What Happened on August 31

Historical Events

1919 – John Reed forms American Communist Labor Party in Chicago
1950 – Dodger Gil Hodges hits 4 HRs and a single in a game vs Braves
1980 – 80th US Golf Amateur Championship won by Hal Sutton
1990 – Baseball outfielders Ken Griffey and Ken Griffey Jr. become the 1st father and son to play on same team (Seattle Mariners), the pair hit back-to-back singles in the first inning and both scored
2012 – “Argo” directed by Ben Affleck and starring Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston and John Goodman premieres at the Telluride Film Festival (Best Picture 2013)
2020 – Singer Akon lays first stone for Akon city, futuristic solar-powered city to be built in Senegal, saying will be real-life version of Wakanda in “Black Panther”

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Famous Birthdays

1822 – Fitz John Porter, American Major General (Union Army), born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire (d. 1901)
1855 – Stefan Surzynski, Polish conductor and composer, born in Srem, Poland (d. 1919)
1908 – William Saroyan, American novelist and playwright (Time of Your Life), born in Fresno, California (d. 1981)
1963 – Richard “Reb” Beach, American heavy metal guitarist (Winger; Whitesnake), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
1978 – Philippe Christanval, French footballer
1984 – Rajkummar Rao, Indian film actor (Shahid), born in Gurgaon, India

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Famous Deaths

1057 – Leofric, count of Mercia, husband of Lady Godiva, dies
1631 – Nicolaus Erich, German composer, dies at 43
1638 – John Ward, British madrigal and religious music composer, dies at 67
1974 – William Pershing Benedict, American World War II fighter pilot in both the RCAF and U.S. Army Air Forces, killed in a plane crash while firefighting in California at 56
1996 – Harald Penrose, British test pilot, dies at 92
2020 – Tom Seaver, American Baseball HOF pitcher (NL Cy Young Award 1969, 73, 75; 12 x MLB All Star; NY Mets, Cincinnati Reds, Chicago WS), dies of Lewy body dementia and COVID-19 at 75

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