-- "Crocodile Hunter" Steve Irwin dies after being stabbed in the chest by a stingray off the coast of Australia.

-- Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" is published.

-- 8 Palestinian terrorists break into the Olympic Village at the Munich Olympics, killing two Israeli athletes and taking 9 others hostage. Eventually, the terrorists kill the rest of the Israelis during a botched rescue attempt.

-- Buddy Holly is born in Lubbock, Texas

-- A devastating hurricane destroys Galveston, Texas, killing an estimated 6,000 to 8,000 people.

-- President Gerald Ford pardons former President Richard M. Nixon.