Today’s Events
1550 – France, Scotland, and England sign a treaty ending the Nine Years’ War.
1603 – After the death of Elizabeth I, James IV of Scotland becomes James I of England, crowned King James I of Ireland.
1663 – The colony of Carolina is distributed to eight noblemen for helping to reinstate King Charles II of England.
1720 – Frederick I is crowned King of Sweden.
1765 – Great Britain passes legislation to station troops in all 13 colonies.
1829 – British Parliament passed legislation allowing Catholics to serve in Parliament.
1832 – In the US state of Ohio, Mormon leader Joseph II is attacked by a mob.
1837 – African Canadians are given the right to vote in Canada.
1854 – Slavery is abolished in Venezuela.
1878 – British ship Eurydice 300 people died in the sinking.
1882 – Robert Coke announced that he had discovered the pathogen that causes tuberculosis.
1896 – Russian scientist Alexander Popov developed the first radio transmitter in history.
1921 – First International Women’s Games held in Monte Carlo.
1934 – A bill allowing the Philippines to become an autonomous Commonwealth is passed in the United States Congress.
1944 – Nazi German forces kill 335 Italian civilians in Rome.
1944 – World War II: 76 Allied prisoners of war break out of a German prison in Sagan, Poland. The incident was later filmed.
1946 – A British Cabinet delegation arrived in India to negotiate the transfer of rule of British India to Indian leadership.
1947 – Lord Mountbatten becomes Governor of British India.
1961 – Quebec Board for the French Language is established.
1965 – The Dudley-Selva Agreement was signed to promote the use of the Tamil language in the north and east of Sri Lanka and to give preference to Tamil speakers in the distribution of government land in the north-east.
1965 – NASA’s Ranger 9 spacecraft transmits photos of the Moon to Earth before it crashes into images that can be viewed on home televisions.
1976 – A military coup took place in Argentina. Isabel Peron was overthrown.
1977 – Morarji Desai is elected the first non-member of the Indian National Congress as Prime Minister.
1980 – El Salvador Archbishop Oscar Romero is assassinated in San Salvador.
1993 – Shoemaker-Levy comet discovered.
1998 – 250 people died and over 3000 were injured in a cyclone in Dandan, India.
1999 – Kosovo War: NATO forces launch air strikes in Yugoslavia.
1999 – 38 people died in a fire at the Mont Blanc mine in Belgium.
2003 – The Arab League votes 21–1 in favor of a resolution calling for the immediate withdrawal of US and British forces from Iraq.
2008 – Bhutan officially becomes a democracy. The first general election was held.
2015 – Cherumanwings Flight 9525 crashes in the French Alps, killing all 150 people on board.
2020 – A nationwide curfew was imposed to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in India.
Today’s Birthdays
1607 – Michael de Ruyter, leftist commander (d. 1667)
1693 – John Arison, English inventor of the nautical chronometer (d. 1776)
1733 – Joseph Presidley, English chemist (d. 1804)
1775 – Muthuswamy Dikshitar, one of the musical trio of Karunataka (d. 1835)
1834 – William Morris, English fashion designer, poet (d. 1896)
1874 – Ari Udini, Hungarian-American magician and actor (d. 1926)
1884 – Peter Deboy, Nobel Prize-winning British-American physicist and chemist (d. 1966)
1893 – Voltaire Bade, German astronomer (d. 1960)
1903 – Adolf Budenandt, Nobel Prize-winning German chemist (d. 1995)
1903 – Malcolm Mackarich, English journalist and author (d. 1990)
1905 – b. S. Ramaiah, Tamil Nadu writer (d. 1983)
1922 – d. M. Soundararajan, playback singer from Tamil Nadu
1930 – Neervai Ponnaiyan, Eelam writer (d. 2020)
1932 – K. A. Krishnasamy, Tamil Nadu politician (d. 2010)
1936 – David Suzuki, Canadian scientist
1943 – Raghunath Mahabhatra, Indian sculptor and architect
1947 – Alan Sugar, English businessman
1949 – Ranil Wickremesinghe, 13th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
1956 – Steve Palmer, American businessman
1961 – Dean Jones, Australian rower (d. 2020)
1965 – The Undertaker, American wrestler and actor
1973 – Jim Parsons, American actor
1974 – Alyson Hannigan, American actress
1978 – Kishore, South Indian film producer (d. 2015)
1979 – Emraan Hashmi, Indian actor
1979 – Lake Bell, Jewish-American actress, director
Today’s Deaths
1776 – John Arison, English inventor of the nautical chronometer (b. 1693)
1849 – Johann Tobariner, German chemist (b. 1780)
1882 – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American poet (b. 1807)
1905 – Jules Verne, French novelist and poet (b. 1828)
1915 – Margaret Ilinduse Akinsu, Anglo-Irish astronomer (b. 1848)
1964 – Yoga Swami, Siddhar of Jaffna (b. 1872)
1976 – Bernard Montgomery, British military officer (b. 1887)
1980 – Oscar Romero, Archbishop of Salvatore (b. 1917)
1988 – Sirkazhi S. Govindarajan, Tamil Nadu dramatist, screen singer (b. 1933)
Today is a special day
World Tuberculosis Day
International Human Rights Violations Day for the Truth and Dignity of Victims