202 BC – Coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han takes place, initiating four centuries of the Han Dynasty’s rule over China
1692 – Salem witch hunt begins
1704 – Indians attack Deerfield, Mass, kill 40, kidnap 100
1708 – Slave revolt, Newton, Long Island New York, 11 die
1749 – First edition of Henry Fieldings’ “Tom Jones” published
1861 – Territories of Nevada and Colorado created
1883 – First US vaudeville theater opens in Boston
1893 – Edward Acheson, patents an abrasive he names “carborundum”
1933 – German President Von Hindenburg abolishes free expression of opinion
1940 – Richard Wright’s “Native Son” published
1940 – US population at 131,669,275
1956 – Forrester issued a patent for computer core memory
1961 – JFK names Henry Kissinger special advisor
1983 – Final TV episode of “M*A*S*H” airs (CBS); record 125 million watch
1994 – 100 agents raid Branch Davidian compound at Waco Texas
1998 – First flight of RQ-4 Global Hawk, the first unmanned aerial vehicle certified to file its own flight plans and fly regularly in U.S. civilian airspace.
2012 – Occupy London protesters evicted from St Paul’s Cathedral
2012 – Discovery of the largest prehistoric penguin, Kairuku grebneffi, at nearly 5ft tall
2013 – The brains of two rats have been successfully connected so that they share information
Birthdays
1552 – Jost/Jobst Bürgi, Swiss clockmaker and mathematician (d. 1632)
1663 – Thomas Newcomen, English co-inventor (steam engine)
1690 – Aleksei P Romanov, Russia, son of Peter the Great
1890 – Vaslav Nijinsky, Kiev Ukraine, ballet dancer
1901 – Linus Pauling, Portland, Oregon, American chemist/peace activist
1906 – Bugsy Siegel, gangster created casinos in Las Vegas
1926 – Svetlana Alliluyeva, daughter of Josef Stalino
1929 – Frank O Gehry, architect Spruce Street skyscraper
1940 – Mario Andretti, race-car driver (1969 Indianapolis 500, 1978 Formula One World Champion)
