1253 – Nichiren, a Japanese Buddhist monk, propounds Nam Myoho Renge Kyo for the very first time and declares it to be the essence of Buddhism, in effect founding Nichiren Buddhism.
1758 – James Monroe, Westmoreland Va, (D-R) 5th pres (1817-25)Born
1788 – Maryland becomes the seventh state to ratify the Constitution of the United States.
1789 – Mutiny on the Bounty: Lieutenant William Bligh and 18 sailors are set adrift and the rebel crew returns to Tahiti briefly and then sets sail for Pitcairn Island.
1792 – France invades the Austrian Netherlands (present day Belgium), beginning the French Revolutionary War.
1878 – Lionel Barrymore, [Blythe], Phila, actor (Free Soul, Dr Kildare. Best known for the role of the villainous Mr. Potter character in Frank Capra’s 1946 film It’s a Wonderful Life) Born
1900 – Heinrich Müller, German SS officer (d. 1945) was born.
1908 – Oskar Schindler, Zwittau, Moravia, Austria-Hungary, Austrian businessman and subject of the novel Schindler’s Ark and the film Schindler’s List. (d. 1974) Born
1911 – Lee Falk, American comic strip writer – The Phantom (d. 1999)Born
1916 – Ferruccio Lamborghini, Italian businessman, created Lamborghini (d. 1993) was born.
1926 – Unemployment in Europe is at an all time high with over 5,000,000 receiving doles from their governments with over 1 million in Britain and 2 million in Germany, causes are from many things including antiquated equipment, high taxes, and high production costs.
1926 – Harper Lee, American author, “To Kill A Mockingbird”, was born.
1926 – Zip the Pinhead, American freak show performer (b. 1857)Dies
1929 – Carolyn Jones, Amarillo Texas, actress (Morticia-Addams Family) Born
1930 – James Baker 3, Houston, Sec of Treasury (1985-88), Sec State (1989-92) Birthed
1932 – A vaccine for yellow fever is announced for use on humans.
1935 – Over 1,200,000 people face starvation in Illinois if the US Federal Government stops providing new deal funding, the reason is that the state must provide $3,000,000 of the $12,000,000 required each month to feed and house the unemployed indigents or the federal government withdraws it’s funding and the state does not have the money and is not providing that funding.
1937 – Saddam Hussein, Iraqi politician, 5th President of Iraq (d. 2006) was born.
1941 – Ann-Margret, Valsjobya Sweden, actress (Bye Bye Birdie, Tommy) Born
1944 – World War II: Nine German E-boats attacked US and UK units during Exercise Tiger, the rehearsal for the Normandy landings, killing 946.
1945 – Benito Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci are executed by a firing squad consisting of members of the Italian resistance movement.
1950 – Jay Leno, American comedian, talk show host, and producer was born.
1952 – Dwight D. Eisenhower resigns as Supreme Allied Commander of NATO.
1952 – Occupied Japan: The United States occupation of Japan ends as the Treaty of San Francisco, ratified September 8, 1951, comes into force.
1955 – Eddie Jobson, rock violinist (Zappa, UK, Roxy Music-For Your Pleasure)Born
1965 – United States occupation of the Dominican Republic: American troops land in the Dominican Republic to “forestall establishment of a Communist dictatorship” and to evacuate U.S. Army troops.
1966 – John Patrick Daly, Sacramento CA, PGA golfer (1995 British Open)Born
1967 – Heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali appears for his scheduled induction into the U.S. Armed Forces in Houston, he refused three times to step forward at the call of his name. He is then warned by an officer that failing to answer to his name was a felony punishable by five years in prison and a fine of $10,000. He still refused to budge when his name was called. On the same day, the New York State Athletic Commission suspended his boxing license and stripped him of his title. In 1964 he had failed the U.S. Armed Forces qualifying test because his writing and spelling skills were sub par. However, in early 1966, the tests were revised and Ali was reclassified as 1A. ( When notified of this status, he declared that he would refuse to serve in the United States Army ).
1969 – Charles de Gaulle resigns as President of France.
1969 – Following a number of protests and armed students involving guns and weapons in colleges and universities across the US new laws are being sought to ban all guns from college compasses.
1970 – Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard M. Nixon formally authorizes American combat troops to fight communist sanctuaries in Cambodia.
1974 – Penélope Cruz, Alcobendas, Madrid, Spanish actress (Vanilla Sky, Waking Up in Reno) Born
1975 – Tom Donahue, American radio host and producer (b. 1928) died.
1975 – US Involvement in Vietnam is now complete as helicopters and marines bring out the last US Citizens and parents of thousands of South Vietnamese children are begging the US to save the children as US Marines are using pistol and rifle butts to smash the fingers of Vietnamese trying to climb over the walls and enter the US Embassy compound
1977 – The Red Army Faction trial ends, with Andreas Baader, Gudrun Ensslin and Jan-Carl Raspe found guilty of four counts of murder and more than 30 counts of attempted murder.
1986 – The United States Navy aircraft carrier USS Enterprise becomes the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to transit the Suez Canal, navigating from the Red Sea to the Mediterranean Sea to relieve the USS Coral Sea.
1986 – The Chernobyl Disaster: High Levels of Radiation as a result of the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident is detected at a nuclear power plant in Sweden.
1988 – Near Maui, Hawaii, flight attendant Clarabelle “C.B.” Lansing is blown out of Aloha Airlines Flight 243, a Boeing 737, and falls to her death when part of the plane’s fuselage rips open in mid-flight.
1994 – Former Central Intelligence Agency counter-intelligence officer and analyst Aldrich Ames pleads guilty to giving U.S. secrets to the Soviet Union and later Russia.
1996 – William E Colby, director of CIA (1973-76), Murdered?
1996 – Whitewater controversy: President Bill Clinton gives a 4½ hour videotaped testimony for the defense.
2001 – Millionaire Dennis Tito becomes the world’s first space tourist.