EVENTS
- 1429 – Henry VI was crowned King of England at age eight. He had acceded to the throne at the age of nine months following the death of Charles VI.
- 1860 – Abraham Lincoln is elected the 16th President of the United States
- 1861 – Jefferson Davis is elected president of the Confederate States of America.
- 1869 – The first college football game is played between Rutgers and Princeton.
- 1913 – Mohandas Gandhi is arrested in South Africa while leading a march of Indian miners.
- 1917 – During World War I, the Third Battle of Ypres concluded after five months as Canadian and Australian troops took Passchendaele. Their advance, measuring five miles, cost at least 240,000 soldiers.
- 1947 – ‘Meet the Press’ makes its TV debut. The longest running TV news show was first hosted by journalist and creator Martha Rountree and aired on NBC.
- 1962 – The U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution condemning South Africa for its apartheid policies and recommended economic sanctions.
- 1962 – United Nations passes resolution to condemn apartheid in South Africa. The UN General Assembly asked its member states to stand up against apartheid and to cut off relations with South Africa in order to make a point. Apartheid was an official policy of racial discrimination and segregation followed in South Africa. Despite the UN Resolution, it remained governmental policy until 1994, when democratic general elections were held in the country.1985 – Palace of Justice is Seized in Colombia. 25 guerrillas from the 19th of April Movement or the M-19 took over the Palace of Justice which houses the Colombian Supreme Court. They took 300 people hostage. The ensuing fight between the rebels and the government’s forces left more than 100 people, including 11 Supreme Court justices dead.
- 1999 – Australians reject referendum to become a republic with a president as its head. The referendum was held to amend the Australian constitution, which would make the country a republic with a president as its head. If the referendum has passed the British monarchy would no longer have been a constitutional monarchy.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1494 – Suleiman the Magnificent (Caliph of the Islamic Empire)
- 1814 – Adolphe Sax (Belgian musician, invented the saxophone)
- 1854 – John Philip Sousa (wrote Stars and Stripes Forever)
- 1860 – Polish composer, pianist and patriot, Ignace Paderewski was born in Kurylowka, Podolia, Poland.
- 1861 – James Naismith (Inventor of basketball)
- 1946 – Sally Field (Actress)
- 1948 – Glenn Frey (Singer with the Eagles)
- 1949 – Joseph C. Wilson (American diplomat)
- 1955 – Maria Shriver (Journalist)
- 1970 – Ethan Hawke (Actor)
- 1972 – Rebecca Romijn (Actress – X-Men)
- 1976 – Pat Tillman (NFL player and Army Ranger)
- 1987 – Ana Ivanovic (Serbian tennis player)
- 1988 – Emma Stone (Actress)
DEATHS
- 1836 – Charles X of France.
- 1893 – Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian composer)
- 1960 – Erich Raeder (German Admiral)
- 1991 – Gene Tierney (American actress)
- 2004 – Fred Dibnah (English steeplejack)