EVENTS
- 1580 – Sir Francis Drake completes his circumnavigation of the globe.
- 1687 – The Acropolis in Athens was attacked by the Venetian army attempting to oust the Turks, resulting in heavy damage to the Parthenon.
- 1786 – Protestors shut down the court in Springfield, Massachusetts starting the Shays’ Rebellion. Named after the rebellion’s leader Daniel Shays, the revolt began as a response to an economic crisis where people who owed debt were imprisoned. After a bloody conflict, the Shaysites were crushed by the government. This was the first armed internal conflict in post-revolutionary America.
- 1810 – Swedish Act of Succession is passed. The Swedish Act of Succession, also known as the 1810 Act of Succession was adopted by the Riksdag of the Estates. This act is part of the Swedish Constitution and regulates the succession of the Swedish Royal family.
- 1914 – Establishment of Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), an independent government agency in the US, responsible for consumer and market protection was established by the Federal Trade Commission Act on this day.
- 1917 – Battle of Polygon Wood begins. Fought during World War I between the British and Australian troops and German army near Ypres in Belgium, the battle ended in an Allied victory.
- 1918 – The last major battle of World War I, the Battle of the Argonne, began as a combined force of French and Americans attacked the Germans along a 40-mile front.
- 1950 – Seoul is taken from the North Koreans by the UN.
- 1957 – Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story opens on Broadway.
- 1959 – Typhoon Vera hits Japan. The category five typhoon is thought to be the strongest typhoon to impact the island country in recorded history. The resulting rain, landslides, and damage caused the deaths of about 5000 people in Japan.
- 1960 – The first-ever televised presidential debate occurred between presidential candidates John F. Kennedy and Richard M. Nixon. Many who watched were inclined to say Kennedy ‘won’ the debate, while those who listened only to the radio thought Nixon did better. Nixon, who declined to use makeup, appeared somewhat haggard looking on TV in contrast to Kennedy.
- 1969 – ‘The Brady Bunch’ airs its first episode on TV.
- 1981 – Baseball pitcher Nolan Ryan throws a record fifth no-hitter.
- 1984 – Britain agreed to allow Hong Kong to revert to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1774 – Johnny Appleseed (Environmentalist)
- 1849 – Ivan Pavlov (Scientist)
- 1888 – T.S. Eliot (Author)
- 1889 – Martin Heidegger (German philosopher)
- 1897 – Pope Paul VI
- 1898 – George Gershwin (Composer)
- 1943 – Ian Chappell (Australian cricketer)
- 1956 – Linda Hamilton (Actress)
- 1962 – Melissa Sue Anderson (TV’s Mary Ingalls)
- 1981 – Serena Williams (Tennis Player)
- 1981 – Christina Milian (Singer)
DEATHS
- 1820 – Daniel Boone (American explorer)
- 1945 – Béla Bartók (Hungarian pianist, composer)
- 1959 – Leslie Morshead (Australian soldier, businessman, educator)
- 2003 – Robert Palmer (English singer-songwriter, guitarist)
- 2008 – Paul Newman (American actor, director, race car driver, businessman, co-founded Newman’s Own)