2013 Event The 150th Anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln's 'Gettysburg Address' considered one of the greatest political speeches, is commemorated in the U.S. on the battlefield and by the Library of Congress 2013 Event Best-selling American author Tom Clancy dies at the age of 66; the author's debut book, 'The Hunt for Red October' has been cited as one of the greatest genre novels ever written 2013 Event In England, a man is arrested for charges related to the attack on 'The Hay Wain' painting, completed by artist John Constable in 1821; the work is considered one of England's greatest and most popular paintings 2013 Event The FBI reports they have discovered who stole $580 million in masterpieces from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990, the greatest art heist in American history 2012 Event Britain has their greatest success in one day at an Olympics since 1908, winning six gold medals and a silver on Day Eight of the 2012 Summer Olympics 2012 Event A poll by the British Film Institute's 'Sight and Sound' magazine lists Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 thriller 'Vertigo' as the greatest film of all time 2012 Event 'Time' magazine includes 'Awaara' on its list of All-Time 100 Greatest Films 2007 Death Mstislav Rostropovich, cellist, conductor, commissioned new works, enlarged cello repertoire more than any cellist, considered greatest cellist of 20th century, died of intestinal cancer 2004 Event Earthquake, greatest in over 40 years, strikes the Pacific Ocean near Sumatra, triggering a massive Indian Ocean tsunami, killing as many as 266,000 in coastal regions of Asia and Africa 1996 Death Og Mandino, author, professional salesman, inspirational, best-selling author, wrote, 'The Greatest Salesman in the World', books have sold over 50 million copies in 25 different languages, president of Success Unlimited magazine 1995 Death Lovelace Watkins, born in New Jersey, nicknamed, 'The Black Sinatra', singer, considered the greatest male soul singer of his time, dies of leukemia at 57 1991 Event Greatest extra-inning comeback, Pitts scores 6 in bottom of 11th erasing 5 run Cub lead, Pirates also trailed 7-2 in bottom of 9th 1988 Event New York Islanders greatest shutout lose (8-0) vs St. Louis Blues 1988 Event Greatest number of participants, 31,678, on a bicycle tour, London 1987 Death Jaco Pastorius, John Francis Anthony 'Jaco' Pastorius III, musician, electric bass player, jazz genre, style included intricate, higher register solos, voted 'Greatest Bass Player Who Has Ever Lived' by Bass Guitar magazine, dies at 35 1986 Event New York Islanders greatest shutout margin (9-0) vs Pittsburgh Penguins 1985 Birthday Michael Phelps, born in Baltimore, Maryland, professional swimmer, winner, 14 Olympic gold medals, considered greatest Olympian of all time, broke 37 world records 1984 Event Greatest unpaced 1-hour bicycle distance, F Moser (Italy), 51.15 km 1983 Event World's greatest robbery 25,000,000 pounds of gold, Heathrow, England 1982 Event New York Islanders greatest shutout margin (9-0) vs Pittsburgh Penguins 1982 Event Greatest helicopter lift, 56,888 kg, Podmoscovnoe, U.S.S.R. 1981 Birthday Roger Federer, born in Wollerau, Switzerland, professional tennis player, ranked number one in the World in March 2010, many consider him the greatest tennis player of all time 1981 Event Greatest passenger load on a commercial airliner-610 on Boeing 747 1981 Death Mike Bloomfield, musician, guitarist, composer, number 22 on Rolling Stone's '100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time', dies of drug overdose at 36 1980 Event New York Islanders greatest shutout margin (9-0) vs Chicago Black Hawks 1980 Event John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg stage one of the greatest U.S. Open finals as 21 year old McEnroe fends off Borg to win his 2nd straight title 1979 Event New York Islanders greatest shutout lose (8-0) vs Chicago Black Hawks 1979 Event NHL's greatest scorer Wayne Gretzky scores his 1st NHL goal 1976 Event NL greatest comeback, trailing 12-1 Phillies win 18-16 in 10, Mike Schmidt hits 4 consecutive home runs 1973 Event President Nixon proclaims Jim Thorpe greatest athelete of 1st century 1971 Birthday Jari Litmanen, born in Hollola, Finland, professional soccer player, attacking midfielder, second striker, played for Lahti, considered Finland's greatest player ever 1967 Birthday Roberto Baggio, born in Caldogno, Italy, retired Italian footballer, greatest of 125 footballers in 2004 FIFA 100 list 1965 Birthday Pinnaduwage Aravinda De Silva, cricket, Sri Lanka's greatest batsman 1964 Birthday Trey Anastasio, born in Fort Worth, Texas, singer, multi-instrumentalist, member of Phish rock band, ranked 73rd on 'Rolling Stone' 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time 1962 Birthday Michelle Yeoh, born in Ipoh, Malaysia, actress, films include, 'Tomorrow Never Dies', 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon', considered greatest action heroine ever 1961 Birthday Dave Mustaine, born in La Mesa, California, guitarist, singer, songwriter, Megadeth, heavy metal band member, listed in book, '100 Greatest Metal Guitarists' 1959 Birthday Michael Pare, born in Brooklyn, New York, actor, Greatest American Hero, Houston Knights 1959 Birthday Lawrence Taylor, LT, NFL's greatest linebacker for the New York Giants 1958 Event What might be called greatest NFL game, Colts beat Giants 23-17 1956 Birthday Sebastian Coe, born in Chiswick, England, politician, Conservative party, former athlete, Olympic gold medalist 1980 and 1984, considered greatest middle distance runner ever 1955 Birthday Joey Scarbury, born in Ontario, California, singer, Greatest American Hero 1955 Birthday Chiyonofuji Mitsugu, born in Hokkaido, Japan, sumo wrestler, 58th yokozuna, greatest, highest ranked sumo in recent times, won 31 tournament championships, coming in second to Taiho, noted as lightest yokozuna since Tochinoumi in the 1960's, head coach for Kokonoe stable 1954 Birthday Reed Birney, born in Alexandria, Virginia, actor, Greatest Man in the World 1954 Birthday Greg Ginn, born in America, guitarist, singer, songwriter, leader, Black Flag, hardcore punk, Rolling Stone's, 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time 1953 Event 25th Academy Awards - "Greatest Show on Earth," Gary Cooper and Shirley Booth win (1st time televised) 1952 Birthday Imran Khan Niaz, cricketer, Pakistan's greatest all-rounder 1952 Event Greatest 24-hour rainfall begins: 187 cm at La Reunion, Indian Ocean 1951 Birthday Jaco Pastorius, born in Norristown, Pennsylvania, John Francis Anthony 'Jaco' Pastorius III, musician, electric bass player, jazz genre, style included intricate, higher register solos, voted 'Greatest Bass Player Who Has Ever Lived' by Bass Guitar magazine 1951 Birthday Kenny Dalglish, born in Dalmarnock, Glasgow, soccer player, soccer team manager, named the greatest post-war British striker by FourFourTwo magazine 1950 Birthday William Katt, born in Los Angeles, California, actor, Greatest American Hero, 1st Love 1950 Event AP picks "Miracle Braves" of 1914 as greatest sports upset 1948 Birthday Billy Zoom, born in Savanna, Illinois, musician, guitarist, founder of punk rock band X, Guitar Player named him greatest guitar player of all time in 2007, worked with Gene Vincent, rockabilly legend, as well as Etta James, Big Joe Turner 1947 Birthday Dave Barry, born in Armonk, New York, humorist, author, Pulitzer-prize winner for Commentary 1988, wrote columns for the Miami Herald, books include 'Big Trouble', 'Dave Barry Turns 40', Dave Barry's Greatest Hits', 'Dave Barry's Complete Guide to Guys', style capitalizes on absurdities 1944 Birthday Clyde Lee, born in Nashville, Tennessee, basketball player, Vanderbilt University's 'greatest player', played ten NBA seasons with the Warriors, Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers 1943 Birthday Mike Bloomfield, born in Chicago, Illinois, musician, guitarist, composer, number 22 on Rolling Stone's '100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time' 1943 Event Greatest tank battle in history ends with Russia's defeat of Germany at Kursk, almost 6,000 tanks take part, 2,900 were lost by Germany 1943 Birthday George Benson, born in Pittsburgh, singer/guitarist, Greatest Love of All 1942 Event Bing Crosby records "White Christmas," greatest selling record to date 1938 Birthday Lovelace Watkins, born in New Jersey, nicknamed, 'The Black Sinatra', singer, considered the greatest male soul singer of his time 1936 Birthday Yves Saint Laurent, born in Algeria, greatest French fashion designer of the 20th century 1933 Birthday Ian Tyson, born in British Columbia, Canada, singer, songwriter, guitarist, song 'Four Strong Winds' chosen as greatest Canadian song of all time, in Canada's Country Music Hall of Fame 1931 Birthday Billy Casper, born in San Diego, California, William Earl Billy Casper, Jr., professional golfer, golf course designer, won the PGA Tour 27 times, named 15th greatest golfer of all time by Golf Digest in 2000, considered best putter of his era 1927 Birthday Mstislav Rostropovich, born in Russia, Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, nickname "Slava", cellist, conductor, commissioned new works, enlarged cello repertoire more than any cellist, considered greatest cellist of 20th century 1926 Birthday Marques Haynes, NBA player, World's Greatest Dribbler, Globetrotters 1923 Birthday Og Mandino, born in Italy, author, professional salesman, inspirational, best-selling author, wrote, 'The Greatest Salesman in the World', books have sold over 50 million copies in 25 different languages, president of Success Unlimited magazine 1922 Birthday Al Hirt, born in New Orleans, Louisiana, jazz trumpeter, Greatest Horn in the World 1921 Birthday Betty Hutton, born in Michigan, American film actress, singer, 'Greatest Show on Earth' 1917 Birthday Vinoo Mankad, cricketer, India's greatest all-rounder to his time 1916 Birthday Don Tallon, cricketer, perhaps Australia's greatest wicket-keeper 1907 Event Ringling Brothers Greatest Show on Earth buys Barnum and Bailey circus 1903 Birthday Walter Hammond, cricketer, one of the greatest of English batsman 1901 Event In last of 9th, Detroit Tigers, trailing by 13-4, score 10 runs to win one of greatest comebacks in baseball (1st game in Detroit) 1883 Birthday Julian Eltinge, Massachusetts, vaudeville star/greatest female impersonator 1881 Event Greatest Show On Earth was formed by PT Barnum and James A Bailey 1881 Event Barnum and Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth opens (MSG) 1873 Event P. T. Barnum's circus, "Greatest Show on Earth," debuts (New York City) 1873 Event P. T. Barnum Hippodrome featuring "Greatest Show on Earth," opens (New York City) 1873 Birthday Barton King, cricketer, North America's greatest all-rounder 1873 Birthday Sydney Barnes, cricketer, probably England's greatest bowler 1859 Birthday George Giffen, cricketer, one of Australia's greatest all-rounders 1849 Birthday Hambletonian, Chester, New York, greatest standardbred horse 1848 Birthday William Gilbert Grace, Victorian England's greatest cricketer 1837 Birthday Paul Morphy, New Orleans, greatest chess player of all time, 1857-61 1837 Death Joseph Grimaldi, greatest clown (king of pantomime), dies at 57 1779 Birthday Joseph Grimaldi, England, pantomimist, "greatest clown in history" 1694 Death Matsuo Basho, greatest Japanese haiku poet, dies 1601 Death Tycho Brahe, greatest naked-eye observer, dies in Prague
