, comedian, writer, producer, Emmy-winning actress (Mike & Molly TV series).

South African Defense Force troops attack a People’s Liberation Army of Nambia at Omugulugwombashe, the first battle of the 22-year Namibian War of Independence.

Branford Marsalis, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader.

Nikky Finney (Lynn Carol Finney), poet; won National Book Award (Head Off & Split).

Will Shortz, American puzzle creator and editor.

Tom Ridge, first US Secretary of Homeland Security.

Prince Richard, Duke of Gloucester (Richard Alexander Walter George).

The United States recognizes the French Committee of National Liberation.

Donald Leroy “Don” LaFontaine, voice-over actor; recorded more than 5,000 film trailers and hundreds of thousands of television advertisements, network promotions, and video game trailers.

Irving Levine, journalist; first American television correspondent to be accredited in the Soviet Union.

The 19th Amendment to the Constitution is officially ratified, giving women the right to vote.

Mother Teresa (Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu), missionary, Nobel Prize laureate for her work in the slums of Calcutta.

Albert Sabin, medical researcher, developed the polio vaccine.

Peggy Guggenheim, art patron and collector.

The Indonesian island of Krakatoa erupts in the largest explosion recorded in history, heard 2,200 miles away in Madagascar. The resulting destruction sends volcanic ash up 50 miles into the atmosphere and kills almost 36,000 people–both on the island itself and from the resulting 131-foot tidal waves that obliterate 163 villages on the shores of nearby Java and Sumatra.

John Buchan, Lord Tweedsmuir, writer and governor general of Canada, famous for his book The Thirty-Nine Steps.

Lee de Forest, physicist, inventor, considered the father of radio.

Confederate General Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson seizes Manassas Junction, Virginia, and moves to encircle Union forces under General John Pope.

The Constituent Assembly in Versailles, France, approves the final version of the Declaration of Human Rights.

Antoine Laurent Lavoisier, the father of modern chemistry who defined the role of oxygen and named it.

Joan of Arc makes a triumphant entry into Paris.

Turks defeat the Byzantine army under Emperor Romanus IV at Manzikert, Eastern Turkey.