1484 – William Caxton prints his translation of Aesop’s Fables.
1812 – A political cartoon in the Boston Gazette coins the term “gerrymander” to describe oddly shaped electoral districts designed to help incumbents win reelection.
1892 – Walt Whitman, American poet and author (b. 1819) died.
1885 – The Métis people of the District of Saskatchewan under Louis Riel begin the North-West Rebellion against Canada.
1925 – During the Prohibition Era, local and federal officers destroyed equipment used to make liquor. Alcohol that was created was dumped out as well, and participants in illegal booze operations were put in jail.
1931 – Leonard Nimoy, American actor, singer, and director was born.
1933 – Leader Herman Georing spoke his point of view regarding the mistreatment of Jews. He made a statement that the persecution of a person just because he (or she) is a Jew will not be tolerated.
1934 – The driving test is introduced in the United Kingdom.
1935 – Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian politician, 2nd President of the State of Palestine was born.
1940 – Nancy Pelosi, American politician, 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives was born.
1942 – World War II: The first female prisoners arrive at Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland.
1943 – Bob Woodward, American journalist and author was born
1944 – Diana Ross, American singer and actress (The Supremes) was born.
1945 – World War II: The Battle of Iwo Jima ends as the island is officially secured by American forces.
1948 – Steven Tyler, American singer-songwriter and actor (Aerosmith and Chain Reaction) was born.
1953 – Dr. Jonas E. Salk, announced a vaccine had been used safely and successfully used in preliminary trials on 90 children and adults as a polio vaccine, two years later the vaccine was released and given to every child in the United States.
1967 – Ten thousand people gather for one of many Central Park be-ins in New York City
1975 – The Biological Weapons Convention comes into force.
1982 – A groundbreaking ceremony for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is held in Washington, D.C..
1991 – Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay sign the Treaty of Asunción, establishing Mercosur, the South Common Market.
1997 – Thirty-nine bodies are found in the Heaven’s Gate cult suicides.
1999 – The “Melissa worm” infects Microsoft word processing and e-mail systems around the world.
1999 – A jury in Michigan finds Dr. Jack Kevorkian guilty of second-degree murder for administering a lethal injection to a terminally ill man.
2000 – Vladimir Putin was elected president of Russia for the first time he went on to be re-elected in 2004 and is the current President of the Russian Federation.
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