1629 – Charles I of England dissolves Parliament, beginning the eleven-year period known as the Personal Rule.
1762 – French Huguenot Jean Calas, who had been wrongly convicted of killing his son, dies after being tortured by authorities; the event inspired Voltaire to begin a campaign for religious tolerance and legal reform.
1804 – Louisiana Purchase: In St. Louis, Missouri, a formal ceremony is conducted to transfer ownership of the Louisiana Territory from France to the United States.
1848 – The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo is ratified by the United States Senate, ending the Mexican–American War.
1876 – Alexander Graham Bell makes the first successful telephone call by saying “Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.”
1891 – Almon Strowger, an undertaker in Topeka, Kansas, patents the Strowger switch, a device which led to the automation of telephone circuit switching.
1922 – Mahatma Gandhi is arrested in India, tried for sedition, and sentenced to six years in prison, only to be released after nearly two years for an appendicitis operation.
1928 – James Earl Ray, American assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr. (d. 1998) was born.
1940 – Chuck Norris, American actor and martial artist was born.
1945 – The U.S. Army Air Force firebombs Tokyo, and the resulting conflagration kills more than 100,000 people, mostly civilians.
1957 – Osama bin Laden, Saudi Arabian terrorist, founded al-Qaeda (d. 2011) was born.
1959 – Tibetan uprising: Fearing an abduction attempt by China, 300,000 Tibetans surround the Dalai Lama’s palace to prevent his removal.
1969 – In Memphis, Tennessee, James Earl Ray pleads guilty to assassinating Martin Luther King Jr. He later unsuccessfully attempts to retract his plea.
1970 – Vietnam War: Captain Ernest Medina is charged by the U.S. Military with My Lai war crimes.
2000 – The NASDAQ Composite stock market index peaks at 5132.52, signaling the beginning of the end of the dot-com boom.
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