59 – Agrippina the Younger, Roman Empress, dies at 43 (circumstances of her death vary, but suggest she was murdered by her son, the Emperor Nero)
1540 – Waltham Abbey is surrendered to King Henry VIII of England; the last religious community to be closed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: Patrick Henry delivers his speech – “Give me Liberty, or give me Death!” – at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia.
1801 – Tsar Paul I of Russia (1796-1801) is struck with a sword, strangled, and trampled to death in his bedroom at St. Michael’s Castle aged 46
1806 – After traveling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocean, explorers Lewis and Clark and their “Corps of Discovery” begin their arduous journey home.
1862 – Nathaniel Reed, American criminal (d. 1950) was born.
1884 – Joseph Boxhall, English 4th officer on the RMS Titanic (d. 1967) was born.
1887 – Felix Yusupov, Russian assassin of Grigori Rasputin (d. 1967) was born.
1902 – Blessed Józef Cebula, beatified Polish priest, murdered at concentration camp (d. 1942) was born.
1905 – Eleftherios Venizelos calls for Crete’s union with Greece, and begins what is to be known as the Theriso revolt.
1909 – Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society.
1912 – Wernher von Braun, German physicist and engineer (d. 1977) was birthed.
1918 – First World War: On the third day of the German Spring Offensive, the 10th Battalion of the Royal West Kent Regiment is annihilated with many of the men becoming Prisoners of war
1924 – Bette Nesmith Graham, (Grand mother of Monkee’s Mike Nesmith) American inventor, invented Liquid Paper (d. 1980) was born.
1930 – France has been told that a number of ministers and deputies were awaiting the receipt of delayed war debt payments. The reason for this delay given by the Prime Minister of France was that it was awaiting action by the U.S. regarding the exact terms of the debt.
1933 – The Reichstag passes the Enabling Act of 1933, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.
1938 – Dave Pike, American vibraphone player was born.
1940 – Germany had requested help from Romania. This assistance was initially delivered in the form of oil. However, Germany had met with Allied opposition (the countries fighting against the Nazi regime in World War II). Countries opposed to Germany during the war refused to that country oil.
1956 – Pakistan becomes the first Islamic republic in the world. (Republic Day in Pakistan)
1958 – El Duce, American singer and drummer (The Mentors) (d. 1997) Born
1964 – Peter Lorre, actor (Casino Royale), dies at 59
1965 – NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States’ first two-man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young).
1968 – Damon Albarn, English singer-songwriter, producer, and actor (Blur, Gorillaz, and The Good, the Bad & the Queen) was born.
1970 – John Humphrey, American drummer (The Nixons and Seether) was born.
1972 – King Hussein, the man who was commonly referred to as the “father of Jordan”, made a plan to visit the U.S. He wanted to discuss his plans for the Middle East with President Richard Nixon. At this time, Hussein was offering a proposal for forming the United Arab Kingdom. This particular political structure would be made up of two plots of land that exist on both sides of the Jordan River. Additionally, King Hussein denied plans to create a partially self-governing entity on the West Bank of the Jordan.
1977 – All 12 of the Nixon Interviews are recorded with British journalist David Frost interviewing former President of the United States Richard Nixon about the Watergate scandal and the Nixon tapes.
1983 – Strategic Defense Initiative (aka “Star Wars”): President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles.
1987 – A British Army base in Rheindahlen, West Germany is targeted by a large car bomb injuring 30 as part of the ongoing war of terrorism by the IRA on British Troops.
1987 – In Lebanon, a group of Muslim kidnappers held an 1ll American hostage. They wanted to trade this sick hostage for 100 Arab prisoners held in Israel. Avi Pazner, aid to Prime Yitzhak Shamir, refused to consider the kidnappers’ demands. Pazner said that Israel does not negotiate with terrorists.
1991 – Saddam Hussein was defeated by allies fighting in the Gulf War, and it was announced that he had stepped down from his position as prime minister of Iraq. However, he also had at the same time created a new government, and received the support of associates close to him, so rumor had it that he was still a presidential position within the country.
1991 – The Revolutionary United Front, with support from the special forces of Charles Taylor’s National Patriotic Front of Liberia, invades Sierra Leone in an attempt to overthrow Joseph Saidu Momoh, sparking a gruesome 11-year Sierra Leone Civil War.
1994 – Aeroflot Flight 593 crashes in Siberia when the pilot’s fifteen-year old son accidentally disengages the autopilot, killing all 75 people on board.
1994 – A United States Air Force (USAF) F-16 aircraft collides with a USAF C-130 at Pope Air Force Base and then crashes, killing 24 United States Army soldiers on the ground. This later became known as the Green Ramp disaster.
2001 – The Russian Mir space station is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji.
2002 – A news report indicates that President George Bush requested an extra $27 billion from Congress for use on the war against terrorism. While Bush was visiting in El Paso, Texas he said that the “price of freedom is never too high” as far as he was concerned.
2003 – Battle of Nasiriyah, first major conflict during the invasion of Iraq.
2005 – Texas City Refinery explosion: During a test on a distillation tower liquid waste builds up and flows out of a blowout tower. Waste fumes ignite and explode killing 15 workers.
2010 – President Obama has signed his healthcare bill, which has been hailed as the most expansive social legislation in decades, saying it enshrines “the core principle that everybody should have some basic security when it comes to their health care.” Having signed the measure, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, he spoke to an audience of of the Democratic lawmakers who have riden the legislative process. They interrupted him repeatedly with cheers, applause and standing ovations.
2011 – Elizabeth Taylor, English-American actress (b. 1932)