EVENTS
- 1521 – Martin Luther faces charges for his revolutionary religious writings. The German monk was a leading figure of the Protestant Reformation. As a result of the hearing before the Diet of Worms, he was excommunicated and declared an outlaw.
Martin Luther - 1961 – A U.S.-backed attempt to overthrow Premier Fidel Castro of Cuba failed disastrously in what became known as the Bay of Pigs fiasco. About 1,400 anti-Castro exiles invaded the island’s southern coast along the Bay of Pigs but were overrun by 20,000 Cuban soldiers and jailed. Trained and guided by the U.S., the exiles had expected support from U.S. military aircraft and help from anti-Castro insurgents on the island. Instead, due to a series of mishaps, they had fended for themselves with no support. The failed invasion heightened Cold War tensions between Cuba’s political ally, Soviet Russia, and the fledgling administration of President John F. Kennedy. The following year, the Russians brazenly installed nuclear missiles in Cuba resulting in the Cuban Missile Crisis.
- 1975 – In Cambodia, Phnom Penh falls to the Khmer Rouge. The regime under “Brother number 1” Pol Pot tortured and killed several million people. Amongst the communists’ perceived enemies were intellectuals, anyone with a connection to the former government, and several ethnic minorities.
- 1978 – Mir Akbar Khyber’s assassination triggers a communist coup in Afghanistan. The Communists introduced a series of reforms, such as equal rights for women and universal education. These achievements were undone soon after by the outbreak of several wars.
- 1986 – The world’s longest war ends without a single shot having been fired. The state of war between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly had been extended for a total of 335 years by the lack of a peace treaty. Some historians doubt that war had ever been declared.
- 1989 – The Polish labor union Solidarity was granted legal status after nearly a decade of struggle, paving the way for the downfall of the Polish Communist Party. In the elections that followed, Solidarity candidates won 99 out of 100 parliamentary seats and eventually forced the acceptance of a Solidarity government led by Lech Walesa.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1734 – Taksin (Thai king)
- 1837 – American financier John Pierpont (J.P.) Morgan (1837-1913) was born in Hartford, Connecticut
- 1918 – William Holden (Actor)
- 1961 – Boomer Esiason (Football Player)
- 1964 – Maynard James Keenan (American singer-songwriter, producer)
- 1966 – Vikram (Indian actor, singer, producer)
- 1972 – Muttiah Muralitharan (Sri Lankan cricketer)
- 1972 – Jennifer Garner (Actress)
Jennifer Garner - 1974 – Victoria Beckham aka Posh Spice (Singer)
DEATHS
- 1680 – Kateri Tekakwitha (American saint)
- 1790 – Benjamin Franklin (American politician, scientist, publisher, 6th President of Pennsylvania)
- 1988 – Louise Nevelson (American sculptor)
“Atmosphere and Environment X” by Louise Nevelson - 2014 – Karpal Singh (Malaysian politician)
- 2014 – Gabriel García Márquez (Colombian author, journalist, Nobel Prize laureate)
