EVENTS
- 1905 – Albert Einstein publishes “On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies on Relativity.”
- 1908 – The Tunguska event leaves 2000 square km of Siberian forest flattened and scorched. The devastation is believed to have been caused by the explosion of an asteroid or comet. It is the largest impact event in recorded history.
- 1936 – “Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell published.
- 1971 – The crew of Soviet spacecraft “Soyuz 11” dies after the loss of air supply. The cause of the tragedy was a faulty valve. The three cosmonauts had previously achieved the first docking of a spacecraft to a space station in history.
Soyuz 11 crew - 1971 – The 26th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, lowering the voting age to 18, is ratified.
- 1972 – The first leap second is added to UTC. Leap seconds are added to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) from time to time to account for the Earth’s slowing rotation. UTC is the basis for the calculation of local times worldwide.
- 1997 – China gains sovereignty over the Hong Kong from Britain.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1470 – Charles VIII (King of France)
Charles VIII - 1917 – Lena Horne (Actress)
- 1966 – Mike Tyson (Boxer)
- 1975 – Ralf Schumacher (German race car driver)
- 1983 – Cheryl Cole (English singer-songwriter, dancer, model)
- 1984 – Fantasia Barrino (Singer)
- 1984 – Miles Austin (NFL football player)
- 1985 – Cody Rhodes (American wrestler, actor)
- 1985 – Michael Phelps (Swimmer)
DEATHS
- 1934 – Kurt von Schleicher (German general, politician, 23rd Chancellor of Germany)
- 1974 – Vannevar Bush (American engineer)
Vannevar Bush - 1984 – Lillian Hellman (American playwright)
- 2001 – Chet Atkins (American musician, songwriter, producer)
- 2012 – Yitzhak Shamir (Israeli politician, 7th Prime Minister of Israel)
