2020
LA Lakers basketball legend Kobe Bryant dies in a helicopter crash in foggy conditions in the hills above Calabasas, southern California; considered one of the greatest players in the game’s history.
1998
U.S. President Bill Clinton denied having an affair with a former White House intern, saying “I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky.”
1988
“Phantom of the Opera” opens at Majestic Theater NYC for 4,000+ performances.
1985
Edmonton Oiler Wayne Gretzky scores 50th goal in 49th game of season.
1979
“The Dukes of Hazzard” premieres on US TV network CBS.
1970
“Bridge over Troubled Water” 5th and final studio album by Simon & Garfunkel is released (Grammy Award Album of the Year, Best Engineered Non-Classical Album 1971).
1961
“Are You Lonesome Tonight?” by Elvis Presley hits #1
1956
VII Winter Olympic Games open in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy
1939
Filming begins on film “Gone With the Wind”.
1920
Former Ford Motor Company executive Henry Leland launches the Lincoln Motor Company which he later sold to his former employer.
1905
The Cullinan diamond, at 3,106.75 carats, was found by Captain Wells at the Premier Mine, near Pretoria, South Africa.