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1981–Reggae singer, Bob Marley, dies of cancer at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, Miami, Florida, at age 36. Marley was regarded as a hero both in Jamaica and abroad. He was given a state funeral and buried near his birthplace in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica. In 1975, he had his first solo hit outside Jamaica with No Woman, No Cry. His other hits include Stir It Up, Get Up, Stand Up, I Shot the Sheriff, and Redemption Song.


330–Byzantium is renamed Nova Roma during a dedication ceremony, but it is more popularly referred to as Constantinople.

868–Wang Chieh prints the Diamond Sutra, a Buddhist scripture, on a 16-foot scroll using wood blocks. This is the first known printed “book.” In 1990, the scroll was discovered in Turkestan, among 1,000 bundles of manuscripts walled up in one of the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas.

912–Leo VI the Wise dies in Constantinople, at age 45. His younger beother, Alexander, becomes Emperor of the Byzantine Empire.

1014–Anawrahta Minsaw, founder of the Pagan Empire, is born Min Saw Maha Yaza Thiri Aniruddha Dewa in the Mandalay Region of Myanmar, Kingdom of Pagan. A strict disciplinarian, Anawrahta implemented a series of key social, religious, and economic reforms that would have a lasting impact in Burmese history.

1304–Mongol ruler, Mahmud Ghazan, dies at age 32. He was the son of Arghun and Quthluq Khatun, continuing a long line of rulers who were direct descendants of Genghis Khan.

1310–In France, 54 members of the Knights Templar are burned at the stake for being heretics.

1330–Constantinople (Istanbul) becomes the new capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.

1366–Anne of Bohemia is born in Prague, Kingdom of Bohemia. She was Queen of England as the first wife of King Richard II. A member of the House of Luxembourg, she was the eldest daughter of Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor and King of Bohemia, and Elizabeth of Pomerania.

1502–Christopher Columbus departs Cádiz on his fourth and final voyage to the Americas.

1647–Peter Stuyvesant arrives in New Amsterdam to replace Willem Kieft as Director-General of New Netherland, the Dutch colonial settlement that is present-day New York City.

1672–Louis XIV of France invades the Netherlands.

1708–European architect, Jules Hardouin-Mansart, dies at Marly-le-Roi, France, at age 62. Mansart's work would become widely regarded as the pinnacle of French Baroque architecture.

1720–Nobleman and adventurer, Baron Münchhausen, is born Hieronymus Carl Friedrich Baron von Münchhausen, in Bodenwerder, Germany. He was a famous recounter of tall tales. He joined the Russian military and took part in two campaigns against the Ottoman Turks, and upon returning home, Münchhausen is said to have told a number of outrageously far-fetched stories about his adventures. His reputation has been exaggerated by writers, giving birth to a fully fictionalized literary character usually called simply “Baron Münchausen.” Terry Gilliam adapted the nobleman’s stories into the 1988 film The Adventures of Baron Münchausen.

1733–Princess Victoire of France is born Victoire Louise Marie Thérèse de France at the Palace of Versailles in France.

1751–Pennsylvania Hospital is founded. It is the first hospital in the U.S.

1760–Burmese King, Alaungpaya, dies from illness during his campaign in Siam in Kinywa, Martaban, at age 45. He is considered one of the three greatest monarchs of Burma, alongside Anawrahta and Bayinnaung, for unifying the country for the third time in Burmese history.

1792–Captain Robert Gray becomes the first documented white person to sail into the Columbia River.

1812–Prime Minister, Spencer Perceval, dies by assassination in the lobby of the House of Commons in London, England, at age 49. The assassin was John Bellingham, a merchant who believed he had been unjustly imprisoned in Russia.

1812–The waltz is introduced to the English ballroom.

1813–William Lawson, Gregory Blaxland, and William Wentworth lead an expedition to cross the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, Australia. Their route opens up inland Australia for continued expansion throughout the 19th century.

1814–Judge, Robert Treat Paine, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, dies of natural causes in Boston, Massachusetts, at age 83.

1820–The HMS Beagle is launched. It is the ship that will take Charles Darwin on his scientific voyage around the world.

1833–The ship, Lady-of-the-Lake, strikes an iceberg and sinks in the North Atlantic, killing 215 passengers.

1846–President James K. Polk asks for and receives a Declaration of War against Mexico, starting the Mexican-American War

1850–Construction begins on the first brick building in San Francisco, California.

1857–In the Indian Rebellion, Indian rebels seize Delhi from the British.

1858–Minnesota becomes the 32nd state in the United States of America.

1862–During the American Civil War, the ironclad CSS Virginia is scuttled in the James River northwest of Norfolk, Virginia.

1867–Luxembourg gains its independence.

1871–Mathematician and astronomer, John Herschel, dies in Collingwood, near Hawkhurst, Kent, England, at age 79. He originated the use of the Julian day system in astronomy. He named seven moons of Saturn and four moons of Uranus. He made many contributions to the science of photography, and investigated color blindness and the chemical power of ultraviolet rays. He also conceptualized a practical contact lens design in 1823.

1880–Seven people are killed in the Mussel Slough Tragedy, a gun battle in California.

1885–Musician, Joe “King” Oliver is born in Abend, Louisiana. A cornetist, he helped establish the career of Louis Armstrong, when he brought “Satchmo” to Chicago, Illinois, to play in his Creole Jazz Band in the early 1920s.

1887–The 13th Kentucky Derby: Isaac Lewis, riding Montrose, wins in 2:39.

1888–Composer, Irving Berlin, is born Israel Baline in Tyuman, Russia. His first big success came with Alexander's Ragtime Band, and for the next 55 years he wrote some of the most memorable songs: Always, Blue Skies, A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody, God Bless America, There's No Business Like Show Business, and White Christmas.

1889–Businessman, John Cadbury, dies in Birmingham, England, at age 86. He founded the Cadbury Company. He developed an emulsification process to make solid chocolate, creating the modern chocolate bar.

1891–Tsarevich Nicholas Alexandrovich of Imperial Russia (later Nicholas II) suffers a critical head injury during a sword attack by Japanese policeman, Tsuda Sanzo. He is rescued by Prince George of Greece and Denmark.

1892–The 18th Kentucky Derby: Lonnie Clayton, riding Azra, wins in 2:41.

1892–Actress, Margaret (Taylor) Rutherford, is born in Balham, London, England. She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1961, and a Dame Commander (DBE) in 1967. She appeared in the films Talk of the Devil, Blithe Spirit, The Happiest Days of Your Life, Her Favourite Husband, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Runaway Bus, I’m All Right Jack, The Mouse on the Moon, and Murder Most Foul. She was married to character actor, Stringer Favis.

1894–Four thousand Pullman Palace Car Company workers go on a wildcat strike in Illinois.

1894–Dancer and choreographer, Martha Graham, is born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Her father was a doctor who specialized in nervous disorders, and he diagnosed patients according to their physical movements. Graham studied dance as a teenager with Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn, who had the only major dance company that worked outside of classical ballet at the time. One of her most famous dance pieces was Appalachian Spring.

1895–Indian philosopher, Jiddu Krishnamurti, is born in Madanapalle, Madras Presidency, British India. In his early life he was groomed to be the new World Teacher, but later rejected this mantle and withdrew from the organization behind it. His ideas included psychological revolution, the nature of mind, meditation, inquiry, human relationships, and bringing about radical change in society. He constantly stressed the need for a revolution in the psyche of every human being and emphasised that such a revolution cannot be brought about by any external entity, be it religious, political, or social.

1904–Andrew Carnegie donates $1.5 million to build a Peace Palace.

1904–Surrealist painter, Salvador Dali, is born Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènechin in Figueras, Spain. Called the “Father of Surrealism,” he was also a sculptor, photographer, and filmmaker. As a young artist in Paris, France, he became heavily influenced by Picasso and Miro. His painting style varied greatly, from classical to avant-garde, while the subject matter remained coherent: fantastical landscapes with melting clocks and stilt-legged elephants. His highly imaginative nature also produced grandiose and bizarre behaviors, often alarming those who held him in high regard.

1907–Thirty-two Shriners are killed when their chartered train derails at a switch near Surf Depot in Lompoc, California.

1910–Glacier National Park is established in Montana.

1911–Comic actor, Phil Silvers, is born Philip Silver in Brooklyn, New York. He is best known for the role of Master Sergeant Ernie Bilko on the TV series The Phil Silvers Show. He was called "The King of Chutzpah." He appeared in the films You’re in the Army Now, My Gal Sal, Footlight Serenade, Four Jills in a Jeep, Cover Girl, Summer Stock, Top Banana, 40 Pounds of Trouble, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and A Guide for the Married Man. His daughter is actress, Cathy Silvers.

1911–Comedian, Doodles Weaver, is born Winstead Sheffield Glenndenning Dixon Weaver in Los Angeles, California. He was featured on numerous TV shows, and he appeared in the films Li’l Abner, Kitty Foyle, Thank Your Lucky Stars, Since You Went Away, The Tunnel of Love, The 30 Foot Bride of Candy Rock, The Great Imposter, The Ladies Man, The Errand Boy, The Birds, Tammy and the Doctor, The Nutty Professor, and Macon County Line. His brother was President of NBC-TV, Sylvester “Pat” Weaver, and actress, Sigourney Weaver, was his niece.

1912–The 38th Kentucky Derby: Carol H. Shilling, riding Worth, wins in 2:09.

1912–Comedian, Foster Brooks, is born in Louisville, Kentucky. He was most famous for his portrayal of the “Lovable Lush” drunken man character in nightclub performances and television programs. Brooks drew upon his own battles with alcohol for his act, but during his period of greatest fame, he rarely drank.

1916–Albert Einstein's Theory of General Relativity is presented.

1918–The Mountainous Republic of the Northern Caucasus is officially established.

1918–The 44th Kentucky Derby: William Knapp, riding Exterminator, wins in 2:10.

1920–Actor, Denver (Dell) Pyle, is born in Bethune, Kit Carson County, Colorado. He appeared on TV on The Andy Griffith Show, The Doris Day Show, and The Dukes of Hazzard. He appeared in the films The Man from Colorado, The Left Handed Gun, The Alamo, Geronimo, The Rounders, Shenandoah, The Great Race, Bonnie and Clyde, 5 Card Stud, Escape to Witch Mountain, and Maverick.

1923–Parliamentarian, Henry Martyn Robert, dies in Hornell, New York, at age 86. He developed Robert's Rules of Order. It became the most widely used manual of parliamentary procedure, and remains the most common parliamentary authority in the United States.

1924–The Pulitzer Prizes are awarded. Reporting: Magner White, of The San Diego Sun, for his story of the eclipse of the Sun; Fiction: The Able McLaughlins by Margaret Wilson (Harper); Drama: Hell-Bent Fer Heaven by Hatcher Hughes (Harper); History: The American Revolution–A Constitutional Interpretation by Charles Howard McIlwain (Macmillan); Biography or Autobiography: From Immigrant to Inventor by Michael I. Pupin (Scribner); Poetry: New Hampshire–A Poem with Notes and Grace Notes by Robert Frost (Holt).

1927–MGM Studios mogul, Louis B. Mayer, founds the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to honor accomplishments in the movie industry. Initially, the awards were announced days before the event and the celebration night was a time for those in the movie industry to dine and dance.

1927–Comedian and political satirist, Mort Sahl, is born Morton Lyon Sahl in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He pioneered a sophisticated style of social satire that poked fun at political and current event topics using improvised monologues and only a newspaper as a prop. In the early 1960s, a stand-up comic talking about the real world of politics was considered "revolutionary." He inspired many later comics to become stage comedians, including Lenny Bruce, Jonathan Winters, and Woody Allen. He appeared in the films In Love and War, All the Young Men, Johnny Cool, and Don’t Make Waves.

1928–The first regularly scheduled TV broadcasts begin from Station WOY in Schenectady, New York, although there are virtually no privately owned television sets to receive them.

1928–The 54th Kentucky Derby: Chick Lang, riding Reigh Count, wins in 2:10.

1929–The first regularly scheduled TV broadcasts (three nights per week) begin in the U.S.

1932–Fashion designer, Valentino Clemente Ludovico Garavani, is born in Voghera, Italy. By the mid-1960s, he would be the undisputed premier Italian designer known simply as Valentino. Valentino’s client list includes Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Lee Radziwill, Audrey Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, and Princess Margaret.

1933–Minister and political activist, Louis Farrakhan, is born Louis Eugene Wolcott in the Bronx, New York. He is the leader of the religious group Nation of Islam (NOI). He served as the minister of major mosques in Boston and Harlem, and was appointed by the longtime NOI leader, Elijah Muhammad, as the National Representative of the Nation of Islam.

1934–A strong two-day dust storm removes massive amounts of topsoil in the Great Plains, in one of the worst storms of the Dust Bowl.

1935–Kit Lambert, British record producer and manager of The Who, is born Christopher Sebastian Lambert in Knightsbridge, London, England.

1935–Actor, Doug McClure, is born Douglas Osborne McClure in Glendale, California. He starred in the TV shows Checkmate and The Virginian. He appeared in the films Gidget, Because They’re Young, The Lively Set, Shenandoah, Beau Geste, The Land That Time Forgot, Humanoids from the Deep, 53 Pick-Up, and Tapeheads. He was married to actress, Barbara Luna.

1938–Musician, Bruce Langhorne, is born in Tallahassee, Florida. He was active in the Greenwich Village folk scene in the 1960s, primarily as a session guitarist for folk albums and performances. He worked with Joan Baez, Richie Havens, Gordon Lightfoot, Hugh Masekela, Odetta, Richard and Mimi Fariña, Tom Rush, Steve Gillette, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and Peter, Paul & Mary. In 1963, he accompanied Bob Dylan on the album The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. The title character of Bob Dylan's song, Mr. Tambourine Man, was inspired by Langhorne, who used to play a large Turkish frame drum in performances and recordings. The drum had small bells attached around its interior, giving it a jingling sound much like a tambourine.

1941–Eric (Victor) Burdon, lead singer of The Animals, is born in Walker, Newcastle-on-Tyne, England. The Animals hit the top of the charts in both Britain and North America in the summer of 1964, with House of the Rising Sun. They had a string of other hits during the mid-1960s. When the original Animals group broke up in 1966, Burdon began billing the band as Eric Burdon and The Animals. They began playing psychedelic songs, such as San Franciscan Nights and Sky Pilot. In 1970, Eric Burdon fronted the funk band, War, for their #1 hit Spill the Wine.

1942–William Faulkner's collection of short stories, Go Down, Moses, is published.

1943–In World War II, American troops invade Attu Island, in the Aleutian Islands, in an attempt to expel occupying Japanese forces.

1943–Les Chadwick, of Gerry & The Pacemakers, is born in Liverpool, England. The group was formed during the emergence of the Mersey Sound, and Beatles manager, Brian Epstein, signed the group to his stable of beat and pop group stars. Their hits include Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Crying, How Do You Do It, and Ferry Cross The Mersey.

1944–The Allies begin a major offensive against the Axis powers on the Gustav Line.

1945–Off the coast of Okinawa, the aircraft carrier, USS Bunker Hill, is hit by two kamikazes, killing 346 of its crew members. Although badly damaged, the ship is able to return to the U.S. under its own power.

1946–The first packages from the Cooperative for American Remittances to Europe (CARE), arrive in Europe at Le Havre, France.

1946–The United Malays National Organisation is created.

1946–Cardiologist, Robert Jarvik, is born Robert Koffler Jarvik in Midland, Michigan. He developed the Jarvik-7 artificial heart.

1947–B.F. Goodrich manufactures the first tubeless tires, in Akron, Ohio.

1947–Butch Trucks, drummer for The Allman Brothers Band, is born Claude Hudson Trucks in Jacksonville, Florida.

1947–Printer and type designer, Frederick William Goudy, dies in Marlborough-on-Hudson, Ulster County, New York, at age 82. His typefaces include Copperplate Gothic, Kennerly, and Goudy Old Style. Upon turning 40, for the next 36 years he cut 113 fonts of type, creating more usable faces than did the seven greatest inventors of type and books, from Gutenberg to Garamond.

1948–Luigi Einaudi is elected President of Italy.

1949–Israel joins the United Nations.

1949–Siam officially changes its name to Thailand, a name in use since 1939.

1949–The first Polaroid camera is sold for $89.95 in New York City.

1951–Jay Forrester patents computer core memory.

1952–Actress, Frances (Louise) Fisher, is born in Milford on Sea, Hampshire, England. She has appeared in the films Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?, Tough Guys Don’t Dance, Pink Cadillac, Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael, Unforgiven, The Stars Fell on Henrietta, Striptease, Titanic, The Big Tease, Gone in 60 Seconds, A Single Woman, and Sedona.

1952–Television executive, Warren Littlefield, is born in Montclair, New Jersey. During his time as President of NBC-TV, Littlefield oversaw the creation of many shows for the network throughout the 1990s, such as Seinfeld, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Wings, Blossom, Law & Order, Mad About You, Sisters, Frasier, Friends, ER, Homicide: Life on the Street, Caroline in the City, NewsRadio, 3rd Rock from the Sun, Suddenly Susan, Just Shoot Me!, Will & Grace, and The West Wing.

1953–A tornado hits downtown Waco, Texas, killing 114 people and causing $39 million in damage. Some downtown streets are buried under five feet of fallen bricks.

1957–Buddy Holly and the Crickets audition for the TV show Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts. They are rejected.

1957–The Everly Brothers make their debut on the Grand Ole Opry.

1958–The U.S. conducts atmospheric nuclear tests at Enwetak and Bikini Island.

1958–Christian (Devi) Brando, is born in Los Angeles, California. He was the only child of actor, Marlon Brando, and Anna Kashfi.

1959–TV personality, Martha Quinn, is born in Albany, New York. She is best known as one of the original video jockeys on MTV (along with Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, and J.J. Jackson). Quinn's petite, girl next door personality made her extremely popular among viewers.

1960–In Buenos Aires, Argentina, four Israeli Mossad agents capture fugitive Nazi, Adolf Eichmann, who is living under the alias of Ricardo Klement.

1960–Businessman, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., dies of pneumonia in Tucson, Arizona, at age 86. He was known for his philanthropy, giving over $537 million to a wide variety of causes over his lifetime.

1962–The U.S. conducts an atmospheric nuclear test at Christmas Island.

1962–Antonio Segni becomes President of Italy.

1963–Racist bombings in Birmingham, Alabama, disrupt non-violence in the Birmingham campaign and precipitate a crisis involving federal troops.

1963–The Beatles' debut album, Please Please Me, tops the English albums chart. Eight of the 12 tracks were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, setting a new precedent in rock music for artists writing their own material.

1963–Actress, Natasha (Anne) Richardson, is born in Marylebone, London, England. She appeared in the films Gothic, Patty Hearst, Fat Man and Little Boy, The Handmaid’s Tale, Nell, Widow’s Peak, The Parent Trap, Waking Up in Reno, Maid in Manhattan, and Wild Child. Her parents were film director, Tony Richardson and actress, Vanessa Redgrave; her grandfather was actor, Michael Redgrave; her aunt was actress, Lynn Redgrave; and her sister is actress, Joely Richardson. She was married to actor, Liam Neeson.

1965–A windstorm in Bangladesh kills 17,000 people.

1965–The USSR conducts a nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh.

1967–The one-hundred-millionth U.S. telephone is connected.

1968–Students and police battle in Paris, France, and hundreds are injured.

1968–John Lennon and Paul McCartney fly to the U.S. to begin promoting their new company, Apple Corps, Ltd.

1968–The Stanley Cup: The Montreal Canadiens beat the St. Louis Blues, in 4 games.

1968–Actor, Jeffrey Donovan, is born in Amesbury, Massachusetts. He is best known for the role of Michael Westen on the TV series Burn Notice. He appeared in the films Sleepers, Vegas Vacation, Hitch, Changeling, and J. Edgar.

1970–The triple soundtrack album, Woodstock, is released on Cotillion Records.

1970–A powerful tornado strikes Lubbock, Texas, killing 26 people, injuring more than 500 others, and causing $135 million in damage. A second tornado kills two other people in Lubbock, and the two tornadoes damage or destroy nearly a quarter of the city.

1972–The U.S. conducts a nuclear test at Nevada Test Site, which is part of the series Operation Grommet and Operation Toggle.

1972–Teen idol, David Cassidy, at the peak of his career, appears in a controversial nearly-naked pose on the cover of Rolling Stone.

1972–The Stanley Cup: The Boston Bruins beat the New York Rangers, 4 games to 2.

1972–Bluesman, Guitar Slim, dies of natural causes in New York, New York, at age 70. He is best known for the songs Creepin' Blues and Some People Say.

1973–Citing government misconduct, Daniel Ellsberg has charges for his involvement in releasing the Pentagon Papers to The New York Times dismissed.

1975–Actor, Coby (Scott) Bell, is born in Orange County, California. He is best known for his co-starring role of Jesse Porter on the USA Network series Burn Notice. He also starred in the TV series Third Watch.

1979–Bluegrass musician, Lester Flatt, dies of heart failure in Nashville, Tennessee, at age 64. He was a guitarist and mandolinist, best known for his collaboration with banjo picker, Earl Scruggs, in the The Foggy Mountain Boys, popularly known as Flatt and Scruggs. They first reached a mainstream audience in the early 1960s, with their performance of The Ballad of Jed Clampett, the theme song for the TV comedy series The Beverly Hillbillies.

1981–A chart topper: Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes.

1981–Reggae singer, Bob Marley, dies of cancer at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, Miami, Florida, at age 36. Marley was regarded as a hero both in Jamaica and abroad. He was given a state funeral and buried near his birthplace in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica. In 1975, he had his first solo hit outside Jamaica with No Woman, No Cry. His other hits include Stir It Up, Get Up, Stand Up, I Shot the Sheriff, and Redemption Song.

1982–Actor-musician, Cory Monteith, is born Cory Allan Michael Monteith in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He is best known for the role of Finn Hudson on the Fox TV series Glee.

1984–Eight people are killed in a fire at the Haunted Castle attraction at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey.

1985–Fifty-six spectators die and more than 200 others are injured in a flash fire at Valley Parade football ground in Bradford, England, during a match against Lincoln City.

1985–Cartoonist, Chester Gould, dies in Woodstock, Illinois, at age 84. He created the “Dick Tracy” comic strip.

1987–The first heart-lung transplant takes place in Baltimore, Maryland.

1987–Klaus Barbie goes on trial in Lyon, France, for war crimes committed during World War II.

1987–Corazon Aquino is elected President of the Philippines.

1988–France conducts a nuclear test.

1988–Composer, Irving Berlin, is serenaded by a crowd singing his songs outside his apartment as he turns 100 years old. New York's Carnegie Hall also holds a gala in his honor.

1989–Kenya announces a worldwide ban on ivory to preserve its elephant herds.

1989–France conducts a nuclear test at Muruora Island.

1989–Roy Orbison is inducted into the Songwriters' Hall of Fame at a ceremony in New York City. Eric Clapton presents the award to Orbison's widow, Barbara.

1990–Thirty-one years after his death, rocker, Ritchie Valens, is awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

1992–Carlos Herrera, inventor of the Margarita, dies at age 90.

1995–More than 170 countries extend the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty indefinitely and without conditions.

1995–Jimmie Vaughan, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Buddy Guy, and Robert Cray play a tribute concert to Stevie Ray Vaughan in his hometown of Austin, Texas. The five musicians had performed with Vaughan the night he died in a helicopter crash.

1996–Eight climbers die when several climbing expeditions are caught in a blizzard on Mount Everest. Several books would be written by the survivors of the blizzard, detailing the tragedy.

1996–After the departure of Atlanta-bound ValuJet Flight 592 from Miami, a fire starts by improperly handled chemical oxygen generators in the cargo hold, causing the Douglas DC-9 to crash in the Florida Everglades, killing all 110 people on board.

1997–Deep Blue, a chess-playing supercomputer, defeats Garry Kasparov in the last game of their rematch, becoming the first computer to beat a world-champion chess player in a classic match format.

1998–India conducts three underground nuclear tests in Pokhran; one is a thermonuclear device.

2000–Chechen separatists ambush Russian paramilitary forces in the Republic of Ingushetia.

2001–Writer, Douglas Adams, dies of a heart attack in Santa Barbara, California, at age 49. He is best known for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which originated in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold more than 15 million copies.

2003–Noel Redding, bass player for The Jimi Hendrix Experience, dies of cirrhosis of the liver in Clonakilty, County Cork, Ireland, at age 57.

2006–Boxer, Floyd Patterson, dies from Alzheimer's disease and prostate cancer in New Paltz, New York, at age 71. He was Heavyweight Boxing Champion 1956-1959 and 1960-1962.

2007–Samoan ruler, Malietoa Tanumafili II, dies of a heart attack in Apia, Samoa, at age 94. At the time of his death, he was the oldest national leader in the world.

2010–David Cameron becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following talks between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats after elections produced a hung Parliament.

2013–Fifty-two people are killed in a bombing in Reyhanli, Turkey.

2014–Fifteen people are killed and 46 others are injured in Kinshasa, when a stampede is caused by tear gas being thrown into soccer stands by police officers attempting to defuse a hostile incident.

2016–A fragment of the world's oldest ground-edge axe, dated at between 45,000 and 49,000 years old, is found in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.


PHOTOS TOP TO BOTTOM: The Diamond Sutra; Baron Munchhausen; the first brick building in San Francisco, California; Martha Graham; Doodles Weaver; Henry Martyn Robert; Valentino; a CARE package circa the 1940s; Frances Fisher; Please Please Me by The Beatles; the soundtrack album from the film Woodstock; Lester Flatt; Corazon Aquino; a Margarita; and Douglas Adams.
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