Historical Events 1635 - The Great Colonial Hurricane affects the Virginia Colony at Jamestown 1921 - British airship R-38 crashes into the River Humber, killing 44 people 2008 - XXIX Summer Olympic Games close at the Beijing National Stadium 2008 - Samuel Wanjiru becomes the first Kenyan to win the men's Olympic marathon in Beijing, winning in an Olympic record time; silver medalist Jaouad Gharib of Morocco is also faster than the Olympic record, yet finishes 44 seconds behind 2022 - South Korea records the world's lowest fertility rate at 0.81 (advanced economies average 1.6, population replacement needs 2.1) More Historical Events » Famous Birthdays 1561 - Bartholomeus Pitiscus, German mathematician (Trigonometry), born in Zielona Góra, Poland (d. 1613) 1879 - Rentaro Taki, Japanese pianist and composer, born in Tokyo, Japan (d. 1903) 1903 - Claude Hopkins, American jazz stride pianist, arranger, bandleader, and musical director (Josephine Baker), born in Alexandria, Virginia (d. 1984) 1934 - Roger Donald Dickerson, American pianist, composer (New Orleans Concerto), and educator, born in New Orleans, Louisiana 1945 - Ronee Blakley, American actress (Nashville), and singer-songwriter, born in Nampa, Idaho More Famous Birthdays » Famous Deaths 1647 - Nicholas Stone "Elder", English sculptor and architect, dies at about 61 1712 - Thomas Bullis, Jr. English organist and composer, dies at 54 (burial date) 1870 - Edwin Gray Lee, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 34 2002 - Ted Ashley [Theodore Assofsky], American talent agent and chairman of Warner Brothers (1969-80), dies at 80 2016 - Michel Butor, French novelist and essayist (La Modification), dies at 89 More Famous Deaths »