July 8, 1994

1994Christian-Jaque, French director and screenwriter (born 1904)^[†]

Christian-Jaque was a French filmmaker. From 1954 to 1959, he was married to actress Martine Carol, who starred in several of his films, including Lucrèce Borgia (1953), Madame du Barry (1954), and Nana (1955). In 1961 he married Laurence Christol

1994Kim Il Sung, North Korean commander and politician, President of North Korea (born 1912)^[†]

Kim Il Sung was a North Korean politician and the founder of North Korea, which he led as its first supreme leader from its establishment in 1948 until his death in 1994. Afterwards, he was succeeded by his son Kim Jong Il and was declared Eternal President.

1994Lars-Eric Lindblad, Swedish-American businessman and explorer (born 1927)^[†]

Lars-Eric Lindblad was a Swedish-American entrepreneur and explorer, who pioneered tourism to many remote and exotic parts of the world. He led the first tourist expedition to Antarctica in 1966 in a chartered Argentine navy ship, and for many years operated his own vessel, the MS Lindblad Explorer, in the region. Observers point to the Lindblad Explorer’s 1969 expeditionary cruise to Antarctica as the frontrunner to today's sea-based tourism there.

1994Dick Sargent, American actor (born 1930)^[†]

Richard Stanford Cox, known professionally as Dick Sargent, was an American actor. He is best known for being the second actor to portray Darrin Stephens on ABC's fantasy sitcom Bewitched. He took the name Dick Sargent from a Saturday Evening Post illustrator/artist of the same name.

1994Kim Jong Il begins to assume supreme leadership of North Korea upon the death of his father, Kim Il Sung.^[†]

Kim Jong Il was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from the death of his father Kim Il Sung in 1994 until his death in 2011, when he was succeeded by his son, Kim Jong Un. Afterwards, Kim Jong Il was declared Eternal General Secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea (WPK).

1994Space Shuttle Columbia is launched on an international science mission.^[†]

Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. Named after the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe, and the female personification of the United States, Columbia was the first of five Space Shuttle orbiters to fly in space, debuting the Space Shuttle launch vehicle on its maiden flight on April 12, 1981 and becoming the first spacecraft to be re-used after its first flight when it launched on STS-2 on November 12, 1981. As only the second full-scale orbiter to be manufactured after the Approach and Landing Test vehicle Enterprise, Columbia retained unique external and internal features compared to later orbiters, such as test instrumentation and distinctive black chines. In addition to a heavier aft fuselage and the retention of an internal airlock throughout its lifetime, these made Columbia the heaviest of the five spacefaring orbiters: around 1,000 kilograms heavier than Challenger and 3,600 kilograms heavier than Endeavour when originally constructed. Columbia also carried ejection seats based on those from the SR-71 during its first six flights until 1983, and from 1986 onwards carried an imaging pod on its vertical stabilizer.