EVENTS
- 1493 – Puerto Rico was discovered by Columbus during his second voyage to the New World.
- 1703 – The “Man in the Iron Mask,” a prisoner of Louis XIV in the Bastille prison in Paris, died. The prisoner may have been Count Matthioli, who had double-crossed Louis XIV, or may have even been the brother of Louis XIV. His true identity has been the cause of much intrigue, and was celebrated in literary works such as Alexandre Dumas‘ The Viscount Bragelonne.
- 1794 – Signing of the Jay Treaty. The treaty, officially known as, Treaty of Amity Commerce and Navigation, between His Britannic Majesty and The United States of America, was signed between representatives of the United States and Britain. It called for the British to surrender northwestern posts to the U.S. and for them to consider the United States as a most favored nation for trade between the two countries.
- 1850 – Alfred Lord Tennyson becomes Poet Laureate
- 1863 – President Abraham Lincoln delivers the Gettysburg Address
- 1868 – New Jersey suffragists attempted to vote in the presidential election to test the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution which states, “no State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States.” 172 suffragists, including four African American women, were turned away. Instead they cast their votes in a women’s ballot box overseen by 84-year-old Quaker Margaret Pryer.
- 1939 – Construction of the first presidential library began as President Franklin D. Roosevelt laid the cornerstone next to his home in Hyde Park, New York. Roosevelt donated the land, but public donations funded the library building which was dedicated on June 30, 1941.
- 1942 – The Russian Army began a massive counter-offensive against the Germans at Stalingrad during World War II.
- 1943 – Janowska camp uprising. The concentration camp in occupied Poland was set up in 1941. In November 1943, in anticipation of the advancement of Soviet troops, the Nazis tried to evacuate the camp and used the inmates to remove traces of executions and mass killings in the past. On this day, the inmates staged an uprising and attempted to escape. Most escapees, however, were recaptured and killed.
- 1969 – Astronauts Charles Conrad and Alan Bean become the third and fourth humans to walk on the Moon.
- 1969 – The first news reports emerged that American troops in Vietnam had massacred civilians in My Lai Village back in March of 1968.
- 1969 – Pele scores his 1,000th career soccer goal
- 1977 – Egyptian President Anwar Sadat becomes the first Arab leader to officially visit Israel,
- 1978 – The biggest mass suicide in history occurred as Reverend Jim Jones led over 900 followers to their deaths at Jonestown, Guyana. Members of his “Peoples Temple” religious cult were ordered to drink a cyanide-laced fruit drink. Those who refused were forcibly injected. Precipitating the tragedy a day earlier, California Congressman Leo J. Ryan, along with four associates and several reporters, had been shot to death during an ambush at a nearby airstrip. They were attempting to return home after investigating the cult’s remote jungle location. Jones and his mistress killed themselves after watching his entire membership die. Only a few cult members managed to escape.
- 1990 – The Cold War came to an end during a summit in Paris as leaders of NATO and the Warsaw Pact signed a Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe, vastly reducing their military arsenals.
- 1996 – Pope John Paul II and Cuban leader Fidel Castro held their historic first meeting in the Vatican.
- 1998 – The U.S. House of Representatives began an impeachment inquiry of President Bill Clinton, only the third presidential impeachment inquiry in U.S. History – the other two being of President Andrew Johnson in 1868 and President Richard Nixon in 1974.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1600 – Charles I, King of Scotland and England (1600-1649) was born (He ruled from 1625-49 (He maintained the Divine Right of Kings to rule and opposed Parliament’s challenges to his authoritarian style (This resulted in civil war and his eventual execution, followed by the establishment of a Commonwealth with Oliver Cromwell as Lord Protector.
- 1831 – James Garfield (20th US President)
- 1943 – Janowska camp uprising (The concentration camp in occupied Poland was set up in 1941 (In November 1943, in anticipation of the advancement of Soviet troops, the Nazis tried to evacuate the camp and used the inmates to remove traces of executions and mass killings in the past (On this day, the inmates staged an uprising and attempted to escape (Most escapees, however, were recaptured and killed.
- 1969 – Pelé’s 1000th goal (The Brazilian footballer, often considered to be the greatest athlete of the 20th century, made his 1,000th professional goal against Vasco da Gama at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
- 1917 – Indira Gandhi (Prime Minister of India)
- 1921 – Baseball player Roy Campanella (1921-1993) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (He was one of the first African American major league players and was one of the Brooklyn Dodgers’ “Boys of Summer.” His career ended when an automobile accident left him paralyzed in 1958 (He then became an inspirational spokesman for the paralyzed.
- 1933 – Larry King (TV Interviewer)
- 1938 – Ted Turner (Millionaire owner of TBS and other channels)
- 1941 – Tommy Thompson (American politician, 42nd Governor of Wisconsin)
- 1942 – Calvin Klein (Fashion designer)
- 1961 – Meg Ryan (Actress)
- 1962 – Jodie Foster (Actress)
- 1977 – Kerri Strug (Olympic gymnast)
DEATHS
- 1798 – Wolfe Tone (Irish patriot)
- 1828 – Franz Schubert (Austrian composer)
- 1850 – Richard Mentor Johnson (American politician, 9th Vice President of the United States)
- 1918 – Joseph F (Smith (American religious leader, 6th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
- 1924 – Thomas H (Ince (American actor, director, producer)