The Weekly Almanac with Tiki Jane August 9, 2026

American musician Jerry Garcia, who personified the hippie counterculture for three decades as the mellow leader of the rock band the Grateful Dead, died of a heart attack at age 53. On this day 1995. On this day in 1988, Canadian hockey player Wayne Gretzky was traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings, a deal that shocked the sports world and stunned his home country, where he was a national icon. On this day in 1969, Actress Sharon Tate and four others were murdered by followers of Charles Manson, leader of a communal religious cult known as the “Family.” In Pisa, Italy, construction began on a bell tower that became internationally famous as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, on this day in 1173. The tilt began during construction because the foundation was set on weak, unstable subsoil.