1896 – Born in Białystok, Dziga Vertov. Vertov was a film director, documentary filmmaker, newsreel director, and a theorist of Russian cinema. His filming practices and theories influenced the cinéma vérité style of documentary filmmaking, which was active from 1968 to 1972. In the 2012 Sight & Sound poll, critics voted *Man with a Movie Camera* as the 8th greatest film ever made. His brothers, Boris Kaufman and Mikhail Kaufman, were also filmmakers, as was his wife, Yelizaveta Svilova.
1942– The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) convicts 33 members of a Nazi spy ring led by Fritz Joubert Duquesne in the largest espionage case in United States history. Of the accused, 19 pled guilty. The other 14 were brought to trial before a jury in the Federal District Court in Brooklyn, New York, on September 3, 1941. All were found guilty on December 13, 1941. On January 2, 1942, the group was sentenced to serve a combined prison sentence of over 300 years.
1953 – Dies in Sussex at the age of 71, Guccio Gucci. Gucci was an Italo-British businessman and fashion designer. He is best known as the founder of the fashion house Gucci. Gucci and his wife, Aida Calvelli, had six children. His sons (Vasco, Aldo, Ugo, and Rodolfo) had prominent roles in his company. In his later years, he lived near Rusper, in West Sussex, England.
1959 – Launched by the Soviet Union, the first spacecraft Luna 1. This spacecraft was the first to reach the vicinity of the Moon and to orbit the Sun. Also, Luna 1 was the first spacecraft to be placed in a heliocentric orbit. Due to a mistimed burn of its upper stage during launch, it missed its target, ultimately leaving geocentric orbit. It spent a full 62 hours in spaceflight.
1967 – Ronald Reagan, film actor and future President of the United States of America, is sworn in as Governor of California. California Republicans were impressed by Reagan’s political views and charisma after his “Time to Choose” speech, and in late 1965 he announced his campaign for Governor in the 1966 elections. Ronald Reagan would be remembered as one of the most successful Governors in the history of that state. This position catapulted him to become the future President of the USA.
1978 – On the orders of Pakistan’s President, Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, paramilitary forces opened fire on peaceful protesting workers in Multan, Pakistan. While official and press reports emphasized that about 13 to 22 people were killed, unofficial estimates place the total number of dead at up to 200. Similarly, the Workers’ Action Committee estimated 133 killed and more than 400 injured by government forces’ firing.
1981 – One of the largest manhunts in British police history ends when serial killer Peter Sutcliffe, otherwise known as the “Yorkshire Ripper,” is arrested in Sheffield, England. On May 22, 1981, Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering thirteen women and attempting to murder seven others. He is serving 20 life sentences in a maximum-security prison. All but two of his murders occurred in West Yorkshire, while the others took place in Manchester.
