EVENTS
- 1492 – Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to set foot on the island of Hispaniola.
- 1766 – Christie’s hold their first sale. Art auction house Christie’s founder James Christie made his first art sale.
- 1791 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died a pauper at age 35 in Vienna, Austria. He had become seriously ill and rapidly declined, leading to speculation that he had been poisoned, although this was later proven false. During his brief life, he created over 600 musical compositions and is widely considered one of the finest composers who ever lived.
- 1876 – President Ulysses S. Grant delivered a speech of apology to Congress claiming mistakes he made as president were “errors of judgment, not intent.”
- 1932 – German-born Swiss physicist Albert Einstein is granted an American visa.
- 1933 – The 18th Amendment (Prohibition Amendment) to the U.S. Constitution was repealed. For nearly 14 years, since January 29, 1920, it had outlawed the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages in the U.S.
- 1936 – Establishment of the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic. The Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic was established as a republic of the Soviet Union.
- 1955 – Martin Luther King, Jr. leads the Montgomery Bus Boycott
- 1955 – The AFL-CIO was founded after two separate labor organizations, the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations, joined together following 20 years of rivalry, thus becoming the leading advocate for trade unions in the U.S.
- 1977 – Egypt breaks all relations with Arab countries. President Anwar al-Sadat broke all relations with Syria, Libya, Algeria, and South Yemen in response to these countries and the Palestinian Liberation Organization signing the Declaration of Tripoli. The declaration followed Sadat’s visit to Israel.
- 1996 – At 18 years old, Jermaine O’Neal becomes the NBA’s youngest player
- 2005 – UK’s Civil Partnership Act of 2004 comes into force. UK’s Civil Partnership Act of 2004 came into force almost a year after it was passed.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1782 – Martin Van Buren (8th US President)
- 1839 – George Custer (General)
- 1901 – Walt Disney (Founder of Disney)
- 1901 – Werner Heisenberg (German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate)
- 1907 – Lin Biao (Chinese military officer, politician, Vice Premier of the People’s Republic of China)
- 1927 – Bhumibol Adulyadej (Thai king)
- 1975 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (English snooker player)
- 1976 – Amy Acker (Actress)
- 1985 – Frankie Muniz (Actor)
DEATHS
- 1791 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Austrian composer)
- 1891 – Pedro II of Brazil
- 1950 – Sri Aurobindo (Indian philosopher)
- 2007 – Karlheinz Stockhausen (German composer)
- 2012 – Dave Brubeck (American pianist, composer)