106 BC Cicero (born), Roman politician and philosopher (died 43 BC)
1431 Joan of Arc is handed over to Bishop Pierre Cauchon.
1496 Leonardo da Vinci unsuccessfully tests a flying machine.
1521 Pope Leo X excommunicates Martin Luther in the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.
1777 American General George Washington defeats British General Lord Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton.
1795 Josiah Wedgwood (died), English potter, founded the Wedgwood Company (born 1730)
1823 Stephen F. Austin receives a grant of land in Texas from the government of Mexico.
1870 Construction of the Brooklyn Bridge begins.
1888 The refracting telescope at the Lick Observatory, measuring 91 cm in diameter, is used for the first time. It was the largest telescope in the world at the time.
1892 J. R. R. Tolkien (born), English philologist and author (died 1973)
1894 ZaSu Pitts (born), American actress (died 1963)
1895 James Merritt Ives (died), American lithographer and businessman, co-founded Currier and Ives (born 1824)
1909 Victor Borge (born), Danish-American pianist and comedian (died 2000)
1925 Benito Mussolini announces he is taking dictatorial powers over Italy.
1938 The March of Dimes is established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
1944 World War II: Top Ace Major Greg “Pappy” Boyington is shot down in his Vought F4U Corsair by Captain Masajiro Kawato flying a Mitsubishi A6M Zero.
1945 Stephen Stills (born), American singer-songwriter, musician, and producer (Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and Manassas)
1946 John Paul Jones (born), English bass player, songwriter, and producer (Led Zeppelin and Them Crooked Vultures)
1947 Proceedings of the U.S. Congress are televised for the first time.
1956 A fire damages the top part of the Eiffel Tower.
1957 The Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch.
1961 A core explosion and meltdown at the SL-1, a government-run reactor near Idaho Falls, Idaho, kills three workers.
1961 The United States severs diplomatic relations with Cuba.
1962 Pope John XXIII excommunicates Fidel Castro.
1969 Michael Schumacher (born), German race car drive
1976 The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights comes into effect.
1977 Apple Computers is incorporated.
1979 Conrad Hilton (died), American businessman, founded the Hilton Hotels & Resorts (born 1887)
1980 Joy Adamson (died), Czech author (born 1910)
1981 Eli Manning (born), American football player
1988 Joie Chitwood (died), American race car driver and stuntman (born 1912)
1989 Sergei Sobolev (died), Russian mathematician (born 1909)
1990 Former leader of Panama Manuel Noriega surrenders to American forces.
1993 In Moscow, Russia, George Bush and Boris Yeltsin sign the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).
1996 The Motorola StarTAC, the first flip phone and one of the first mobile phones to gain widespread consumer adoption, goes on sale.
2000 The last original weekday Peanuts comic strip is published.
EO Smith
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