Today In History – August 31 – Diana, Princess of Wales, Dies In Car Crash In Paris

1142 Possible date for establishment of the Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) League – with the aid of Hiawatha and Deganawidah

1888 The body of Jack the Ripper’s first victim, Mary Ann Nichols, is found in Whitechapel in London’s East End

1917 In China, Sun Yat-sen and his supporters’ ‘rump’ parliament establishes a military government and elects Sun Yat-sen as commander-in-Chief

1945 The Liberal Party of Australia is founded by Robert Menzies

1957 Federation of Malaya gains independence from Great Britain

1994 The Provisional Irish Republican Army (Sinn Féin) declares a ceasefire in Northern Ireland

1997 Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in a car crash in a road tunnel in Paris

Aug 31 in Film & TV
1897 Thomas Edison patents the Kinetoscope [kinetographic camera], a device which produces moving pictures

1993 50th Venice Film Festival: “Short Cuts” directed by Robert Altman and “Three Colors: Blue” directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski jointly awarded Golden Lion

Aug 31 in Music
1999 “Fly” 5th studio album by Dixie Chicks is released (Grammy Award Best Country Album 2000, Billboard Album of the Year 2000)

Aug 31 in Sport
1947 NY Giants set season record for HRs by a club 183 (en route to 221)

Do you know this fact about today? Did You Know?
A J Reach Co patents cork-centered baseball

Would you believe this fact about today? Would You Believe?
Pentium computer beats world chess champ Garry Kasparov