1066 – Edward the Confessor dies childless, sparking a succession crisis that will eventually lead to the Norman conquest of England.
1463 – French poet Francois Villon banished from Paris
1592 – Shah Jahan, Mughal emperor of India (1628-58), built Taj Mahal – Born
1757 – Louis XV of France survives an assassination attempt by Robert-François Damiens, the last person to be executed in France by drawing and quartering, the traditional and gruesome form of capital punishment used for regicides.
1776 – Assembly of New Hampshire adopts its 1st state constitution
1781 – American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia, is burned by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold.
1787 – John Burke, Irish genealogist (Burke’s Peerage) Born
1796 – Samuel Huntington, US judge (signed Decl of Independence), dies at 64
1804 – Ohio legislature passes 1st laws restricting free blacks movement
1822 – Central America proclaims annexation to Mexican Empire
1834 – Kiowa Indians record this as the night the stars fell
1836 – Davy Crockett arrives in Texas, just in time for the Alamo
1846 – The United States House of Representatives votes to stop sharing the Oregon Territory with the United Kingdom.
1861 – 250 Federal troops are sent from New York to Ft Sumter
1874 – Joseph Erlanger, American physiologist (shock therapy-Nobel 1944), born in San Francisco, California – Birthed
1882 – Herbert Bayard Swope, U.S. journalist who coined the term “Cold War” (d. 1958) Born
1895 – Dreyfus affair: French army officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island.
1896 – The Die Presse newspaper (Germany) publicly announces Wilhelm Röntgen’s discovery of X-rays and their potential for new methods of medical diagnoses in a front-page article
1900 – Irish leader John Edward Redmond calls for a revolt against British rule.
1904 – Jeane Dixon, American astrologer “A Gift of Prophecy” / Reagan Advisor (d. 1997) born
1905 – Charles Perrine announces discovery of Jupiter’s 7th satellite, Elara
1911 – Portuguese expel Jesuits
1912 – 1st National Hockey Association game (Victoria)
1914 – George Reeves, [George Lescher Bessolo], Ashland Ky, actor (Superman, Gone With the Wind) Born
1914 – The Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and that it would pay a “living wage” of at least $5 for a day’s labor. (wages jump from $2.40/9-hr day to $5.00/8-hr day)
1919 – The German Workers’ Party, which would become the Nazi Party, is founded.
1924 – Sam Phillips, American record producer, founded Sun Records (d. 2003) was born.
1925 – Nellie Taylor Ross became governor of Wyoming, 1st woman governor in USA
1930 – Mao Zedong writes “A Single Spark Can Start a Prairie Fire”
1931 – Robert Duvall, actor (Great Santini, Taxi Driver), born in San Diego, California – Born
1933 – Work on Golden Gate Bridge begins, on Marin County side
1933 – Calvin Coolidge, American politician, 30th President of the United States (b. 1872) died.
1934 – Fenway Park catches fire for 2nd time (May 8th 1926 also)
1939 – Amelia Earhart, American aviator declared dead after disappearance in 1937. (b. 1897)
1940 – FCC hears 1st transmission of FM radio with clear, static-free signal
1941 – Grady Thomas, US rock vocalist (Parliament Funkadelic, Maggot Brain) Born
1942 – Charlie Rose, Henderson NC, newscaster, CFR (CBS Night Watch) Birthed
1944 – The Daily Mail becomes the first transoceanic newspaper.
1945 – The Soviet Union recognizes the new pro-Soviet government of Poland.
1946 – Diane Keaton, [Hall], LA, actress (Annie Hall, Little Drummer Girl) Born
1949 – United States President Harry S. Truman unveils his Fair Deal program.
1950 – Chris Stein, rock guitarist and co-founder of Blondie (Heart of Glass, Call Me) born in Brooklyn, New York, Born
1953 – George Tenet, American civil servant and academic, 18th Director of Central Intelligence (911 conspirator) was birthed
1957 – In a speech given to the United States Congress, United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces the establishment of what will later be called the Eisenhower Doctrine.
1957 – Eisenhower asks Congress to send troops to the Mid East
1960 – Phil Thornalley, English bass player, songwriter, and producer (The Cure and Johnny Hates Jazz) was born.
1961 – US breaks diplomatic relations with Cuba
1964 – Grant Young, American drummer (Soul Asylum) was born.
1968 – Dr Benjamin Spock indicted for conspiring to violate draft law
1969 – The Troubles: The Royal Ulster Constabulary raid the Bogside area of Derry, damaging property and beating residents. In response, residents erect barricades and establish Free Derry.
1969 – Marilyn Manson, American singer-songwriter, actor, and director (Satan on Fire) was born.
1970 – Max Born, German/British physicist (Nobel 1954), dies at 87
1971 – Body of US heavyweight Charles “Sonny” Liston (36) found; he had been dead for an estimated 6 days.
1972 – US President Nixon signs a bill for NASA to begin research on a manned space shuttle
1975 – Bradley Cooper, American actor was born.
1976 – The Troubles: In response to the killing of six Catholics the night before, gunmen shoot dead ten Protestant civilians after stopping their minibus at Kingsmill in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, UK.
1979 – Charles Mingus, US jazz bassist/composer/orchestra leader, dies at 56
1981 – British police arrest Peter Sutcliffe, a truck driver later convicted of “Yorkshire Ripper” murders of 13 women
1984 – Amanda Hearst, American heiress – born
1988 – “Pistol” Pete Maravich, American basketball player, dies of heart failure at 40
1989 – 2 French TV newsmen arrested for trying to plant fake bombs on 3 airlines at JFK airport in security test
1991 – John Eckhardt, actor born without legs (Freaks), dies at 82
1993 – The oil tanker MV Braer runs aground on the coast of the Shetland Islands, spilling 84,700 tons of crude oil.
1993 – Washington state executes Westley Allan Dodd by hanging (the first legal hanging in America since 1965).
1994 – Thomas P “Tip” O’Neill, (D-Ma)/Speaker of House (1977-86), dies at 81
1996 – Hamas operative Yahya Ayyash is killed by an Israeli-planted booby-trapped cell phone.
1998 – Sonny Bono, American singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and politician (Sonny & Cher) (b. 1935) died (Murdered?).
1998 – Vandals decapitate Copenhagen’s Little Mermaid
2001 – A report reveals that former General Practitioner Harold Shipman has potentially killed hundreds of patients
2004 – Norman Heatley, English biologist and chemist, co-developed penicillin (b. 1911) died.
2005 – Danny Sugerman, American music manager (The Doors, Iggy Pop) (b. 1954) Dies
2005 – Eris, the largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System, is discovered by the team of Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz using images originally taken on October 21, 2003, at the Palomar Observatory.