AD 41 – Roman Emperor Caligula, known for his eccentricity and sadistic despotism, is assassinated by his disgruntled Praetorian Guards. The Guard then proclaims Caligula’s uncle Claudius as Emperor
1848 – California Gold Rush: James W. Marshall finds gold at Sutter’s Mill near Sacramento.
1943 – World War II: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Winston Churchillconclude a conference in Casablanca.
1961 – Goldsboro B-52 crash: A bomber carrying two H-bombs breaks up in mid-air over North Carolina. The uranium core of one weapon remains lost.
1972 – Japanese Sgt. Shoichi Yokoi is found hiding in a Guam jungle, where he had been since the end of World War II.
1978 – Soviet satellite Kosmos 954, with a nuclear reactor on board, burns up in Earth’s atmosphere, scattering radioactive debris over Canada’s Northwest Territories. Only 1% is recovered.
Births
AD 76 – Hadrian, Roman emperor (d. 138)
1712 – Frederick the Great, Prussian king (d. 1786)
1862 – Edith Wharton, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1937)
1915 – Robert Motherwell, American painter and academic (d. 1991)
1928 – Desmond Morris, English zoologist, ethologist, and painter 1943 – Sharon Tate, American model and actress (d. 1969)
1949 – John Belushi, American actor and screenwriter (d. 1982)
Deaths
1920 – Amedeo Modigliani, Italian painter and sculptor (b. 1884)
1965 – Winston Churchill, English colonel and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)
1975 – Larry Fine, American comedian (b. 1902)
1986 – L. Ron Hubbard, American religious leader and author, founded the Church of Scientology (b. 1911)
1993 – Thurgood Marshall, American lawyer and jurist, 32nd United States Solicitor General (b. 1908)
This list is compiled from many internet and other sources of information including wikipedia, the New York Times, a multitude of websites and old books.
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