EVENTS
- 1453 – Ottoman armies capture Constantinople ending the Byzantine Empire.
- 1660 – The English monarchy was restored with Charles II on the throne after several years of a Commonwealth under Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell.
- 1787 – At the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia the Virginia Plan was proposed calling for a new government consisting of a legislature with two houses, an executive chosen by the legislature and a judicial branch.
- 1848 – Wisconsin is admitted as the 30th U.S. state.
- 1865 – Following the American Civil War, President Andrew Johnson issued a proclamation granting general amnesty to Confederates. The amnesty excluded high ranking Confederates and large property owners, who had to apply individually to the President for a pardon. Following an oath of allegiance, all former property rights, except slaves, were returned to the former owners.
- 1913 – Igor Stravinsky’s ballet Le Sacre du printemps is premiered. he performance sparked a riot in the audience as many felt its irregular beat and the percussive character was a sacrilege against music. Today, it is considered one of the key works of 20th-century art music.
- 1935 – Construction of Hoover Dam is completed.
Hoover Dam - 1942 – Bing Crosby records “White Christmas”. Crosby’s rendition of Irving Berlin’s song became the most successful of his career and the best-selling Christmas single in history.
- 1953 – Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay are the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest.
- 1977 – Janet Guthrie becomes the first woman to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.
- 1996 – Benjamin Netanyahu becomes Israel’s prime minister. The conservative politician is criticized for hampering the peace process that former prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, had promoted.
- 1999 – Olusegun Obasanjo wins Nigeria’s first free elections in 16 years. The former Nigerian Army general and military ruler oversaw a democratization process that defines the country’s political system to the present day.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1736 – Patrick Henry (Patriot who said ‘Give me liberty or give me death’)
- 1880 – German historian Oswald Spengler (1880-1936) was born in Blankenburg-am-Harz, Germany
- 1903 – Bob Hope (Entertainer and actor)
- 1914 – Tenzing Norgay (Nepalese mountaineer)
- 1917 – John F. Kennedy (35th US President)
- 1922 – Iannis Xenakis (Greek/French composer, engineer, theorist)
- 1939 – Al Unser (Race car driver)
- 1958 – Annette Bening (Actress)
Annette Bening - 1961 – Melissa Etheridge (Singer)
- 1963 – Lisa Whelchel (Actress)
- 1967 – Noel Gallagher (English singer-songwriter, guitarist)
- 1984 – Carmelo Anthony (Basketball Player)
DEATHS
- 1829 – Humphry Davy (English chemist, physicist)
Humphry Davy - 1892 – Bahá’u’lláh (Persian spiritual leader, founded the Bahá’í Faith)
- 1997 – Jeff Buckley (American singer-songwriter, guitarist)
- 2010 – Dennis Hopper (American actor, director)
- 2013 – Henry Morgentaler (Polish/Canadian physician)
