EVENTS
- 1648 – The Thirty Years’ War ends with the signing of the Peace of Westphalia.
- 1861 – The first transcontinental telegraph line across the United States is completed
- 1922 – The Irish Parliament voted to adopt a constitution for an Irish Free State, which formally came into existence in December.
- 1926 – Last performance of Houdini. The world famous escape artist performed for the last time at the Garrick Theater in Detroit, Michigan.
- 1929 – The worst stock market crash in the USA dubbed “Black Thursday” ushers in the Great Depression.
- 1930 – Coup in Brazil. President Washington Luís was deposed by the heads of the armed forces just 4 years after he came to office. The coup prevented President-elect Júlio Prestes from coming to power and the military junta instead installed Getúlio Vargas as the de facto President of the country. The coup was in part a response to the government’s “coffee with milk policy”, which allowed governance power to be alternated between the coffee producing state of São Paulo and the milk producing state of Minas Gerais. This policy led to a rebellion in some parts of the country, which in turn prompted the army to take action against the government.
- 1931 – Chicago gangster “Scarface” Al Capone was sentenced to 11 years in jail for Federal income tax evasion. In 1934, he was transferred to Alcatraz prison near San Francisco. He was paroled in 1939, suffering from syphilis. He retired to his mansion in Miami Beach where he died in 1947.
- 1945 – Founding of the United Nations as an international organization
- 1964 – Zambian independence. The African country gained independence from British rule with the passage of the Zambia Independence Act 1964 by the UK Parliament.
- 1980 – Communist authorities in Poland granted recognition to the trade union “Solidarity.” It was subsequently outlawed in 1981 after the government imposed martial law. In 1989, it was re-legalized.
- 1994 – For the first time in 25 years, British troops were absent from the streets of Londonderry, Northern Ireland, following cease-fires by Irish Republican Army (IRA) and pro-British forces.
- 2007 – China Launches Chang’e 1. It was the first spacecraft of China’s Lunar Exploration Program, which is responsible for sending unmanned robotic space probes to the Moon and the lunar orbit in order to better understand Earth’s largest natural satellite. The space probe crashed into the lunar surface on March 2, 2009, after orbiting the Moon for over a year.
BIRTHDAYS
- 51 – Domitian (Roman Emperor)
- 1915 – Bob Kane (Cartoonist – Batman)
- 1936 – Bill Wyman (Musician – Rolling Stones)
- 1947 – Kevin Kline (Actor)
- 1962 – Dave Blaney (Nascar Driver)
- 1966 – Roman Abramovich (Russian businessman, politician)
- 1981 – Tila Tequila (American model, actress, singer)
- 1985 – Wayne Rooney (English Footballer)
DEATHS
- 1601 – Tycho Brahe (Danish astronomer, chemist)
- 1944 – Louis Renault (French businessman, co-founded Renault)
- 1945 – Vidkun Quisling (Norwegian soldier, politician, traitor)
- 1972 – Jackie Robinson (American baseball player)
- 2005 – Rosa Parks (American activist)