392 – Valentinianus II, emperor of Rome (375-392), murdered at 21
495 BC – A newly constructed temple in honour of the god Mercury was dedicated in ancient Rome on the Circus Maximus, between the Aventine and Palatine hills. To spite the senate and the consuls, the people awarded the dedication to a senior military officer, Marcus Laetorius
1252 – Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull ad extirpanda, which authorizes, but also limits, the torture of heretics in the Medieval Inquisition.
1536 – Anne Boleyn, Queen of England, stands trial in London on charges of treason, adultery and incest. She is condemned to death by a specially-selected jury.
1567 – Mary, Queen of Scots marries James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, her third husband.
1591 – Dmitry Ivanovitch, youngest son of Russian Tsar Ivan IV, murdered at 8
1618 – Johannes Kepler confirms his previously rejected discovery of the third law of planetary motion (he first discovered it on March 8 but soon rejected the idea after some initial calculations were made).
1621 – Henrick de Keyser, Amsterdam’s master builder, dies at 56
1718 – James Puckle, a London lawyer, patents the world’s first machine gun.
1776 – American Revolution: The Virginia Convention instructs its Continental Congress delegation to propose a resolution of independence from Great Britain, paving the way for the United States Declaration of Independence.
1800 – King George III of the United Kingdom survives an assassination attempt by James Hadfield, who is later acquitted by reason of insanity.
1850 – The Bloody Island Massacre takes place in Lake County, California, in which a large number of Pomo Indians in Lake County are slaughtered by a regiment of the United States Cavalry, led by Nathaniel Lyon.
1851 – The first Australian gold rush is proclaimed, although the discovery had been made three months earlier.
1856 – L. Frank Baum, American author (d. 1919) was born.
1859 – Pierre Curie, French physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1906) was born.
1862 – President Abraham Lincoln signs a bill into law creating the United States Bureau of Agriculture. It is later renamed the United States Department of Agriculture.
1864 – American Civil War: Battle of New Market, Virginia: Students from the Virginia Military Institute fight alongside the Confederate Army to force Union General Franz Sigel out of the Shenandoah Valley.
1869 – Women’s suffrage: In New York, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton form the National Woman Suffrage Association.
1886 – Emily Dickinson, US poet, dies at 55
1895 – Prescott Bush, American captain, banker, and politician (d. 1972) was birthed.
1905 – Abraham Zapruder, American businessman, filmed the Zapruder film (d. 1970) was born.
1909 – James Mason, England, actor (Lolita, Bloodline, Boys From Brazil) Born
1911 – In Standard Oil Company of New Jersey v. United States, the United States Supreme Court declares Standard Oil to be an “unreasonable” monopoly under the Sherman Antitrust Act and orders the company to be broken up. (They profited from the decision)
1919 – The Winnipeg General Strike begins. By 11:00, almost the whole working population of Winnipeg, Manitoba had walked off the job.
1928 – Walt Disney character Mickey Mouse premieres in his first cartoon, Plane Crazy
1936 – Wavy Gravy, American clown and activist Born
1936 – Ralph Steadman, British cartoonist (with Hunter S Thompson) Born
1937 – Trini Lopez, Trinidad, singer/guitarist (If I Had a Hammer) Born
1937 – Madeleine Albright, Czech-American politician, 64th (and first female) United States Secretary of State, Child murderer… was birthed.
1940 – World War II: After fierce fighting, the poorly trained and equipped Dutch troops surrender to Germany, marking the beginning of five years of occupation.
1940 – McDonald’s opens its first restaurant in San Bernardino, California.
1942 – World War II: In the United States, a bill creating the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) is signed into law.
1943 – Joseph Stalin dissolves the Comintern (or Third International).
1948 – Kathleen Sebelius, American politician, 44th Governor of Kansas was birthed.
1948 – Following the demise of Mandatory Palestine, the Kingdom of Egypt, Transjordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Saudi Arabia invade Israel thus starting the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
1948 – Brian Eno, Woodbridge England, rock keyboardist/singer (On Land) Born
1951 – Dennis Frederiksen, American singer-songwriter (Toto, Angel, and Le Roux) (d. 2014) was born.
1952 – Chazz Palminteri, Bronx, New York, American actor (The Usual Suspects, Bronx Tale) Born
1958 – The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 3.
1959 – Andrew Eldritch, rocker (Sisters of Mercy-Walk Away, Black Planet) Born
1960 – The Soviet Union launches Sputnik 4.
1963 – Project Mercury: The launch of the final Mercury mission, Mercury-Atlas 9 with astronaut L. Gordon Cooper on board. He becomes the first American to spend more than a day in space, and the last American to go into space alone.
1967 – John Smoltz, pitcher (Atlanta Braves, 1996 Cy Young), born in Detroit, Michigan
1967 – Edward Hopper, US painter (House by Railroad), dies at 84
1969 – People’s Park: California Governor Ronald Reagan has an impromptu student park owned by University of California at Berkeley fenced off from student anti-war protestors, sparking a riot called Bloody Thursday.
1970 – President Richard Nixon appoints Anna Mae Hays and Elizabeth P. Hoisington the first female United States Army Generals.
1970 – Philip Lafayette Gibbs and James Earl Green are killed at Jackson State University by police during student protests.
1972 – In Laurel, Maryland, Arthur Bremer shoots and paralyzes Alabama Governor George Wallace while he is campaigning to become President.
1974 – Ahmet Rodan Zappa, son of Frank/rocker (Z, 2 Hip 4 TV) Born
1974 – Ma’alot massacre: Members of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine attack and take hostages at an Israeli school; a total of 31 people are killed, including 22 schoolchildren.
1980 – Josh Beckett, American baseball player (Red Sox WS Champ!) Born
1981 – Jamie-Lynn Sigler, American actress (Meadow Soprano) Born
1985 – Jackie Curtis, actor (Underground USA), dies of a drug overdose at 38
1988 – Soviet war in Afghanistan: After more than eight years of fighting, the Soviet Army begins its withdrawal from Afghanistan.
1991 – Bud Freeman, jazz tenor saxophonist, dies of cancer at 84
1995 – Johnny Van Derrick, jazz violinist, dies at 68
1997 – The United States government acknowledges the existence of the “Secret War” in Laos and dedicates the Laos Memorial in honor of Hmong and other “Secret War” veterans.
2003 – June Carter Cash, American musician and singer dies aged 73
2007 – Jerry Falwell, American evangelist (b. 1933) Dies and goes to HELL
2007 – Yolanda King, American actress and activist, daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. (b. 1955) Dies
2008 – Alexander Courage, composer of original Star Trek theme (b. 1919) Dies
2008 – California becomes the second U.S. state after Massachusetts in 2004 to legalize same-sex marriage after the state’s own Supreme Court rules a previous ban unconstitutional.
2013 – An upsurge in violence in Iraq leaves more than 389 people dead over three days.
2015 – BB King (King of the blues) Dies