1540 – Waltham Abbey is surrendered to King Henry VIII of England; the last religious community to be closed during the Dissolution of the Monasteries.
1775 – American Revolutionary War: Patrick Henry delivers his speech – “Give me liberty, or give me death!” – at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Richmond, Virginia.
1801 – Tsar Paul I of Russia is struck with a sword, then strangled, and finally trampled to death inside his bedroom at St. Michael’s Castle.
1806 – After traveling through the Louisiana Purchase and reaching the Pacific Ocean, explorers Lewis and Clark and their “Corps of Discovery” begin their arduous journey home.
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The next time you’re in SoHo, note the E.V. Haughwout Building at 488-492 Broadway(corner of Broome), as it was the location of Otis’s first elevator
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1857 – Elisha Otis’s first elevator is installed at 488 Broadway New York City.
1909 – Theodore Roosevelt leaves New York for a post-presidency safari in Africa. The trip is sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic Society.
1919 – In Milan, Benito Mussolini founds his Fascist political movement.
1933 – The Reichstag passes the Enabling Act of 1933, making Adolf Hitler dictator of Germany.
1965 – NASA launches Gemini 3, the United States’ first two-man space flight (crew: Gus Grissom and John Young).
1983 – Strategic Defense Initiative: President Ronald Reagan makes his initial proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles.
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Rex Tillerson, 66 years old today
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2001 – The Russian space station Mir is disposed of, breaking up in the atmosphere before falling into the southern Pacific Ocean near Fiji.
Births
1514 – Lorenzino de’ Medici, Italian writer and assassin (d. 1548)
1769 – William Smith, English geologist and cartographer (d. 1839)
1823 – Schuyler Colfax, American journalist and politician, 17th Vice President of the United States (d. 1885) So, history buffs, quick… who was the 17th president of the United States? See below…
1912 – Wernher von Braun, German physicist and engineer (d. 1977)
1929 – Roger Bannister, English runner, neurologist and academic (d. 2018)
1952 – Rex Tillerson, American businessman, engineer and diplomat; former United States Secretary of State
1954 – Kenneth Cole, fashion designer, Kenneth ColeProductions
Deaths
851 – Zhou Chi, Chinese historian and politician (b. 793)
1801 – Paul I of Russia (b. 1754)
2001 – Margaret Jones, British archaeologist (b. 1916)
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Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. How did he get to be the 17th president?
He was the only sitting senator from a Confederate state who did not resign his seat upon learning of his state’s secession. In 1862, Lincoln appointed him as military governor of Tennessee. In 1864, Johnson, as a War Democrat and Southern Unionist, was a logical choice as running mate for Lincoln, who wished to send a message of national unity in his re-election campaign; their ticket easily won. When Johnson was sworn in as vice president in March 1865, he gave a rambling speech, after which he secluded himself to avoid public ridicule. Six weeks later, the assassination of Lincoln made him president. (wiki)