1066 – Edward the Confessor dies childless, sparking a succession crisis that will eventually lead to the Norman conquest of England.
1757 – Louis XV of France survives an assassination attempt by Robert-François Damiens, the last person to be executed in France by drawing and quartering, the traditional and gruesome form of capital punishment used for regicides.
1781 – American Revolutionary War: Richmond, Virginia, is burned by British naval forces led by Benedict Arnold.
1875 – The Palais Garnier, one of the most famous opera houses in the world, is inaugurated in Paris.
1882 – Charles J. Guiteau is found guilty of assassinating President James A. Garfield, and is sentenced to death by hanging.
1895 – Dreyfus affair: French army officer Alfred Dreyfus is stripped of his rank and sentenced to life imprisonment on Devil’s Island.
1914 – The Ford Motor Company announces an eight-hour workday and minimum daily wage of $5
1933 – Construction of the Golden Gate Bridge begins in San Francisco Bay.
1957 – In a speech given to the United States Congress, President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces the establishment of what will later be called the Eisenhower Doctrine.
1968 – Alexander Dubček comes to power; “Prague Spring” begins in Czechoslovakia.
Births
1679 – Pietro Filippo Scarlatti, Italian organist and composer (d. 1750)
1876 – Konrad Adenauer, Chancellor of West Germany (d. 1967)
1926 – W. D. Snodgrass, American poet (d. 2009)
1931 – Alvin Ailey, American dancer and choreographer, founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater (d. 1989)
1932 – Umberto Eco, Italian novelist, literary critic (d. 2016)
1942 – Charlie Rose, American journalist and talk show host
1946 – Diane Keaton, American actress, director, and businesswoman
Deaths
1527 – Felix Manz, Swiss martyr (b. 1498)
1589 – Catherine de’ Medici, queen of Henry II of France (b. 1519)
1625 – Simon Marius, German astronomer (b. 1573)
1922 – Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton was a polar explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic, and one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. He was born in 1874
1933 – Calvin Coolidge, 30th President of the United States (b. 1872)
1942 – Tina Modotti, photographer, model (of Edward Weston), actress, and activist (b. 1896)
1943 – George Washington Carver, American botanist, educator, and inventor (b. 1864) He became well-known to the public due to his active promotion of alternative crops to cotton and methods to prevent soil depletion.
1998 – Sonny Bono, American singer-songwriter, producer, actor, and politician (b. 1935)