Shimla, Aug 7 Keekli Bureau
2015
American golfer Louise Suggs, a pioneer of women’s golf who cofounded (1950) the Ladies Professional Golf Association and won 61 career LPGA tournaments, died at age 91.
2007
American baseball player Barry Bonds hit his 756th career home run, breaking the record set by Hank Aaron.
1978
U.S. Pres. Jimmy Carter declared a federal health emergency in Love Canal, a neighbourhood in Niagara Falls, New York, following the leakage of toxic chemicals buried under the community; it was the worst environmental disaster involving chemical wastes in U.S. history.
1974
French-born Philippe Petit walked on a high wire between the newly built twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, about 1,350 feet (411 metres) above the ground. He was arrested, but the charges were later dismissed.
1960
Côte d’Ivoire gained independence from France.
1957
Oliver Hardy—member of Laurel and Hardy, the first great Hollywood motion-picture comedy team—died in North Hollywood, California.
1948
At the Olympics in London, track-and-field athlete Fanny Blankers-Koen, who was pregnant with her third child, helped the Dutch team win the 4 × 100 relay, becoming the first woman to capture four gold medals at a single Games; she earlier had won the 100 metres, the 200 metres, and the 80-metre hurdles.
1932
Abebe Bikila, an Ethiopian runner who was the first athlete to win two Olympic marathons, was born in Mont.
1888
The first of the murders committed by Jack the Ripper took place in London’s East End.
1876
Dancer and courtesan Mata Hari, whose name became a synonym for the seductive female spy, was born in Leeuwarden, Netherlands.
1819
A group of South American insurgents under Simón Bolívar defeated Spanish forces at the Battle of Boyacá, which freed New Granada (Colombia and Venezuela) from Spanish control.
1782
George Washington ordered the creation of the first U.S. military decoration, the Badge of Military Merit (today called the Purple Heart), which was later awarded to three Revolutionary War soldiers for bravery in action.
1560
Hungarian countess Elizabeth Báthory, who purportedly tortured and murdered hundreds of young women in the 16th and 17th centuries, was born.
