Serial killer Ted Bundy was found guilty of first-degree murder of two female college students. (1979) Bundy insisted on acting as his own attorney at trial. He was convicted of killing Margaret Bowman and Lisa Levy and sentenced to death. Ultimately, Bundy confessed to more than 30 murders, but the total number of people he killed was never discovered. He was executed by electric chair on January 24, 1989.
Lance Armstrong won his 7th consecutive Tour de France race. (2005) Armstrong achieved this record-setting 7th win after surviving testicular cancer. He retired from bicycle racing after winning this race.
A gunman opened fire at the US Capitol and killed two police officers. (1998) In the "United States Capitol shooting incident of 1998," Russell Eugene Weston Jr. entered the Capitol and opened fire. Officer Jacob Chestnut and Detective John Gibson were the only two killed in the shootout. Weston was declared incompetent to stand trial and was admitted to a mental hospital for paranoid schizophrenia. He has yet to stand trial.
A member of the US House of Representatives was expelled, with a vote of 420 to 1. (2002) James Traficant, the democratic representative for Ohio at the time, was convicted on 10 felony counts, including racketeering, accepting bribes and filing false tax returns. He also forced his aides to do chores on his farm and his houseboat, all of which led to his expulsion on this day. He was sentenced to seven years in prison and was released on September 2, 2009. On May 3, 2010, he filed papers to run for Congress as an independent in the 2010 election.
A passenger ship named the S.S. Eastland capsized, drowning 845 passengers. (1915) The disaster is the worst shipwreck, in terms of lives lost, in the history of the Great Lakes. The ship capsized in the Chicago River while tied to a dock. The ship had reached its passenger capacity and began to tilt to one side; its balance was lost when passengers rushed to one side of the ship to watch a passing canoe race. The ship had structural problems that were known, but never were corrected.
The Ford Motor Company filed its worst quarterly economic statement in its history, reporting a loss of $8.67 billion US Dollars. (2008) At the end of 2008, the company reported a $14.6 billion US Dollar loss — its worst financial performance in history. The company rebounded in 2009 with reported net profits of $2.7 billion US Dollars.
The first BASE jump occurred at El Capitan. (1966) Michael Pelkey and Brian Schubert, considered the founders of the BASE jumping extreme sport, survived the jump with broken bones. El Capitan is the second tallest unbroken cliff in the world at 3,000 feet (910 meters). BASE jumping is now banned at the cliff.
Machu Picchu was rediscovered. (1911) "The Lost City of the Incas" is credited as being found by Hiram Bingham III, who was not a trained archeologist. Bingham, a professor at Yale University, found the lost city on a mountain ridge in Peru with the help of local farmers.
Mary, Queen of Scots, is forced to relinquish the throne to her 1-year-old son, James VI. (1567) Mary was captured and imprisoned by Scottish nobility after marrying James Hepburn, the 4th Earl of Bothwell, who was the likely murderer of Mary's former husband and first cousin, Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley. Her son was the King of Scots from 1567 to 1625. He also served as the King of England and Ireland from 1603 to 1625.
American baseball player Barry Bonds was born. (1964) Bonds, one of the greatest players in Major League Baseball history, retired from the game in 2007. He continues to hold several records, including most career home runs at 762 and most home runs in one season at 73.
Has anyone seen a movie called Silence of the Lambs? To make a long story short, it involves a detective worker who is attempting to hunt down a serial killer named Buffalo Bill. The interesting thing about this character is that he was inspired by Ted Bundy, who also murdered females. It's amazing what inspiration you can get from real life situations.
Euroxati
Anyone who is a fan of baseball is also familiar with Barry Bonds. Even if you don't especially enjoy the sport, Barry Bonds is a perfect example of how the sport should be done. Between the numerous home runs and his endless baseball history, the man is a baseball legend.
Chmander
The fifth bullet point is very interesting in the sense that before many disasters and shipwrecks, people weren't prepared for this stuff, so there was much less chance for survival. For example, notice how it's mentioned that 845 passengers drowned. If something similar were to happen in this day and age, there would be lifeboats available at the blink of an eye. Sometimes, it takes the loss of many lives before we begin to fix the mistakes we've made.
Follow wiseGEEK
Discussion Comments
Has anyone seen a movie called Silence of the Lambs? To make a long story short, it involves a detective worker who is attempting to hunt down a serial killer named Buffalo Bill. The interesting thing about this character is that he was inspired by Ted Bundy, who also murdered females. It's amazing what inspiration you can get from real life situations.
Anyone who is a fan of baseball is also familiar with Barry Bonds. Even if you don't especially enjoy the sport, Barry Bonds is a perfect example of how the sport should be done. Between the numerous home runs and his endless baseball history, the man is a baseball legend.
The fifth bullet point is very interesting in the sense that before many disasters and shipwrecks, people weren't prepared for this stuff, so there was much less chance for survival. For example, notice how it's mentioned that 845 passengers drowned. If something similar were to happen in this day and age, there would be lifeboats available at the blink of an eye. Sometimes, it takes the loss of many lives before we begin to fix the mistakes we've made.
Post your comments