1. 1989: Pete Rose got banned from baseball
Photo: thezilla
It was on this date in 1989 that Pete Rose got banned from baseball for life due to gambling on the game of baseball that he had become such a major part of. At the time, Rose was the manager for the Cincinnati Reds, but he also was one of the most decorated players in history. He still holds the record as the all-time hit leader. But because of some poor choices he’s not only banned for life, but also isn’t eligible for the Hall of Fame, which he would most definitely be in otherwise. According to baseball rules there is an automatic one year suspension for any player to bet on a baseball game, and a lifetime ban for those that bet on their own team. In the early ’70s Rose was known for his love for gambling, but he usually stuck with horses and maybe the occasional football game. However in early 1989, allegations surfaced that Rose was not only betting on baseball, but he was betting on the Reds. He denied it for years even though he signed a “no contest” deal with baseball commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti that essentially admitted guilt. Finally in 2004 Rose wrote a tell all book, My Prison Without Bars, where he would finally confess to gambling on his beloved Reds.
2. 1981: Mark David Chapman sentenced for the murder of John Lennon
Photo taken of Chapman getting autograph from Lennon just hours before his death.
Photo: vintage
Mark David Chapman
Photo: dailymail
Mark David Chapman is the man responsible for the death of one of the most influential and popular musicians of all time, John Lennon. On December 8th, 1980 a photographer snapped a photo of Chapman getting an autograph from Lennon outside his New York apartment building known as the Dakota late that afternoon. At around 11 p.m. Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono arrived home after an evening at a recording studio where Chapman was there waiting and shot Lennon four times. Chapman apparently stayed at the scene of the crime reading the book Catcher and the Rye until police arrived to take him into custody. Lennon was pronounced dead just 15 minutes later at the Manhattan Roosevelt Hospital. It was on this date in 1981 that Chapman receives his sentence for such a heinous crime. He originally plead not-guilty by reason of insanity but later decided to drop the insanity defense and plead guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years to life. Chapman has filed for parole numerous times but each one has been denied.
3. 1814: The British burn the White House
Photo: washingtonpost
Photo: nationalgeographic
It was on this date in 1814 that British troops storm the city of Washington D.C. and set fire to the White House. This was during the War of 1812 between England and the United States. The Americans had attacked the city of York in Ontario, Canada in June of 1812 and it;s believed that is the reason the British attacked the White House. At the time James Madison was the President of the United States and just two days before he had left to the battlefields to meet up with his generals. President Madison apparently asked his wife Dolly to gather as many important documents as possible and be ready to flee at a moments notice in the event that British troops marched over the horizon. According to letters written by Dolly to her sister, the next day rather than seeing her husband return home she saw the marching redcoats. Rather than grabbing the couples personal belongings she apparently grabbed a full- length portrait of our countries founding father and first President, George Washington. In the letter Dolly went on to explain how difficult it was to get the paining because it was screwed into the wall. She had to break the frame and cut the canvas out in order to roll it up and flee the White House just as British troops arrived in Washington. It was later determined that the portrait she had risked her life for was actually a copy of the original done by Gilbert Stuart. Dolly was able to meet up with her husband at the meeting spot they had arraigned prior to him leaving and they were able to return to Washington just three days later. Although they never lived in the White House again. It wasn’t until 1817 when the next President, James Monroe, moved back into the White House after it had been reconstructed.