1496 – King Henry VII of England issues letters patent to John Cabot and his sons, authorising them to explore unknown lands.
1770 – Boston Massacre: Five Americans, including Crispus Attucks, and a boy, are killed by British troops in an event that would contribute to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War (also known as the American War of Independence) five years later. At a subsequent trial the soldiers are defended by future U.S. president John Adams.
1836 – Samuel Colt patents the first production-model revolver, the .34-caliber.
1872 – George Westinghouse patents the air brake.
1906 – Moro Rebellion: United States Army troops bring overwhelming force against the native Moros in the First Battle of Bud Dajo, leaving only six survivors.
1920 – It was reported on this day that thousands of families had written the U.S. Government requesting that their sons be allowed to join the army. Upon enlistment, they would receive the quality education they would not otherwise receive as a result of living in an underdeveloped area of the country.
1931 – The British Viceroy of India, Governor-General Edward Frederick Lindley Wood and Mohandas Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi) sign an agreement envisaging the release of political prisoners and allowing salt to be freely used by the poorest members of the population.
1933 – Great Depression: President Franklin D. Roosevelt declares a “bank holiday”, closing all U.S. banks and freezing all financial transactions.
1933 – Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party receives 43.9% at the Reichstag elections. This later allows the Nazis to pass the Enabling Act and establish a dictatorship.
1940 – Members of Soviet politburo, including general secretary Joseph Stalin, sign an order for the execution of 25,700 Polish intelligentsia, including 14,700 Polish POWs, known also as the Katyn massacre.
1946 – Winston Churchill coins the phrase “Iron Curtain” in his speech at Westminster College, Missouri.
1953 – Joseph Stalin, Soviet marshal and politician, 3rd leader of the Soviet Union (b. 1878) died
1960 – Elvis Presley completes his two-year stint is discharged from the US Army.
1960 – Cuban photographer Alberto Korda takes his iconic photograph of Marxist revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara.
1963 – The Hula-Hoop, first marketed by Wham-O in 1958, is patented by the company’s co-founder, Arthur “Spud” Melin.
1965 – March Intifada: A Leftist uprising erupts in Bahrain against British colonial presence.
1969 – Jim Morrison was arrested by Dade County a few days after his performance in Miami. He was charged of one felony and three misdemeanors related to indecent behavior he displayed on stage.
1970 – The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty goes into effect after ratification by 43 nations.
1974 – Yom Kippur War: Israeli forces withdraw from the west bank of the Suez Canal.
1979 – Soviet probes Venera 11, Venera 12 and the American solar satellite Helios II all are hit by “off the scale” gamma rays leading to the discovery of soft gamma repeaters.
1982 – John Belushi, American actor (b. 1949) died
2013 – Paul Bearer, American wrestler and manager (b. 1954) died
2013 – Hugo Chávez, Venezuelan politician, President of Venezuela (b. 1954) died