On this day
Revisit the news, notable people, and historical moments connected to this date.
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US rept on Jap merchant ships sunk, Pacific and Far East, Jan '42-June '44; US rept on ships sunk by US submarines, Pacific and Par East, since Pearl Harbor
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US: exceed 5th war loan drive quota
welcome to approximate that reserved for State heads; Brit-French accords noted; Sec Eden comments, Commons; de Gaulle leaves for US
1944Gunhild Hoffmeister, German runner[†]
Gunhild Hoffmeister is a retired German middle-distance runner. She competed for East Germany at the 1972 and 1976 Olympics and won two silver and one bronze medal, becoming the only German distance runner to win three Olympic medals. Together with Hans Grodotzki, she is the only German runner to win two medals at the same Olympics. Her personal best time in 1,500 metres was 4:01.4, achieved in July 1976 in Potsdam. This places her ninth on the German all-time list.
1944Jackie Robinson refuses to move to the back of a bus, leading to his court-martial.[†]
Jack Roosevelt Robinson was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the color line when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. The Dodgers signing Robinson heralded the end of racial segregation in professional baseball, which had relegated black players to the Negro leagues since the 1880s.
1944The Hartford circus fire, one of America's worst fire disasters, kills approximately 168 people and injures over 700 in Hartford, Connecticut.[†]
A circus fire occurred on July 6, 1944, in Hartford, Connecticut, killing at least 167 people and leaving more than 700 injured. It was one of the worst fire disasters in United States history. The fire broke out during an afternoon performance of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus that was attended by 6,000 to 8,000 people. It was the deadliest disaster ever recorded in Connecticut.