1066 – Edward the Confessor dies childless, sparking a succession crisis that will eventually lead to the Norman conquest of England.
1527 – Felix Manz, a leader of the Anabaptist congregation in Zürich, Switzerland, is executed by drowning.
1757 – Louis XV of France survives an assassination attempt by Robert-François Damiens, the last person to be executed in France by drawing and quartering, the traditional and gruesome form of capital punishment used for regicides.
1895 – Dreyfus affair: French army officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island.
1914 – The Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and that it would pay a “living wage” of at least US$5 for a day’s labor.
1933 – Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins
1968 – Alexander Dubček comes to power; “Prague Spring” begins in Czechoslovakia.
2005 – Eris, the most massive and second-largest known dwarf planet in the Solar System, is discovered by the team of Michael E. Brown, Chad Trujillo, and David L. Rabinowitz using images originally taken on October 21, 2003, at the Palomar Observatory.
Births
1778 – Zebulon Pike, American general and explorer (d. 1813)
1855 – King Camp Gillette, founded the Gillette Company (d. 1932)
1876 – Konrad Adenauer, German lawyer and politician, Chancellor of West Germany (d. 1967)
1895 – Alberto Massimino, Italian automotive engineer (d. 1975)
1928 – Walter Mondale, soldier, lawyer, and politician, 42nd Vice President of the United States
1931 – Alvin Ailey, dancer and choreographer (d. 1989)
1931 – Robert Duvall, American actor and director
1942 – Charlie Rose, American journalist and talk show host
1946 – Diane Keaton, American actress, director, and businesswoman
Deaths
1762 – Elizabeth of Russia (b. 1709)
1933 – Calvin Coolidge, lawyer 30th President of the United States
1942 – Tina Modotti, Italian photographer, model, actress, and activist
1943 – George Washington Carver, American botanist, educator, and inventor (b. 1864)
1998 – Sonny Bono, American singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and politician (b. 1935)
