This is a day of daring feats from Kon Tiki to Man on a Wire; highs and lows of US military history in Asia and the 15th anniversary of the tragic bombings of US Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. It is ironic that the announcement of the Washington Post sale comes only days before the anniversary of the closure of its former competitor – The Washington Star.
1904
Ralph Bunche, the first person of color to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, was born in Detroit.
1933
The Simele massacre: The Iraqi government slaughters over 3,000 Assyrians in the village of Simele. The day becomes known as Assyrian Martyrs Day.
1942
The Battle of Guadalcanal begins – United States Marines initiate the first American offensive of the war with landings on Guadalcanal and Tulagi in the Solomon Islands.
1947
Thor Heyerdahl’s balsa wood raft the Kon-Tiki, smashes into the reef at Raroia in the Tuamotu Islands after a 101-day, 7,000 kilometres (4,300 mi) journey across the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to prove that pre-historic peoples could have traveled from South America.
1964
The U.S. Congress passes the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution giving U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson broad war powers to deal with North Vietnamese attacks on American forces.
1974
Philippe Petit performs a high wire act between the twin towers of the World Trade Center 1,368 feet (417 m) in the air.
1978
U.S. President Jimmy Carter declares a federal emergency at Love Canal due to toxic waste that had been negligently disposed of.
1981
The Washington Star ceases all operations after 128 years of publication.
1998
The United States embassy bombings in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya kill approximately 212 people
2007
Barry Bonds hits 756th* home run to “break” Hank Aaron’s home run record.
2010
Elena Kagan was sworn in as the 112th justice and fourth woman to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Birthday
Canadian hockey hero Sidney Crosby
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