55 – Tiberius Claudius Caesar Britannicus, heir to the Roman emperorship, dies under mysterious circumstances in Rome. This clears the way for Nero to become Emperor.
1531 – Henry VIII of England is recognized as supreme head of the Church of England.
1752 – Pennsylvania Hospital, the first hospital in the United States, is opened by Benjamin Franklin.
1790 – The Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers, petitions U.S. Congress for abolition of slavery.
1794 – First session of United States Senate opens to the public.
1812 – Massachusetts governor Elbridge Gerry “gerrymanders” for the first time.
1847 – Thomas Edison, American businessman, invented the light bulb and phonograph (d. 1931) was born.
1861 – American Civil War: United States House of Representatives unanimously passes a resolution guaranteeing noninterference with slavery in any state.
1926 – Leslie Nielsen, Canadian-American actor (d. 2010) was born.
1938 – BBC Television produces the world’s first ever science fiction television program, an adaptation of a section of the Karel Čapek play R.U.R., that coined the term “robot”.
1943 – World War II: General Dwight D. Eisenhower is selected to command the allied armies in Europe.
1953 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower refuses a clemency appeal for Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
1953 – The Soviet Union breaks off diplomatic relations with Israel.
1964 – Sarah Palin, American politician, 9th Governor of Alaska was born.
1968 – Israeli–Jordanian border clashes rage.
1972 – Craig Jones, American keyboard player (Slipknot) was born.
1978 – Censorship: China lifts a ban on works by Aristotle, William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens.
1979 – The Iranian Revolution establishes an Islamic theocracy under the leadership of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.
1990 – Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster Prison outside Cape Town, South Africa after 27 years as a political prisoner.
2011 – The first wave of the Egyptian revolution culminates in the resignation of Hosni Mubarak and the transfer of power to the Supreme Military Council after 18 days of protests.
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