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Bill Clinton admitted to an affair with Monica Lewinsky, leading to impeachment charges. Leo Frank was murdered by a lynch mob. The first balloon crossing of the Atlantic Ocean was made. Gold was discovered in Alaska, causing the Klondike Gold Rush. Rudolf Hess committed suicide. Peter Fechter was killed trying to flee over the Berlin Wall. Colon Powell’s book earned him the largest advance in history. Pike Place Market opened, the oldest farmers market in the US. An earthquake in Turkey killed over 17,000 people. Hurricane Camille killed 248 people and caused $1.42 billion in damage.
US President Bill Clinton has admitted to having an affair with Monica Lewinsky. (1998) President Clinton admitted: “I did indeed have a relationship with Mrs. Lewinsky that was not appropriate. In fact, it was wrong.” The scandal led to impeachment charges, but President Clinton has not resigned. His trial began in January 1999 and he was acquitted on February 12, 1999.
Leo Frank, sentenced to life for the murder of a 13-year-old girl in Cobb County, Georgia, was murdered by a lynch mob. (1915) Frank was initially sentenced to death for killing a 13-year-old girl named Mary Phagan, but the sentence was commuted to life in prison.
The first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean in a balloon was made. (1978) Three Americans, Larry Newman, Ben Abruzzo and Max Anderson, made the balloon crossing from the US state of Maine to France in just six days.
The world’s first commercial steamboat service opened for business. (1807) The world’s first passenger steamboat, developed by Robert Fulton, sailed the Hudson River from New York City to Albany, New York.
Gold was discovered in Alaska, causing the Klondike Gold Rush. (1896) Three prospectors found gold in Bonanza Creek, Yukon. To date, more than 12 million ounces (nearly 350,000 kilograms) of gold has been mined from that area.
The last of Hitler’s henchmen committed suicide. (1987) Rudolf Hess was a deputy of Hitler’s Nazi party. He was sentenced to life in prison after being sentenced at the Nuremberg trials. He was the only prisoner in Spandau prison in Berlin for 21 years after all others had been released. On this day, Hess strangled himself with a rope. He was 93 years old.
One of the first people was killed while attempting to climb over the Berlin Wall. (1962) Peter Fechter, age 18, was killed by East German border guards trying to flee to the West. Between 1961 and 1989, more than 5,000 people tried to flee; 100 to 200 were killed.
Colon Powell achieved the biggest advance in book history from Random House. (1993) Powell’s book My American Journey earned him an advance of $6 million US dollars – the largest advance in history at the time. His book also became the best-selling book in Random House publishing history.
The longest running farmer’s market in the United States has opened. (1907) Pike Place Market opens in Seattle, Washington. It is the oldest farmers market in the United States to be in continuous operation. Today, more than 10 million people shop there every year.
An earthquake hit Turkey, killing more than 17,000 people. (1999) The earthquake struck while people were at home in bed: many died crushed by their falling houses. All told, the earthquake caused over $6.5 billion in damages.
Hurricane Camille hit the Golf Coast, killing 248 people. (1969) Camille was a Category 5 hurricane when it made landfall in the United States. It is the second strongest hurricane to hit land in US history, after the Labor Day hurricane of 1935. It caused $1.42 billion United States Dollars (USD) in damage, the equivalent of $8.43 billion in 2010.
