69 – Aulus Vitellius, Roman Emperor for 8 months, executed by the troops of his successor Vespasian in Rome
1440 – Bluebeard, pirate, executed
1639 – Jean Racine, French dramatist (d. 1699) Born
1731 – Dutch people revolt against meat tax
1775 – Continental navy organized with 7 ships
1807 – The Embargo Act, forbidding trade with all foreign countries, is passed by the U.S. Congress, at the urging of President Thomas Jefferson.
1808 – Ludwig van Beethoven conducts and performs in concert at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna, with the premiere of his Fifth Symphony, Sixth Symphony, Fourth Piano Concerto (performed by Beethoven himself) and Choral Fantasy (with Beethoven at the piano).
1849 – The execution of Fyodor Dostoevsky is called off at the last second.
from “Notes from Underground” by Fyodor Dostoevsky:
“I could not become anything; neither good nor bad; neither a scoundrel nor an honest man; neither a hero nor an insect. And now I am eking out my days in my corner, taunting myself with the bitter and entirely useless consolation that an intelligent man cannot seriously become anything, that only a fool can become something.”
1856 – Frank Kellogg, Potsdam, New York, Sec of State (1925-29), try to outlaw war (Nobel 1929), (d. 1937) Born
1858 – Giacomo Puccini, Lucca Italy opera composer (La bohème, Tosca, Madame Butterfly), (d. 1924) Born
1864 – Savannah, Georgia falls to General William Tecumseh Sherman, concluding his “March to the Sea”.
1882 – 1st string of Christmas tree lights created by Thomas Edison
1891 – Edward L Bernays, Vienna Austria, 1st public relations agent (Propagandist) Birthed
1894 – French officer Alfred Dreyfus court-martialed for treason, triggers worldwide charges of anti-Semitism (Dreyfus later vindicated)
1902 – Joe Adonis, Italy, American crime-syndicate boss in NY & NJ – born
1912 – Lady Bird Johnson, American wife of Lyndon B. Johnson, 38th First Lady of the United States (d. 2007) was birthed.
1912 – Doris Duke, NYC, heiress (American Tobacco Co) Birthed
1920 – The GOELRO economic development plan is adopted by the 8th Congress of Soviets of the Russian SFSR.
1930 – Convention of Economic Rapprochement/Oslo Agreements signed between some European countries in response to the Great Depression
1937 – Lincoln Tunnel (NYC) opens to traffic
1939 – James Gurley, American guitarist (Big Brother and the Holding Company) (d. 2009) was born.
1939 – Ma Rainey, “Mother of the Blues”, US blues singer/composer, dies at 53
1939 – Indian Muslims observe a “Day of Deliverance” to celebrate the resignations of members of the Indian National Congress over their not having been consulted over the decision to enter World War II with the United Kingdom.
1941 – Karel Hašler, Czech songwriter, actor, lyricist, director, composer, writer, dramatist and screenwriter, murdered at Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp (b. 1879) died. In September 1941, during production of the film Městečko na dlani, based on the script by Jan Drda, he was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to the Mauthausen concentration camp. The main reason for his arrest was his patriotic songs. In Mauthausen he was tortured to death.
1942 – World War II: Adolf Hitler signs the order to develop the V-2 rocket as a weapon.
1942 – Dick Parry, Kentford, Suff., saxophonist (Pink Floyd, ‘Money’) Born
1943 – Paul Wolfowitz, American politician Israeli Duel Citizen, architect of War on Terror… Birthed
Pre 911 “Pearl Harbor” speech at West Point
1943 – Beatrix Potter, English author and illustrator (b. 1866) died.
1944 – World War II: Battle of the Bulge – German troops demand the surrender of United States troops at Bastogne, Belgium, prompting the famous one word reply by General Anthony McAuliffe: “Nuts!”
1944 – Barry Jenkins, English drummer (The Animals) was born.
1944 – World War II: The Vietnam People’s Army is formed to resist Japanese occupation of Indochina, now Vietnam.
1945 – Diane Sawyer (Bilderberg), Glasgow Ky, newscaster (60 Minutes, ABC Prime Time) Birthed
1948 – Rick Nielsen, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Cheap Trick, Fuse, and Buck Satan and the 666 Shooters) was born.
1949 – Maurice Gibb, Manx-English musician, singer, songwriter and record producer (Bee Gees, The Bloomfields, and The Rattlesnakes) (d. 2003) was born.
1949 – Robin Gibb, Manx-English singer-songwriter and record producer (Bee Gees and The Rattlesnakes) (d. 2012) was born.
1956 – Colo, the first gorilla to be bred in captivity, is born at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio.
1960 – Jean-Michel Basquiat, Haiti/US graffiti artist/painter (Gray, SAMO) Born
1960 – Luther Campbell (Luke), American rap artist (2 Live Crew) Born
1964 – Comedian Lenny Bruce is convicted of obscenity.
1964 – First flight of the SR-71 (Blackbird).
1967 – Richey James Edwards, Welsh musician (Manic Street Preachers) (disappeared in 1995) Born
1971 – UN General Assembly ratifies former Austrian President Kurt Waldheim (Nazi sympathizer) as secretary-General
1972 – 6.25 earthquake strikes Managua Nicaragua, 12,000+ killed
1974 – The house of former British Prime Minister Edward Heath is (allegedly) attacked by members of the Provisional IRA.
1978 – Kenney Jones becomes The Who’s new drummer
1984 – Bernhard Goetz shoots four African American would-be muggers on an express train in Manhattan section of New York, New York.
1985 – D. Boon, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (The Minutemen and The Reactionaries) (b. 1958) died.
1988 – 2 robbers wearing police uniforms rob armored truck of $3 M in NJ
1988 – Tug hits oil barge, spreads 231,000 gal on 300 mi of WA & BC coast
1988 – Chico Mendes, Brazilian environmental activist and rubber tapper, assassinated at 44 by rancher Darcy Alves
1989 – Samuel Beckett, Irish/French writer (Molloy, Nobel 1969), dies at 83
1989 – After 23 years of dictatorial rule, Romania ousts Nicolae Ceausescu
1989 – Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate re-opens after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany.
1992 – The Archives of Terror are discovered.
1994 – Italian government of Berlusconi resigns
1995 – Butterfly McQueen, actress (Gone With the Wind), dies in a fire at 84
1997 – Acteal massacre: Attendees at a prayer meeting of Roman Catholic activists for indigenous causes in the small village of Acteal in the Mexican state of Chiapas are massacred by paramilitary forces.
2001 – Burhanuddin Rabbani, political leader of the Northern Alliance, hands over power in Afghanistan to the interim government headed by President Hamid Karzai.
2001 – (Shoe Bomber) Richard Reid attempts to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes aboard American Airlines Flight 63. see: PROBLEMS SURFACE WITH SHOE BOMBER STORY)
2002 – Joe Strummer, English singer-songwriter and actor (The Clash, The Mescaleros, and The Pogues) (b. 1952) died.
2005 – Mexico was demanding that Latin America join in the fight against American plans to erect a 700 mile wall on the border between Mexico and the U.S.
2012 – Mike Scaccia, American guitarist (Ministry, Rigor Mortis, Lard, and League of Blind Women) (b. 1965) died.
2010 – The repeal of the Don’t ask, don’t tell policy, the 17-year-old policy banning homosexuals serving openly in the United States military, is signed into law by President Barack Obama.