On This Day for September 8 - Paris attacked by Joan of Arc, King Richard I is featured, and more

This message contains graphics. If you do not see the graphics, click here to view. September 08 FEATURED BIOGRAPHY King Richard I READ MORE   FEATURED EVENT 1429 Paris attacked by Joan of Arc READ MORE   Advertisement Advertisement   MORE EVENTS ON THIS DAY 2003: German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl—who was perhaps the finest and most-influential female director of the 20th century, but her association with Adolf Hitler made her almost as much reviled as admired—died in Germany. [ Test your knowledge of movies.] 1998: Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals broke Roger Maris's 1961 record for most home runs in a regular professional baseball season by hitting his 62nd of the season (he finished the season with 70 home runs). [Take our baseball quiz.] 1974: Richard Nixon, who had resigned the U.S. presidency on August 8, 1974, was pardoned by his successor, Gerald Ford. [ Test your knowledge of modern U.S. political scandals.] 1966: The first episode of the sci-fi series Star Trek aired on American television. [Sort fact from fiction in our pop culture quiz.] 1941: German and Finnish armies began a siege of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Russia, which lasted for 872 days. [Sort fact from fiction in our World War II quiz.] 1925: British actor Peter Sellers, who portrayed an astonishing range of characters but was perhaps best known as inept Inspector Jacques Clouseau in the Pink Panther films, was born. [Test your knowledge of A-list actors.] SEE ALL EVENTS ON THIS DAY ALSO BORN ON THIS DAY 1941 Bernie Sanders United States senator 1157 Richard I king of England 1925 Peter Sellers British actor 1841 Antonín Dvořák Bohemian composer 1932 Patsy Cline American singer 1954 Ruby Bridges American civil rights activist SEE ALL BIOS ON THIS DAY   Advertisement   FOLLOW: To unsubscribe from Britannica e-mails, click here. Encyclopædia Britannica 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 Chicago, Illinois 60654 United States © 2020 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Privacy Policy • Help