Today in History

From wikipedia.org:

Events
732 - Battle of Tours: Near Poitiers, France, leader of the Franks Charles Martel and his men, defeat a large army of Moors, stopping the Muslims from spreading into Western Europe. The governor of Cordoba, Abd-ar-Rahman, is killed during the battle
1780 - The Great Hurricane of 1780 kills 20,000-30,000 in Caribbean
1845 - In Annapolis, Maryland, the Naval School (later renamed the United States Naval Academy) opens with 50 midshipmen students and seven professors
1913 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson triggered the explosion of the Gamboa Dike thus ending construction on the Panama Canal
1957 - U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologizes to the finance minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, after he was refused service in a Dover, Delaware restaurant.
1964 - The 1964 Summer Olympics open in Tokyo, Japan
1966 - Simon and Garfunkel release the album Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
1971 - Sold, dismantled and moved to the United States, the London Bridge reopens in Lake Havasu City, Arizona

Births
1813 - Giuseppe Verdi, Italian composer
1834 - Aleksis Kivi, a Finnish author who wrote the first significant novel in the Finnish language, Seven Brothers
1917 - Thelonious Monk, jazz pianist (d. 1982)
1924 - James Clavell, author (d. 1994)
1946 - Ben Vereen, actor, dancer
1969 - Brett Favre, American football player

Deaths
1979 - Christopher Evans, British psychologist and computer scientist
1985 - Yul Brynner, actor
1985 - Orson Welles, American director, actor
2003 - Eugene Istomin, pianist