The first FIFA World Cup opens in Uruguay (1930), and Somalia launches open war against Ethiopia (1977). Born on this day: Harrison Ford, Wole Soyinka and Clement X. Died: Frida Kahlo, Nadine Gordimer and Liu Xiaobo.
30 events, 43 births and 68 deaths on this date.
The inaugural World Cup kicked off in Montevideo, with France beating Mexico 4–1 in the opening match. Only a handful of European sides made the long sea journey during the Great Depression, but the tournament launched the competition that still runs today.
Unknown author Unknown author · Public domainSomalia's government formally declared war on neighbouring Ethiopia, and the fighting that followed became known as the Ogaden War. The conflict was part of a longer struggle under Siad Barre, whose earlier attempt to invade Ethiopia had already destabilised Somalia.
A strong earthquake in Afghanistan set off a huge snow slide on Lenin Peak, sweeping away climbers on its slopes. Forty-three climbers died, making it the deadliest mountaineering accident on record.
A White House aide, Alexander Butterfield, told Senate investigators that conversations in the Oval Office were being secretly recorded. The disclosure opened a new line of inquiry into the Watergate affair, since the tapes could show what had actually been said.
Officials in Wallachia approved the Regulamentul Organic, a governing charter that set off a wave of reforms aimed at bringing local society closer to Western models. The charter reshaped how the principality was governed and pushed its everyday life towards Western European habits.
A gunman fired from a nearby roof at Donald Trump during an outdoor rally in Butler County, grazing his ear. One supporter was killed and two others were wounded before the shooter died in return fire from Secret Service snipers.
Designism · CC0
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Harrison Ford is an American actor best known for playing Han Solo in Star Wars and Indiana Jones in the film series. He also became a leading action star through roles such as Jack Ryan in the 1990s thrillers.
Kevin Paul · CC BY 4.0
Nigerian writer whose plays, novels and poetry often explore his country's history and politics. He won the 1986 Nobel Prize in Literature, the first African to receive it.
Frankie Fouganthin · CC BY-SA 4.0
Born Emilio Altieri in Rome, he became pope at nearly 80 after a conclave lasting four months. He is remembered for a ruling that suspended the Portuguese Inquisition's proceedings in 1674.
Giovanni Battista Gaulli · Public domain
Frida Kahlo was a Mexican painter whose self-portraits drew on Mexican folk art and her own experience of chronic pain. She died in 1954, and her 1940 self-portrait The Dream (The Bed) later sold for a record sum for a work by a female artist.
Guillermo Kahlo · Public domain
South African novelist whose fiction confronted racism and apartheid, winning the 1991 Nobel honour for literature. She also campaigned against the regime, joining the African National Congress while it was outlawed.
Boberger . Photo: Bengt Oberger · CC BY 3.0
Liu Xiaobo was a Chinese literary critic and human rights campaigner who won the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize while serving his eleven-year sentence for subversion. Authorities had granted him medical parole weeks earlier, after he was diagnosed with liver cancer.
Wang Liming ('Rebel Pepper') · Copyrighted free use
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