1498 – The 1498 Nankai earthquake generates a tsunami that washes away the building housing the statue of the Great Buddha at Kōtoku-inin Kamakura, Kanagawa, Japan; since then the Buddha has sat in the open air.
1737 – The Walking Purchase, an agreement between the Penn family and Lenape tribe, is finalized which forces the session of 1.2 million acres (4,860 km²) of Lenape-Delaware tribal land to the Pennsylvania Colony. The tribe appealed to the Iroquois for aide, on the issue, however, they refused. Around four centuries later, the Delaware Nation (one of three federally recognized Lenape tribes) claimed 314 acres included in the original purchase in Delaware Nation v. Pennsylvania (2004). The case was dismissed.
1881 – Chester A. Arthur is sworn in, the morning after becoming President upon James A. Garfield’s death.
1893 – Charles Duryea and his brother road-test the first American-made gasoline-powered automobile. The Duryea’s “motor wagon” was a used horse drawn buggy that the brothers had purchased for $70. This particular car was put into storage in 1894 until 1920, when it was rescued by a former Duryea Motor Wagon Company and presented to the United States National Museum, to preserve.
2011 – The United States military ends its “Don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, allowing gay men and women to serve openly for the first time.
Births
1593 – Gottfried Scheidt, German organist, and composer (d. 1661)
1831 – Kate Harrington, American poet, and educator (d. 1917)
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Upton Beall Sinclair, Jr. wrote nearly 100 books, including ‘The Jungle,’ an expose on the meat packing industry that caused the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act and the Meat Inspection Act in 1906 |
1878 – Upton Sinclair, American journalist and author. He is remembered for writing: “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”(d. 1968)
1895 – Walter Dubislav, German logician and philosopher of science, Vienna Circle member (d. 1937)
1930 – Richard Montague, American mathematician and philosopher (d. 1971)
Deaths
1630 – Claudio Saracini, Italian lutenist (a medieval-baroque era string instrument that produces sweet, melodic sounds) and composer (b. 1586)
1852 – Philander Chase, an American bishop, and educator, founded Kenyon College (b. 1775)
1947 – Fiorello H. La Guardia, American lawyer and politician, 99th Mayor of New York City (b. 1882)
1970 – Alexandros Othonaios, Greek general and politician, 126h Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1879) |
