On this day, June 9, in 1980, comedian Richard Pryor set himself on fire while free-basing cocaine and drinking 151-proof rum. Pryor ran down his street in Northridge, Calif., until subdued by police. His daughter said her father was in a drug-induced psychosis and poured rum over his body and set himself on fire.

Pryor, 39, was given a 1-in-3 chance to live, but he survived and continued to do stand-up.