By Michelle Dumas
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Pete Sampras (born August 12, 1971) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. His professional career began in 1988 and ended at the 2002 US Open, which he won, defeating his longtime rival Andre Agassi in the final. Sampras won 14 major singles titles during his career, which was an all-time record at the time of his retirement: a then-record seven Wimbledon titles, two Australian Opens and a joint Open Era record five US Open titles. He won 64 ATP Tour-level singles titles in total. He first reached the world No. 1 ranking in 1993, and held that position for a total of 286 weeks (third all time), including an Open Era record of six consecutive year-end No. 1 rankings from 1993 to 1998. His precise and powerful serve earned him the nickname “Pistol Pete”. In 2007, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
The Sunshine State. (Name the U.S. state!)
Florida
Died
- William Blake (poet) –
- The Viscount Willingdon (Canadian Governor General 1926-1931) –
- Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. (oldest child of Rose and Joseph P. Kennedy; brother of President John F. Kennedy) –
- Ian Fleming (writer, creator of Agent 007 James Bond) –
- Henry Fonda (actor) –
- Loretta Young (actress) –
- Enos “Country” Slaughter (baseball player) –
- Ed Headrick (designed the frisbee) –
- Merv Griffin (entertainer) –
- Lauren Bacall (actress) –
Born
- Christy Mathewson (baseball hall-of-famer) –
- Cecil B. DeMille (director) –
- Cantinflas (aka Mario Moreno Reyes [actor]) –
- George Hamilton (actor) –
- Ann M. Martin (author) –
- Bruce Greenwood (actor) –
- Peter Krause (actor) –
- Michael Ian Black (comedian & actor) –
- Pete Sampras (tennis player) –
- Matt Clement (baseball player) –
- Casey Affleck (actor) –
- Cindy Klassen (Olympic speed skater; only Canadian Olympian to win five medals in a single Olympic games) –
Events
- Philip, chief of the Wampanog tribe, was killed by a renegade Indian of his own tribe, bringing to an end the first and bloodiest war between American Indians and white settlers of New England, a war that had raged for nearly two years and was known as King Philip’s War–
- Isaac Singer received a patent for the continuous-stitch sewing machine–
- Thomas Edison received a patent for his phonograph–
- Marjorie Gestring, at age 13, won an Olympic gold medal for springboard diving–
- Actor William Shatner married Gloria Rand–
- The first successful communications satellite, Echo I, was launched–
- Space shuttle Enterprise completed its first free-flight test–
- The IBM PC was introduced–
- Patent issued for therapeutic horseshoe–
- Cathy Gerring won the Stratton Mountain LPGA Golf Classic, in Vermont–
- Fossil hunter Susan Hendrickson found Tyrannosaurus rex bones near Faith, South Dakota–
- 232-day baseball strike began, causing World Series to be canceled–
Weather
- A Rhode Island hurricane prevented a major British-French sea battle–
- 1.8 inches of rain fell in San Diego, California–
- Record temperature of 120 degrees F, Seymour, Texas–
COURTESY www.almanac.com
