EVENTS
- 1616 – Nicolaus Copernicus’ revolutionary book “De revolutionibus orbium coelestium” is banned by the Catholic Church. In the book, Copernicus claimed that the Earth revolves around the sun. The Church maintained Ptolemy’s geocentric system. The book is considered a milestone in the history of astronomy.
- 1770 – Boston Massacre: Five Americans, including Crispus Attucks, are killed by British troops.
- 1868 – The U.S. Senate convened as a court to hear charges against President Andrew Johnson during impeachment proceedings. The House of Representatives had already voted to impeach the President. The vote followed bitter opposition by the Radical Republicans in Congress to Johnson’s reconstruction policies in the South. However, the effort to remove him failed in the Senate by just one vote and he remained in office.
- 1872 – The air brake is patented by George Westinghouse.
- 1933 – Amid a steadily worsening economic situation, newly elected President Franklin D. Roosevelt proclaimed a four-day “Bank Holiday” to stop panic withdrawals by the public and the possible collapse of the American banking system.
- 1946 – The “Iron Curtain” speech was delivered by Winston Churchill at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri. Churchill used the term to describe the boundary in Europe between free countries of the West and nations of Eastern Europe under Soviet Russia’s control.
- 1960 – Elvis Presley gets out of the army.
- 1960 – Alberto Korda takes his famous picture of revolutionary Che Guevara. The iconic photograph, called Guerrillero Heroico, was taken at a memorial service for the victims of the La Coubre explosion.
- 1970 – The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty enters into force. Nuclear powers China, Russia, U.S., U.K., and France initiated the treaty in 1968. It has since been ratified by 190 nations around the world.
- 1981 – The home computer ZX81 is launched. The British ZX81 was one of the world’s first home computer and was sold over 1.5 million times.
- 1982 – John Belushi, of SNL fame, dies.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1133 – Henry II (King of England)
- 1871 – Rosa Luxemburg (Russian economist, philosopher)
- 1898 – Zhou Enlai (Chinese politician, 1st Premier of the People’s Republic of China)
- 1948 – Elaine Paige (English singer, actress)
- 1951 – Lat (Malaysian cartoonist)
- 1958 – Andy Gibb (Singer)
- 1970 – John Frusciante (American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer)
- 1974 – Eva Mendes (Actress)
- 1975 – Niki Taylor (Model)
DEATHS
- 1895 – Nikolai Leskov (Russian author, playwright, journalist)
- 1953 – Joseph Stalin (Soviet marshal, politician, 4th Premier of the Soviet Union)
- 1953 – Sergei Prokofiev (Russian pianist, composer, conductor)
- 1963 – Patsy Cline (American singer-songwriter, pianist)
- 2013 – Hugo Chávez (Venezuelan military officer, politician, President of Venezuela)