1004 – Henry II the Saint crowned King of Italy
1252 – Pope Innocent IV issues the papal bull ad exstirpanda, which authorizes, but also limits, the torture of heretics in the Medieval Inquisition. It authorized in limited and defined circumstances the use of torture by the Inquisition for eliciting confessions from heretics.
1602 – Cape Cod discovered by English navigator Bartholomew Gosnold
1672 – First copyright law enacted by Massachusetts
1718 – James Puckle, a London lawyer, patents world’s first machine gun
1793 – Diego Marín Aguilera flies a glider for “about 360 meters”, at a height of 5-6 meters, during one of the first attempted flights.
1862 – The Confederate ship Alabama was launched as the Enrica at Birkenhead, England, where she had been built in secret. Tasked with helping the South in the American Civil War her mission was to disrupt and attack Union merchant and naval vessels. She was sunk in battle by the USS Kearsarge in June 1864 at the Battle of Cherbourg outside the port of
Cherbourg, France.
1905 – Las Vegas Nevada founded
1918 – First airmail postal service between New York, Philadelphia and Washington DC
1928 – Mickey Mouse made his first appearance in “Plane Crazy”
1934 – US Department of Justice offers $25,000 reward for Dillinger, dead or alive
1935 – The Moscow Metro is opened to public
1940 – McDonald’s opens its first restaurant in San Bernardino, California
1958 – USSR launches Sputnik III
1963 – Last Project Mercury flight, L Gordon Cooper in Faith 7, launched
1963 – Peter, Paul & Mary win their first Grammy (If I Had a Hammer)
1968 – Paul McCartney and John Lennon appear on Johnny Carson Show to promote Apple records, Joe Garagiola is substitute host and presents the most awkward talk show host in TV history. An inebriated Tullulah Bankhead adds to the mix with equally silly comments. Watch here.
1972 – Assassination attempt on Governor George Wallace of Alabama by Arthur Bremer in Laurel, Md
1991 – President Bush takes Queen Elizabeth to Oakland A’s-Balt Oriole game
Birthdays
1565 – Henrick de Keyser, architect/master builder of Amsterdam
1856 – Lyman Frank Baum, NY, children’s book author (Wizard of Oz)
1910 – Robert F Wagner, (Mayor-D-NYC, 1949-65)
1915 – Gus Viseur, French button accordionist (d. 1974)
1923 – Richard Avedon, photographer
Three Flags by Jasper Johns, 1958
1930 – Jasper Johns, Augusta, Ga, painter/sculptor
Kazimir Malevich
Deaths
392 – Valentinianus II, emperor of Rome (375-392), murdered at 21
1591 – Dmitry Ivanovitch, youngest son of Russian Tsar Ivan IV, murdered at 8
1621 – Henrick de Keyser, Amsterdam’s builder, dies on his 56th birthday
1886 – Emily Dickinson, US poet, dies at 551935 – Kazimir Malevich, Polish/Ukrainian artist (b. 1878)
1967 – Edward Hopper, US painter (House by Railroad), dies at 84
2007 – Jerry Falwell, American evangelist (b. 1933)
Edited from various sources including historyorb.com, the NYTimes.com Wikipedia and other internet searches