EVENTS
- 1887 – Bloody Sunday in London. Protests by poor and unemployed Londoners over their hardships in Trafalgar Square took a violent turn when the police charged on those protesting with batons. By the end of the day, 2 or 3 people were killed and several hundred protestors were injured.
- 1927 – The Holland Tunnel was opened to traffic. The tunnel runs under the Hudson River between New York City and Jersey City and was the first underwater tunnel built in the U.S. It is comprised of two tubes, each large enough for two lanes of traffic.
- 1940 – Walt Disney releases the breakthrough animated film Fantasia.
- 1945 – General Charles De Gaulle was appointed president of the French provisional government.
- 1950 – Assassination of Carlos Delgado Chalbaud. The Venezuelan president and head of the military Junta was kidnapped and killed by rebels headed by Rafael Simรณn Urbina. Chalbaud came to power after a coup against Rรณmulo Gallegos in 1948.
- 1956 – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that racial segregation on public buses was unconstitutional.
- 1973 – A state of emergency was declared in Britain after power workers and coal miners began work slowdowns.
- 1985 – Armero tragedy. The late evening eruption of the Nevado del Ruiz volcano in Colombia caused volcanic mudflows, called lahars, and flooded the city of Armero, killing 25,000 of its residents. The Armero tragedy is considered to be one of the deadliest volcano related disasters in the 20th century.
- 1990 – The first known World Wide Web page is written.
- 1994 – Sweden decides to join the European Union.
- 1995 – Israel began pulling its troops out of the West Bank city of Jenin, ending 28 years of occupation.
- 1997 – Lion King the musical opens in New York City.
- 2005 – A missed field goal return of 108 yards becomes the longest play in NFL history.
- 2015 – Terrorist attacks in Paris. A series of coordinated terrorist attacks that included suicide bombs and mass shootings took place in France’s capital city. Venues attacked included the Stade de France and the Bataclan theater during a concert. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant or Daesh (ISIL) took responsibility for the attacks that killed about 130 people.
BIRTHDAYS
- 354 – Augustine of Hippo (Algerian bishop, theologian)
- 1814 – Joseph Hooker (Union general in Civil War)
- 1850 – Robert Louis Stevenson (Author – Treasure Island)
- 1856 – American jurist Louis Brandeis (1856-1941) was born in Louisville, Kentucky (He served as an associate justice of U.S (Supreme Court from 1916 to 1939.
- 1934 – Garry Marshall (Director/Actor)
- 1955 – Whoopi Goldberg (Actress)
- 1963 – Vinne Testeverde (NFL Quarterback)
- 1967 – Jimmy Kimmel (TV Show host)
- 1969 – Ayaan Hirsi Ali (Dutch politician, author)
DEATHS
- 1093 – Malcolm III of Scotland.
- 1868 – Gioachino Rossini (Italian composer)
- 1903 – Camille Pissarro (French painter)
- 1963 – Margaret Murray (English anthropologist)
- 2005 – Eddie Guerrero (American wrestler)