This day in history. Read about what happened today. A short and interesting account of historical events and facts about this day as well as any other day of the year. Find historical birthdays, deaths, tragedies, war events, disasters and sports events.

This year in history
In the year 1962

	January 1st	Western Samoa gained its independence from New Zealand.
	January 11th	A massive avalanche at the extinct volcano of Huascaran, in Peru, destroyed nine villages and caused the death of more than 2000 people.
	January 17th	Canadian actor, Jim Carrey, was born in Ontario, Canada. He is most known for his performances in a series of slapstick comedy films, but is also highly regarded as an accomplished actor for his performances in drama films such as The Truman Show, The Majestic and Man on the Moon.
	January 30th	King Abdullah II of Jordan was born in Amman. He is the son of the late King Hussein of Jordan.
	February 5th	American actress, Jennifer Jason Leigh, was born in Los Angeles.
	February 8th	Eight people died during a series of riots that took place in Paris, France, in response to France's intention of granting independence to Algeria.
	February 9th	Jamaica became an independent nation.
	February 17th	A severe weather front in Hamburg, West Germany caused the death of approximately 300 people.
	March 1st	An American Airlines passenger flight crashed while it was taking off from New York, resulting in the death of all 95 on board.
	March 2nd	American musician, Jon Bon Jovi, was born in New Jersey. He is the lead singer of the rock band Bon Jovi.
	March 18th	The Algerian war of independence came to an end after 8 years of conflict.
	March 19th	Bob Dylan released his first, solo album.
	March 21st	American actor, Matthew Broderick, was born in New York city. He is best known for his role in the teen blockbuster movies, Ferris Beullers Day Off and War Games.
	March 26th	American basketball player, John Stockton, was born in Spokane, Washington. He was part of the Utah Jazz team for the whole of his professional career and is considered one of the best point guard players in the history of the NBA.
	May 12th	American actor, Emilio Estevez, was born in Staten island, New York. He is the son of actor Martin Sheen and the brother of actor Charlie Sheen.
	May 22nd	A bomb exploded aboard a Continental Airlines airplane, causing it to crash and kill all 45 passengers.
	June 3rd	An Air France passenger jet, crashed shortly after taking off from Paris, 130 passengers died in the crash.
	June 8th	British musician, Nick Rhodes, was born in Moseley, West Midlands. He is best known as the keyboardist for the popular music band, Duran.Duran.
	June 11th	3 prisoners successfully escaped from the infamous prison of Alcatraz Island. Although they made it outside the prison and onboard a raft they had prepared it was widely believed that the 3 escapees drowned before reaching the shore. The event also inspired the classic film, Escape from Alcatraz.
	June 13th	American actress, Ally Sheedy, was born in New York City. She was a highly popular young actress in the 1980s, having starred in such hit movies as WarGames, The Breakfast Club, and St. Elmo's Fire.
	June 19th	American singer, Paula Abdul, was born in San Fernando, California.
	June 22nd	An Air France passenger jet crashed in Guadeloupe, West Indies resulting in the death of 113 people.
	July 1st	Rwanda gained its independence. Originally a sovereign kingdom, the country became a German colony at the end of the 19th century. After the First World War it was ceded to Belgium. After the second world war fell under the jurisdiction of the United Nations before finally gaining its independence.
	July 1st	Burundi gained its independence. Like Rwanda it was a German colony up until the end of the First World War.
	July 2nd	The first Wal-Mart store opened its doors to the public in Rogers, Arkansas. Wal-Mart is one of the largest corporations of the world. As of 2006 it employees approximately 2 million people.
	July 3rd	Algeria gains its independence after the Algerian war of independence against the French comes to an end.
	July 3rd	American actor, Tom Cruise, was born in Syracuse, New York. His birth name is Thomas Cruise Mapother IV .
	July 5th	Algeria gained its independence from the rule of France.
	July 10th	Telstar, the world's first communications satellite, was launched into orbit.
	July 19th	American actor, Anthony Edwards, was born in Santa Barbara, California. He is most known for his parts in the Top Gun film, as well as the highly successful television series, ER and Northern Exposure.
	July 31st	American actor, Wesley Snipes, was born in Orlando, Florida.
	August 5th	Actress, Marilyn Monroe was found dead in her Los Angeles home.
	August 6th	Jamaica became an independent country. It was previously a colony of the United Kingdom.
	August 17th	East German border guards killed an 18 year old man while he was attempting to cross over the Berlin Wall into West Berlin. He was the first victim of the wall.
	August 22nd	An assassination attempt took place against French president Charles de Gaulle.
	August 23th	The first live television connection between the United States and Europe took place, via the Telstar satellite.
	August 31st	The Caribbean island nations of Trinidad and Tobago became independent form the rule of England.
	September 1st	Dutch football player, Ruud Gullit, was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands. He was one of the great football stars on the 80's and 90's. He was acquired by AC Milan in 1987 for the then record fee of 6 million UK pounds.
	September 11th	Music band, The Beatles, recorded their first single, titled, Love Me Do.
	September 23th	The Jetsons cartoon aired for the first time. The series was only produced for 2 years, but the continued popularity of its episodes led to an eventual new run of episodes between 1984 and 1987.
	September 25th	The People's Democratic Republic of Algeria is formally proclaimed after the Algerian revolutionary war against France.
	September 30th	James Meredith entered the University of Mississippi, under the protection of US Marshals, defying segregation. He became a historic figure in the Civil rights movement of the United States.
	October 1st	Television performer, Johnny Carson, began his amazing 30-year run as the host of the popular television show, The Tonight Show.
	October 3rd	American musician, Tommy Lee, was born in Athens, Greece. He was the drummer of the popular music band Motley Crue. He gained worldwide recognition when he married actress Pamela Anderson in 1995. In 1997 a private video featuring Lee and his wife was stolen and circulated over the internet in the first known such case on the internet.
	October 6th	American film director, Tod Browning, died at the age of 82. He is best remembered for directing the cult classic horror movie, Dracula, with legendary horror actor Bela Lugosi.
	October 9th	Uganda became a republic. The republic stood only 4 years before it was overthrown by then Prime Minister Milton Obote. To the day there has never been a restoration of the republic in Uganda, which has gone form one dictator to another, with the most notable being the infamous Idi Amin, whose regime was responsible for the death of more than 300,000 civilians.
	October 11th	American actress, Joan Cusack, was born in New York City. She is the sister of famed actor John Cusack with whom she has co-stared in eight movies.
	October 13th	The play, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ?, premiered on Broadway.
	November 6th	The United Nations passed a resolution condemning South Africa's racist apartheid policies and urged all member countries to sever relations with that nation.
	December 14th	Leonardo Davinci's painting, the Mona Lisa, was insured for 100 million USD, the highest painting valuation in history.

Click here to return to the Home page.

  Also Visit :
  Mixer
  Greek Recipes
  Greek Wine
  BiG
  Ecofind
  Start
  Free
  Hello
  Starbuzz
  Art.gr
  Evresi

All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.