EVENTS
- 1570 – Pope Pius V excommunicates Queen Elizabeth I of England.
- 1836 – Samuel Colt invents the Colt Revolver.
- 1837 – The electric printing press is patented by Thomas Davenport.
- 1901 – J.P. Morgan incorporates the United States Steel Corporation.
- 1933 – First aircraft carrier is launched, the USS Ranger.
- 1947 – The state of Prussia is dissolved. At its peak, the most important state of the German empire encompassed parts of modern-day Germany, Poland, and Russia.
- 1954 – Gamal Abdul Nasser is made premier of Egypt.
- 1964 – Cassius Clay beats Sonny Liston to become heavyweight champion.
- 1986 – Corazon Aquino is sworn in as the 11th President of the Philippines. Aquino’s presidency ended 20 years of dictatorship. She was the first female president in Asia.
- 1991 – The Warsaw Pact is disbanded. Following the end of the Cold War, the defense treaty between 8 communist states had lost its purpose. It had been signed in 1955 as an antagonist of NATO.
- 1994 – An Israeli doctor kills 30 unarmed Palestinians in the Mosque of Abraham. The massacre by right-wing extremist Baruch Goldstein was widely condemned, also in Israel.
- 2004 – The movie Passion of the Christ is released.
BIRTHDAYS
- 1304 – Ibn Battuta (Traveler and Explorer)
- 1778 – José de San Martín (Argentinian general, politician, 1st President of Peru)
- 1841 – Pierre Renoir (French painter)
- 1861 – Rudolf Steiner (Austrian philosopher, educator)
- 1873 – Enrico Caruso (Italian tenor)
- 1910 – Millicent Fenwick (1910-1992) was born in New York City
- 1917 – Anthony Burgess (English author)
- 1943 – George Harrison (Beatle)
- 1949 – Ric Flair (Pro Wrestler)
- 1965 – Carrot Top (Comedian)
- 1971 – Sean Astin (Actor from Lord of the Rings)
DEATHS
- 805 – Emperor Dezong of Tang (Argentinian general, politician, 1st President of Peru)
- 1723 – Christopher Wren (English architect, designed St Paul’s Cathedral)
- 1970 – Mark Rothko (Latvian/American painter)
- 1975 – Elijah Muhammad (American religious leader)
- 2001 – Donald Bradman (Australian cricketer)
