1815 – Joachim Murat issues the Rimini Proclamation which would later inspire Italian unification.
1822 – The Florida Territory is created in the United States.
1841 – The National Bank of Greece is founded in Athens.
1842 – Ether anesthesia is used for the first time, in an operation by the American surgeon Dr. Crawford Long.
1856 – The Treaty of Paris is signed, ending the Crimean War.
1863 – Danish prince Wilhelm Georg is chosen as King George of Greece.
1867 – Alaska is purchased from Russia for $7.2 million, about 2-cent/acre ($4.19/km²), by US Secretary of State William H. Seward.
1870 – Texas is readmitted to the Union following Reconstruction.
1899 – German Society of Chemistry issues an invitation to other national scientific organizations to appoint delegates to the International Committee on Atomic Weights.
1945 – World War II: Soviet forces invade Austria and capture Vienna; Polish and Soviet forces liberate Danzig.
1949 – A riot breaks out in Austurvöllur square in Reykjavík, when Iceland joins NATO.
1965 – Vietnam War: A car bomb explodes in front of the United States Embassy, Saigon, killing 22 and wounding 183 others.
1981 – President Ronald Reagan is shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley, Jr.; three others are wounded in the same incident. Click here to see the video
Births
1432 – Mehmed the Conqueror, Ottoman sultan (d. 1481)
1746 – Francisco Goya, Spanish-French painter and sculptor (d. 1828)
1853 – Vincent van Gogh, Dutch-French painter and illustrator (d. 1890)
1894 – Sergey Ilyushin, Russian engineer, founded Ilyushin Aircraft Company (d. 1977)
1902 – Brooke Astor, American socialite and philanthropist (d. 2007)
1919 – McGeorge Bundy, American intelligence officer and diplomat, (d. 1996)
1937 – Warren Beatty, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1945 – Eric Clapton, English guitarist and singer-songwriter
Deaths
1925 – Rudolf Steiner, Austrian philosopher and author (b. 1861
1966 – Maxfield Parrish, American painter and illustrator (b. 1870)
1993 – Richard Diebenkorn, American painter (b. 1922)
2002 – Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother of the United Kingdom (b. 1900)
2004 – Alistair Cooke, English-American journalist and author (b. 1908)
2008 – Dith Pran, Cambodian-American photographer and journalist (b. 1942)
