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1940–Drummer, Ringo Starr, of The Beatles, is born Richard Starkey at Royal Liverpool Children's Hospital, Liverpool, England. At the time, is parents were living on Madryn Street in Dingle, the poorest section of Liverpool. Officially the “fourth Beatle,” he was responsible for the band’s percussion and driving four-four rock beat. Ringo was the oldest of The Beatles, but the last to join the group. Upon their arrival in America in February 1964, he was enormously popular with the fans and the press, which was somewhat unexpected by his bandmates. He wrote the songs What Goes On, Flying, Don’t Pass Me By, and Octopus’s Garden. After The Beatles, Ringo enjoyed a very successful solo career, with the hits Photograph, Back Off Bugaloo, It Don’t Come Easy, Oh My My, and Your Sixteen, among many others. Over the decades, he has continually toured with his Ringo’s Allstar Band to the delight of Beatles fans around the world.


1053–Emperor Shirakawa of Japan is born.

1119–Emperor Sutoku of Japan is born Akihito in Japan. He was the 75th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.

1124–Tyre, Lebanon, falls to the Crusaders.

1162–King Haakon II of Norway dies in the Battle of Sekken in Romsdalen, Norway, at age 15.

1207–Elizabeth of Hungary is born.

1285–Tile Kolup (also known as Dietrich Holzschuh), German impostor claiming to be Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, dies by being burned at the stake.

1304–Pope Benedict XI dies.

1307–Edward I, King of England (1272-1307), dies of dysentery in Burgh by Sands, Cumberland, England, at age 68. He was known as “Edward Longshanks” and the “Hammer of the Scots.”

1456–A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her death.

1520–Spanish conquistadores defeat a larger Aztec army at the Battle of Otumba.

1528–Archduchess Anna of Austria is born.

1534–During the European colonization of the Americas, Jacques Cartier makes the first known exchange between Europeans and native aboriginal peoples of the Gulf of St. Lawrence in Canada.

1537–Madeleine of Valois dies of tuberculosis at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, Kingdom of Scotland, at age 16. She was a French princess who became Queen of Scots as the first spouse of King James V.

1540–Hungarian King, John Sigismund Zápolya, is born in Buda, Kingdom of Hungary.

1543–French troops invade Luxembourg.

1572–Sigismund II Augustus, King of Poland, dies in Knyszyn, Poland, at age 51.

1575–The Raid of the Redeswire is the last major battle between England and Scotland.

1585–The Treaty of Nemours abolishes tolerance to Protestants in France.

1616–Anna of Württemberg dies in Chojnów, Poland.

1647–English minister, Thomas Hooker, dies. He founded the Colony of Connecticut.

1752–Merchant, Joseph Marie Jacquard, is born in France. He invented the Jacquard loom.

1770–The Battle of Larga is fought between the Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire.

1777–American forces retreating from Fort Ticonderoga are defeated in the Battle of Hubbardton in the American Revolutionary War.

1798–As a result of the XYZ Affair, the U.S. Congress rescinds the Treaty of Alliance with France sparking the "Quasi-War."

1807–The Peace of Tilsit between France, Prussia, and Russia ends the War of the Fourth Coalition.

1834–In New York City, four nights of rioting against abolitionists begins.

1846–In the Mexican-American War, American troops occupy Monterey and Yerba Buena, thus beginning the U.S. acquisition of California.

1860–Classical composer, Gustav Mahler, is born in Bohemia, Austrian Empire. He was a late-Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th century Austro-German tradition and the modernism of the early 20th century. After 1945, his compositions were rediscovered and championed by a new generation of listeners and Mahler then became one of the most frequently performed and recorded of all composers, a position he has sustained into the 21st century.

1863–The first military draft by the U.S. begins (exemptions cost $300).

1865–Four conspirators in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln are hanged. They are George Atzerodt, David Herold, Lewis Payne, and Mary Surratt.

1880–Engineer, Otto Frederick Rohwedder, is born. He invented sliced bread.

1887–Artist, Marc Chagall, is born Moishe Segal in Liozna, near Vitebsk, Russian Empire (present-day Belarus). An early Modernist, he was associated with several major artistic styles and created works in virtually every artistic medium: painting, book illustrations, stained glass, stage sets, ceramic, tapestries, and fine art prints. Apollinaire coined the word “surrealist” to describe Chagall´s work.

1890–Businessman, Henri Nestlé, dies. He founded the Nestlé Company.

1892–The Revolutionary Philippine Brotherhood is established, contributing to the fall of the Spanish Empire in Asia.

1898–President William McKinley signs the Newlands Resolution, annexing Hawaii as a territory of the United States.

1899–Film director, George Cukor, is born in Manhattan, New York. His films include Dinner At Eight, Little Women, David Copperfield, The Women, Gone with the Wind, The Philadelphia Story, A Woman’s Face, Gaslight, Adam’s Rib, Born Yesterday, A Star Is Born, Les Girls, The Chapman Report, My Fair Lady, and Rich and Famous. He was fired from Gone with the Wind in the early stages of the production, although a few of his scenes remain in the film.

1901–Actor and director, Vittorio De Sica, is born in Italy.

1901–Film direcotr, Sam Katzman, is born.

1901–Cinematographer, Eiji Tsuburaya, is born in Japan.

1903–Super-centenarian, Ralph (Burgess) Tarrant, is born in Nottingham, England. He would live to the age of 110 (and 115 days).

1902–Paul McCartney’s father, James McCartney, is born in Liverpool, England. James had a great positive influence on Paul, with lively music hall and popular music being played regularly in the household (later to find its way into flavoring some of pop hits of The Beatles). He, and his wife, Mary, had a very stabilizing effect on the young McCartney, which clearly contributed to the character and charm that "Beatle Paul" offered to the world.

1904–Chef and authoer, Simone Beck, is born in France.

1906–Baseball pitcher, Satchel Paige, is born in Mobile, Alabama. He was an American baseball player whose pitching in the Negro leagues and in Major League Baseball (MLB) made him a legend in his own lifetime. As a member of the Cleveland Indians, Paige became the oldest rookie in Major League Baseball, and attracted record crowds wherever he pitched. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971.

1907–Florenz Ziegfeld, Jr. stages his first “Follies” on the roof of the New York Theater in New York City.

1907–Science fiction writer, Robert Anson Heinlein, is born in Butler, Missouri. He, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke are thought to be the "Big Three" of science fiction writers. In his novels, Heinlein created words which have since become common in the English language, such as "grok." He is best known for his novel Stranger in a Strange Land.

1911–The United States, Great Britain, Japan, and Russia sign the North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911, banning open-water seal hunting. It is the first international treaty to address wildlife preservation issues.

1913–Bluesman, Pinetop Perkins, is born Joseph William Perkins in Belzoni, Mississippi. Perkins played with some of the most influential blues and rock and roll performers in American history. He recorded Pinetop's Boogie Woogie (written by Pinetop Smith) at Sam Phillips' Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee.

1915–An International Railway trolley with an extreme overload of 157 passengers, crashes near Queenston, Ontario, Canada, killing 15 people.

1917–Politician, Fidel Sánchez Hernández, is born. He was President of El Salvador.

1915–Colombo Town Guard officer, Henry Pedris, is executed in British Ceylon for allegedly inciting persecution of Muslims.

1916–The New Zealand Labour Party is founded in Wellington.

1916–Country singer, Red Sovine, is born Woodrow Wilson Sovine in Charleston, West Virginia. He was associated with truck driving songs, particularly those recited as narratives, but set to music. The most famous examples are his 1965 number #1 hit, Giddyup Go, and his 1976 #1 hit Teddy Bear.

1919–Attorney, William (Moses) Kunstler, is born in New York, New York. He was a self-described "radical lawyer" and civil rights activist, known for his politically unpopular clients. He defended the Chicago Seven, and membetd of the Black Panther Party and the Weather Underground.

1922–Fashion designer, Pierre Cardin, is born in Paris, France. He created the “Unisex” look that was so popular in the 1960s.

1924–Singer and guitarist, Mary Ford, is born Iris Colleen Summers in El Monte, California. Along with her husband, Les Paul, she had hit songs with Vaya con Dios, Tennessee Waltz, Mockin’ Bird Hill, How High the Moon, and Bye Bye Blues.

1927–Charlie Louvin, of The Louvin Brothers, is born.

1927–Trumpet player, Doc Severinsen, is born. He was the conductor of The Tonight Show Band.

1928–Sliced bread is sold for the first time (on the inventor's 48th birthday) by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri.

1930–Industrialist, Henry J. Kaiser, begins construction of Boulder Dam (present-day Hoover Dam).

1930–Scottish writer and poet, Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle, dies of a heart attack at his home in Crowborough, Sussex, England. He was best known for his series of stories featuring the character Sherlock Holmes.

1937–The Marco Polo Bridge Incident provides the Imperial Japanese Army with a pretext for starting the Second Sino-Japanese War.

1937–The Peel Commission Report recommends the partition of Palestine.

1940–Drummer, Ringo Starr, of The Beatles, is born Richard Starkey at Royal Liverpool Children's Hospital in Liverpool, England. At the time, is parents were living on Madryn Street in Dingle, the poorest section of Liverpool. Officially the “fourth Beatle,” he was responsible for the band’s percussion and driving four-four rock beat. Ringo was the oldest of The Beatles, but the last to join the group. Upon their arrival in America in February 1964, he was enormously popular with the fans and the press, which was somewhat unexpected by his bandmates. He wrote the songs What Goes On, Flying, Don’t Pass Me By, and Octopus’s Garden. After The Beatles, Ringo enjoyed a very successful solo career, with the hits Photograph, Back Off Bugaloo, It Don’t Come Easy, Oh My My, and Your Sixteen, among many others. Over the decades, he has continually toured with his Ringo’s Allstar Band to the delight of Beatles fans around the world. He was married to hairdresser, Maureen Cox, and actress-model, Barbara Bach.

1941–The American occupation of Iceland replaces the British occupation.

1941–During World War II, Beirut is occupied by Free France and British troops.

1941–Bass player, Jim Rodford, is born James Walter Rodford in St. Albans, Hertfordshire, England. He played with The Kinks, The Swinging Blue Jeans, The Zombies, and Argent.

1943–Film critic, Joel (Steven) Siegel, is born in Los Angeles, California. He was the film critic for the ABC morning news show, Good Morning America, for over 25 years.

1946–Mother Francesca S. Cabrini becomes the first American to be canonized.

1946–Howard Hughes nearly dies when his XF-11 reconnaissance aircraft prototype crashes in a Beverly Hills, California, neighborhood.

1946–Actor, Joe Spano, is born.

1947–The Roswell incident, the (alledged) crash of an alien spaceship near Roswell, New Mexico, takes place.

1949–Actress, Shelley Duvall, is born.

1952–Trolley cars make their last run in London, England.

1952–The ocean liner, SS United States, passes Bishop Rock on her maiden voyage, breaking the transatlantic speed record to become the fastest passenger ship in the world.

1953–Ernesto "Che" Guevara sets out on a trip through Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador.

1954–Dewey Phillips, of radio station WHBQ in Memphis, Tennessee, becomes the first DJ to play an Elvis Presley record. He premiers That's All Right, Mama and also interviews Elvis.

1956–Fritz Moravec and two other Austrian mountaineers make the first ascent of Gasherbrum II.

1956–Johnny Cash performs on The Grand Ole Opry for the first time.

1958–President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Alaska Statehood Act into law.

1959–Venus occults the star Regulus. This rare event is used to determine the diameter of Venus and the structure of the Venusian atmosphere.

1959–Actor, Billy Campbell, is born.

1959–Model, Jessica Hahn, is born.

1960–Protestant paramilitary leader, Billy Wright, is born William Stephen Wright in Wolverhampton, England. He was a prominent Ulster loyalist during the ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland known as the Troubles. According to the Royal Ulster Constabulary, Wright was involved in the sectarian killings of up to 20 Catholics, although he was never convicted for any of the murders. It has been alleged that Wright, like his predecessor, was an agent of the British security forces.

1963–During the Buddhist crisis of South Viet Nam, the police of Ngo Dinh Nhu, brother and chief political adviser of President Ngo Dinh Diem, attack a group of American journalists who are covering a protest.

1965–The Kinks (singing Tired of Waiting for You), Sonny & Cher (singing I Got You Babe), and Marianne Faithfull appear on ABC-TV’s teen music show Shindig!

1965–Politician, Moshe Sharett, dies. He was the second Prime Minister of Israel.

1966–Stand-up comedian, actor, and author, Jim Gaffigan, is born in Elgin, Illinois. Gaffigan has written two books, Dad is Fat and Food: A Love Story. He is the co-creator and star of the TV series The Jim Gaffigan Show.

1967–British singer, Dusty Springfield, begins a three-week residency at New York's Copacabana nightclub.

1968–The Yardbirds finally call it quits, causing guitarist, Jimmy Page, to form the New Yardbirds in order to fulfill some tour commitments. The group, featuring Robert Plant, John Bonham, and John Paul Jones, will later become Led Zeppelin.

1969–The John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band single, Give Peace a Chance, is released in the U.S.

1972–Athenagoras I of Constantinople dies of kidney failure in Phanar, Istanbul, Turkey, at age 86. Initially the Greek Archbishop in North America, he was the 268th Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 1948 to 1972.

1972–Talal of Jordan dies.

1973–Actress, Veronica Lake, dies of acute hepatitis and acute kidney injury in Burlington, Vermont, at age 50. She appeared in the films Young as You Feel, Forty Little Mothers, Hold Back the Dawn, Sullivan’s Travels, This Gun for Hire, The Glass Key, So Proudly We Hail, The Hour Before Dawn, Duffy’s Tavern, The Blue Dahlia, Ramrod, Variety Girl, Saigon, Stronghold, and Footsteps in the Snow.

1978–The Solomon Islands become independent from the United Kingdom.

1980–Institution of sharia law takes place in Iran. This is the Islamic legal system derived from the religious precepts of Islam, particularly the Quran and the Hadith.

1980–During the Lebanese Civil War, 83 Tiger militants are killed during the Safra massacre.

1980–Film producer, Dore Schary, dies.

1981–President Ronald Reagan appoints Sandra Day O'Connor as the first female member of the U.S. Supreme Court.

1983–During the Cold War, Samantha Smith, an American schoolgirl, flies to the Soviet Union at the invitation of Secretary General Yuri Andropov.

1985–Boris Becker becomes the youngest tennis player to win Wimbledon at age 17.

1989–It's reported that CDs are now outselling vinyl albums.

1990–TV game show host, Bill Cullen, dies of lung cancer in Bel Air, California, at age 70. He hosted over 20 different games shows during his career, which spanned five decades. He also became a regular panelist on the game shows I've Got a Secret and To Tell the Truth.

1991–The Brioni Agreement ends the 10-day independence war in Slovenia against the rest of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

1992–The New York Court of Appeals rules that women have the same right as men to go topless in public.

1994–Viacom Inc., the movie, publishing, and sports company, buys Paramount Communications Inc. for $10 billion. The company that became Viacom was spun off from CBS in the 1970s, because of government rules (later repealed), that prevented networks from owning their own programming. Since then, Viacom has grown to become a major player in media and cable, forming the pay channel Showtime in 1978, and acquiring MTV in 1986. On August 29, 1994, Viacom spent another $8 billion to buy Blockbuster Entertainment.

1994–Actor, Cameron Mitchell, dies of lung cancer in Pacific Palisades, California, at age 75. He appeared in the films They Were Expendable, Death of a Salesman, Flight to Mars, How to Marry a Millionaire, the Tall Men, Love Me or Leave Me, Carousel, No Down Payment, Ride in the Whirlwind, Hombre, The Rebel Rousers, The Swarm, and My Favorite Year.

1997–The Turkish Armed Forces withdraw from northern Iraq after assisting the Kurdistan Democratic Party in the Iraqi Kurdish Civil War.

1999–In a huge defeat for the U.S. tobacco industry, a Florida jury finds that smoking causes a number of diseases and that the industry hid the dangers of smoking from the public.

2000–Princess Purnika of Nepal is born.

2003–The NASA Opportunity rover, MER-B or Mars Exploration Rover–B, is launched into space aboard a Delta II rocket.

2004–Chef, Jeff Smith, dies of heart disease in Seattle, Washington, at age 65. He was the author of several best-selling cookbooks and the host of The Frugal Gourmet.

2005–A series of four explosions occur on the transport system in London, England, killing 56 people (including four suicide bombers) and injuring over 700 others.

2006–Syd Barrett, of Pink Floyd, dies of pancreatic cancer in Cambridge, England, at age 60. Billboard ranks Pink Floyd’s 1973 album, Dark Side of the Moon, as the longest-charting album of all time. It would stay on the magazine’s pop album chart for more than 10 years and sells more than 10 million copies.

2007–The first Live Earth benefit concert is held in 11 locations around the world.

2007–Pope Benedict XVI issues the Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum, removing restrictions on celebrating the old Tridentine Mass.

2008–Model, Dorian Leigh, dies of Alzheimer's disease in a nursing home in Falls Church, Virginia, at age 91. She is considered one of the first supermodels, and was well known in the United States and Europe. She appeared on the covers of Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Paris Match, Life, and Elle. Truman Capote's character, Holly Golightly, in his famous 1958 novel, Breakfast at Tiffany's, is said to be largely based on Dorian's life. In 1980, Dorian published an autobiography titled The Girl Who Had Everything.

2012–At least 172 people are killed in a flash flood in the Krasnodar Krai region of Russia.

2013–A De Havilland Otter air taxi crashes in Soldotna, Alaska, killing 10 people.

2013–Character actor, Joe Conley, dies from dementia at a care facility in Newbury Park, California, at age 85. He is best known for his role as storekeeper Ike Godsey on the TV series The Waltons.

2016–The U.S. Department of State reopens an investigation into the possible mishandling of classified information by former Secretary of State and presumptive Democratic Party presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, and her top aides.

2016–French food company, Danone, agrees to buy American company, WhiteWave Foods, for $10 billion dollars. WhiteWave Foods’ brands distributed in North America include Horizon Organic premium dairy and pantry products, Silk plant-based foods and beverages, Earthbound Farm organic produce, and International Delight and Land O'Lakes coffee creamers and beverages.

2016–Germany's parliament passes a law saying that it is rape to have sex with a person who says "no" to the sex. Under the previous law, sex was not considered rape unless the victim fought back. The new law also classifies groping as a sex crime, making it easier to deport migrants who commit sex offences and/or to prosecute assaults committed by a large group.

2016–A 510-foot-long, $100 million Noah's ark attraction, called The Ark Encounter, opens in rural Kentucky (about 20 miles south of Cincinnati, Ohio). The ark is built based on dimensions in the Bible. Inside are museum-style exhibits: displays of Noah's family, along with rows of cages containing animal replicas, including dinosaurs.

2016–At least five workers are killed after a wall collapses on them at a recycling plant in Birmingham, England.

2016–Sniper, Micah Xavier Johnson, kills five policemen and wounds seven others during a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown Dallas, Texas. Johnson is later killed by an exploding bomb in the parking facility where his standoff with police took place.

2017–The G20 Summit is held in Hamburg, Germany, with the leaders from the Group of Twenty.

2017–President Donald Trump meets with President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, for the first time.

2017–The Nuclear weapons convention is adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. This is a proposed multilateral treaty to outlaw nuclear weapons. This may include the possession, development, testing, production, stockpiling, transfer, use, and threat of use of nuclear weapons, as well as provide for their elimination. France, Russia, the U.K., and the U.S. oppose it.

2017–South Australia finalizes a deal with Tesla to install a battery system in the state. Tesla says the system will be the largest lithium-ion battery storage project in the world, overtaking an 80-megawatt-hour power station at Mira Loma, California, also built using Tesla batteries.

2017–Sears, Roebuck & Co. announces it will be closing eight more of its namesake department stores, as well as 35 Kmart locations, along with the 150 stores that they had announced in January would be shuttered.

2017–Seven Greenpeace activists are arrested after a Greenpeace banner with the words "resist" and "defend" is hung from the Trump Tower in Chicago, Illinois. The action was in protest of the Trump administration's stance on global warming.

2018–Alexander Lubigan, Vice Mayor of Trece Martires, Philippines, is assassinated in an ambush.

2018–Demonstrators protesting against gun violence block Interstate 94 in Chicago, Illinois.


PHOTOS TOP TO BOTTOM: Emperor Sutoku of Japan; Archduchess Anna of Austria; Gustav Mahler; George Cukor; James McCartney with his young son, Paul; Robert Anson Heinlein; Pierre Cardin; Ringo Starr; Shelley Duvall; Billy Campbell; John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band single, Give Peace a Chance; Dore Schary; Cameron Mitchell; Syd Barrett; and The Ark Encounter in Kentucky.
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