1508 – Maximilian I crowned Holy Roman Emperor
1778 – France recognizes USA, signs treaty of aid in Paris; first US treaty
1820 – US population announced at 9,638,453
1832 – US ship destroys Sumatran village in retaliation for piracy
1836 – HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin reach Diemen’s Land (Tasmania)
1843 – The first minstrel show in the United States The Virginia Minstrels opens (Bowery Amphitheatre in New York City).
1904 – Russian-Japanese war begins
1911 – First old-age home opened in Prescott, Arizona
1911 – Great fire destroys downtown Constantinople (Istanbul, Turkey)
1933 – 112 ft ocean wave observed near Manila
1935 – “Monopoly” board game goes on sale for first time
1948 – First radio-controlled airplane flown
1952 – Queen Elizabeth II succeeds King George VI to the British throne
1958 – Ted Williams signs with Red Sox for $135,000, making him highest paid
1959 – Fidel Castro is interviewed by Edward R Murrow
1968 – Former President Dwight Eisenhower shoots a hole-in-one
1977 – Alain Prieur jumps his motorcycle 65 m over 16 buses, near Paris
1978 – Snowstorm hits New England, parts of Rhode Island (54″ (137cm)
Birthdays
1564 – Christopher Marlowe, English poet/dramatist (Dr Faustus)
1611 – Chongzhen Emperor, 16th and last Ming Emperor of China
1756 – Aaron Burr, Newark NJ, (D-R), 3rd US VP (1801-05), dueler
1907 – Sam Green, industrialist/inventor
1911 – Ronald Reagan, 40th US President (R) (1981-89)
1912 – Eva Braun, mistress of Adolf Hitler
Deaths
1804 – Joseph Priestley, theologist/philosopher/chemist, dies at 70
1918 – Gustav Klimt, Austrian painter/cartoonist, dies at 55
1976 – Vince Guaraldi, jazz pianist (Charlie Brown TV specials), dies at 43
2012 – Antoni Tapies, Spanish artist, dies at 88
