304 – Saint Emmanuel, Christian martyr killed under Diocletian
1484 – William Caxton prints his translation of Aesop’s Fables.
1812 – A political cartoon in the Boston Gazette coins the term “gerrymander” to describe oddly shaped electoral districts designed to help incumbents win reelection.
1827 – Ludwig van Beethoven, German pianist and composer (b. 1770) died.
1874 – Robert Frost, American poet and playwright (d. 1963) was born.
1881 – Guccio Gucci, Italian fashion designer, founded Gucci (d. 1953) was born.
1892 – Walt Whitman, American poet, dies in Camden, NJ at 72
1885 – The Métis people of the District of Saskatchewan under Louis Riel begin the North-West Rebellion against Canada.
1902 – Cecil Rhodes, Prime Minister of Cape Colony (1890-96) dies at 48
1911 – Tennessee Williams, Columbus Miss, playwright (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) Born
1915 – Ice Hockey: The Vancouver Millionaires sweep the Ottawa Senators three-games-to-none to win the 1915 Stanley Cup Finals, the first championship played between the Pacific Coast Hockey Association and the National Hockey Association.
1917 – World War I: First Battle of Gaza – British troops are halted after 17,000 Turks block their advance.
1919 – Strother Martin, Kokomo Ind, actor (Cool Hand Luke, Slapshot) Born
1930 – Sandra Day O’Connor, American lawyer and jurist was born.
1930 – Gregory Corso, beat poet (Happy Birthday of Death, Long Live Man) Born
1931 – Leonard Nimoy, American actor, singer, and director (d. 2015) was born.
1934 – Alan Arkin, actor (Catch 22, In-Laws, Simon, Wait Until Dark), born in NYC, New York
1934 – The driving test is introduced in the United Kingdom.
1935 – Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian politician, 2nd President of the State of Palestine was born.
1940 – Nancy Pelosi, American politician, 60th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives was birthed
1941 – Richard Dawkins, Kenyan-English biologist was born.
1942 – Erica Jong, [Mann], author (Fear of Flying), born in NYC, New York
1942 – World War II: The first female prisoners arrive at Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland.
1943 – Bob Woodward, American journalist and author was born.
1944 – Diana Ross, American singer and actress (The Supremes) was born.
1945 – World War II: The Battle of Iwo Jima ends as the island is officially secured by American forces.
1948 – Steven Tyler, American singer-songwriter and actor (Aerosmith and Chain Reaction) was born.
1949 – Fran Sheehan, American bass player (Boston) was born.
1950 – Martin Short, Hamilton Ontario, comedian (SNL, SCTV, 3 Amigos) Born
1950 – Ronnie McDowell, Fountain Head Tn, country singer (King is Gone) Born
1950 – Teddy Pendergrass, Phila, singer (Turn Off the Lights) Born
1959 – Chris Hansen, American journalist was born.
1968 – James Iha, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (The Smashing Pumpkins, A Perfect Circle, Whiskeytown, and Tinted Windows) was born.
1971 – East Pakistan declares its independence from Pakistan to form the People’s Republic of Bangladesh and the Bangladesh Liberation War begins.
1973 – Larry Page, American computer scientist, co-founder and CEO of Google was born.
1973 – Noel Coward, English playwright (Private Letters), dies at 73
1975 – The Biological Weapons Convention comes into force.
1979 – Anwar al-Sadat, Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter sign the Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty in Washington, D.C..
1982 – A groundbreaking ceremony for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is held in Washington, D.C..
1985 – Keira Knightley, English actress (Bend It Like Beckham, Pirates of the Caribbean), born in London, England
1997 – Thirty-nine bodies are found in the Heaven’s Gate mass suicides.
1999 – The “Melissa worm” infects Microsoft word processing and e-mail systems around the world.
1999 – A jury in Michigan finds Dr. Jack Kevorkian guilty of second-degree murder for administering a lethal injection to a terminally ill man.
2002 – Randy Castillo, American drummer and songwriter (Red Square Black and Mötley Crüe) (b. 1950) died.
2005 – The Taiwanese government calls on one million Taiwanese to demonstrate in Taipei, in opposition to the Anti-Secession Law of the People’s Republic of China. Around 200,000 to 300,000 attend the demonstration.
2011 – Geraldine Ferraro, Congresswoman and VP nominee (b. 1935) Dies
2011 – Paul Baran, internet pioneer who helped create the technical underpinnings of Arpanet, dies at 84
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