This was the day that police found the bodies of 39 members of a religious cult based in San Diego County.
All in Death
The Deadly Beat
Jean-Baptiste Lully, the Italian composer whose fast-tempoed music livened up the court of France's Louis XIV, died on this day after a 3-month battle with an infection that started with a smashed toe.
Bad Day at Boroughbridge
This was the day that Humphrey de Bohun, the 4th Earl of Hereford met his particularly gruesome fate.
Amy Spain
The last "legally" executed slave in America was a seventeen-year-old girl named Amy Spain.
U.S.S Princeton
An exploding cannon killed 8 people, including members of President John Tyler's cabinet.
Attack of the Crocodiles
It was on this day in what is now Burma, that hundreds of Japanese soldiers were attacked and eaten by crocodiles.
The Pope and the Sneeze
On this day Pope Gregory the Great decreed that the proper way to respond to someone sneezing was to say, "God bless you."
The Parachute Cape
It was on this day that an Austrian tailor/inventor fell to his death from the Eiffel Tower.
The Four Chaplains
On this day four men of different faiths gave their lives so that others might live.
Mountain of the Dead
It was on this night that 9 Russian hikers lost their lives in a bizarre incident that remains one of the world's greatest unsolved mysteries.
La Goulue
Her legendary mastery of the Cancan combined with her wild and unrestrained antics made her the toast of Paris!
The Execution of William Burke
It was on this day that the infamous serial killer and body snatcher, William Burke, was executed in a public hanging.
Siege of Leningrad
It remains history's deadliest blockade of a major city, with over a million civilians killed.
Death by Home Improvement
This bluesman had one of the most covered songs of all time.
Greyfriars Bobby
The devoted dog refused to leave his master's side and set up permanent residence at his grave.
Sub vs Mountain
At about 2 in the morning the bow of the sub plowed into a wall of rock and mud.
Nancy Cruzan
The Cruzan Family's fight for their daughter's right to die helped raise awareness about the need for advanced health directives and living wills.
Death of a Bigot
George Lincoln Rockwell was the founder of the American Nazi Party. He believed that all blacks should be shipped back to Africa and that all the Jews should be sterilized.
Hero Boiled Alive
Others warned him not to dive in, but he told them, "Like hell I won't!"
Outbreak
In 1976, Air Force veteran Ray Brennan became the first of 34 people to die from a mysterious illness at a Legionnaire's convention in Philadelphia.