Marshall is benched, a Papa is born, and 2525 on this day

Written By SCOTT TAYLOR

1945 — Hong Kong is liberated from the Japanese by allied forces.

1945 — The Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, lands at Atsugi Airforce Base to accept Japan's surrender.

1963 — The Moscow-Washington hotline linking the leaders of Russia and the United States goes into operation.

1967 — Thurgood Marshall becomes the first African American justice of the Supreme Court of the United States.

1984 — The Space Shuttle Discovery launches on its maiden voyage. Over 27 years of service, its 39 landings were the most of any shuttle.

1991 — Dissolution of the Soviet Union. Azerbaijan declares independence from the Soviet Union.

Born on This Day

1797 — Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein.

1908 — Fred MacMurray, actor who had three sons on TV.

1918 — Ted Williams, the last baseball player to hit .400 or above in the regular season.

1930 — Warren Buffet, businessman, philanthropist, very rich guy.

1935 — John Phillips, singer, songwriter, founding member of The Mamas & the Papas.

1946 — Peggy Lipton, actress, member of the Mod Squad. Yes, in the 1960s there was a police show called The Mod Squad because the cops were all young and, well, mod.

1972 — Cameron Diaz, actress perhaps best known for There's Something About Mary and Charlie's Angels.

This Day in Music

1949 — Hank Williams records I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry.

1969 — The duo of Zager and Evans (you haven't heard the last of them) record the apocalyptic song In the Year 2525.

1972 — John Lennon and Yoko Ono play Madison Square Garden to raise money for the One To One charity. Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack and Sha Na Na (??) also appeared.

1988 — Bruce Springsteen's wife Julianne files for divorce after seeing tabloid photos of her man and backup singer Patti Scialfa getting cuddly. Bruce married Patti in June 1991 and they're still together.

1989 — Billy Joel fires his manager and onetime brother-in-law over financial misdealings. Joel sued him for $90 million.

2016 — Ringo Starr's original copy of The Beatles' White Album was declared the most expensive LP ever sold at auction. The first album to come off the press with a catalogue number of 0000001 sold for $790,000.

This Day in Film and TV

1976 — Tom Brokaw becomes anchor of NBC's The Today Show.

2003 — Charles Bronson, actor dies on this day.

2006 — Glenn Ford, Canadian actor and adoptive father of Superman dies.

2015 — Wes Craven, director of A Nightmare on Elm Street dies as well.