37 – Tiberius Claudius Nero, Roman emperor (14-37), dies at 78
418 – Jews are excluded from public office in the Roman Empire
1578 – Queen Elizabeth I gives Johan Casimir £20,000 to aid Dutch rebellion
1629 – Charles I of England dissolves Parliament, beginning the eleven-year period known as the Personal Rule.
1762 – French Huguenot Jean Calas, who was 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.
1814 – Napoleon I of France is defeated at the Battle of Laon in France.
1831 – The French Foreign Legion is established by King Louis Philippe to support his war in Algeria.
1849 – Abraham Lincoln applies for a patent (only US president to do so) for a device to lift a boat over shoals and obstructions
1862 – US issues 1st paper money ($5, $10, $20, $50, $100, $500 & $1000)
1866 – Antonio Francesco Gaetano S Pacini, composer, dies at 87
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.
1896 – After Bob Fitzsimmons KOs much larger Jim Corbett to win world HW championship he says, “The bigger they are, the harder they fall”
1902 – A United States court of appeals rules that Thomas Edison did not invent the movie camera.
1910 – China ends slavery (ALLEGEDLY)
1913 – Harriet Tubman, abolitionist, conductor on Underground RR, dies in NY at about 93
1914 – Suffragettes in London damage Rokeby’s painting Venus of Velasquez
1920 – The Home Rule Act is passed by the British Parliament, dividing Ireland into two parts; it is rejected by southern counties, where the Ango-Irish war continues for a year
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, ALLEGED American assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr. (d. 1998) was Born.
1940 – Chuck Norris, [Carlos Ray], OK, martial arts actor (Missing in Action) Born
1940 – Dean Torrence, LA Cal, surf music singer (Jan & Dean-Little Old Lady) Born
1945 – The U.S. Army Air Force firebombs Tokyo, and the resulting conflagration kills more than 100,000 people, mostly civilians.
1948 – Zelda Fitzgerald, American artist, wife of writer F. Scott Fitzgerald (b. 1900) Dies
1951 – FBI director J. Edgar Hoover declines post of baseball commissioner
1952 – Military coup led by General Fulgencio Batista in Cuba
1953 – Paul Haggis, Canadian film director, writer, producer (Crash, Million Dollar Baby, Bond / Terminator) Born
1957 – Osama bin Laden, Saudi Arabian terrorist, founded al-Qaeda (d. 2011) was birthed.
1959 – Tibetan uprising: Fearing an abduction attempt by China, 300,000 Tibetans surround the Dalai Lama’s palace to prevent his removal.
1963 – Jeff Ament, American bass player and songwriter (Pearl Jam, Green River, and Mother Love Bone) was born.
1963 – Rick Rubin, American record producer, founded Def Jam Recordings was born.
1964 – Neneh Cherry, Stockholm Sweden, Swedish singer-songwriter and rapper daughter of jazz Musician Don Cherry, (Money Love) Born
1968 – Vietnam War: Battle of Lima Site 85, concluding the 11th with largest single ground combat loss of United States Air Force members (12) during that war.
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.
1971 – US Senate approves amendment lowering voting age to 18
1973 – John LeCompt, American guitarist (Evanescence, We Are the Fallen, Machina, and Mourningside) was born.
1973 – Eva Herzigova, Litvinov Czech, model (Guess Jeans, Wonderbra) Born
1975 – “The Rocky Horror Show” opens at Belasco Theater NYC for 45 performances
1977 – Rings of Uranus: Astronomers discover rings around Uranus.
1978 – “The Incredible Hulk”, starring Bill Bixby as David Banner, premieres on CBS
1980 – Herman Tarnower, doctor (Scarsdale Diet), killed by Jean Harris
1986 – Ray Milland, actor (Lost Weekend-Acad Award 1945), dies at 81
1988 – Andy Gibb, singer, dies of heart infection at 30
1993 – David Gunn, abortion doctor, killed by Michael Griffin at 47
1996 – NYC Mayor Guiliani visits Israel
1998 – Lloyd Bridges, American actor (b. 1913) Dies
2000 – The Nasdaq Composite stock market index peaks at 5132.52, signaling the beginning of the end of the dot-com boom.
2004 – Dave Blood, real name David Schulthise; American musician, bassist for The Dead Milkmen (b. 1956) dies
2005 – Danny Joe Brown, American singer (Molly Hatchet) (b. 1951) dies
2006 – The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrives at Mars.
2006 – Mass unrest by the PCC started in São Paulo (the biggest city in Brazil) which would eventually kill more than 152 people.
2007 – Richard Jeni, American comedian (b. 1957) Dies
2008 – Richard Fran Biegenwald, an American serial killer (b. 1940) Dies
2010 – Corey Haim, Canadian actor (b. 1971) dies
2014 – German Chancellor Merkel warns Russia’s Putin that making Crimea part of Russia is illegal and in violation of Ukraine’s constitution