Billie beats Bobby, Lennon leaves Beatles on this day

Written By SCOTT TAYLOR

1973 — Billie Jean King beats Bobby Riggs in The Battle of the Sexes tennis match at the Houston Astrodome. The recent movie about this is a lot of fun.

1973 — Singer Jim Croce and five others die when their plane crashes on takeoff in Louisiana.

1982 — National Football League players begin a 57-day strike. Replacement players were brought in and it all went down the toilet after that.

2000 — The United Kingdom's MI6 Secret Intelligence building is attacked by individuals using Russian-made anti-tank missiles.

2001 — President George W. Bush tells a joint session of congress and the American people that he has declared a War on Terror. The wisdom of that is still being debated.

2011 — The U.S. military ends its Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, effectively allowing gay men and women to serve in the military openly.

2017 — Hurricane Maria makes landfall in Puerto Rico as a powerful Category 4 hurricane. Depending on who you ask, either 16 or 3,000 people died as a result.

Born on This Day

1934 — Sophia Loren, Italian actress once considered the most beautiful woman in the world.

1951 — Guy Lafleur, Hall of Fame hockey player for the Montreal Canadiens.

1978 — Hector “Macho” Camacho, former boxing champion of the world.

1988 — Sergei Bobrovski, NHL goalie who is on this list because former Leafs goalie Jeff Reese coached him in Philadelphia. Reese is now the goalie coach in Dallas, for those wondering.

1990 — John Tavares, hockey player of some acclaim who signed with a local team over the summer.

This Day in Music

1969 — During a meeting with Ringo Starr and Paul McCartney in London, John Lennon announces he is leaving The Beatles.

1969 — Of equal importance, The Archies score a No. 1 hit with Sugar Sugar.  It would be their only big hit — until the TV show Riverdale.

1970 — Jim Morrison of The Doors is convicted of lewd and Lascivious behaviour for exposing himself during a concert the year before. The judge sentences him to six months of hard labour. The conviction is appealed, but Morrison dies before it's is heard.

1975 — The Bay City Rollers make their U.S. television debut. “S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Night!”

1975 — Fame gave David Bowie his first U.S. chart topper. It was cowritten with John Lennon and features Lennon's voice near the end of the song repeating the word “fame” from a fast track, to a regular track to a slow track.

1976 — The Captain and Tennille musical and variety show premiered on TV. News you need to know.

2005 — Canadian JD Fortune beat out a slew of other contestants on a TV talent show to become the new lead singer of INXS. We might have seen them in concert sometime later. We're not proud of it.

This Day in Film and TV

1984 — The Cosby Show premieres on NBC. Those were innocent days back then.

1985 — Walt Disney World welcomes is 200 millionth guest. They find him in line 1.3 miles from the ride he wants to go on.

1987 — LA Law, Bruce Willis and Sharon Gless are the top Emmy winners. Bonus points if you know the shows Willis and Gless were in.

2009 — Mad Men, 30 Rock, Bryan Cranston and Glenn Close all win Emmy Awards.