| On this date in: |
| 1915 |
A mob in Cobb County, Ga., lynched Jewish businessman Leo Frank, who had been sentenced on flimsy evidence for the murder of 13-year-old Mary Phagan. |
| 1943 |
The Allied conquest of Sicily was completed as U.S. and British forces entered Messina. |
| 1945 |
Indonesian nationalists declared independence from the Netherlands. |
| 1962 |
East German border guards shot and mortally wounded 18-year-old Peter Fechter, who had attempted to cross over the Berlin Wall into the western sector. |
| 1969 |
Hurricane Camille slammed into the Gulf Coast, killing 248 people. |
| 1987 |
Rudolf Hess, the last member of Adolf Hitler’s inner circle, died at Spandau prison in West Berlin at age 93, apparently a suicide. He had been the only inmate at Spandau for 21 years. |
| 1992 |
Actor-director Woody Allen admitted being romantically involved with Soon-Yi Previn, the adopted daughter of his longtime companion, actress Mia Farrow. |
| 1998 |
President Bill Clinton underwent grand jury questioning in the Monica Lewinsky scandal. |
| 1998 |
Russia devalued the ruble. |
| 2002 |
Pope John Paul II arrived in Krakow, Poland, for the ninth and final visit to his native country during his papacy. |
| 2005 |
Israeli security forces began the forcible removal of Jews from four settlements in the Gaza Strip. |
| 2008 |
American swimmer Michael Phelps and three teammates won the 400-meter medley relay for Phelps’ record-breaking eighth gold medal at the Beijing Olympics. |
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| AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill |
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| 2010 |
A mistrial was declared on 23 corruption charges against ousted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. (He was convicted of 17 counts of corruption in a retrial.) |
