Today in History

Moscow’s top court upholds ban of gay pride events in Russia’s capital city for 100 years.

Israel begins the first forced evacuation of Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank, as part of a unilateral disengagement plan.

A 7.4-magnitude earthquake near Izmit, Turkey kills over 17,000 and injures nearly 45,000.

President Bill Clinton admits to the American public that he had affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

Pakistani President Zia-ul-Haq is killed in an airplane crash suspected of being an assassination.

93-year-old Rudolf Hess, former Nazi leader and deputy of Adolf Hitler, is found hanged to death in Spandau Prison.

Three Americans complete the first crossing of the Atlantic in a balloon.

Robert Manry, copy editor of Cleveland Plain Dealer who sailed solo in a sailboat from Falmouth, Massachusetts, to Falmouth, Cornwall, England.

Sean Penn, actor, screenwriter, director, political and social activist (Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Mystic River).

Judith Regan, controversial book publisher, editor, talk show host.

Upon hearing confirmation that Japan has surrendered, Sukarno proclaims Indonesia’s independence.

Lawrence Joseph Ellison, CEO of Oracle Corporation.

Robert DeNiro, American actor, won Oscars for his roles in The Godfather Part II and Raging Bull.

Marine Raiders attack Makin Island in the Gilbert Islands from two submarines.

John (Red) Kerr, basketball coach.

Larry Rovers, painter and sculptor.

Mae West, American actress in burlesque, vaudeville, Broadway and movies.

Harry Hopkins, who organized the Works Projects Administration under President Franklin Roosevelt.

Marcus Garvey, Jamaican-born black nationalist who advocated the departure of African-Americans back to Africa.

Samuel Goldwyn, American movie mogul who helped start MGM (Metro Goldwyn Mayer).

Union gunboats attack Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina, for the first time.

The first steam ship to cross the Atlantic entirely on its own power, the Canadian ship Royal William, begins her journey from Nova Scotia to The Isle of Wight.

Napoleon Bonaparte‘s army defeats the Russians at the Battle of Smolensk during the Russian retreat to Moscow.

Davy Crockett, American frontiersman and politician who died in the defense of the Alamo.

By the Treaty of Abo, Sweden cedes southeast Finland to Russia, ending Sweden’s failed war with Russia.