64 – The Great Fire of Rome causes widespread devastation and rages on for six days, destroying half of the city.
1870 – The First Vatican Council decrees the dogma of papal infallibility, meaning whatever the Pope says is “preserved from the possibility of error”. This doctrine relies on the cornerstone of the Catholic dogma: the authority of the pope who decides what is best for the Catholic faith. This idea was brought up in various concepts of Catholic theology, including the Sacred Scripture, the Sacred Tradition, and the Sacred Magisterium. Further, these infallible teachings of the Pope could not contradict the teachings of the Sacred Tradition and the Sacred Scripture.
1925 – Adolf Hitler publishes his personal manifesto, Mein Kampf.
2013 – The city government of Detroit, with up to $20 billion in debt, files for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
Births
1634 – Johannes Camphuys, Dutch politician, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1695)
1918 – Nelson Mandela, South African lawyer and politician, First President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate. He was the country’s first black president, and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. After studying law at Fort Hare University and The University of Witwatersrand, he fought against the growing apartheid movement, and in 1952 rose to prominence in the African National Congress’s (ANC) anti-Apartheid Defiance campaign.
Working as a lawyer, he was arrested numerous times for seditious activities. Influenced by the works of Karl Marx, he joined the South African Communist Party (SACP). In 1962, he was arrested, convicted of conspiracy to overthrow the state and sentenced to life imprisonment at the Rivonia Trial. After serving 27 years in prison, he was released in 1990 by President F. W. de Klerk in part to negotiate the end of apartheid and organize the 1994 mix-raced elections, which Mandela won. Mandela’s administration led the way to a new constitution based on racial equality and the investigation into past human rights violations. In addition, Mandela introduced policies to push for land reform, combated poverty and expanded the health care services. Mandela served one term (1994-1999). He passed away on December 5, 2013, at the age of 95.
1962 – Jack Irons, American drummer (Spinnerette, What Is This?, The Wallflowers, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, and Eleven)
Deaths
1695 – Johannes Camphuys, Dutch politician, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (b. 1634)
1890 – Lydia Becker, English journalist, author, and activist co-founded the Women’s Suffrage Journal (b. 1827)
1954 – Machine Gun Kelly, American gangster (b. 1900)