EVENTS
1618 - Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion.
1702 - Anne Stuart, the sister of the childless Mary II, becomes Queen regnant of England, Scotland and Ireland after the death of William III of Orange.
1765 - The British House of Lords passes the Stamp Act to tax the American colonies.
1775 - Thomas Paine's "African Slavery in America" was published. It was the first article in the United States calling for the emancipation of all slaves and the abolition of slavery.
1782 - Gnadenhütten massacre: Some 90 Native Americans in Gnadenhutten, Ohio, who had converted to Christianity had their skulls crushed with mallets by Pennsylvanian militiamen in retaliation for raids carried out by other Indians.
1817 - The New York Stock Exchange is founded.
1844 - King Oscar I ascends to the throne of Sweden-Norway.
1854 - U.S. Commodore Matthew C. Perry makes his second landing in Japan, where he will conclude a treaty with the Japanese within a month.
1862 - American Civil War: The iron-clad CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack) is launched at Hampton Roads, Virginia.
1884 - Susan B. Anthony addresses the U.S. House Judiciary Committee arguing for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting women the right to vote. Anthony's argument came 16 years after legislators had first introduced a federal women's suffrage amendment.
1894 - The state of New York enacts the nation's first dog-licensing law.
1911 - International Women's Day is launched in Copenhagen, Denmark, by Clara Zetkin, leader of the Women's Office for the Social Democratic Party in Germany.
1917 - Riots and strikes break out in St. Petersburg, Russia, marking the start of the Russian Revolution.
1917 - The U.S. Senate votes to to limit filibusters by adopting the cloture rule.
1921 - Spanish Premier Eduardo Dato Iradier is assassinated while exiting the parliament building in Madrid.
1924 - Castle Gate mine disaster kills 172 coal miners near Castle Gate, Utah.
1936 - The first stock car race is held in Daytona Beach, Florida.
1942 - World War II: The Dutch surrender to Japanese forces on Java.
1942 - World War II: Japan captures Rangoon, Burma.
1942 - World War II: British bombers begin a new style of air raid, using incendiary bombs to light the way for a nighttime attack on the Krupp armament works in Essen. The long series of attacks reduce the city to ruins.
1943 - World War II: Japanese troops counter-attack American forces on Hill 700 in Bougainville in a battle that will last five days.
1945 - Allied forces move large numbers of troops across the Rhine River to significantly reinforce and expand their tenuous hold on the captured Ludendorff Bridge (Bridge at Remagen), allowing them to push some armor across the river and better secure the nascent lodgement.
1950 - Marshal Voroshilov announces that the Soviet Union possesses the atomic bomb.
1957 - Egypt re-opens the Suez Canal.
1957 - The 1957 Georgia Memorial to Congress, which petitions the U.S. Congress to declare the ratification of the 14th & 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution null and void, is adopted by the U.S. state of Georgia.
1963 - The Ba'ath Party comes to power in Syria in a Coup d'état by a clique of quasi-leftist Syrian Army officers calling themselves the National Council of the Revolutionary Command.
1965 - Vietnam War: 3,500 United States Marines arrive in South Vietnam, becoming the first American combat troops in Vietnam.
1966 - Vietnam War: Australia announces it is going to substantially increase its number of troops in Vietnam.
1966 - A bomb planted by young Irish protesters destroys Nelson's Pillar in Dublin.
1971 - Joe Frazier becomes the undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion by winning a unanimous 15-round decision over Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden in New York.
1974 - Charles de Gaulle Airport opens in Paris, France.
1980 - The first festival of rock music kicks off in the Soviet Union
1983 - 40th President of the United States Ronald Reagan calls the Soviet Union an evil empire
1983 - The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee endorses a nuclear weapons freeze with the Soviet Union, a move denounced by U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
1985 - A failed assassination attempt on Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah in a car-bombing in Beirut kills 85 people and injures 175.
1999 - The Supreme Court of the United States upholds the murder convictions of Timothy McVeigh for the Oklahoma City bombing.
2004 - A new constitution is signed by Iraq's Governing Council.
BIRTHS
1970 - Jason Elam, American football player
1971 - Kit Symons, Welsh footballer
1972 - Angie Hart, Australian pop singer
1972 - Fergal O'Brien, Irish snooker player
1972 - Georgios Georgiadis, Greek footballer
1973 - Anneke van Giersbergen, Dutch singer (The Gathering)
1973 - Boris Kodjoe, Austrian model
1973 - Kurt Mollekens, Belgian racing car driver
1973 - Justin Thompson, American baseball player
1973 - Mark Lukasiewicz, American baseball player
1974 - Mike Moriarty, American baseball player
1975 - Fardeen Khan, Indian actor
1975 - Peggy Zina, Greek singer
1976 - Gaz Coombes, English singer (Supergrass)
1976 - Juan Encarnacion, American baseball player
1976 - Ryan Freel, American baseball player
1976 - Hines Ward, American football player
1976 - Freddie Prinze Jr., American actor
1977 - James Van Der Beek, American actor
1977 - Johann Vogel, Swiss footballer
1979 - Tom Chaplin, English singer (Keane)
1979 - Andy Ross, American guitarist (OK Go)
1979 - Nick Zano, American actor
1981 - Michael Beauchamp, Australian footballer
1981 - Jessica Jaymes, American porn actress
1981 - Timothy Jordan II, American musician (The All American Rejects, Jonezetta) (d. 2005)
1982 - Nicoleta Onel, Romanian gymnast
1982 - Kat Von D, Mexican-American tattoo artist
1982 - Nicolas Armindo, race car driver
1982 - Leonidas Kabantais, Greek footballer
1982 - Craig Stansberry, American baseball player
1984 - Dave Moffatt, Canadian musician
1985 - Ewa Sonnet, Polish model and pop singer
1988 - Armanti Edwards, NCAA football player
1990 - Ben Tozer, Newcastle United Footballer
1991 - Devon Werkheiser, American Actor
1992 - Charlie Ray, American actress
1996 - Lorna Fitzgerald, EastEnders actress
DEATHS
1976 - Alfons Rebane, Estonian military commander (b. 1908)
1983 - William Walton, English composer (b. 1902)
1985 - Edward Andrews, American actor (b. 1914)
1988 - Amar Singh Chamkila, Punjabi folk singer (b. 1961)
1988 - Werner Hartmann, German physicist (b. 1912)
1988 - Henryk Szeryng, Polish-born violinist (b. 1918)
1993 - Billy Eckstine, American musician (b. 1914)
1995 - Ingo Schwichtenberg, German drummer (b. 1965)
1998 - Ray Nitschke, American football player (b. 1936)
1999 - Peggy Cass, American actress and comedian (b. 1924)
1999 - Joe DiMaggio, American baseball player (b. 1914)
1999 - Adolfo Bioy Casares, Argentinean writer (b.1914)
2001 - Edward Winter, American actor (b. 1937)
2003 - Adam Faith, English singer and actor (b. 1940)
2003 - Karen Morley, American actress (b. 1909)
2004 - Abu Abbas, founder of the Palestine Liberation Front (b. 1948)
2004 - Robert Pastorelli, American actor (b. 1954)
2005 - Aslan Maskhadov, Chechen leader (b. 1951)
2005 - César Lattes, Brazilian physicist (b. 1924)
2006 - Brian Barratt-Boyes, New Zealand heart surgeon (b. 1924)
2007 - John Inman, English actor (b. 1935)
2007 - Viky Vanita, Greek actress (b. 1948)
2007 - John Vukovich, American baseball player and coach.. (b. 1947)
1618 - Johannes Kepler discovers the third law of planetary motion.
1702 - Anne Stuart, the sister of the childless Mary II, becomes Queen regnant of England, Scotland and Ireland after the death of William III of Orange.
1765 - The British House of Lords passes the Stamp Act to tax the American colonies.
1775 - Thomas Paine's "African Slavery in America" was published. It was the first article in the United States calling for the emancipation of all slaves and the abolition of slavery.
1782 - Gnadenhütten massacre: Some 90 Native Americans in Gnadenhutten, Ohio, who had converted to Christianity had their skulls crushed with mallets by Pennsylvanian militiamen in retaliation for raids carried out by other Indians.
1817 - The New York Stock Exchange is founded.
1844 - King Oscar I ascends to the throne of Sweden-Norway.
1854 - U.S. Commodore Matthew C. Perry makes his second landing in Japan, where he will conclude a treaty with the Japanese within a month.
1862 - American Civil War: The iron-clad CSS Virginia (formerly USS Merrimack) is launched at Hampton Roads, Virginia.
1884 - Susan B. Anthony addresses the U.S. House Judiciary Committee arguing for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution granting women the right to vote. Anthony's argument came 16 years after legislators had first introduced a federal women's suffrage amendment.
1894 - The state of New York enacts the nation's first dog-licensing law.
1911 - International Women's Day is launched in Copenhagen, Denmark, by Clara Zetkin, leader of the Women's Office for the Social Democratic Party in Germany.
1917 - Riots and strikes break out in St. Petersburg, Russia, marking the start of the Russian Revolution.
1917 - The U.S. Senate votes to to limit filibusters by adopting the cloture rule.
1921 - Spanish Premier Eduardo Dato Iradier is assassinated while exiting the parliament building in Madrid.
1924 - Castle Gate mine disaster kills 172 coal miners near Castle Gate, Utah.
1936 - The first stock car race is held in Daytona Beach, Florida.
1942 - World War II: The Dutch surrender to Japanese forces on Java.
1942 - World War II: Japan captures Rangoon, Burma.
1942 - World War II: British bombers begin a new style of air raid, using incendiary bombs to light the way for a nighttime attack on the Krupp armament works in Essen. The long series of attacks reduce the city to ruins.
1943 - World War II: Japanese troops counter-attack American forces on Hill 700 in Bougainville in a battle that will last five days.
1945 - Allied forces move large numbers of troops across the Rhine River to significantly reinforce and expand their tenuous hold on the captured Ludendorff Bridge (Bridge at Remagen), allowing them to push some armor across the river and better secure the nascent lodgement.
1950 - Marshal Voroshilov announces that the Soviet Union possesses the atomic bomb.
1957 - Egypt re-opens the Suez Canal.
1957 - The 1957 Georgia Memorial to Congress, which petitions the U.S. Congress to declare the ratification of the 14th & 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution null and void, is adopted by the U.S. state of Georgia.
1963 - The Ba'ath Party comes to power in Syria in a Coup d'état by a clique of quasi-leftist Syrian Army officers calling themselves the National Council of the Revolutionary Command.
1965 - Vietnam War: 3,500 United States Marines arrive in South Vietnam, becoming the first American combat troops in Vietnam.
1966 - Vietnam War: Australia announces it is going to substantially increase its number of troops in Vietnam.
1966 - A bomb planted by young Irish protesters destroys Nelson's Pillar in Dublin.
1971 - Joe Frazier becomes the undisputed world heavyweight boxing champion by winning a unanimous 15-round decision over Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden in New York.
1974 - Charles de Gaulle Airport opens in Paris, France.
1980 - The first festival of rock music kicks off in the Soviet Union
1983 - 40th President of the United States Ronald Reagan calls the Soviet Union an evil empire
1983 - The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee endorses a nuclear weapons freeze with the Soviet Union, a move denounced by U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
1985 - A failed assassination attempt on Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah in a car-bombing in Beirut kills 85 people and injures 175.
1999 - The Supreme Court of the United States upholds the murder convictions of Timothy McVeigh for the Oklahoma City bombing.
2004 - A new constitution is signed by Iraq's Governing Council.
BIRTHS
1970 - Jason Elam, American football player
1971 - Kit Symons, Welsh footballer
1972 - Angie Hart, Australian pop singer
1972 - Fergal O'Brien, Irish snooker player
1972 - Georgios Georgiadis, Greek footballer
1973 - Anneke van Giersbergen, Dutch singer (The Gathering)
1973 - Boris Kodjoe, Austrian model
1973 - Kurt Mollekens, Belgian racing car driver
1973 - Justin Thompson, American baseball player
1973 - Mark Lukasiewicz, American baseball player
1974 - Mike Moriarty, American baseball player
1975 - Fardeen Khan, Indian actor
1975 - Peggy Zina, Greek singer
1976 - Gaz Coombes, English singer (Supergrass)
1976 - Juan Encarnacion, American baseball player
1976 - Ryan Freel, American baseball player
1976 - Hines Ward, American football player
1976 - Freddie Prinze Jr., American actor
1977 - James Van Der Beek, American actor
1977 - Johann Vogel, Swiss footballer
1979 - Tom Chaplin, English singer (Keane)
1979 - Andy Ross, American guitarist (OK Go)
1979 - Nick Zano, American actor
1981 - Michael Beauchamp, Australian footballer
1981 - Jessica Jaymes, American porn actress
1981 - Timothy Jordan II, American musician (The All American Rejects, Jonezetta) (d. 2005)
1982 - Nicoleta Onel, Romanian gymnast
1982 - Kat Von D, Mexican-American tattoo artist
1982 - Nicolas Armindo, race car driver
1982 - Leonidas Kabantais, Greek footballer
1982 - Craig Stansberry, American baseball player
1984 - Dave Moffatt, Canadian musician
1985 - Ewa Sonnet, Polish model and pop singer
1988 - Armanti Edwards, NCAA football player
1990 - Ben Tozer, Newcastle United Footballer
1991 - Devon Werkheiser, American Actor
1992 - Charlie Ray, American actress
1996 - Lorna Fitzgerald, EastEnders actress
DEATHS
1976 - Alfons Rebane, Estonian military commander (b. 1908)
1983 - William Walton, English composer (b. 1902)
1985 - Edward Andrews, American actor (b. 1914)
1988 - Amar Singh Chamkila, Punjabi folk singer (b. 1961)
1988 - Werner Hartmann, German physicist (b. 1912)
1988 - Henryk Szeryng, Polish-born violinist (b. 1918)
1993 - Billy Eckstine, American musician (b. 1914)
1995 - Ingo Schwichtenberg, German drummer (b. 1965)
1998 - Ray Nitschke, American football player (b. 1936)
1999 - Peggy Cass, American actress and comedian (b. 1924)
1999 - Joe DiMaggio, American baseball player (b. 1914)
1999 - Adolfo Bioy Casares, Argentinean writer (b.1914)
2001 - Edward Winter, American actor (b. 1937)
2003 - Adam Faith, English singer and actor (b. 1940)
2003 - Karen Morley, American actress (b. 1909)
2004 - Abu Abbas, founder of the Palestine Liberation Front (b. 1948)
2004 - Robert Pastorelli, American actor (b. 1954)
2005 - Aslan Maskhadov, Chechen leader (b. 1951)
2005 - César Lattes, Brazilian physicist (b. 1924)
2006 - Brian Barratt-Boyes, New Zealand heart surgeon (b. 1924)
2007 - John Inman, English actor (b. 1935)
2007 - Viky Vanita, Greek actress (b. 1948)
2007 - John Vukovich, American baseball player and coach.. (b. 1947)
