550 – Gothic War (535-552): The Ostrogoths, under King Totila, conquer Rome after a long siege, by bribing the Isaurian garrison.
1412 – The Medici family is appointed official banker of the Papacy.
1547 – Ivan IV of Russia aka Ivan the Terrible becomes Czar of Russia.
1581 – The English Parliament outlaws Roman Catholicism.
1707 – The Scottish Parliament ratifies the Act of Union, paving the way for the creation of Great Britain.
1765 – Charles Messier catalogs M41 (galactic cluster in Canis Major)
1780 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Cape St. Vincent.
1786 – Virginia enacted the Statute for Religious Freedom authored by Thomas Jefferson.
1793 – French King Louis XVI sentenced to death by the National Convention during the French Revolution
1865 – Drunken sailor attacks munitions at Ft Fisher NC, 40 die
1870 – Virginia becomes 8th state readmitted to US after Civil War
1883 – The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act, establishing the United States Civil Service, is passed.
1901 – Frank Zamboni, American inventor and businessman, invented the ice resurfacer (d. 1988) was born.
1901 – Hiram R. Revels, American politician, 1st African American Senator, dies at 73
1909 – British explorers David, Mawson & Mackay reach south magnetic pole as part of the Nimrod Expedition
1913 – British House of Commons accepts Home Rule for Ireland (but the Great War gets in the way of it happening)
1919 – Temperance movement: The United States ratifies the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, authorizing Prohibition in the United States one year after ratification.
1920 – The League of Nations holds its first council meeting in Paris, France.
1921 – Francesco Scavullo, American photographer (d. 2004) Born
1925 – Leon Trotsky dismissed as CEO of Russian Revolution Military Council
1932 – Diane Fossey, American zoologist (Gorillas in the Mist), born in San Francisco, California, Born
1933 – Susan Sontag, author/film director (Benefactor, 1966 Pol Award), born in NYC, New York Born
1935 – Fred Barker, American criminal (b. 1901) died
1935 – Ma Barker, American criminal (b. 1871) died. After she was killed during a shoot-out with the FBI, she acquired a reputation as a ruthless crime matriarch, who controlled and organized her sons’ crimes. J. Edgar Hoover described her as “the most vicious, dangerous and resourceful criminal brain of the last decade”. Because of this, Ma Barker has been presented as a monstrous mother in films, songs and literature. However, her personal acquaintances insisted she had no active role in criminal activity and “couldn’t plan breakfast”, as one gang associate said.
1935 – A. J. Foyt, American racing driver (Indy 500 – 1961, 64, 67 & 77), born in Houston, Texas, Born
REAL AMERICAN BADASS!
1936 – Albert Fish, American serial killer, executed at 65
1937 – Bob Bogle, Portland, rock bassist/guitarist (Ventures-Batman Theme, Hawaii 5 – 0, Walk don’t run, Wipe out) Born
1938 – 1st jazz concert held at Carnegie Hall (Benny Goodman)
1939 – The Irish Republican Army (IRA) begins a bombing and sabotage campaign in England.
1941 – US vice admiral (Patrick Nieson Lynch)Bellinger warns of an assault on Pearl Harbor (Attack followed 11 mo. later)
By 1940 Bellinger had advanced to the rank of Rear Admiral in command of Patrol Wing 2 based in Honolulu. He was the senior Naval Air Commander present during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor when the Japanese launched their “day of infamy” attack on December 7, 1941. and sent out the first radio alert: “Air raid. Pearl Harbor – this is no drill.”
1942 – Carole Lombard, American actress (To Be or Not to Be) Wife of Clark Gabel, dies of plane crash at 33
1944 – Jim Stafford, Eloise Fla, singer (Spiders & Snakes, My Girl Bill, Wildwood weed) Born
1944 – Ronnie Milsap, Robbinsville NC, country singer (Legend in My Time) Born
1945 – Adolf Hitler moves into his underground bunker, the so-called Führerbunker.
1948 – John Carpenter, Carthage NY, director (Halloween, The Thing) Born
1951 – World’s largest gas pipeline opens (Brownsville Tx, to 134th St, NYC)
1953 – Robert Jay Mathews, American militant, founded The Order (d. 1984) was born.
1953 – For the first time, the Corvette is brought to New York. The first corvette was presented at a car show that took place at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The body of these sports cars were made from fiberglass, giving this car a unique look.
1958 – A grasshopper plague causes serious damage across the state of Colorado and Neighboring states. This particular plague damaged farmer’s crops, annoyed tourists, and cost millions of dollars.
1959 – Sade, Nigerian-born singer – Born
1961 – Paul Raven, English bass player (Killing Joke, Prong, Godflesh, Zilch, Society 1, and Ministry) (d. 2007) was born.
1962 – Suit accuses NYC Board of Education uses “racial quotas”
1968 – The Youth International Party is founded. (Yippies)
1968 – Robert R “Bob” Jones, founder (Bob Jones University), dies at 84
1969 – Roy Jones Jr, Pensacola Fla, Light-MW boxer (Olympic-silver-1988) Born
1969 – Jan Palach, protesting Soviet invasion of Czech, self immolates at 20
1970 – Buckminster Fuller receives the Gold Medal award from the American Institute of Architects.
1970 – Curt Flood files a civil lawsuit challenging baseball’s reserve clause
1970 – 4 months after leading a coup against monarchy, Muammar Gaddafi takes over rule of Libya
1972 – David Seville, singer (Alvin & Chipmunks), dies at 52
1974 – “Jaws” by Peter Benchley is published
1974 – L A Landslide kills 9, Canyonville, Oregon
1974 – Kate Moss, Addiscomb Surrey England, model (Calvin Klein) Born
1976 – “Donny & Marie” [Osmond] musical variety show premieres on ABC TV
1976 – Peter Frampton released platinum live album “Frampton Comes Alive”
1979 – Ted Cassidy, actor (Lurch-Addams Family), dies at 46
1979 – Aaliyah, American singer (d. 2001) Born
1979 – Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi flees Iran for Egypt during the Iranian Revolution
– Bakhtiar government established by the Shah in Iran will preside until unrest in the country subsides
1980 – Paul McCartney jailed in Tokyo for 10 days on marijuana possession
1981 – Boxer Leon Spinks is mugged, his assailants even took his gold teeth
1981 – John Lennon releases “Woman” in UK (posthumously)
1981 – Nick Valensi, American guitarist (The Strokes) Born
1986 – First meeting of the Internet Engineering Task Force.
1989 – Police arrest writer Vaclav Havel in Prague
1991 – US & 27 allies attack Iraq for occupying Kuwait (US time)
1997 – Ennis Cosby, son of Bill Cosby, murdered on LA highway at 29
1998 – David “Junior” Kimbrough, blues musician, dies at 67
2000 – Will “Dub” Jones, American singer (The Coasters) (b. 1928)
2001 – US President Bill Clinton awards former President Theodore Roosevelt a posthumous Medal of Honor for his service in the Spanish–American War.
2001 – A fuel supply tanker runs aground off the island of San Cristobal, causing a ‘ecological disaster’
2002 – The UN Security Council unanimously establishes an arms embargo and the freezing of assets of Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda, and the remaining members of the Taliban.
2003 – The Space Shuttle Columbia takes off for mission STS-107 which would be its final one. Columbia disintegrated 16 days later on re-entry.
2009 – Bank Of America the largest in the U.S. will receive $20bn in fresh US government aid and $118bn worth of guarantees against bad assets. This is in addition to the $25bn in capital injections from the Troubled Assets Relief Program, known as Tarp Bank of America has already received.
2014 – Russell Johnson, American television and film actor, best known for his role as “The Professor” on Gilligan’s Island, dies of kidney failure at 89
2014 – Dave Madden, Canadian-born American actor (The Partridge Family), dies from heart and kidney failure at 82