EVENTS
- 1609 – Biblioteca Ambrosiana opens its reading room, the second public library of Europe.
- 1940 – During the Blitz, the House of Commons and Tower of London were seriously damaged amid an overnight air raid by German bombers on London.
- 1941 – After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor the U.S. Congress passes a declaration of war against Japan.
- 1980 – Beatle John Lennon is killed in New York City.
- 1987 – President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Russia’s General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev signed the INF Treaty eliminating all intermediate-range and shorter-range nuclear missiles.
- 1987 – First Intifada begins. The Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories began after an Israeli army truck attacked a car and killed 4 Palestinians. The Intifada ended in 1991 after the Madrid Conference.
- 1991 – The USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) ceased to exist, as the leaders of Russia, Byelorussia and the Ukraine signed an agreement creating the Commonwealth of Independent States. The remaining republics of the former USSR, with the exception of Georgia, joined the new Commonwealth.
- 1991 – Romanian Constitution comes into force. Passed through a referendum, the Constitution marked a return to democracy for Romania after 42 years of Communist rule.
- 1991 – Belavezha Accords signed. The Belavezha Accords, that disbanded the USSR and replaced it with Commonwealth of Independent States was signed
- 1993 – The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is signed into law by US President Bill Clinton.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1542 – Mary Queen of Scots (became queen at 6 days old)
- 1765 – Eli Whitney (Inventor)
- 1878 – Joseph Stalin (Russian Communist Leader)
- 1886 – Mexican artist Diego Rivera (1886-1957) was born in Guanajuato, Mexico. He created large works for display in the U.S. which aroused controversy due to his political point of view as a Communist. In 1933, his fresco ‘Man at the Crossroads’ was removed from Rockefeller Center in New York City amid claims it included a figure resembling Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin. A year earlier, a mural done for the Detroit Institute of Arts had been criticized as irreligious. Following these controversies, he was denied further commissions in the U.S., although his work remained popular in Mexico.
- 1894 – American humorist and artist James Thurber (1894-1961) was born in Columbus, Ohio. Best known for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
- 1943 – Jim Morrison (Singer for The Doors)
- 1953 – Norman Finkelstein (American academic, author, activist)
- 1953 – Kim Basinger (Actress)
- 1961 – Ann Coulter (American lawyer, author)
- 1964 – Teri Hatcher (Actress)
- 1977 – Ryan Newman (Nascar Driver)
- 1982 – Nicki Minaj (Trinidadian/American rapper, actress)
- 1985 – Dwight Howard (Basketball Player)
- 1993 – Anna Sophia Robb (Actress)
DEATHS
- 1864 – George Boole (English mathematician, philosopher)
- 1903 – Herbert Spencer (English biologist, anthropologist, sociologist, philosopher)
- 1978 – Golda Meir (Israeli educator, politician, 4th Prime Minister of Israel)
- 1980 – John Lennon (English singer-songwriter, musician, producer)
- 2004 – Dimebag Darrell (American guitarist, songwriter)