922 – Al-Hallaj al-Mughith-al-Hsayn Mansur, Persian mystic, beheaded at 64
1309 – Pope Clement V imposes excommunication, interdiction, and a general prohibition of all commercial intercourse against Venice, which had unjustly seized on Ferrara, a fief of the Patrimony of Peter. (Pope Clement V excommunicates Venice and all its population.)
1513 – Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de León reaches the northern end of The Bahamas on his first voyage to Florida.
1613 – The first English child born in Canada at Cuper’s Cove, Newfoundland to Nicholas Guy.
1625 – Charles I becomes King of England, Scotland and Ireland as well as claiming the title King of France.
1785 – Louis XVII of France (d. 1795) was born.
1794 – The United States Government establishes a permanent navy and authorizes the building of six frigates.
1814 – War of 1812: In central Alabama, U.S. forces under General Andrew Jackson defeat the Creek at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend.
1836 – Texas Revolution: Goliad massacre – On the orders of General Antonio López de Santa Anna, the Mexican army butchers 342 Texas POWs at Goliad, Texas.
1851 – First reported sighting of the Yosemite Valley by Europeans.
1863 – Henry Royce, English engineer and businessman; founded Rolls-Royce Limited (d. 1933) was born.
1884 – A mob in Cincinnati, Ohio, attacks members of a jury who had returned a verdict of manslaughter in a clear case of murder, and then over the next few days would riot and destroy the courthouse.
1886 – Famous Apache warrior, Geronimo, surrenders to the U.S. Army, ending the main phase of the Apache Wars.
1915 – Typhoid Mary, the first healthy carrier of disease ever identified in the United States, is put in quarantine, where she would remain for the rest of her life.
1937 – Alan Hawkshaw, English keyboard player and songwriter (The Shadows) was born.
1939 – Cale Yarborough, auto racer (Daytona 500-1968, 77, 83, 84) Born
1941 – World War II: Yugoslavian Air Force officers topple the pro-Axis government in a bloodless coup.
1942 – Michael York, England, actor (Cabaret, Logan’s Run, 3 Musketeers) Born
1945 – World War II: Operation Starvation, the aerial mining of Japan’s ports and waterways begins. Argentina declares war on the Axis Powers.
1947 – John Mayhew, English-Australian drummer (Genesis) (d. 2009) was born.
1948 – Just 11 days after being released from prison, Billie Holiday plays in front of a sold-out crowd at Carnegie Hall
1949 – Steve Bolton, English guitarist (Atomic Rooster and The Who) was born.
1950 – Tony Banks, English guitarist and songwriter (Genesis) was born.
1952 – Failed assassination attempt of West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer
1952 – Sun Records of Memphis begins releasing records
1952 – “Singin’ in the Rain”, a musical comedy starring Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor and Debbie Reynolds, is released
1953 – Wally Stocker, English guitarist (The Babys and Air Supply) was born.
1958 – Nikita Khrushchev becomes Soviet Premier as well as First Secretary of the Communist Party
1963 – Quentin Tarantino, director/screenwriter (Pulp Fiction) Born
1964 – 1st true Pirate Radio station, Radio Caroline (England)
1966 – Anti Vietnam war demonstrations in US, Europe & Australia
1964 – The Good Friday Earthquake, the most powerful earthquake in U.S. history at a magnitude of 9.2 strikes South Central Alaska, killing 125 people and inflicting massive damage to the city of Anchorage.
1968 – Yuri Gagarin, 1st man to orbit Earth, & Seryogin, in plane crash at 34
1970 – Brent Fitz, Canadian-American drummer and songwriter (Theory of a Deadman, Union, Econoline Crush, and Indigenous) was born.
1973 – 45th Academy Awards – “Godfather”, Marlon Brando & Liza Minnelli win Marlon Brando turns down Oscar for best actor in support of Indians
1975 – Fergie Duhamel, Hacienda Heights, California, American pop singer (The Black Eyed Peas) Born
1980 – Silver Thursday: A steep fall in silver prices, resulting from the Hunt Brothers attempting to corner the market in silver, led to panic on commodity and futures exchanges.
1981 – John Lennon single “Watching the Wheels” released posthumously in UK
1986 – A car bomb explodes at Russell Street Police HQ in Melbourne, killing one police officer and injuring 21 people.
1990 – The United States begins broadcasting TV Martí to Cuba in an effort to bridge the information blackout imposed by the Castro regime.
1991 – Aldo Ray, western actor (Battle Cry), dies at 64 of cancer
1994 – Church in Piedmont Alabama collapses in tornado, 19 killed
1997 – Martin Luther King’s son meets James Earl Ray, his father’s killer (Declares him Innocent / framed)
1998 – The Food and Drug Administration approves Viagra for use as a treatment for male impotence, the first pill to be approved for this condition in the United States.
2000 – Phillips explosion of 2000 kills 1 and injures 71 in Pasadena, Texas.
2000 – Ian Dury, English musician (b. 1942) Dies
2002 – Milton Berle, American actor and comedian (b. 1908) Dies
2002 – Comedian and Jazz Musician Dudley Moore, British actor (b. 1935) Dies
2002 – Billy Wilder, American director (b. 1906) Dies
2002 – Passover massacre: An (Alleged) Palestinian suicide bomber kills 29 people partaking of the Passover meal in Netanya, Israel.
2002 – Nanterre massacre: In Nanterre, France, a gunman opens fire at the end of a town council meeting, resulting in the deaths of eight councilors and the injury of 19 others.
2006 – The United Nations Commission on Human Rights holds its final meeting
2134 – 32nd recorded perihelion passage of Halley’s Comet