EVENTS
- 1607 – Jamestown, Virginia, is settled as an English colony.
- 1796 – The first smallpox vaccination is administered.
- 1804 – The Lewis and Clark Expedition departs on its historical journey.
Lewis and Clark Expedition - 1942 – During World War II, an Act of Congress allowed women to enlist for noncombat duties in the Women’s Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC), the Women Appointed for Voluntary Emergency Service (WAVES), Women’s Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron (WAFS), and Semper Paratus Always Ready Service (SPARS), the Women’s Reserve of the Marine Corp.
- 1948 – Israel declared to be an independent state
- 1955 – Eight communist bloc countries, including the Soviet Union, sign a treaty called the Warsaw Pact.
- 1970 – The Red Army Faction (RAF) begins operations. The German left-wing activist group grew out of the peace and anti-imperialist movement of the 1960s. In reaction to the violent oppression by the German state, they later began operating as a terrorist cell and are responsible for several murders.
- 1973 – Skylab, the United States’ first space station, is launched.
- 1998 – The last episode of Seinfeld airs on NBC.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1686 – German physicist Gabriel Fahrenheit (1686-1736) was born in Danzig, Germany
- 1727 – British landscape and portrait painter Thomas Gainsborough (1727-1788) was born in Sudbury, Suffolk, England
- 1922 – Franjo Tuđman (Croatian general, politician, 1st President of Croatia)
- 1923 – Adnan Pachachi (Iraqi politician)
- 1944 – George Lucas (Director)
George Lucas - 1952 – Rober Zemeckis (Director)
- 1969 – Cate Blanchett (Actress)
- 1977 – Roy Halladay (American baseball player)
- 1989 – Rob Gronkowski (NFL Football Player)
- 1984 – Mark Zuckerberg (Founder of Facebook)
DEATHS
- 1881 – Mary Seacole (Jamaican/English nurse)
- 1940 – Emma Goldman (Lithuanian/American activist, writer)
- 1987 – Rita Hayworth (American actress, dancer)
Rita Hayworth - 1998 – Frank Sinatra (American singer, actor)
- 2015 – B.B. King (American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer)
