1500 – Vicente Yáñez Pinzón becomes the first European to set foot on Brazil.
1699 – For the first time, the Ottoman Empire permanently cedes territory to the Christian powers.
1700 – The Cascadia earthquake takes place off the west coast of North America, as evidenced by Japanese records.
1841 – James Bremer takes formal possession of Hong Kong Island at what is now Possession Point, establishing British Hong Kong.
1856 – First Battle of Seattle. Marines from the USS Decatur drive off American Indian attackers after all day battle with settlers.
1905 – The world’s largest diamond ever, the Cullinan weighing 3,106.75 carats (0.621350 kg), is found at the Premier Mine near Pretoria in South Africa.
1911 – Glenn H. Curtiss flies the first successful American seaplane.
1926 – The first demonstration of the television by John Logie Baird.
1980 – Israel and Egypt establish diplomatic relations.
1992 – Boris Yeltsin announces that Russia will stop targeting United States cities with nuclear weapons.
1998 – Lewinsky scandal: On television, President Bill Clinton denies having had “sexual relations” with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Click here to see Bill Clinton deny having sexual relations with Ms. Lewinsky.
Births
1861 – Louis Anquetin, French painter (d. 1932)
1880 – Douglas MacArthur, American general, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1964)
1905 – Maria von Trapp, Austrian-American singer (d. 1987)
1918 – Nicolae Ceaușescu, Romanian general and politician, 1st President of Romania (d. 1989)
1921 – Akio Morita, Japanese businessman, co-founded Sony (d. 1999)
1925 – Paul Newman, American actor, director, race car driver, and businessman, co-founded Newman’s Own (d. 2008)
1929 – Jules Feiffer, cartoonist, playwright, screenwriter, and educator
1946 – Gene Siskel, American journalist and film critic (d. 1999)
Deaths
1630 – Henry Briggs, English mathematician and astronomer (b. 1556)
1779 – Thomas Hudson, English painter (b. 1701)
1795 – Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach, German harpsichord player and composer (b. 1732)
1895 – Arthur Cayley, English mathematician and academic (b. 1825)
1973 – Edward G. Robinson, Romanian-American actor (b. 1893)
1990 – Lewis Mumford, American sociologist and historian (b. 1895)
2016 – Abe Vigoda, American actor (b. 1921)
