EVENTS
- 1783 – American Revolutionary War ends.
- 1789 – George Washington becomes the first US President.
- 1859 – German archeologist Constantin von Tischendorf discovers the Codex Sinaiticus.
- 1861 – The Confederacy is formed in the US Civil War.
- 1927 – The first Talkie movie is released.
- 1938 – Walt Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is release.
- 1945 – The Yalta Conference begins.
- 1948 – Ceylon (Sri Lanka) proclaims independence within the British Commonwealth.
- 1985 – Twenty countries in the United Nations signed a document entitled “Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.”
- 2004 – Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook is founded. The social networking service currently has over 1 billion active users.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1746 – Thaddeus Kosciusko (1746-1817) was born in Poland. He served in the American Revolution, building the first fortifications at West Point. He then returned to Poland and fought against a Russian invasion.
- 1902 – Charles Lindbergh (Aviator)
- 1906 – Dietrich Bonhoeffer (German pastor, theologian)
- 1913 – Rosa Parks (Civil Rights Activist)
- 1947 – Dan Quayle (US Vice-President)
- 1948 – Alice Cooper (American singer-songwriter, actor)
- 1959 – Lawrence Taylor (Football Player)
- 1973 – Oscar De La Hoya (Boxer)
- 1975 – Natalie Imbruglia (Actress and Singer)
- 1985 – Brandon Hall (Actor)
DEATHS
- 1894 – Adolphe Sax (Belgian musician, invented the saxophone)
- 1987 – Liberace (American singer, pianist, actor)
- 1987 – Meena Keshwar Kamal (Afghan activist, founded the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan)
- 2001 – Iannis Xenakis (Greek/French composer, engineer, theorist)
- 2006 – Betty Friedan (American author, activist)