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The Berlin Wall was built to divide East and West Germany in 1961, while the wall fell in 1989. Nat Turner led a slave rebellion in Virginia after a solar eclipse in 1831. Michael Phelps won his 11th Olympic gold medal in 2008, and BMW was founded in 1918. Alfred Hitchcock was born in 1899.
Construction began on the Berlin Wall, dividing East and West Germany. (1961) Berlin, Germany was divided to isolate the Soviet-controlled east side of the city and stop the mass exodus of citizens. After WWII, some 3 million people fled East Germany and made their way to West Germany where there were better opportunities. By this point in 1961, more than 1,000 people were leaving East Germany every day. The wall fell on November 9, 1989.
Jamie Gavin became the world’s youngest heart and lung transplant recipient. (1985) Three-year-old boy from Dublin suffered from congenital heart disease. He was given the heart and lungs of a three-year-old girl who had died after falling from a third-story window. Jamie survived until July 1992.
A solar eclipse inspired a killing spree in which 70 slaves killed 56 whites. (1831) Nat Turner, a slave in Virginia, saw the eclipse as a sign from God. He led a slave rebellion eight days later that resulted in the deaths of 56 whites. He was later executed for his crimes, along with 56 other slaves who took part in the rebellion.
The Memphis yellow fever epidemic took its first victim. (1878) Restaurateur Kate Bionda of Memphis was the first victim; she contracted the disease from a man who escaped quarantine. 25,000 people fled the city within the first week after her death. Of the remaining residents, about 200 died a day, including half of the city’s doctors. The outbreak finally ended with a freeze in October after killing more than 20,000 people.
Michael Phelps became the most successful Olympic athlete in history. (2008) Phelps won his 11th career Olympic gold medal in the men’s 11 m butterfly, setting a record for the most gold medals won by an individual.
Women were first allowed to enlist in the United States Marine Corps. (1918) Opha Mae Johnson was the first of 305 women to enlist in the United States Marine Corps on this day.
Hurricane Charley hit Punta Gorda in Florida with winds of 150 kilometers per hour. (240) Charley, a 2004 category hurricane, was the strongest to make landfall in the United States since Hurricane Andrew in 4. The storm killed 1992 people and caused US$10 billion in damage, the second storm most expensive in US history at the time.
Apollo 11 astronauts were awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. (1969) After being released from three weeks of quarantine, the astronauts headed to a dinner party in Los Angeles where US President Richard Nixon presented awards.
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW) is founded. (1918) The company, which began building BMW aircraft engines, is today best known for luxury vehicles and motorcycles.
British director Alfred Hitchcock is born. (1899) Hitchcock is perhaps best known for his suspense films Rear Window, Vertigo, North Northwest, and Psycho.
