EVENTS
- 1536 – Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII of England, is beheaded for adultery.
- 1743 – Jean-Pierre Christin invents the Celsius thermometer. The centigrade temperature scale, which is based on the freezing and boiling point of water, is used by most countries around the world. Exceptions include the United State, Belize, and Palau.
- 1780 – Unexplained darkness falls on Eastern Canada and US at 2 pm.
- 1919 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk sets off the Turkish War of Independence. The fight against the allies of the Triple Entente ended some four years later. The Republic of Turkey was founded, and Atatürk became its first President.
- 1943 – During World War II in Europe, Royal Air Force bombers successfully attacked dams in the German Ruhr Valley using innovative ball-shaped bouncing bombs that skipped along the water and exploded against the dams. The dams had provided drinking water for 4 million persons and supplied 75% of the electrical power for industry in the area.
- 1959 – The North Vietnamese Army begins organizing the Ho Chi Minh trail. According to the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA), the system of supply routes used by the “Vietcong” was “one of the greatest achievements of military engineering of the 20th century.”
- 1962 – Marilyn Monroe performs her famous rendition of Happy Birthday. Monroe gave her sultry performance, which was to be her last, at a party for U.S. President John F. Kennedy. The two are believed to have been engaged in an affair.
Marilyn Monroe performs Happy Birthday - 1963 – Martin Luther King’s Letter from Birmingham Jail is published. King used the open letter to defend his nonviolent resistance against racism and segregation. It became one of the central texts for the Civil Rights Movement in the United States.
- 1999 – Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is released
- 2005 – Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith is released
BIRTHDAYS
- 1881 – Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (Turkish army officer, politician, 1st President of Turkey)
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk - 1890 – Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh (1890-1969) was born in the central Vietnamese village of Kim Lien
- 1893 – H. Bonciu (Romanian author, poet, journalist)
- 1898 – Julius Evola (Italian philosopher)
- 1925 – Malcolm X (American minister, activist)
- 1930 – African American playwright Lorraine Hansberry (1930-1965) was born in Chicago, Illinois
- 1945 – Pete Townshend (Singer and guitarist for The Who)
- 1946 – Andre the Giant (Pro wrestler)
- 1949 – Archie Manning (Football Player)
- 1951 – Joey Ramone (Singer)
- 1976 – Kevin Garnett (Basketball Player)
DEATHS
- 1536 – Anne Boleyn (English wife of Henry VIII of England)
- 1895 – José Martí (Cuban journalist, poet, theorist)
- 1898 – William Ewart Gladstone (English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom)
- 1912 – Bolesław Prus (Polish writer)
- 1994 – Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (American book editor, 37th First Lady of the United States)
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
