EVENTS
- 1787 Pennsylvania becomes the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. It was the first of the larger states to vote to ratify the document.
- 1870 – Joseph Hayne Rainey of Georgetown, South Carolina, became the first African American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. He filled a seat which had been declared vacant by the House and served until 1879.
- 1911 – Delhi replaces Calcutta as the capital of India.
- 1915 – President of the Republic of China, Yuan Shikai, reinstates the monarchy and proclaims himself Emperor of China.
- 1963 – Kenya gains its independence from the United Kingdom.
- 1969 – Piazza Fontana bombing. A bomb exploded at the building of the National Agrarian Bank, Milan, Italy, killing 17 people and injuring 88.
- 1979 – Northern Rhodesia changes its name to Zimbabwe.
- 1987 – Mookie Blaylock sets an NBA record of 13 steals in a single game
- 1998 – The House Judiciary Committee approved a fourth and final article of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, charging him with making false statements in his answers to written questions from Congress.
- 2009 – Houston, Texas elects Annise Parker. The City of Houston becomes the most populous city in the United States to have an openly gay mayor.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1745 – John Jay (1st US Chief Justice)
- 1805 – Abolitionist William LLoyd Garrison (1805-1879) was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts (He founded the Liberator anti-slavery newspaper in 1831 and published it for the next fifty years. He also traveled throughout America delivering scathing antislavery speeches, even advocating that the North should secede from the South. In 1854, he burned a copy of the U.S. Constitution, declaring, “So perish all compromises with tyranny!”
- 1821 – French author Gustave Flaubert (1821-1880) was born in Rouen. Best known for the novel Madame Bovary, a tale of a woman’s revolt against middle class society.
- 1863 – Edvard Munch (Painter)
- 1881 – Harry Warner (Polish/American businessman, co-founded Warner Bros. )
- 1915 – Frank Sinatra (Singer)
- 1923 – Bob Barker (Game show host)
- 1924 – Ed Koch (Former NYC Mayor)
- 1940 – Dionne Warwick (Singer)
- 1950 – Rajinikanth (Indian actor, screenwriter, producer)
- 1970 – Jennifer Connelly (Actress)
- 1975 – Mayim Bialik (Actress)
DEATHS
- 1889 – Robert Browning (English poet)
- 1968 – Tallulah Bankhead (American actress)
- 1985 – Anne Baxter (American actress)
- 1999 – Joseph Heller (American author, playwright)
- 2007 – Ike Turner (American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer)