1113 Pope Paschal II issues a bill sanctioning the establishment of the Order of Hospitallers.
1471 Piero the Unfortunate (born), Italian ruler (died 1503)
1493 While on board the Niña, Christopher Columbus writes an open letter (widely distributed upon his return toPortugal) describing his discoveries and the unexpected items he came across in the New World.
1564 Galileo Galilei (born), Italian astronomer and physicist (died 1642)
1571 Michael Praetorius (born), German organist and composer (died 1621)
1620 François Charpentier (born), French archaeologist (died 1702)
1621 Michael Praetorius (died), German organist and composer (born 1571)
1637 Ferdinand II (died) Holy Roman Emperor (born 1578)
1637 Ferdinand III becomes Holy Roman Emperor.
1710 Louis XV of France (born) (died 1774)
1738 Matthias Braun (died), Czech sculptor (born 1684)
1748 Jeremy Bentham (born), English jurist and philosopher (died 1832)
1759 Friedrich August Wolf (born), German philologist and critic (died 1824)
1764 The city of St. Louis, Missouri is established.
1781 Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (died), German author and philosopher (born 1729)
1797 Henry E. Steinway (born), German-American businessman, founded Steinway & Sons (died 1871)
1809 André Dumont (born), Belgian geologist (died 1857)
1809 Cyrus McCormick (born), American businessman, co-founded International Harvester (died 1884)
1812 Charles Lewis Tiffany (born), American jeweler, founded Tiffany & Co. (died 1902)
1820 Susan B. Anthony (born), American activist (died 1906)
1835 The first constitutional law in modern Serbia is adopted.
1845 Elihu Root (born), American lawyer and politician, 38th United States Secretary of State, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1937)
1847 Germinal Pierre Dandelin (died), Belgian mathematician and engineer (born 1794)
1847 Robert Fuchs (born), Austrian composer and educator (died 1927)
1856 Emil Kraepelin (born), German psychiatrist (died 1926)
1861 Alfred North Whitehead (born), English mathematician and philosopher (died 1947)
1861 Charles Édouard Guillaume (born), French physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1938)
1862 American Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant attacks Fort Donelson, Tennessee.
1874 Ernest Shackleton (born), Irish explorer (died 1922)
1879 Women’s rights: American President Rutherford B. Hayes signs a bill allowing female attorneys to argue cases before the Supreme Court of the United States.
1892 James Forrestal (born), American lieutenant and politician, 1st United States Secretary of Defense (died 1949)
1893 Walter Donaldson (born), American songwriter (died 1947)
1898 Spanish-American War: The USS Maine explodes and sinks in Havana harbor in Cuba, killing 274. This event leads the United States to declare war on Spain.
1907 Cesar Romero (born), American actor (died 1994)
1909 The Flores Theater fire in Acapulco, Mexico kills 250.
1914 Hale Boggs (born), American politician (died 1972)
1929 Graham Hill (born), English race car driver (died 1975)
1929 James R. Schlesinger (born), American politician, 12th United States Secretary of Defense
1933 In Miami, Florida, Giuseppe Zangara attempts to assassinate President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, but instead shoots Chicago mayor Anton J. Cermak, who dies of his wounds on March 6, 1933.
1934 Niklaus Wirth (born), Swiss computer scientist, created the Pascal programming language
1935 Susan Brownmiller (born), American journalist and author
1942 World War II: The Fall of Singapore. Following an assault by Japanese forces, the British General Arthur Percival surrenders. About 80,000Indian, United Kingdom and Australian soldiers become prisoners of war, the largest surrender of British-led military personnel in history.
1944 Mick Avory (born), English drummer (The Kinks and The Kast Off Kinks)
1944 World War II: The assault on Monte Cassino, Italy, begins.
1945 Douglas Hofstadter (born), American academic and author
1945 World War II: Third day of bombing in Dresden.
1946 ENIAC, the first electronic general-purpose computer, is formally dedicated at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.
1949 Gerald Lankester Harding and Roland de Vaux begin excavations at Cave 1 of the Qumran Caves, where they will eventually discover the first seven Dead Sea Scrolls.
1950 David Brown (born), American bass player and songwriter (Santana) (died 2000)
1951 Jane Seymour (born), English actress
1951 Melissa Manchester (born), American singer-songwriter and actress (Harlettes)
1952 King George VI is buried in St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle.
1954 Canada and the United States agree to construct the Distant Early Warning Line, a system of radar stations in the far northern Arctic regions of Canada and Alaska.
1954 Matt Groening (born), American animator, screenwriter, and producer
1959 Owen Willans Richardson (died), English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1879)
1961 Sabena Flight 548 crashes in Belgium, killing 73, including the entire United States figure skating team, several coaches and family members.
1964 Chris Farley (born), American actor and comedian (died 1997)
1965 A new red-and-white maple leaf design is adopted as the flag of Canada, replacing the old Canadian Red Ensign banner.
1965 Nat King Cole (died), American singer and pianist (born 1919)
1969 Josh Marshall (born), American journalist, founded the Talking Points Memo
1972 Sound recordings are granted U.S. federal copyright protection for the first time.
1973 Wally Cox (died), American actor (born 1924)
1974 Alexander Wurz (born), Austrian race car driver
1976 The 1976 Constitution of Cuba is adopted by national referendum.
1979 Don Dunstan resigns as Premier of South Australia, ending a decade of sweeping social liberalisation.
1981 Karl Richter (died), German conductor and organist (born 1926)
1981 Mike Bloomfield (died), American guitarist and songwriter (Electric Flag) (born 1943)
1982 The drilling rig Ocean Ranger sinks during a storm off the coast of Newfoundland, killing 84 workers.
1984 Ethel Merman (died), American actress and singer (born 1908)
1988 Richard Feynman (died), American physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1918)
1989 The Soviet Union officially announces that all of its troops have left Afghanistan.
1990 Charles Pic (born), French race car driver
1992 William Schuman (died), American composer (born 1910)
1996 At the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in China, a Long March 3 rocket, carrying an Intelsat 708, crashes into a rural village after liftoff, killing many people.
1996 McLean Stevenson (died), American actor (born 1929)
1998 Martha Gellhorn (died), American journalist and author (born 1908)
2000 Indian Point II nuclear power plant in New York State vents a small amount of radioactive steam when a steam generator fails.
2001 First draft of the complete human genome is published in Nature.
2002 Howard K. Smith (died), American journalist (born 1914)
2003 Protests against the Iraq war take place in over 600 cities worldwide. It is estimated that between 8 million to 30 million people participate, making this the largest peace demonstration in history.
2013 A meteor explodes over Russia, injuring 1,500 people as a shock wave blows out windows and rocks buildings. This happens unexpectedly only hours before the expected closest ever approach of the larger and unrelated asteroid 2012 DA14.
EO Smith
Latest posts by EO Smith (see all)
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