332 – Constantine the Great announced free distributions of food to the citizens in Constantinople.
1048 – Omar Khayyám, Persian mathematician, poet and philosopher (d. 1131) Born
1096 – Crusaders massacre Jews of Worms
1593 – Playwright Thomas Kyd’s accusations of heresy lead to an arrest warrant for Christopher Marlowe.
1619 – Hugo the Great sentenced to life in prison
1631 – In Dorchester, Massachusetts, John Winthrop takes the oath of office and becomes the first Governor of Massachusetts.
1652 – Rhode Island passes the first law in English-speaking North America making slavery illegal.
1763 – Fire destroys a large part of Montreal
1781 – Túpac Amaru II, Peruvian Indian revolutionary, a descendant of the last Inca ruler, Túpac Amaru (b. 1742) dies
1783 – First United Empire Loyalists reach Parrtown (later called Saint John), New Brunswick, Canada after leaving the United States.
1803 – Napoleonic Wars: The United Kingdom revokes the Treaty of Amiens and declares war on France.
1804 – Napoleon Bonaparte is proclaimed Emperor of the French by the French Senate.
1808 – Elijah Craig, American minister, inventor, and educator, invented Bourbon whiskey (b. 1738) died.
1812 – John Bellingham is found guilty and sentenced to death by hanging for the assassination of British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval.
1843 – The Disruption in Edinburgh of the Free Church of Scotland from the Church of Scotland.
1846 – US troops attack Rio Grande occupying Matamoros
1860 – Abraham Lincoln wins the Republican Party presidential nomination over William H. Seward, who later becomes the United States Secretary of State.
1863 – American Civil War: The Siege of Vicksburg begins.
1872 – Bertrand Russell, England, mathematician/philosopher (Nobel 1950) Birthed
1896 – The United States Supreme Court rules in Plessy v. Ferguson that the “separate but equal” doctrine is constitutional.
1896 – Khodynka Tragedy: A mass panic on Khodynka Field in Moscow during the festivities of the coronation of Russian Tsar Nicholas II results in the deaths of 1,389 people.
1897 – Frank Capra, Ital, director (Its a Wonderful Life, Arsenic & Old Lace) Born
1897 – Dracula, a novel by Irish author Bram Stoker is published.
1910 – The Earth passes through the tail of Comet Halley.
1911 – Big Joe Turner, KC, blues singer (Corrine Corrina, Shake Rattle & Roll) Born
1911 – Gustav Mahler, Austr composer (Children’s Death Songs), dies at 50
1917 – US Congress passes Selective Service Act, authorizing the federal government to raise a national army for the American entry into World War I through compulsory enlistment
1920 – John Paul II, [Karol Wojtyla], Wadowice Poland, 264th Roman Catholic Pope (1978-2005) Born
1926 – Evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson disappears while visiting a Venice, California beach.
1927 – The Bath School disaster: forty-five people are killed by bombs planted by a disgruntled school-board member in Michigan. (Bath MI. Andrew Kehoe blows up Bath Consolidated School killing 38 children, 2 teachers, and alleged bomber.)
1927 – Andrew Kehoe, American educator and murderer, committed the Bath School disaster (b. 1872) died.
1933 – New Deal: President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs an act creating the Tennessee Valley Authority.
1934 – Congress approves “Lindbergh Act” making kidnapping a capital offense
1948 – Saudi Arabia joins invasion of Israel
1949 – Rick Wakeman, English keyboard player and songwriter (Yes, Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe, and Warhorse) was born.
1951 – UN moves HQ to NYC
1951 – US General Collins predicts use of atom bomb in Korea
1952 – Professor WF Libby said Stonehedge dates back to 1848 BC
1952 – George Strait, Pearsall Tx, country singer (All My Exes Live in Texas) Born
1953 – Jackie Cochran becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier.
1960 – Jean Genet’s “Le Balcon” premieres in Paris
1961 – Russell Senior, former guitarist and violinist of Pulp was born.
1963 – Ernie [Ernest] Davis, American football player (1st African American to win Heisman Trophy) (b. 1939) dies of leukemia aged 23
1965 – Gene Roddenberry suggests 16 names for Star Trek Captain; they include Kirk
1967 – Tennessee Governor Ellington approves the repeal of the Butler Act or “Monkey Law”, upheld in 1925 Scopes Trial
1967 – Andy Clyde, Hopalong Cassidy’s sidekick, dies at 75
1970 – Beatles’ last released LP, “Let It Be”, released in US
1970 – Tina Fey, American actress, screenwriter, and producer was born.
1971 – Vampire rapist Wayne Boden’s last victim found
1973 – Jeannette Rankin, 1st Congresswoman (1917-19, 41-43) and pacifist, dies at 92
1974 – Nuclear test: under project Smiling Buddha, India successfully detonates its first nuclear weapon becoming the sixth nation to do so.
1977 – Nightclub in Cincinnati fire kills 164
1978 – Italy legalizes abortion
1980 – Ian Curtis, English rock vocalist (Joy Division), commits suicide at 23
1980 – Mount St. Helens erupts in Washington, United States, killing 57 people and causing $3 billion in damage.
Among Dead:
1980 – Reid Blackburn, a photojournalist for National Geographic was also a victim of Mount St. Helens eruption (b. 1952)
1980 – Harry Truman, victim of Mount St. Helens eruption (b. 1896)
1980 – David A. Johnston, a U.S. Volcanoligist was also a victim of Mount St. Helens eruption (b. 1949)
1980 – Gwangju Massacre: Students in Gwangju, South Korea begin demonstrations, calling for democratic reforms.
1982 – Unification Church founder Rev Sun Myung Moon convicted of tax evasion
1983 – Senate revises immigration laws, gives millions of illegal aliens legal status under an amnesty program
1983 – In Ireland, the government launches a crackdown, with the leading Dublin pirate Radio Nova being put off the air.
1990 – East and West Germany sign a monetary union treaty
1990 – Judy Carne arrested at JFK airport on an 11 year old drug warrant
1990 – Jill Ireland, actress (Carry on Nurse, Family), Wife of Charles Bronson – dies of cancer at 54
1992 – US Supreme Court rules states could not force mentally unstable criminal defendants to take anti-psychotic drugs
1993 – Riots in Nørrebro, Copenhagen caused by the approval of the four Danish exceptions in the Maastricht Treaty referendum. Police opened fire against civilians for the first time since World War II and injured 11 demonstrators. In total 113 bullets are fired.
1995 – Elizabeth Montgomery, actress (Bewitched), dies of cancer at 62
1998 – United States v. Microsoft: The United States Department of Justice and 20 U.S. states file an antitrust case against Microsoft.
2001 – Saudi Arabia selects the eight foreign companies to take part in its “Gas Initiative,” three core venture gas projects that have an anticipated worth of $25 billion
2005 – A second photo from the Hubble Space Telescope confirms that Pluto has two additional moons, Nix and Hydra.
2010 – Portland, OR. Police Bureau officer James Crooker is asked to leave the Red and Black Café after co-owner John Langley claimed Crooker’s presence violated cafe policies
2014 – Jerry Vale, American singer, dies at 83
2014 – Swiss voters reject a $25 per hour minimum wage