1173 Pope Alexander III canonizes Thomas Becket Archbishop of Canterbury.
1417 Birth of Louis IX Duke of Bayern (University of Ingolstadt).
1431 England begins trial against Joan of Arc.
1437 Death of King James I of Scotland (b. 1394)
1440 The Prussian Confederation is formed.
1471 Death of John of Rokycan, Czech Catholic archbishop
1484 Birth of Joachim I Nestor elector (Brandenburg, Constitution).
1513 Death of Pope Julius II (b. 1443)
1513 Julius II [Giuliano dellea Rovere], Roman Catholic Pope (1503-13), dies at age 69.
1543 Battle of Wayna Daga – A combined army of Ethiopian and Portuguese troops defeated a Muslim army led by Ahmed Gragn.
1543 Death of Ahmed Gragn, Sultan of Adal
1554 Death of Hieronymus Bock, German botanist
1554 Hieronymus Bock German doctor (founder of modern botany), dies.
1556 Birth of Sethus Calvisius composer.
1564 Philip II routes cardinal Granvelle to Franche-ComtT.
1574 Spanish garrison of Middelburg Netherlands surrenders.
1583 Groningen Netherlands begins using Gregorian calendar.
1595 Death of Robert Southwell, English poet
1595 Robert Southwell English Jesuit/poet, hanged.
1598 Boris Godunov crowned tsar.
1613 Michael Romanov, son of the Patriarch of Moscow, elected Russian tsar.
1613 Mikhail I is elected unanimously as Tsar by a national assembly, beginning the Romanov dynasty of Imperial Russia .
1621 Birth of Rebecca Nurse, American accused witch (d. 1692)
1624 Dirck van Baburen Dutch painter (Sepulture), dies at about age 28.
1648 Christian IV king of Denmark/Norway, dies.
1653 Adriaen Pauw master of Heemstede/Dutch Grand Pensionary, dies at age 71.
1668 Death of John Thurloe, English Puritan spy (b. 1616)
1673 Michiel A de Ruyter appointed Lieutenant-Admiral-General of Dutch fleet.
1674 Birth of Johann Augustin Kobelius composer.
1675 Birth of Franz Xaver Josef von Unertl, Bavarian politician (d. 1750)
1675 Prince Willem III appointed viceroy of Gelderland.
1677 [Benedictus] Baruch Spinoza philosopher, dies at age 44.
1677 Death of Baruch Spinoza, Dutch philosopher (b. 1632)
1684 Birth of Justus van Effen writer/founder (Holland Spectator).
1684 Pieter van den Abeelen Dutch jeweller, dies at about age 75.
1688 Birth of Queen Ulrike Eleonora of Sweden (d. 1741)
1689 Isaacus Vossius Dutch [Isaac Vos], librarian, dies.
1690 Birth of Christoph Stoltzenberg composer.
1705 Birth of Edward Hawke, 1st Baron Hawke, British naval officer (d. 1781)
1710 Birth of Willem van Haren Frisian nobleman/poet (Human Life).
1711 Joan van Hoorn Governor-General of Netherlands-Indies (1707-09), dies at age 57.
1715 Death of Charles Calvert, 3rd Baron Baltimore, Governor of the Province of Maryland (b. 1637)
1721 Birth of John McKinly, American physician and President of Delaware (d. 1796)
1723 Birth of Louis-Pierre Anquetil, French historian (d. 1808)
1728 Birth of Peter III Kiel Germany, Russian tsar (1761-62), husband of Catherine.
1730 Benedict XIII [Pietro F Orsini], Pope (1724-30), dies at age 81.
1730 Birth of Charles L Fournier Flemish writer/painter.
1743 The premiere in London of George Frideric Handel’s oratorio, “Samson”.
1744 Birth of Eise J Eisinga Frisia, built planetarium Franeker.
1764 John Wilkes thrown out of English House of Commons for “Essay on Women”.
1776 Birth of Vincenzo Lavigna composer.
1777 English ambassador Joseph Yorke demands dismissal of Governor John de Graaff for saluting US flag.
1779 Birth of Friedrich C von Savigny German lawyer.
1782 US congress resolves the establishment of a US mint.
1785 Birth of Karl A Varnhagen von Ense German officer/author (Die Sterner).
1788 Death of Johann Georg Palitzsch, German astronomer (b. 1723)
1790 Johann Friedrich Kloffler composer, dies at age 64.
1791 Birth of Carl Czerny, Austrian composer (d. 1857)
1792 US Congress passes Presidential Succession Act.
1794 Birth of Antonio L=pez de Santa Anna President of MTxico (1833-36).
1795 Birth of Francisco Manuel da Silva composer.
1795 Freedom of worship established in France under constitution.
1797 Trinidad, West Indies surrenders to the British.
1800 Birth of John Henry Winder Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1865.
1801 Birth of Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda composer.
1802 Birth of George Douglas Ramsey Brevet Major General (Union Army), died in 1882.
1803 Edward Despard last person drawn and quartered in England.
1804 First locomotive, Richard Trevithick’s, runs for first time, in Wales.
1804 The first self-propelling steam locomotive makes its outing at the Pen-y-Darren ironworks in Wales.
1805 Birth of David Tod US diplomat/(Governor-Republican-Ohio, 1861-63).
1808 Russia attacks Finland, declaring intentions to annex it.
1814 Birth of Nicolo Gabrielli composer.
1815 Birth of Ernest Meissonier French painter/sculptor.
1817 Birth of JosT Zorrilla y Moral Vallodolid Spain, poet/dramatist (El rey Loco).
1821 Birth of Charles Scribner US, music publisher (Scribner Catalog).
1824 Death of EugFne de Beauharnais, son of Napoleon’s wife, Josephine (b. 1781)
1828 First American Indian newspaper in US, Cherokee Phoenix (weekly), Georgia.
1829 Birth of Johnson Hagood Brigadier General (Confederate Army), died in 1898.
1831 Birth of Eduard Rappoldi composer.
1836 Birth of Clement-Philibert-Leo Delibes composer.
1837 Birth of Rosal?a de Castro Spanish writer (Canteres Gallegos, Follas Novas).
1842 First known sewing machine patented in US, John Greenough, Washington DC.
1842 John J. Greenough patents the sewing machine.
1842 Wojciech Zywny composer, dies at age 85.
1844 Birth of Charles-Marie Widor Lyons France, composer/professor (Paris Conservatory).
1846 Death of Emperor Ninko of Japan, (b. 1800)
1846 First US woman telegrapher, Sarah G Bagley, Lowell Massachusetts.
1848 Karl Marx publishes the Communist Manifesto.
1852 Nikolai Gogol Russian playwright (Dead Souls), dies.
1855 Birth of Alice Freeman Palmer educator (Hall of Fame).
1856 Birth of Hendrik P Berlage architect (Stock exchange Amsterdam).
1857 Birth of Jules de Trooz baron/premier of Belgium (1907).
1857 US Mint Act provides for a cent composed of 12 percent nickel and 88 percent copper, weighing 72 grains, measuring 0.75 inch diameter; also ends the striking of half cents, and removes legal tender status of foreign coins in the United States except Spanish pillar dollar and Mexican dollar.
1858 Edwin T Holmes installs first electric burglar alarm (Boston Massachusetts).
1861 Birth of Pierre Breville composer.
1861 Navaho Indians elect Herrero Grande as chief.
1862 Confederate Constitution and Presidency are declared permanent.
1862 Death of Justinus Kerner, German poet (b. 1786)
1862 Justinus A C Kerner German family doctor/poet/writer, dies at age 75.
1862 Texas Texas Rangers win Confederate victory at Battle of Val Verde, New Mexico.
1864 Battle at Okolona, Mississippi.
1864 First US Catholic parish church for blacks dedicated, Baltimore Maryland.
1864 Jeffery Forrest US Confederate Brigadier-General, dies in battle.
1865 Birth of John Haden Badley, English author and school founder (d. 1967)
1866 Lucy B Hobbs (Taylor) becomes first US woman to earn a DDS degree.
1867 Birth of Otto Hermann Kahn Banker, organized Metropolitan Opera Company.
1872 Pavel P Gagarin Russian monarch/politician, dies at age 82.
1874 Benjamin Disraeli replaces William Gladstone as English premier.
1874 Oakland Daily Tribune begins publication.
1874 The Oakland Daily Tribune publishes its first newspaper.
1875 Birth of Jeanne Louise Calment France, world’s oldest woman (died at age 122).
1875 Jeanne Calment was born, going on to live for 122 years 164 days, the longest confirmed lifespan for any human being in history.
1876 Birth of Constantin Brancusi Romanian/French sculptor (Princesse X).
1876 Henry John Gauntlett composer, dies at age 70.
1877 Birth of Jacob D du Toit [Totius] South African poet/theologist.
1878 Birth of Fritz Cortolezis composer.
1878 First telephone directory (with 50 names) issued (New Haven Connecticut).
1878 The first telephone book is issued in New Haven, Connecticut.
1879 Peter P van Bosse Dutch liberal minister of Finance, dies at age 69.
1880 Birth of Frank Orth Philadelphia Pennsylvania; actor (Boston Blackie, The Brothers).
1881 Birth of Savilly Tartakower Austrian/Polish/French chess player.
1882 New York City’s 24 hour race begins, winner with most mileage in 24 hours.
1883 Birth of J M M “Mick” Commaille cricket player (dual South African cricket/soccer representative).
1883 Second French government of Ferry begins.
1884 John Pike Hullah composer, dies at age 71.
1885 Birth of Sacha Guitry France; actor/playwright (Story of a Cheat).
1885 The newly completed Washington Monument is dedicated.
1885 Washington Monument dedicated (Washington DC).
1887 Birth of Savielly [Xavier] G Tartakower Austrian/Polish/French chess player.
1887 First US bacteriology laboratory opens (Brooklyn).
1887 Oregon becomes first US state to make Labor Day a holiday.
1888 Birth of Florence Bates Texas, actress (Moon and Sixpence, Love Crazy, San Antonio).
1889 Birth of Felix Aylmer actor (Anastasia, Hamlet, Iron Duke, Macbeth, Saint Joan).
1893 Birth of AndrTs Segovia Linares Spain, classical guitarist.
1893 Thomas Edison receives two U.S. patents for a “Cut Out for Incandescent Electric Lamps” and for a “Stop Device”
1894 Gustave Caillebotte French shipbuilding designer/painter, dies at age 45.
1895 Birth of Carl Peter Henrik Dam Danish biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1976)
1895 North Carolina Legislature, adjourns for day to mark death of Frederick Douglass.
1896 Birth of Sylvain Poons Dutch cabaret performer (Blue Jackets).
1897 Birth of Celia Lovsky Vienna Austria, actress (Airport, Harlow, T’Pau-Star Trek).
1898 Birth of Vassily Vainonen Russian ballet dancers/choreographer (Gayaneh).
1900 Birth of Madeleine Renaud French actress/theater director (Plaisir).
1901 Death of George Francis FitzGerald, Irish mathematician (b. 1851)
1902 Birth of Arthur D Nock English/US historian (Saint Paul).
1902 Dr Harvey Cushing, first US brain surgeon, does his first brain operation.
1903 Birth of Ana?s Nin Paris, novelist (Winter of Artifice, House of Incense).
1903 Cornerstone laid for US army war college, Washington DC.
1904 Birth of Armand Preud’homme Flemish organist/poet.
1904 National Ski Association formed, Ishpeming Michigan.
1907 Birth of Wystan Hugh Auden US, poet (Age of Anxiety-Pulitzer 1948).
1907 SS Berlin sinks off Hoek van Holland Netherlands (142 dead).
1909 Birth of George G F van Renesse Dutch pianist/music director.
1909 John Galsworthy’s “Strife” premieres in London.
1910 Birth of Douglas R S Bader British pilot (WWII).
1910 John Galsworthy’s “Justice” premieres in London.
1912 Birth of Arline Judge actress (Girls in Chains, Mad Wednesday, Age of Consent).
1913 Birth of Glenn M Anderson (Representative-Democrat-California, 1969-).
1914 Birth of Arnold S Denker New York, US chess champion (1944-46).
1914 White Wolf troops attack Zhanjiang China.
1915 20th Russian Army corps surrenders.
1915 Birth of Godfrey Brown England, 4 X 400 metre runner (Olympics-gold-1936).
1916 Battle of Verdun (WWI) begins (one million casualties).
1916 World War I: In France the Battle of Verdun begins.
1917 Birth of Victor G M Marijnen Dutch premier (1963-65).
1917 British Mendi sinks off Isle of Wight, 627 die.
1917 Train near Chirurcha Romania catches fire and explodes; 100s die.
1918 Australians chase Turkish troop out of Jericho, Dutch Palestine.
1919 German National Meeting accepts Anschluss incorporation of Austria.
1919 Giovanni Bolzoni composer, dies at age 77.
1919 Habib Ullah Chan emir of Afghanistan (1901-19), murdered at age 46.
1919 Karl von Hohenzollern Prince of Belgium, dies.
1919 Kurt Eisner premier Bayern (socialist), murdered at age 51.
1919 Revolutionary strike in Barcelona.
1920 Darius Milhaud and Jean Cocteau’s ballet, “Le Train Bleu” premieres in Paris.
1921 France and Poland make a secret military agreement, specifying that if Germany attacks either nation, the other will assist in defence. If Poland is attacked by Soviet Russia, France is to hold Germany in check on land and at sea.
1922 Airship Rome explodes at Hampton Roads Virginia; 34 die.
1922 Birth of Murray “the K” Kaufman New York City DJ (5th Beatle).
1922 Great Britain grants Egypt independence.
1923 Birth of Zvi Zeitlin in Dubrovnik, Yugoslavia; violinist/professor (Eastman School).
1924 Birth of Robert G Mugabe; Premier/President of Zimbabwe.
1925 Birth of Sam Peckinpah, American director (d. 1984)
1925 Mass meeting of SPD’s Reichsbanner Black-Red-Gold in Magdeburg.
1925 The New Yorker publishes its first issue.
1926 Birth of Hans Andreus [Johan W van der Zant]; Dutch poet (Animal Language).
1926 Death of Heike Kamerlingh Onnes, Dutch physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1853)
1926 Heike Kamerlingh Onnes; Dutch physicist (Nobel Prize 1913), dies at age 72.
1927 Birth of Hubert de Givenchy in Beauvais, France; fashion designer (Audrey Hepburn).
1929 Birth of Roberto “Chespirito” Carlos Bolan)s, Mexican actor, writer, comedian, and songwriter
1931 Chicago White Sox and New York Giants play first exhibition night game.
1931 Peruvian revolutionaries hijack a Ford Trimotor aeroplane and demand that the pilot drop propaganda leaflets over Lima.
1932 AndrT Tardieu becomes premier of France.
1932 Birth of Harald V King of Norway (1991-).
1932 Camera exposure meter patented, WN Goodwin.
1933 Birth of Nina Simone [Eunice Waymon] in Tyron, North Carolina, USA; singer/pianist (“I Loves You Porgy”).
1934 Birth of Rue McClanahan, American actress
1934 Nicaraguan patriot Augusto Cesar Sandino assassinated by National Guard.
1936 Birth of Barbara Jordan in Houston, Texas, USA; American politician (Representative-Democrat-Texas, 1972-78).
1937 Birth of Ron Clarke in Australia; runner (held 19 world records).
1937 Initial flight of the first successful flying car, Waldo Waterman’s Arrowbile.
1937 The League of Nations bans foreign national “volunteers” in the Spanish Civil War.
1938 Birth of Beryl F Anthony Jr; American politician (Representative-Democrat-California, 1979-).
1938 Death of George Ellery Hale, American astronomer (b. 1868)
1939 Belgian government of Pierlot forms.
1939 Birth of Ron Nagle; rock producer (Riding with the King).
1940 Birth of John Lewis; American politician (Representative-Democrat-Georgia).
1941 Birth of Charlie Shelburne; English earl/large landowner.
1941 Death of Frederick Banting, Canadian physician, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1891)
1941 US Senate accepts Omar Bradley’s demotion to Brigadier-General.
1942 Birth of Margarethe von Trotta, German actor, film director, and writer
1942 US female Figure Skating championship won by Jane Vaughn.
1942 US male Figure Skating championship won by Bobby Specht.
1943 Birth of David Geffen in Brooklyn, New York, USA; record producer (Geffen, Asylum).
1943 Dutch Roman Catholic bishops protest against persecution of Jews.
1943 German offensive at Western Dorsalgebergte, Tunisia.
1944 Death of Ferenc Szisz, Hungarian-born race car driver (b. 1873)
1945 Allied forces break through the Siegfried Line in Europe.
1945 Archbishop De Jong calls for help with war casualties.
1945 Birth of Sudhir Naik; cricket player (Indian Test batsman in two Tests 1974).
1945 British Army captures Goch.
1945 Death of Eric Liddell, Scottish runner (b. 1902)
1945 Eric Liddell, Scottish runner (Olympics-gold 1924), dies at age 43.
1945 The US 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team liberates Corregidor, Philippines.
1945 US 10th Armour division overthrows Orscholz line.
1946 Anti-British demonstrations in Egypt.
1946 A special people’s court in Helsinki, Finland, finds former President Rysto Ryti guilty of leading Finland into war against Russia at the side of Germany. He is sentenced to ten years of hard labor in prison. Seven other former Government officials are also convicted, with sentences of 2 to 5 1/2 years.
1946 Birth of Desmond Lewis; West Indies cricket batsman/keeper (average 86.33 in three Tests).
1947 Birth of Olympia J Snowe; American politician (Representative-Republican-Maine, 1979-).
1947 First instant developing camera demonstrated in New York City, by E H Land.
1947 In New York City Edwin Land demonstrates the first “instant camera”, the Polaroid Land Camera, to a meeting of the Optical Society of America.
1947 Whipper Billy Watson beats Bill Longson, to become wrestling champion.
1948 Birth of Larry Ragland in Richmond, Virginia, USA; comedian (Keep on Truckin’).
1948 NASCAR is incorporated.
1949 Birth of Jerry Harrison in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; rock keyboardist (Talking Heads – “And She Was”).
1951 Birth of John Parker; cricket player (New Zealand batsman of 70s).
1951 South Carolina House urges “Shoeless Joe” Jackson be reinstated.
1952 Bangladesh Martyrs Day (martyrs of Bengali Language Movement).
1952 Birth of Jean-Jacques Brunel; rock bassist (Stranglers – “Dreamtime”).
1952 Dick Button performs first figure skating triple jump in competition.
1952 In East Pakistan (Present Bangladesh) Police opened fire on a procession of students, who demended to establish Bangla as the State Language, killing four people and starting a country-wide protest which led to the independence of Bangladesh in 1971. 21st February was later declared as “International Mother Language Day” by UNESCO.
1952 Language Martyrs’ Day, marking language-revolution in the then East Pakistan (currently, the independent state of People’s Republic of Bangladesh).
1952 The government of Winston Churchill abolishes Identity Cards in the UK to “set the people free”.
1953 Birth of Christine Ebersole, American actress
1953 Francis Crick and James D. Watson discover the structure of the DNA molecule.
1953 Longest collegiate basketball game (six overtimes); Niagara beats Siena 88-81.
1954 Birth of Ivo van Damme in Belgium; 800/1500-metre dash (Olympics-silver-1976).
1955 Birth of Sir Steven Fayburgh, British diplomat
1957 Fort Worth Dodgers and Los Angeles Cubs “trade” minor league franchises.
1958 Birth of Alan Trammell in Garden Grove, California, USA; infielder (Detroit Tigers).
1958 Egypt-Syria as United Arab Republic elect Gamal Abdel Nasser President (99.9 percent vote).
1960 Cuban leader Fidel Castro nationalizes all businesses in Cuba.
1960 Fay Crocker wins LPGA Lake Worth Golf Open.
1961 Birth of Ranking Roger; rock vocalist (English Beat – “Drowning”).
1961 Blaise Cendrars [FrTdTric Sauser-Hall], Swiss poet, dies at age 73.
1961 Gabon adopts constitution.
1962 Birth of Jim Starr, American Gladiator “Laser”
1962 Minister De Pous confirms natural gas reserves in Groningen, Netherlands.
1963 Birth of Greg Turner in Dunedin, New Zealand; Australasia golfer.
1963 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
1964 Birth of Mark E Kelly in Orange, New Jersey, USA; Lieutenant US Navy/astronaut.
1965 Birth of Jayson Meyer in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada; hockey defenseman (Team Germany).
1965 Death of Malcolm X, American black activist (b. 1925)
1965 In New York City, New York, USA, El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz (Malcolm X), an African American nationalist and religious leader, is assassinated by rival Nation of Islam members while addressing his Organization of Afro-American Unity.
1965 Malcolm X is assassinated at the Audubon Ballroom in New York City by members of the Nation of Islam.
1966 Birth of Chris Donnels; US baseball infielder (Houston Astros).
1966 Indonesia’s President Sukarno fires General Nasution.
1967 Birth of Bas Roorda; Dutch soccer player (FC Groningen, NEC).
1967 Death of Charles Beaumont, American writer (b. 1929)
1968 150,000 demonstrate against leftist students in West Berlin.
1968 American Major League Baseball announces a minimum annual salary of $10,000.
1968 Birth of Pellom McDaniels; NFL defensive end (Kansas City Chiefs).
1968 Death of Howard Walter Florey, Australian-born pharmocologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1898)
1969 Birth of Dean Noel; Canadian Football League full back (Hamilton Tiger Cats).
1969 First launching of heavy N-1 rocket at Baikonur, Kazachstan (explodes).
1969 JosT de Capriles, Mexican-born US Olympics fencer, dies.
1969 Ted Williams signs five-year contract to manage Washington Senators.
1970 Birth of Javier De La Hoya; Mexican/US baseball pitcher (Florida Marlins).
1970 Pathet Lao conquers Xieng Khuang and Muong Suy in Laos.
1970 Swissair Flight 330: A mid-air bomb explosion and subsequent crash kills 38 passengers and nine crew members near Zürich, Switzerland.
1971 Birth of Arco Jochemsen; Dutch soccer player (SVDB, Vitesse).
1971 Ruth Jessen wins LPGA Sears Women’s World Golf Classic.
1971 Series of tornadoes cuts through Mississippi and Louisiana killing 117.
1971 The Convention on Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.
1972 Birth of Karl DeWolf; hockey defenseman (Team France 1998).
1972 Death of Bronislava Nijinska, Polish-Russian ballet dancer (b. 1891)
1972 President Richard Nixon visits the People’s Republic of China to normalize Sino-American relations.
1972 The Soviet unmanned spaceship Luna 20 lands on the Moon.
1972 US President Richard Nixon becomes first US President to visit China.
1973 Birth of Brian Rolston in Flint, Michigan, USA; NHL left wing (Olympics-1994, New Jersey Devils).
1973 Chicago Black Hawks play record 262nd NHL game without being shut-out.
1973 Over the Sinai Desert, Israeli fighter aircraft shoot down a Libyan Airlines jet killing 108.
1974 Birth of Alexei Lojkin; NHL forward (Belarus, Olympics-1998).
1974 Death of Tim Horton, Canadian hockey player (b. 1905)
1974 Israeli forces leave western Suez.
1974 Silver hits record US$5.965 an ounce in London, England.
1974 The last Israeli soldiers leave the west bank of the Suez Canal in carrying out a truce with Egypt.
1974 The long-running Japanese comic strip “Sazae-san” publishes its final installment in the Asahi Shimbun.
1974 Tom Seaver becomes the highest-paid pitcher in baseball history when he signs a contract for US$172,000 per season with the New York Mets.
1974 Yugoslavia adopts constitution.
1975 Birth of Scott Miller in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; swimmer (Olympics-silver-1996).
1975 John Mitchell, former Chief of Staff Harry R Haldeman, and John D Ehrlichman sentenced to 2.5-8 years.
1975 Watergate scandal: Former United States Attorney General John N. Mitchell and former White House aides H. R. Haldeman and John Ehrlichman are sentenced to prison.
1976 Birth of Robin Confer; soccer forward (Olympics-1996).
1976 Cardinal Willebrands installed as archbishop of Utrecht.
1977 74 Unification Church couples wed in New York City, New York.
1977 Birth of Steve Francis, American basketball player
1979 Birth of Pascal Chimbonda, French footballer
1979 Glendon Gibbs, cricket player (Test Cricket West Indies versus Australia 1955), dies.
1979 Japan launches Hakucho x-ray satellite and Corsa-B (550/580 km).
1979 Two Iowa girls High School basketball teams play four scoreless quarters; the game is won 4-2 in the fourth overtime period.
1980 Birth of Brad Fast; Canadian ice hockey player.
1980 Eric Heiden skates Olympics record 1500 metre in 1:55.44.
1980 Hanni Wenzel is first Liechtensteiner to win Olympics gold (giant slalom).
1981 Charles Rocket, portraying the gunshot victim in a Saturday Night Live parody of the “Who Shot J.R.” plot on the program Dallas, said, “I’d like to know who the fuck did it,” during the live feed of the “goodnights” segment. Afterward, everyone except Eddie Murphy and Joe Piscopo was fired.
1981 Japan launches Hinotori satellite to study solar flares (580/640 k).
1981 NASA launches Comstar D-4.
1982 Beth Daniel wins LPGA Bent Tree Ladies Golf Classic.
1983 Birth of Braylon Edwards, American football player
1983 Donald Davis runs one mile backwards in 6 minutes 7.1 seconds.
1983 NBA San Diego Clippers begin a 29-game road losing streak.
1984 Birth of Karina, Japanese model and actress.
1984 Death of Michail Aleksandrovich Sholokhov, Russian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1905).
1984 Timex withdraws from the home computer business. Timex introduced the British Sinclair Research ZX81 computer to North America as the Timex/Sinclair 1000 in 1982. Priced at $100, then dropped to $50, a lack of software and physical size and memory size limitations dampened initial public enthusiasm.
1985 Eric Herfst, Dutch cabaret performer (Floris), dies at age 47.
1985 Evert van Benthem wins 13th Friese 11 city skating race.
1985 Largest NBA crowd to date: 44,970 (Atlanta Hawks at Detroit Pistons).
1985 Tim Raines is awarded a US$12 million salary for 1985 by arbitrator.
1986 Birth of Charlotte Church; Welsh soprano.
1986 Death of Helen Hooven Santmyer, American writer (born 1895).
1986 In defiance of the Cincinnati Reds’ policy, Rollie Fingers refuses to cut off his handlebar mustache, and retires from baseball.
1986 Metallica released their 3rd album Master of Puppets.
1986 Nintendo released The Legend of Zelda for the Famicom in Japan.
1986 Tennis star Jimmy Connors fined US$20,000 and suspended for ten weeks.
1987 Birth of Ellen Page; Canadian actress.
1987 Cindy Rarick wins LPGA Tsumura Hawaiian Ladies Golf Open.
1987 Syrian army marches into Beirut, Lebanon.
1988 Actor Dudley Moore marries actress Brogan Lane.
1988 During a live TV broadcast, televangelist Jimmy Swaggart confesses to an unspecified sin, then announces he would be leaving his ministry for an unspecified length of time.
1988 Gustafson skates world record 10 km (13:48.20).
1988 Jimmy Swaggart, on his own televangelism program being taped in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, confesses that he is guilty of an unspecified sin and will be temporarily leaving the pulpit.
1989 Birth of Corbin Bleu, American actor and singer.
1989 Pete Rose meets with Commissioner Ueberroth to discuss his gambling.
1989 US bust Chinese heroin ring, capture record 820 pounds heroin ($1 billion street value).
1990 32nd Grammy Awards: “Wind Beneath My Wings”, Nick of Time win.
1991 Dame Margot Fonteyn, English ballerina, dies of cancer at age 71 (born 1919).
1991 Death of John Sherman Cooper, a U.S. Republican senator.
1991 In the Bering Sea, a magnitude 6.7 earthquake occurs. Believed to be the largest earthquake ever located in this area.
1991 USSR announces Iraq agrees to a proposal to end Persian Gulf War; US calls the plan unacceptable.
1992 Eva A Jessye, US singer/actress (Eva Jessye Choir), dies at age 97.
1992 Franc Holden, British astronomer (Binary Stars), dies.
1992 Kate A ter Horst-Arri?ns, Dutch nurse (Battle of Arnhem), dies at age 85.
1992 Kristi Yamaguchi of US wins Olympics gold medal in women’s figure skating.
1992 Roberto D’Aubuisson, El Salvadorian founder (ARENA), dies.
1992 The United Nations Security Council approves United Nations Resolution 743 to send a UNPROFOR peacekeeping force to Yugoslavia.
1993 43rd NBA All-Star Game: West beats East 135-132 (overtime) at Salt Lake City.
1993 Sergei Bubka pole vaults world record indoor (6.15 metres).
1994 Death of Luis Donaldo Colosio, Mexican politician (b. 1948)
1994 William Elgin Swinton, child psychiatrist, dies at age 54.
1995 Canadian Football League’s Sacramento Gold Miners become San Antonio Texans.
1995 Ibrahim Ali, a 17-year-old Comorian living in France, is murdered by three far-right National Front activists.
1995 Serkadji prison mutiny in Algeria; 4 guards and 96 prisoners killed in a day and a half.
1995 Serkadji prison mutiny in Algeria: Four guards and 96 prisoners are killed in a day and a half.
1995 Steve Fossett lands in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada becoming the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon.
1995 Steve Fossett lands in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada, becoming the first person to make a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon.
1996 Death of Morton Gould, American composer (b. 1913)
1996 Horace Leonard Gold, science fiction writer/editor, dies at age 81.
1996 Jean Burroughs, educationalist, dies at age 67.
1996 Morton Gould, American musician and composer, dies at age 82 (born 1913).
1996 Off the coast of Northern Peru, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake occurs.
1996 Soyuz TM-23 launched into orbit.
1996 Terence Edward Armstrong, polar geographer, dies at age 75.
1997 Michael Hollings, catholic priest/crusader, dies at age 75.
1997 STS 82 (Discovery 22) lands.
1999 Death of Gertrude B. Elion, American scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (born 1918).
2000 David Letterman returns to The Late Show over a month after having an emergency quintuple heart bypass surgery.
2002 Death of John Thaw, British actor (born 1942).
2003 Over 100 concert goers in Rhode Island die in a fire during a performance of the rock band Great White.
2004 Death of John Charles CBE, Welsh football player (born 1931).
2004 The first European political party organization, the European Greens, is established in Rome.
2005 Death of Ara Berberian, American opera singer (b. 1930)
2006 New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg unveils a brand new sign on the corner of West 66th Street called Peter Jennings Way in honor of the late ABC News anchor Peter Jennings.
2008 In Belgrade, Serbia, rioters storm the US embassy and set it on fire. British, German, Croatian, and Turkish embassies are also attacked.
2008 Thousands of Turkish troops cross into northern Iraq to hunt Kurdish rebels. This is the largest such incursion in ten years.
2009 The Fray’s album “The Fray” is No.1 on the Billboard album chart.
