EVENTS
- 1862 – The first pasteurization test completed by Louis Pasteur and Claude Bernard.
- 1902 – Pierre and Marie Curie discover the radioactive element radium. In 1903, the French couple received the Nobel Prize in Physics for their pioneering research.
- 1912 – Fenway Park (Boston) and Tiger Stadium (Detroit) both open for the first time.
- 1914 – Miners in Ludlow, Colorado, were attacked by National Guardsmen paid by the mining company. The miners were seeking recognition of their United Mine Workers Union. Five men and a boy were killed by machine gun fire while 11 children and two women burned to death as the miners’ tent colony was destroyed.
- 1926 – Sound is added to film for the first time.
- 1951 – A human organ is surgically replaced for the first time. Romanian surgeon Dan Gavriliu used a section of the stomach to bypass the esophagus.
- 1978 – Soviet air defense shoots down Korean Air Lines Flight 902. The Boeing 707’s crew had miscalculated their route, taking them into Soviet airspace at the height of the Cold War. The jet made an emergency landing on a frozen lake. Two passengers were killed in the incident.
- 1999 – The Columbine High School massacre occurs.
- 2010 – The Deepwater Horizon oil rig explodes. The explosion of the British Petroleum (BP) platform operated by Transocean killed 11 workers and led to the largest accidental marine oil spill in history.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1808 – Napoleon III (French politician, 1st President of France)
- 1889 – Adolf Hitler (Dictator)
- 1893 – Joan Miró (Spanish painter)
- 1939 – Gro Harlem Brundtland (Norwegian physician, politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Norway)
- 1941 – Ryan O’Neal (Actor)
- 1949 – Jessica Lange (Actress)
- 1959 – Clint Howard (Actor)
- 1961 – Don Mattingly (Baseball player)
- 1969 – Felix Baumgartner (Austrian skydiver)
- 1972 – Carmen Electra (Actress)
DEATHS
- 1521 – Zhengde Emperor of China
- 1918 – Karl Ferdinand Braun (German/American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate)
- 1991 – Steve Marriott (English singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, actor)
- 1991 – Don Siegel (American film director)
- 1993 – Cantinflas (Mexican actor, screenwriter, producer)