BC 404–Lysander's Spartan armies defeat the Athenians and the Peloponnesian War ends.
68–Saint Mark, the first Pope of Alexandria and the founder of Christianity in Africa, dies.
775–The Battle of Bagrevand puts an end to an Armenian rebellion against the Abbasid Caliphate. Muslim control over Transcaucasia is solidified and its Islamization begins, while several major Armenian nakharar families lose power and their remnants flee to the Byzantine Empire.
799–After mistreatment and disfigurement by the citizens of Rome, Pope Leo III flees to the Frankish court of King Charlemagne at Paderborn for protection.
1077–Géza I of Hungary dies at age 36. His brother, Ladislaus succeeds him.
1185–Emperor Antoku of Japan dies at age 6. Antoku's grandmother, Taira no Tokiko, drowns herself, along with the young Emperor. His mother also drowned herself, but apparently she was pulled out with a rake by her long hair.
1211–Frederick II, Duke of Austria, is born in Wiener Neustadt, near Vienna, Lower Austria.
1214–Louis IX, King of France (1226-1270), is born in Poissy, France.
1228–Conrad IV of Germany is born in Andria, Kingdom of Sicily. He was Duke of Swabia, King of Jerusalem, King of Germany, King of Italy, and of King of Sicily.
1228–Queen Isabella II of Jerusalem dies after giving birth to her second child in Andria, Italy, at age 15.
1284–Edward II, King of England (1307-1327), is born at Caernarfon Castle in Gwynedd, Wales.
1295–Sancho IV of Castile dies of tuberculosis in Toledo, Spain, at age 36.
1342–Pope Benedict XII, (1334-1342), dies in Avignon, County of Provence.
1507–Geographer, Martin Waldseemuller, uses the name “America” for the first time.
1555–Naresuan, King of Siam, is born at Chan Palace, Phitsanulok, Phitsanulok, Sukhothai Kingdom.
1599–Oliver Cromwell, English military and political leader, is born in Huntingdon, Huntingdonshire, England. He was Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland, and Ireland.
1605–Naresuan, King of Siam, dies of smallpox in Wiang Haeng, Chiang Mai, Lan Na, at age 49. Naresuan is one of Thailand's most revered monarchs.
1607–In the Eighty Years' War, the Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar.
1608–Gaston, Duke of Orléans, is born Gaston Jean Baptiste at the Palace of Fontainebleau in France.
1644–The Chongzhen Emperor, the last Emperor of Ming dynasty in China, commits suicide during a peasant rebellion led by Li Zicheng in Jingshan, Beijing, Ming dynasty, at age 33.
1684–A patent is granted for the thimble.
1707–A coalition of England, the Netherlands, and Portugal is defeated by a Franco-Spanish army at Almansa, Spain, in the War of the Spanish Succession.
1744–Astronomer, Anders Celsius, who proposed the Celsius temperature scale, dies in Uppsala, Sweden, at age 42.
1775–Carlota Joaquina of Spain is born Carlota Joaquina Teresa Cayetana at Palace of Aranjuez in Aranjuez, Spain.
1776–Princess Mary, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh, is born at Buckingham Palace in London, England. She was the 11th child, and 4th daughter, of King George III of the United Kingdom.
1792–The guillotine is used for the first time in France, on Nicholas Pelletier, a highwayman.
1792–La Marseillaise (the French national anthem) is composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle.
1804–The western Georgian kingdom of Imereti accepts the suzerainty of the Russian Empire.
1816–Lord Byron leaves England, and although he did not intend it, it would be for good. He was heavily in debt, and his personal life was the scandal of the day (his wife had separated from him and had tried to have him declared insane).
1829–Charles Fremantle arrives in the HMS Challenger, off the coast of present-day western Australia, prior to declaring the Swan River Colony for the United Kingdom.
1843–Princess Alice of the United Kingdom is born Alice Maud Mary at Buckingham Palace, London, England. She was the third child, and second daughter, of Queen Victoria and Albert, Prince Consort.
1846–There is an open conflict over the disputed border of Texas, triggering the Mexican-American War.
1847–The last survivors of the Donner Party are rescued from the wilderness.
1849–The Governor General of Canada, Lord Elgin, signs the Rebellion Losses Bill, outraging Montreal's English population and triggering the Montreal Riots.
1850–Paul Julius Reuter, founder of the news agency that bears his name, uses 40 pigeons to carry stock market prices between Brussels and Aachen.
1856–Charles Luttwedge Dodgson meets the little girl (Alice Liddell) whom he would later (as Lewis Carroll) immortalize in the “Alice of the Wonderland” books.
1859–Ground is broken on the Suez Canal by British and French engineers.
1861–The Union Army arrives to reinforce Washington, D.C., during the Civil War.
1862–During the American Civil War, forces under U.S. Admiral David Farragut demand the surrender of the Confederate city of New Orleans, Louisiana.
1867–Tokyo, Japan, is opened for international trade.
1868–Pioneer aviator, John (Bevins) Moisant, is born in Kankakee, Illinois. Known as the "King of Aviators," he was an aeronautical engineer, flight instructor, businessman, and revolutionary. As a pilot, he was the first to conduct passenger flights over a city; across the English Channel; from Paris to London; and in the state of Mississippi. He was the co-founder of a prominent flying circus, the Moisant International Aviators.
1874–Physicist, Guglielmo Marconi, is born Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi at Palazzo Marescalchi in Bologna, Italy. He was an inventor and electrical engineer, known for his pioneering work on long-distance radio transmission and for his development of Marconi's Law and a radio telegraph system. He is often credited as the inventor of radio, and he shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics with Karl Ferdinand Braun "in recognition of their contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy."
1875–The 12th Dalai Lama dies of a mysterious illness in Lhasa, Tibet, at age 18. He was recognised as a reincarnation of the Dalai Lama in 1858, and enthroned in 1860. His short life coincided with a time of major political unrest and wars among Tibet's neighbors.
1882–French and Vietnamese troops clash in Tonkin, when Commandant Henri Rivière seizes the citadel of Hanoi with a small force of marine infantry.
1884–Arthur Chevrolet, race car driver and automobile designer, is born in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Neuchatel, Switzerland. His brother was Louis Chevrolet, founder of the Chevrolet car company.
1885–Queen Emma of Hawaii dies from a series of strokes in Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii, at age 49.
1886–Psychologist, Sigmund Freud, opens his practice in Vienna, Austria.
1898–The U.S. declares war on Spain.
1898–William Sidney Porter, who wrote under the pen-name, O. Henry, enters a Federal prison as the result of his conviction on embezzlement charges coming from a time when he worked in a bank in Austin, Texas. Gerald Langford, author of the definitive O. Henry biography, believes that Porter took the rap for his father-in-law, an officer of the bank in which Porter was just a teller. Porter was arrested and was being transported back to Austin when he jumped the west-bound train in Columbus, Texas, and caught an east-bound one. From Houston he fled to Honduras. He later came home when his wife became ill. In prison he worked in the pharmacy and began writing under the nom de plume he would make famous.
1901–New York becomes the first state requiring auto license plates. The fee is $1.
1908–TV journalist and newscaster, Edward R. Murrow, is born Egbert Roscoe Murrow in Pole Creek, North Carolina. A pioneer of television news broadcasting, Murrow produced a series of reports that helped lead to the censure of Senator Joseph McCarthy. Fellow journalists, Eric Sevareid, Ed Bliss, Bill Downs, Dan Rather, and Alexander Kendrick consider Murrow one of journalism's greatest figures, noting his honesty and integrity in delivering the news.
1909–Architect, William (Leonard) Pereira, is born in Chicago, Illinois. He designed the Transamerica Pyramid building in San Francisco, California.
1912–Gladys Presley, the mother of Elvis, is born Gladys Love Smith in Tupelo, Mississippi. Her great-great-grandmother, Morning Dove White, was possibly a Cherokee Native American. On Glady’s 42nd birthday, Heartbreak Hotel went to #1 on the charts. She is responsible for rock and roll almost as much as her famous son. In 1953, when Elvis was still a truck driver for Crown Electric in Memphis, Tennessee, he stopped into the studios of Sun Records on his lunch hour to record two songs for his mother’s birthday present. If not for her birthday, Elvis may have never stepped into a recording studio. It would take until July 1954, for Sam Phillips to recognize the prize he had in the young Elvis.
1915–In the Battle of Gallipoli, the invasion of the Turkish Gallipoli Peninsula by British, French, Indian, Newfoundland, Australian, and New Zealand troops, begins with landings at Anzac Cove and Cape Helles.
1916–The United Kingdom declares martial law in Ireland.
1917–Jazz singer, Ella (Jane) Fitzgerald, is born in Newport News, Virginia. She was often referred to as the First Lady of Song, Queen of Jazz, and Lady Ella. She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, and intonation, and improvisational ability, particularly in her scat singing. Her biggest hit was A-Tisket, A-Tasket. She was married to jazz musician, Ray Brown.
1919–Businessman and philanthropist, Augustus D. Juilliard, dies at his home in New York, New York, at age 83. He bequeathed much of his estate to the advancement of music in the United States. In 1920, trustees of his estate set up the Juilliard Foundation to accomplish his goals, and established The Juilliard School in New York City as a graduate music conservatory in 1924.
1920–At the San Remo conference, the principal Allied Powers of World War I adopt a resolution to determine the allocation of Class "A" League of Nations mandates for administration of the former Ottoman-ruled lands of the Middle East.
1920–Quiz show host, Robert Q. Lewis, is born Robert Goldberg in New York, New York. He is best known for his game show participation, having been the first host of The Name's the Same, and regularly appearing on other Goodson-Todman panel shows. He also hosted and appeared on a multitude of TV shows of the 1940s through the 1970s.
1923–Blues guitarist, Albert King, is born Albert King Nelson in Indianola, Mississippi. One of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with B.B. King and Freddie King), he is perhaps best known for the 1967 single Born Under a Bad Sign.
1925–Hindenburg takes office as President of Germany.
1926–Reza Khan is crowned Shah of Iran under the name Reza Shah Pahlavi.
1928–A German Shepherd, named Buddy, becomes the first seeing eye guide dog for U.S. citizen, Morris Frank.
1930–Film director and screenwriter, Paul Mazursky, is born Irwin Lawrence Mazursky in Brooklyn, New York. As an actor, he appeared in the films The Blackboard Jungle, I Love You Alice B. Toklas, History of the World: Part I, Punchline, Love Affair, and Why Do Fools Fall in Love. His films include Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, Alex in Wonderland, Blume in Love, Harry and Tonto, Next Stop Greenwich Village, An Unmarried Woman, Tempest, Moscow on the Hudson, Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Scenes from a Mall, and Coast to Coast.
1932–Basketball star, Meadowlark Lemmon, is born George Lemon III in Wilmington, North Carolina. For 22 years, Lemon was known as the "Clown Prince" of the touring Harlem Globetrotters basketball team: he played in more than 16,000 games for the Globetrotters.
1933–The U.S. and Canada drop the Gold Standard.
1933–Songwriter, Jerry Leiber, is born Jerome Lieber in Baltimore, Maryland. With his partner, Mike Stoller, he became one the most successful pop music writers of all time. Their hits include Hound Dog, Kansas City, Young Blood, Searchin', Yakety Yak, Jailhouse Rock, Loving You, Don't, King Creole, Stand By Me, Leader of the Pack, Chapel of Love, Is That All There Is?, and Stuck in the Middle with You.
1938–The U.S. Supreme Court delivers its opinion in Erie Railroad Co. vs. Tompkins, and overturns a century of federal common law.
1940–Merkio, the flag of the Faroe Islands, is approved by the British occupation government.
1940–Actor, Al Pacino, is born Alfredo James Pacino in Manhattan, New York. He appeared in the films Panic in Needle Park, The Godfather, Serpico, Scarecrow, Dog Day Afternoon, Bobby Deerfield, ...And Justice for All, Cruising, Author! Author!, Scarface, Sea of Love, Dick Tracy, Frankie and Johnny, Glengarry Glen Ross, Scent of a Woman, Carlito's Way, The Devil's Advocate, The Insider, Phil Spector, Danny Collins, and Manglehorn.
1941–Princess Muna al-Hussein of Jordan is born Antoinette Avril Gardiner in Chelmondiston, East Suffolk, England. Until their divorce on December 21, 1972, she was the second wife of Hussein, the late King of Jordan. She is the mother of King Abdullah II of Jordan.
1944–The United Negro College Fund is incorporated.
1945–United States and Soviet troops meet in Torgau, along the River Elbe, cutting the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany in two, a milestone in the approaching end of World War II in Europe.
1945–The Nazi occupation army surrenders and leaves northern Italy, after a general partisan insurrection by the Italian resistance movement. The puppet fascist regime dissolves and Benito Mussolini is captured after trying to escape.
1945–The last German troops retreat from Finland's soil in Lapland, ending the Lapland War. Military acts of World War II end in Finland.
1945–Fifty nations gather in San Francisco, California, to begin the United Nations Conference on International Organizations.
1945–The U.S. Army blows the swastika from the top of the Zeppelintribne.
1945–The Red Army completely surrounds Berlin, as the last Boeing B-17 attack takes place against Nazi Germany.
1945–Stu Cook, of Creedence Clearwater Revival, is born in Oakland, California.
1945–Bjorn (Kristian) Ulvaeus, of ABBA, is born in Gothenburg, Sweden.
1946–A train disaster kills 47 people in Naperville, Illinois.
1946–Actress, Talia Shire, is born Talia Rose Coppola in Lake Success, New York. She is best known for the role of Andrian Balboa in the Rocky film franchise. He also appeared in the films The Dunwich Horror, Maxie, The Godfather, and New York Stories. Her father is composer, Carmine Coppola; her brother is film director, Francis Coppola; and her nephew is actor, Nicholas Cage. She was married to composer, David Shire.
1949–Michael Brown, of The Left Banke, is born Michael David Lookofsky in New York. The group had hits with Walk Away Renee and Pretty Ballerina.
1950–Steve Ferrone, of The Average White Band and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, is born in Brighton, England.
1952–The American Bowling Congress approves the use of automatic pinsetters.
1952–The 6th NBA Championship: The Minneapolis Lakers beat the New York Knicks, 4 games to 3.
1953–Francis Crick and James D. Watson publish the molecular structure of nucleic acids. This is a structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid describing the double helix structure of DNA.
1954–The U.S. conducts an atmospheric nuclear test at Bikini Island.
1954–Bell Telephone Laboratories announces the first successful operation of a solar battery.
1955–The UN Commission on Narcotics releases a report stating that there is a definite connection between increased marijuana smoking and the form of entertainment known as bebop and rebop.
1955–Canadian Pacific inaugurates its new stainless steel, scenic-domed, transcontinental passenger train, “The Canadian,” between Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver.
1956–Elvis Presley scores his first #1 hit on the American pop chart with Heartbreak Hotel, which was written by Hoyt Axton's mother, Mae Axton.
1957–The first experimental sodium nuclear reactor goes into operation.
1959–The St. Lawrence Seaway, linking the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, officially opens to shipping.
1960–The first submerged circumnavigation of the Earth is completed.
1960–Rocker, Eddie Cochran, is laid to rest at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Cypress, California.
1960–Amanullah Khan, Emir-King of Afghanistan (1919-1928), dies in exile in Zürich, Switzerland, at age 67.
1961–France conducts a nuclear test at Reggane Proving Grounds, Algeria.
1961–Robert Noyce is granted a patent for an integrated circuit.
1961–Elvis Presley makes his last stage appearance for nearly eight years at Bloch Arena in Hawaii.
1961–Journalist and filmmaker, Dinesh (Joseph) D'Souza, is born in Bombay, Maharashtra, India. In 2012, D'Souza released 2016: Obama's America, a documentary film based on his 2010 book The Roots of Obama's Rage. The film was the highest-grossing conservative documentary film produced in the United States. He also made the film America: Imagine the World Without Her, which was released in 2014.
1962–The U.S. Ranger spacecraft crash lands on the Moon.
1962–The U.S. resumes above ground nuclear testing at Christmas Island.
1964–The Stanley Cup: The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4 games to 3.
1964–Actor and voice actor, Hank Azaria, is born Henry Albert Azaria in New York, New York. He is known for starring in the animated TV series The Simpsons, voicing Moe Szyslak, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, Chief Wiggum, Comic Book Guy, Carl Carlson, and numerous others. He appeared in the films Pretty Woman, Quiz Show, Heat, The Birdcage, Grosse Point Blank, Godzilla, Celebrity, Mystery Men, Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, and Night at the Museum. He was married to actress, Helen Hunt.
1965–Swedish engineer, Sten Gustav Thulin, is issued a patent for the disposable plastic grocery bag.
1965–Teenage sniper, Michael Andrew Clark, kills three people and wounds six others, shooting from a hilltop along Highway 101, just south of Santa Maria, California.
1965–The 19th NBA Championship: The Boston Celtics beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 4 games to 1.
1966–"Pop" is the feature story in Newsweek magazine. It covers TV shows like Batman and artists like Andy Warhol.
1966–The city of Tashkent, Uzbekistan, is destroyed by a huge earthquake.
1967–Abortion is legalized in the state of Colorado.
1969–Actress, Gina Torres, is born in New York, New York. She appeared in the TV shows Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Xena: Warrior Princess, Alias, Firefly, and 24. She is married to actor, Laurence Fishburne.
1969–Actress, Renée (Kathleen) Zellweger, is born in Katy, Texas. She appeared in the films Dazed and Confused, Reality Bites, 8 Seconds, Empire Records, The Whole Wide World, Jerry Maguire, A Price Above Rubies, One True Thing, Nurse Betty, Bridget Jones’s Diary, Chicago, Down with Love, Cold Mountain, Cinderella Man, and Miss Potter. She was married to country singer, Kenny Chesney.
1969–Physician, Richard Asher, commits suicide at his Wimpole Street house basement in London, England. He was the father of actress, Jane Asher, and musician, Peter Asher.
1970–Actor, Jason (Michael) Lee, is born in Santa Ana, California. He appeared in the films Mi Vida Loca, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Kissing a Fool, Almost Famous, Vanilla Sky, Jersey Girl, and Alvin and the Chipmunks.
1970–Actress, Anita Louise, dies of a stroke in West Los Angeles, California, at age 55. She appeared in the films A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Anthony Adverse, The Bandit of Sherwood Forest, and Bulldog Drummond at Bay.
1971–Two hundred thousand anti-Vietnam War protesters march on Washington, D.C.
1971–The USSR conducts a nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh.
1972–In the Nguyen Hue Offensive, the North Vietnamese 320th Division forces 5,000 South Vietnamese troops to retreat and traps about 2,500 others northwest of Kontum.
1972–Actor, George Sanders, dies of suicide by an overdose of prescription drugs in Castelldefels, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, at age 65. He left behind three suicide notes, one of which read: "Dear World, I am leaving because I am bored. I feel I have lived long enough. I am leaving you with your worries in this sweet cesspool. Good luck." He had been suffering from dementia for several years. He appeared in the films Foreign Correspondent, Rebecca, The House of the Seven Gables, The Picture of Dorian Gray, Forever Amber, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, All About Eve, Call Mr Madam, From the Earth to the Moon, The Last Voyage, Village of the Damned, A Shot in the Dark, The Amorous Adventures of Moll Flanders, Good Times, and Psychomania.
1973–The U.S. conducts a nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.
1974–A leftist military coup in Portugal overthrows the fascist Estado Novo regime and establishes a democratic government.
1974–Rolling Stone reports that concerts by Yes, Gregg Allman, and The Beach Boys have all been hit by “streakers,” no doubt inspired by Ray Stevens' #1 hit The Streak.
1974–Pamela Courson, Jim Morrison's long-time companion and common-law widow, dies of a heroin overdose on the living room couch in her apartment in Hollywood, California, at age 27.
1975–The West German Embassy is blown-up in Stockholm, Sweden.
1975–As North Vietnamese forces close in on the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon, the Australian Embassy is closed and evacuated.
1975–The USSR conducts an underground nuclear test.
1976–Pleased by how well the two of them got on together the night before, Paul McCartney returns to John Lennon’s Dakota apartment this evening. Unfortunately the welcome is not so warm, and Paul departs, unaware that he will never see John again.
1977–The USSR conducts a nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh.
1977–Elvis Presley makes his last-known recordings during a live concert at the Civic Center in Saginaw, Michigan. The tracks will turn up on the posthumous album Moody Blue.
1979–A Peace Treaty between Israel and Egypt goes into effect.
1980–The USSR conducts a nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh.
1980–The Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions is won by Wayne Webb.
1981–More than 100 workers are exposed to radiation during the repair of a nuclear power plant in Tsuruga, Japan.
1982–Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula, per the Camp David Accords.
1982–Great Britain conducts a nuclear test.
1982–The USSR conducts a nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh.
1982–Don Wilson, TV announcer for The Jack Benny Show, dies of a stroke in Palm Springs, California, at age 81.
1983–American schoolgirl, Samantha Smith, is invited to visit the Soviet Union by its leader Yuri Andropov, after he read her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war.
1983–Pioneer 10 travels beyond Pluto's orbit.
1983–France conducts a nuclear test at Muruora Island.
1984–The USSR conducts a nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh.
1984–Paul McCartney disbands his rock group, Wings. He plans to carry on as a solo artist.
1985–The West German Parliament rules it illegal to deny the holocaust.
1986–Mswati III is crowned King of Swaziland, succeeding his father Sobhuza II.
1988–In Israel, John Demjanuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II.
1988–Valerie Solanas dies of pneumonia in San Francisco, California, at age 52. She was a radical feminist writer who is best known for writing the SCUM Manifesto and attempting to murder artist, Andy Warhol. On June 3, 1968, she shot at Warhol three times, with the first two shots missing and the final wounding Warhol. She also shot art critic, Mario Amaya, and attempted to shoot Warhol's manager, Fred Hughes, point blank, but the gun jammed. Solanas then turned herself in to the police. She was charged with attempted murder, assault, and illegal possession of a gun. She was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and pleaded guilty to "reckless assault with intent to harm," serving a three-year prison sentence, including treatment in a mental hospital.
1988–In Israel, John Demjanuk is sentenced to death for war crimes committed in World War II.
1989–James Richardson is freed from a Florida prison 21 years after being wrongfully convicted of the murder of his seven children.
1989–A 6.8 earthquake strikes near the coast of Guerrero, Mexico, killing three people, and causing damage in Mexico City.
1989–Boxer, Mike Tyson, gets a speeding ticket for drag racing in Albany, New York.
1989–Gedhun Choekyi Nyima, the 11th Panchen Lama, is born in Lhari County, Tibet. He is the 11th Panchen Lama of Tibetan Buddhism as recognised by the Dalai Lama and various other Tibetan Buddhist leaders. After his selection, he was kidnapped by authorities of the People's Republic of China and has not been seen in public since May 17, 1995. Another child, Gyancain Norbu, was later named as Panchen Lama by the People's Republic of China, a choice rejected by most Tibetans. On the 20th anniversary of Gendun Choekyi Nyima’s disappearance, Chinese officials announced, "The reincarnated child Panchen Lama is being educated, living a normal life, growing up healthily and does not wish to be disturbed."
1990–Violeta Chamorro takes office for a six-year term as the President of Nicaragua, the first woman to hold the position.
1990–The Fender Stratocaster on which Jimi Hendrix played The Star-Spangled Banner at Woodstock, sells at a London auction for $295,000.
1990–Sax player, Dexter Gordon, dies of kidney failure in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at age 67. The tenor saxophonist was nominated for an Oscar for his acting performance in the 1986 film Round Midnight.
1992–A 7.1 earthquake shakes Petrolia, California, resulting in 98 injuries and considerable damage in southwestern Humboldt County.
1992–The Firestone World Bowling Tournament of Champions is won by Marc McDowell.
1993–The Grateful Dead gather around one of their own, saying they will help pay for artist Stanley “Mouse” Miller's liver transplant. He created their distinctive skull-and-roses logo.
1994–Tsutomu Hata is elected Premier of Japan.
1994–After fourteen years, The Eagles reform at Warner's Burbank Studios for the first of what will be two reunion concerts for the live/studio album Hell Freezes Over.
1994-Actor, David Langton, dies of a heart attack in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, at age 82. He is best known for his role on the TV series Upstairs Downstairs. He appeared in the films Abandon Ship, Saint Joan, The World of Suzie Wong, The Pumpkin Eater, A Hard Day’s Night, and Quintet.
1995–Art Fleming, the host of the TV game show Jeopardy, dies of pancreatic cancer in Crystal River, Florida, at age 70.
1995–Actress, Ginger Rogers, dies of a heart attack in Rancho Mirage, California, at age 83. She appeared in the films 42nd Street, Flying Down to Rio, The Gay Divorcee, Top Hat, Swing Time, Stage Door, Bachelor Mother, Kitty Foyle, The Barkleys of Broadway, We’re Not Married!, and Teenage Rebel.
1996–Graphic designer, Saul Bass, dies of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in Los Angeles, California, at age 75. During his 40-year career, Bass worked for some of Hollywood's most prominent filmmakers, including Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger, Billy Wilder, Stanley Kubrick, and Martin Scorsese. Among his most famous title sequences are the animated paper cut-out of a heroin addict's arm for Preminger's The Man with the Golden Arm; the credits racing up and down what eventually becomes a high-angle shot of a skyscraper in Hitchcock's North by Northwest; and the disjointed text that races together and apart in Psycho.
1998–Super-centenarian, Christian Mortensen, dies in San Rafael, California, at age 115 (and 252 days). In addition to being the oldest person born in Denmark, Mortensen is also the oldest person ever of all the Nordic countries, the oldest male emigrant ever, and the oldest male ever from Europe.
2000–On the BBC's Later... With Jools Holland, Eric Clapton plays with Derek & the Dominos keyboard player, Bobby Whitlock, for the first time in 29 years. They perform three songs, including Bell-Bottom Blues.
2000–Theatrical producer, David Merrick, dies in London, England, at age 88. His productions include Look Back in Anger, The Entertainer, Gypsy, Irma La Douce, A Taste of Honey, Becket, Oliver!, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and Promises, Promises.
2001–Michele Alboreto is killed while testing an Audi R8 at the Lausitzring in Germany.
2002–Rap singer, Lisa Lopes, of TLC, dies in a car accident in La Ceiba, Atlántida, Honduras, at age 30.
2003–The parents of Jim Morrison sue the remaining members of The Doors for touring with a new singer as “The Doors 21st Century,” while using the original band's image and logo.
2004–The March for Women's Lives brings between 500,000 and 800,000 protesters (mostly pro-choice) to Washington D.C., to protest the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, along with other restrictions on abortion.
2005–Bulgaria and Romania become a part of the European Union.
2005–The final piece of the Obelisk of Axum is returned to Ethiopia after being stolen by the invading Italian army in 1937.
2007–Boris Yeltsin's funeral is held. It is the first to be sanctioned for a head of state by the Russian Orthodox Church since the funeral of Emperor Alexander III in 1894.
2007–Singer, Bobby Pickett, dies in Los Angeles, California, at age 69. He had the huge hit, Monster Mash, in the 1960s.
2009–Actress, Beatrice Arthur, dies of cancer in Los Angeles, California, at age 86. She is best known for her starring roles on the TV sitcoms Maude and The Golden Girls. She appeared in the films Lovers and Other Strangers, Mame, History of the World, Part I, and Because I Said So.
2010–Actress, Dorothy Provine, dies of emphysema in Bremerton, Washington, at age 75. She appeared in the films The Bonnie Parker Story, The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Good Neighbor Sam, The Great Race, That Darn Cat!, and Who’s Minding the Mint?
2015–Riots break out in Baltimore, Maryland, following the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody.
2015–A 7.8 earthquake in Lamjung, Nepal, kills more than 9,100 people locally and in the surrounding areas of India, China, and Bangladesh. The quake also triggers an avalanche on Mount Everest, killing at least 19 people. Google engineer, Dan Fredinburg, climbing with three other company employees while mapping the area for a future Google Earth-type project, was among the casualties.
2015–Screenwriter and novelist, Don Mankiewicz, dies of congestive heart failure in Monrovia, California, at age 93. His films include Trial, House of Numbers, I Want to Live!, and The Chapman Report.
2016–British department store chain, British Home Stores (BHS), collapses after a last-minute rescue deal fails. The collapse of the retailer, which employs 11,000 people, is the biggest failure on the U.K.'s high street since the collapse of Woolworths Group in 2008.
2017–Saudi Arabia is among 12 countries newly elected to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, in spite of the nation's poor record with women's rights and human rights in general.
2017–India decides to provide every cow with a biometric dog tag, in an effort to prevent cattle smuggling.
2017–The Nasdaq Composite crosses the 6,000 threshold for the first time. It is its first 1,000-point milestone since the dot-com era.
2017–Wikipedia co-founder, Jimmy Wales, announces plans for Wikitribune, a news aource that would be free to read and carry no advertising. Combining the work of professional journalists and volunteers, its purpose will be to help counter the spread of fake news.
2018–Texas senator, Ted Cruz, announces that he will support Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election.
2018–Scientists from the University of Science and Technology of China state that North Korea's nuclear test site, the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site at Mount Mantap, collapsed just minutes after the country performed its sixth nuclear test. This opened up a hole of up to 656 feet in diameter.
2018–Film director, Michael Anderson, dies in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, at age 98. His films include 1984, Around the World in 80 Days, Shake Hands with the Devil, The Wreck of the Mary Deare, All the Fine Young Cannibals, The Naked Edge, Operation Crossbow, The Quiller Memorandum, The Shoes of the Fisherman, Logan's Run, Orca, and The Martian Chronicles.
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1953–Francis Crick and James D. Watson publish the molecular structure of nucleic acids. This is a structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid describing the double helix structure of DNA.
