On this day: August 2
POSTED: 01:10 PM PDT Aug 01, 2012
UPDATED: 11:00 PM PDT Aug 01, 2012
America formally declares its independence, the U.S. Census is born, a president dies, JFK becomes a hero and a young Robert Zimmerman changes his name, all on this day.
Yankee Stadium plaque
1979: New York Yankees catcher Thurman Munson dies at age 32 after crashing his Cessna Citation airplane while practicing landing at Akron-Canton Airport in Ohio. Munson, who played his entire 11-year career with New York, was the only Yankee ever to win both the Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards. He helped the team to three consecutive World Series, winning two of them in 1977 and 1978.
