Today in History

Blackout in India as power grid failure leaves 300 million+ without power.

The last of the uniquely shaped “old style” Volkswagen Beetles rolls off the assembly line in Mexico.

Baseball Commissioner Fay Vincent forces George Steinbrenner to resign as principal partner of the New York Yankees.

 King Hussein dissolves Jordan’s Parliament, surrenders Jordan’s claims to the West Bank to the Palestinian Liberation Organization.

Teamster leader Jimmy Hoffa disappears, last seen coming out of a restaurant in Bloomingfield Hills, Michigan.

General William Westmoreland claims that he is winning the war in Vietnam, but needs more men.

President Lyndon Johnson signs the Medicare Bill into law.

Laurence Fishburne, actor (The Matrix series, The Tuskegee Airmen TV movie, CSI – Crime Scene Investigation TV series).

Over 60,000 Buddhists march in protest against the Diem government in South Vietnam.

Kate Bush, singer, songwriter; first woman to have a UK number-one single with a self-written song (“Wuthering Heights”); appointed Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, 2013.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, body builder (Mr. Universe, seven-time Mr. Olympia), actor (Terminator, Total Recall), 38th governor of California.

David Sanborn, Grammy-winning jazz saxophonist (“Inside,” “Close-Up”).

Paul Anka, singer (“Puppy Love,” “You Are My Destiny”).

Patricia Schroeder, U.S. Congresswoman.

George Eastman demonstrates his color motion picture process.

William H. Gass, writer (Omensetter’s Luck).

Federal troops are called out to put down Chicago race riots.

C. Northcote Parkinson, historian and author.

Henry Moore, English sculptor.

Casey Stengel, New York Yankees manager.

In an effort to penetrate the Confederate lines around Petersburg, Va. Union troops explode a mine underneath the Confederate trenches but fail to break through. The ensuing action is known as the Battle of the Crater.

Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company.

Thorstein Veblen, economist and sociologist (The Theory of the Leisure Class).

Emily Bronte, author (Wuthering Heights).

The French garrison at Mantua, Italy, surrenders to the Austrians.

The French parliament refuses to approve a more equitable land tax.

The House of Burgesses convenes for the first time at Jamestown, Va.